I moved from Colorado to Missouri. I live basically in Central Missouri not that far of a drive from the Lake of the Ozarks. I've been exploring the community. Going into various local shops and grocery stores. In the process I've gone out of my way to tell people "Hello" and even ask "How is it going" with genuine interest. This has been a test of sorts for me for awhile. In Colorado I'd become accustomed to people backing up a bit and giving the "who the hell are you" look as they might answer with confusion, fear, or annoyance in their voice. This tension and reaction was becoming far and far more common. It occurred not just in the cities but could occur in many lower population centers as well. I am sure there are still exceptions to this in some places. I simply have not been to one in Colorado for some time. I have lived in Colorado the last 45 years of my life and honestly I never thought I'd move out of the state.
Then I visited the Fulton, Missouri area for four days around the Fourth of July. I saw their town parade. I went in shops. I applied my test. In all the times I did so I received a positive and friendly response.
I decided that moving to Missouri was something I wanted to do. The cost of living is dramatically lower. The people and community seem like the way communities a couple of decades ago were like in Colorado.
I didn't move to Fulton which is about an hour drive away. Two of my daughters have homes there.
In my new community every application of my test has met with positive results. Often the result is a surprising flow of useful information.
Yesterday a person that worked in Woods Market responded positively then proceeded to tell us some deals that would save us money as opposed to what she could see in my cart. Then she proceeded to tell us who good doctors were, which were the best hospitals, and other useful information. Just because I said "Hello". It has been a long time since I saw anything remotely like that in Colorado.
The day before that I was driving to my daughter's house in Fulton and stopped at a gas station south of Jefferson City. They required you prepay so I had to go in. There was a bit of a line. The guy in front of me had a Harley Davidson shirt on from the Lake of the Ozarks shop in Osage Beach with the arms cut off. My wife had talked about going to that shop to buy some boots and we hadn't had a chance yet. I said "Hello, can you tell me if that Harley shop has a good selection of shoes and boots?" Not only was he friendly he told me that next week on Thursday and Friday is some kind of annual event and that last year he bought his daughter a pair of boots for $35 that normally cost $120. This was a win and if it repeats it could save me a lot of money. Just from saying "Hello" to some random person in a gas station and asking a simple question.
This is how I want things to be.
Then it gets better.
A car pulls into our driveway. A guy gets out and says something like "Is it alright if I come and say welcome and hello to fellow Coloradans?" We said of course and proceeded to have a conversation with him. He had seen the Uhaul last week and things had conspired so I have not yet replaced my Colorado plates. I went to do so two days ago but I need to get a special inspection of VIN number and Odometer that is required for out of state vehicles. Thus, my license plates would have been changed if not for that.
It turns out he keeps his Colorado plates because he has rental property in Colorado and by doing so he gets some tax breaks.
We asked him if he expected anything like what he just did to happen in Colorado. He said no.
He gave us his number and told us to give him a call if we are in the Rocky Mountain area of Missouri which is about 10 to 15 miles from our house.
We also had a widow from across the street who is a neighbor come over and introduce herself and give us some bread, jam, cookies, and dog treat for our dog from a local Amish market.
(In constrast: People from two doors down from our house in Denver saw my wife working in the yard one day and came and welcomed her to the neighborhood. We had lived there for 10 years.)
We have only been here for a week. So far the people are pretty great. The community often makes me chuckle. Not in a bad way. A happy way.
The move was a good one. Just in mortgage difference and being able to eliminate two bills I am saving over $1000/month. The food is less expensive. The gas is substantially less expensive. Registering a vehicle is for two years and is about 25% the price of one year in Colorado. Renewing my drivers license from Colorado to Missouri cost me $28.
We bought about $208 worth of groceries two days ago that would have likely cost us over $400 in Colorado.
I am hopeful and look forward to more experiences like this.