Hi Sarah, My husband and I moved to Centralia, Missouri last year, so can only give a small amount of the info that you asked for. Which area is best to locate for good country living We chose Centralia as it is an easy 20 minute drive to Columbia and 15 minutes to Mexico. There are about 3,000 people in Centralia, it is 18 miles NW of Columbia. In town you have 2 grocery stores, a pharmacy, hardware store, post office, 5 gas stations, McDonalds, Sonics, Pizza Hut, Orscheln's, MFA, dentist, doctor, small quick care, 2 bars, several churches, small antique/junk store, self serve car wash, a few hair salons, a middle school and a high school .... I think that's about it! We live 3 minutes on a county road from the closest grocery store, and you can make it to the other side of town in 3 more minutes. We have 3 neighbors within 2 miles of us, one farmer and his wife are wonderful hardworking neighbors, one is a family that homeschools their kids and has a LOT of animals, and one middle aged couple we don't associate with. We bought 5 acres with a very small home (under 1200 square feet plus a full basement that we are converting) with a dilapidated very large barn, 1/4 acre fishing pond with a TON of fish, and a rundown shed that we repaired and converted into the hen house. We paid about $120,000 for it, which we felt was a great deal. The other small towns within a half hour drive are (South) Ashland (no stores), (west) Boonville (larger than Centralia), (North) Moberly (larger than Boonville) (East) Auxvasse (I've never been there but I don't think there's a real town there). 2) What are gardening conditions like there? There is heavy clay content so composting is important. I haven't had any pests other than cutter beetles. This winter was very harsh but we were told it was not typical. 3) What is the overall feel of the area/city (including Columbia)? Columbia has 4 or 5 universities so there is a pretty young feel to the city. The surrounding small towns are just that ... small towns with no nightlife, most don't have more than a gas station. In Columbia there are 2 large hospitals, 1 large mall, 3 WalMarts, 6 grocery stores, 1 home depot, 1 lowes, and only a couple of nurseries. Anyway I think that's about it, I am happy to give you the number of a great real estate agent if you need one, good luck in your decision making! Tiffany

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Yeah, Tina.. it's pretty far. He's in Minneapolis. I was able to spend 2-3 weeks a month there in the spring and summer but it's just not possible or practical now. He'll come here in a month or so (very much dependent on when I move.. I don't want him here when I am trying to downsize/pack). We arent really TV people either-- though I watch more now than I ever did. He doesn't even have a tv set up anymore! We *are* movie people but the TV series format is so much better for our situation-- we don't have to go through the selection process and a movie is just a little too long. The receiver gets warm on your ear after 1.5 hrs! I am excited to start Homeland. The first season isn't on demand but he can access it on comcast online-- and I've downloaded the first season from Amazon Prime (I prefer to watch on TV with the roku).

wow, I'd love to see video taken with it. JoanMN/FL