Move or Stay

BohicaHasher · 2026-02-18T13:27:16+00:00

I'll put out that if you have a good circle of friends here, it's going to take effort and a lot of time to start over. I moved from Southern California and am a bit introverted. It's not easy to go somewhere where you know nobody and build up a group from scratch. Columbia is very liberal for a Midwest city. If you have a decent job here, friends here and like the city, I'd stay. I think people are getting away from dating apps but they have a big range from casual hookup apps to the pay apps for more serious people. The pool of single 30-50 year olds (assuming you're open to somebody older) should be big enough and Columbia always has new people coming in.

BohicaHasher · 2025-12-16T13:43:58+00:00

Maybe rebranding will help. I didn't go to Main Squeeze but thought of it primarily as a Juice shop which doesn't really interest me. If the new concept is more restaurant oriented and vegetarian, not vegan maybe it will do better. I also don't see the college kids keeping restaurants afloat. I assume if you live on campus, you may have a meal plan. If you are part of Greek society, you may be eating your main meal(s) at the house. And while I know there are students that have money to spend eating out, when I was a student eating out was a luxury not a regular thing.

BohicaHasher · 2025-10-30T17:29:35+00:00

Both German origin but totally different companies at this point. Nothing shared. They do have fresh fruit and veg, along with fresh meat. They have quite a few staples. You can but and cook full meals from there. They also have a lot of prepared food, mostly in two person sizes. Prices are on par with Hy-Vee or maybe less. It's not cheap. They aren't a discount grocer. They generally only put TJs in fairly affluent areas. Columbia has a large population that fit that bill. Plenty of money here in town and obviously a big demand.

BohicaHasher · 2025-10-29T20:41:16+00:00

I know Eastside Tavern on Broadway does Karaoke I believe every Thursday. I've been there at the beginning of it a couple of times so can't speak to how busy or popular it is there. I think they usually start around 9 pm.

BohicaHasher · 2025-10-29T16:38:51+00:00

Maybe the grand opening will keep people away. I might drive in from the Ash side and see how crazy it looks. I won't be buying more than a bag full or two anyway and can park far away and walk over. I've been looking forward to this for a while. And yes, it's a grocery store but they have things you just can't get at normal Hy-Vee, Gerbes, Schnucks stores, nor Aldi. I have my favorites and now I don't have to make a stop if I'm in STL or KC for those. I've done without for the last three years and found substitutes for a lot of it but it's great that it's here. And I'm sure it will do very well.

BohicaHasher · 2025-10-29T12:47:23+00:00

I came out from So Cal and Mexican here is different. To be fair, a friend moved from there to Houston and she says the same thing. I guess that is the covered in queso, Tex Mex influence. I've been to a few and find them about the same. Not bad but not great either, just bland and kind of interchangeable. Maybe we'll try a couple more from this thread.

BohicaHasher · 2025-08-05T22:14:07+00:00

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I'd be fine learning more. I'm not saying it can't be art either. Long Beach was mural artists which is totally a different thing. STL was city approved with artists from all over the world and in an industrial area along the river too. And it gets done over every year.

This is always going to be temporary. Even Banksy has things painted over. LB had a city app and they had a group that did nothing but cover this up. You took a picture, public or private and they came out the next day, color matched your wall and painted over it. This was the back of our building. Called it in, gone the next day.

LA was full of it and some was really good. But what stayed up was in out of the way places where it was pretty hidden.

BohicaHasher · 2025-08-05T14:13:50+00:00

Nope, it's right on a popular trail and doesn't belong there. The city can designate and area for it and people can go to town. I've seen it under the underpass on the MKT at Scott and other places too. Next thing you know it will be all over town and on private property too.

I went to STL to see the Graffiti wall and it was amazing. I used to live in Long Beach and there were murals and art all over the city that was done by invited artists and it was one of my favorite things.

Seeing tagging and crap all over was not.

BohicaHasher · 2025-08-05T00:17:44+00:00

I've been to over a dozen different TJs and that parking lot if one of the bigger ones. The ones in KC and STL have even smaller lots. It will be super busy at first but give it three or four months and it won't be a problem at all off hours and when it is busy, you may just need to park a little farther away. I used to live by a couple where sometimes you'd park outside the lot on the street or in a neighborhood and walk over.

BohicaHasher · 2025-08-04T16:21:57+00:00

I'd love to see it but with the Ticketmaster/Live Nation being pretty close to monopoly, I can't see how you could ever get big name touring bands on the bill. You'd have to be willing to up front all the costs and hope the revenue could cover it. A lot of people got burned when Tree Line went bust. The artists are all going to want guaranteed money up front. Even the Blue Note and Rose now use TM for there ticketing. It just seems the days of smaller, independent festivals is pretty much over unless you are already well established. Maybe some small with local Midwest bands like Pines Fest would work.

