I grew up in a rural town very close to Springfield. It was safe and just about everyone was upper middle class. I moved to Houston for about 5 years and had event attended school in south Houston for a few months while I was still a student. When I compare my small town school to that of the large inner city school, I got the best education in Missouri. I felt awful for my classmates in public school in Houston because as a sophomore, they were doing sixth grade math. I’m sure there were good private schools in that area but I didn’t attend those. I felt like my education was decent near Monett comparatively and I got an average ACT score with minimal effort (29 I think). When I lived and worked in Houston as a young adult, I liked how busy it was and how nobody cared about my business. The friends I had were much more direct than in Missouri. But I love and appreciate them on a much deeper level because there is an authenticity there that simply doesn’t exist in the Midwest. The people in the Midwest are lovely and friendly and will strike up a conversation. The crime rate is significantly lower and as long as you keep to yourself, you don’t have much to worry about. There is a downside to the friendliness here. And it’s the fact that everyone will be in your business. You won’t realize it at first. Your neighbors may run a background check on you. They will want to know every detail about you. This doesn’t represent everyone as a whole but it represents MOST of the people I love and grew up with. They will love you to your face but they will talk smack about you when you aren’t around. Just don’t take it personally and let it get to you. Springfield does have a lot to offer. The food is alright but not great. The shopping and entertainment isn’t as great as a larger city. But the cost of living is lower and life really does slow down here. People take their time when they do things. So it depends on what you’re wanting and what you value the most. I do love this community through the ups and downs. Oh yeah and one down side I forgot to mention are the redneck conspiracy theorists. There are lots of them. You can think you are speaking to a reasonable, rational person but then they open their mouth and Alex Jones comes out looool. So idk how much that matters to you. There are pros and cons to every place but I do think this place is decent. I have only lived here and Houston but I’ve also traveled quite a bit and I’m still here 😁. It’s a good place to get ahead and enjoy a slower paced life in general. Just don’t be too trusting and over share things even if you’ve been close to people for a long time.