curious about Springfield (never been there)

[Little Egypt]

It is.

[madpaddy]

Originally Posted by SciFiNerd1

The only reason I am looking into Jacksonville is because my job would be in that town. If Springfield and Chatham are much better towns with more things to do, I wouldn't mind commuting to Jacksonville 3 days per week.

Thank you for your suggestion. I will look into Rochester. Please tell me why you like Rochester better.

Better schools, lower crime, generally nice neighborhoods everywhere. It's hard to pick a bad place to live in Rochester.

If you're working in J-Ville 3 times a week, you might consider something on the far west side of Springfield, especially if you don't have school aged kids. There are some nicer, newer neighborhoods out there, and it's closer to J-Ville than Rochester. Probably saves you a hour a week or more of commute time.

[Avondalist]

I've visited a few times because of obligatory school trips. The history is interesting for a day or so.

I do remember in the old state capitol building there is a room with a map of the US in the 1830s or 1840s. The area west of Kansas is labeled "Unorganized Territory" or something similar. There was a German couple there (German tourists really are everywhere) and they could not get enough of that. They were so tickled to see that map.

[Kraftask]

I visited one time 15 or so years ago. Pretty bland when compared to other nearby state capitals like Madison, Des Moines or Indianapolis. But Springfield is definitely the place for history buffs.

[RisingAurvandil]

Originally Posted by SciFiNerd1

Jobs in Illinois seem to pay much better than Missouri and housing in DFW (Texas) is outrageous expensive due to people moving in every day from other states. Illinois also is a good match for me politically compared to Missouri's.

People don't believe me, but this was true for my industry (project management). It's been several years, but when I received offers for new positions, the IL offers were higher than those that I received in MO (outside of StL). And the overall housing cost was lower too (excluding Chicago).

I wouldn't move to/from any state based on politics alone. Seriously. It doesn't matter on a day-to-day basis.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by RisingAurvandil

People don't believe me, but this was true for my industry (project management). It's been several years, but when I received offers for new positions, the IL offers were higher than those that I received in MO (outside of StL). And the overall housing cost was lower too (excluding Chicago).

I wouldn't move to/from any state based on politics alone. Seriously. It doesn't matter on a day-to-day basis.

Salaries and wages for skilled work typically have minimal differences across the country. The differences are certainly not enough to alleviate the cost of housing in more expensive markets. Likewise, the rise of remote work has made it such that many workers are choosing lower-cost and less densely populated areas while working for the same employer that they had in the larger metro.

[rrampage]

Sleepy capital town that offers some nice eats. That's what comes to mind.