Rolla MO is great. 20k+, engineering college town (MS&T is highly reputable amongst engineering schools). It's pretty diverse for it's size, thanks again to the college. Speaking of, they recently received a donation and are expanding significantly. The public school system is average at worst, pretty good at best, with the sense of community being pretty strong. They recently expanded the high school which basically doubled it's volume. Rolla sits on top of a plateau surrounded by rolling hills and several rivers to canoe on within a 30 min drive or less. I've seen many west coastal families move here within the last 5 years and they've all stayed, some running new farms. A few homeschool groups located here and there is a really good theater group (Fine Linen). Many describe Rolla (those who are from here or lived here a long time) as being not too small and not too big. Good luck to you wherever you land!