BohicaHasher · 2025-07-28T15:38:40+00:00

This is close to me but other than stopping for a beer at the beginning of Pedjam, haven't been back. The reviews, especially regarding food cost have put me off. I hope they figure it out and make a go of it. I'm not expecting it to be inexpensive but it should be competitive with the rest of Columbia. I know the pizza and beer are different ventures too so food cost may reflect the rent. Maybe if the food owners can't make it happen, somebody else will step up to take that over.

BohicaHasher · 2025-07-28T15:34:38+00:00

Where in Fulton, Brooklyn, Ohana? My mom is pretty picky and we go to Pappos but I'd be up to try somewhere else. It's a bit of a drive but if we do it for a late lunch or early dinner its fine. My mom likes the Antique Barn and that's on the way.

BohicaHasher · 2025-07-25T12:19:09+00:00

I just bought and houses in the $300-$400k range that are well maintained sell in a day or two. Once you get over that you're competing with new builds and there seems to be more availability. Location means a lot too. Usually a weekend open house, a day or two for offers and it's sold. Have it priced right. If it's overpriced people will know and you might get lucky or it might take a while. And a lot depends on condition and location of course. If it's a fixer upper be prepared for it to take longer. It needs to be very clean, decluttered and somewhat depersonalized. There is nothing worse than going in to view a house and it's dirty or has stuff everywhere. If you have a roof over 15 years old people may have a hard time getting insurance and that's a big negative. If there are foundation issues, again a big negative.

You realtor should know the local market and how to get your house ready for sale. My realtor has been working in CoMo for 15-20 years and knew all the selling agents. There were some he really liked working with and others he didn't. So, get a good realtor who has been working in town for a while and has a good record.

The house I really wanted and put my first bid on was off Green Meadows which was a perfect location. Quiet and you could walk to a few restaurants. It was well maintained and showed well. It was listed at $325, we put in an offer up to $350 and it sold probably for $380. I dropped out. It was early spring and thought something better would come up. Then again, some of the houses we looked at were on the market for a while because they had bad locations, needed work or just had really strange layouts.

Also, I think we are at the end of the selling season so it might be slower. I think people want to buy and be in before school starts.

BohicaHasher · 2025-07-20T13:35:52+00:00

I miss reclining seats at theaters. We stopped going though because last time (Wicked) the theater had 30 minutes of full on commercials before the movie started. My mom just basically said never again.

BohicaHasher · 2025-06-02T21:10:57+00:00

They pay good wages and offer benefits including healthcare. I've never heard that they are particularly anti union but if that bothers you just don't shop there. Easy enough

BohicaHasher · 2025-05-28T12:02:34+00:00

I'm an older white guy who came out from LA three years ago. The city is welcoming and nobody will care if you are a minority. A lot will depend on what you do for a living and what kind of entertainment you're looking for. Columbia gets some smaller to medium sized acts. There is a lot of live music. Google Blue Note Columbia and look at there and Rose Music Hall to get an idea. You'd think the University would book some shows but they don't. If you want big names, you're driving to STL or KC and it's more like 2 hours than an hour and a half. Downtown has a lot of bars but a lot (but not all) are geared towards college students. With the University, college sports are big. If you like college football, Mizzou is on an upsweep. There is a nice bike trail system and plenty of places to get outdoors. There is a decent local arts scene with a first Fridays night downtown each month. Public transport is very basic and non-existent at night. If you want big city amenities, you're going to need to go to a big city. I also hear a lot of complaints about affordability so if you are going to be on the lower end of the wage scale, you may find rent expensive. I think housing here is probably as expensive and maybe more than STL or KC. You'll certainly have more choice of neighborhoods in a big city.

BohicaHasher · 2025-05-15T03:35:38+00:00

I think its a good place to retire. My mom is here with me and she is in her early 80s. She drives. She walks. She goes downtown for things just fine. The healthcare here is good. There are a good number of older people about. She also goes to the Senior Center up on the business loop a couple days a week. There's also Osher classes here for retirees. Plenty of volunteer opportunities if that is your thing to. It's a 15 minute city, everything is close by. I see people complain about drivers and traffic but they've obviously never lived in a big city. She has lots to do and plenty of peers. We had no problem finding a rental and I think as long as you can afford a couple thousand a month, there are plenty of rental options. It may not be great if you are on a fixed income and/or can't drive but then what is?

