It's not crack so much as crystal meth. And it's a pretty severe problem. And seems to be getting uglier. I moved here 20 years ago from a pretty sketchy part of Philadelphia, so the north side of Springfield isn't super intimidating, there is a lot of poverty and drugs, but mostly genuinely good-hearted people experiencing bad luck.

Those south towns you mentioned are nice. Nixa has fantastic schools, Republic is growing a lot faster than its infrastructure was prepared for, but it's also a great town.

Battlefield is a wonderful tiny town, and Ozark has a lot to offer.

If you can, while most of the north side folks are good neighbors, I'd still choose to live south of Sunshine.