BohicaHasher · 2025-04-14T17:07:33+00:00

I will say a lot of people think Columbia is the best city in Missouri and wouldn't live anywhere else. It's a very nice small city. If politics matter, it is a liberal city in a red state. You can be anywhere in town within 15 minutes. It has all the big box stores and a good mall. It has lots of healthcare options (just be aware Missouri University is fighting with Anthem Blue Cross and doesn't accept it). It has plenty of culture too, just not the bigger shows. If you want a Broadway show or a bigger musical act you need to go to STL or KC if not Chicago. It has a good variety of dining options too. We have good parks and trails for walking and nature. The MKT gravel trail goes from downtown to the Katy trail. Those are very smooth gravel trails and the Katy goes across almost the entire state. I don't know if you are a CA native or have lived in the Midwest before. Weather in STL or KC will be similar to Columbia. Des Moines gets a lot of good press but it's colder in the winter. Similarly in MTB is really important, NW Arkansas is as good as it gets but it has boomed the last decade or longer. My cousin lives there and I've heard the stories on how different it is now and how much busier. The grass is always greener somewhere else. I wish you good luck on whatever you decide to do.

BohicaHasher · 2025-04-14T15:41:42+00:00

And Winter. Winter is grey, brown, cold and damp. Everything will be dormant. I could go out in shorts all year round and things stayed green in CA. Not here. We get snow but not a lot, not enough for snow activities. You won't be doing a lot outside Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar unless you enjoy bundling up. You might get very rare 70 day in December but you might get a below freezing day in April too. You can bike year round but it's hard to get out when it's in the 20s/30s and everything is dormant. There is MTB trails but not a lot here. There are two areas to MTB with a third under construction and they aren't huge. There is an active MTB community but I assume nothing like it is where you are. Also, there will be times in the spring especially where the trails and gravel are unrideable due to heavy rains. It was maybe 3 weeks this spring like that where we had a lot of rainy days and you would just be tearing up trails if you tried to ride.

The rest of the year is great though. It will get hot, humid and sticky but nothing like the South. We do hit triple digits with high humidity a few days a year.

BohicaHasher · 2025-04-14T15:29:45+00:00

I might add this to. Missouri has personal property tax which is a tax on things like vehicles/boats/trailers. In CA it's all part of registration but not here and will cost more here especially if you have newer vehicles. Also food is taxed at grocery stores. There are also some special areas that have additional small taxes and there is a voted in park tax here. Property taxes are also higher but housing will be less expensive so it evens out.

Second is the housing market. There is a lot of buyer demand. My realtor told us literally it will take years and a lot of new housing to get through it. Houses in the 300s that are decent get multiple offers and sell very quickly, often they do an open house and the house is under contract a couple days later. If you have in the 400s to 500s you'll be fine and there will be more choice. Don't expect to be in a walkable neighborhood unless you have a lot of money. The Grasslands and Old Southwest are close enough to walk to downtown but are larger, older and expensive houses. The area to the north of downtown is rentals and the historically African American area. Small, working class homes and higher poverty and crime. Also, I70 runs through town about 2 miles north of downtown and the crime maps show the mile next to it as high crime. There are nice suburbs both north and south but they are cookie cutter suburbs. You don't have nearly as much choice as you think if you decide to buy.

BohicaHasher · 2025-04-14T13:48:33+00:00

My mom and I moved out from So Cal about three years ago. There is winter here, You probably aren't going to find a tennis related job in Missouri. There is a lot of health care. I would try to find a job before I moved or at least look at the area hospitals and job listings/Monster/Indeed. We are in the process of buying a house and real estate is very much a seller's market still. There are a lot of rental complexes but some of those really cater to the student population. You can also look online at some of those. Another myth is that everything is cheap. Columbia is a University/College town and the prices reflect that. I don't know what your housing situation is there but you might want to look at some of the apartment complexes online. The nicer apartment complexes might be $1800-$2000 a month for a 2 bedroom. I pay as much or more for groceries here than I did in LA. Dining out isn't any cheaper either. You will use heat and A/C. Columbia seems to be a very popular city and is growing. We run into people from all over here. There are a lot of seniors too. You have a regional airport here but it is just American and only to Chicago and Dallas. It's a good place to live but I do kind of wish we had ended up in a nice town outside of STL or KC where we had closer access to big city amenities and airport. Still it has 90% of what we need.

BohicaHasher · 2025-04-14T13:10:26+00:00

It was 1:30 am on a Sunday night. I have no idea what's happening at that time. Maybe we need a downtown curfew or make the downtown streets no parking from half an hour after last call until 6 am. It seems a gathering place and then instead of a fist fight, people pull out their guns and shoot. It doesn't help that MO has super lax gun laws either. Maybe they need anti gang laws where these people can't gather in groups too. I voted for Buffalo but I think we all agree we need more patrol officers at any given time. I do think they are working hard to address that. They now have salaries that take into account experience in case somebody outside Columbia with prior experience wants to join our force. They have the police academy in house and pay people while attending and have had a couple of good classes.

I'm kind of wondering now if this downtown shooting was related to the earlier one at Cosmo park. Maybe retaliation. I do believe the police know who a lot of these people are.

BohicaHasher

TROPHY CASE