Sedalia, Missouri

Life in Sedalia, Missouri, explained by people who’ve lived in Sedalia:

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Sedalia)

Sedalia Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Sedalia?

Being close to family; or all of the different stores. (Jessica, Technically only 8 months, but I lived in a small town close by; so I was in Sedalia a lot.)
Quiet. (Yuliya, 6 years)
Resources. (Kelsey, 8 years)
I like that it’s a fair size town with a small town feel. Many options for shopping and eating, but not the hassle of a big city. (Shelbie, 10 years)
Family. (P, 12 years)
Being near family. (Sue, 14 years)
People. (Jimmi, 17 years)
It was affordable. (Sharon, 17 years)
My work and church. (Allison, 20 years)
The schools. (Lynn, 24 years)
Parks. (Joni, 30 years)
Size. (Brenda, 40 years)
Downtown Sedalia. East side Sedalia. (Dean, 44 years)
Pretty countryside. (Beth, 50 years)

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Sedalia?

Drugs, crazy people, etc. (Jessica, 8 months)
No mall, or little cute restaurants where you can go with kids and family on Sunday. (Yuliya, 6 years)
No perks at the fair for having to deal with all the traffic, etc. for over a week. (Kelsey, 8 years)
Lack of variety with shopping and eating. (Shelbie, 10 years)
People who don’t bother working for a living and steal your stuff. (P, 12 years)
Nothing for teens to do…little to do besides bars. (Sue, 14 years)
Roads. (Jimmi, 17 years)
Drugs. (Sharon, 17 years)
Not many opportunities (career) and not many leisure options. (Allison, 20 years)
Fair traffic. (Lynn, 24 years)
Traffic. (Joni, 30 years)
Lake traffic. (Brenda, 40 years)
The abandon houses. (Dean, 44 years)
Extremely conservative and somewhat backward people. (Beth, 50 years)

What are fun things to do in Sedalia?

Walk around Walmart.
None. (Yuliya, 6 years)
Parks, activities at parks and rec, movies. (Kelsey, 8 years)
Parks and rec have many great activities throughout the year. Pools, fishing, social events. (Shelbie, 10 years)
Hiking, Pools, Parks. (P, 12 years)
Fair. (Jimmi, 17 years)
The state fair. (Sharon, 17 years)
Antique shopping. (Allison, 20 years)
Movies, restaurants. (Lynn, 24 years)
Pools, parks and fair. (Joni, 30 years)
Play golf. (Brenda, 40 years)
Love the new restaurants downtown, and places like Craft Beer Cellar. (Beth, 50 years)

What’s Sedalia known for?

MISSOURI STATE FAIR. (Jessica, 8 months)
State fair (once a year). (Yuliya, 6 years)
Drugs :(. (Kelsey, 8 years)
State fair. (Shelbie, 10 years)
State fair. (P, 12 years)
Scott Joplin …state fair. (Sue, 14 years)
History and the fair. (Jimmi, 17 years)
Scott Joplin. (Sharon, 17 years)
The State Fair, Scott Joplin/Ragtime, Katy Trail. (Allison, 20 years)
Ozark Music Festival, Scott Joplin Festival, The Missouri State Fair. (Lynn, 24 years)
State fair. (Joni, 30 years)
Mo. STATE Fair, Scott Joplin. (Brenda, 40 years)
It used to be The Gubber Burger . Now I would say the Missouri State Fair and Ragtime. (Dean, 44 years)
MO State Fair, International Scott Joplin Festival, end of the Sedalia Trail (cattle drive trail), railroad town where the railroad construction stalled during the Civil War, right on the Katy Trail which brings cyclists here from around the world. (Beth, 50 years)

What’s the crime like in Sedalia? (hot spot areas, etc.)

Don’t know. (Yuliya, 6 years)
It’s horrible and it’s everywhere. I feel people in Sedalia aren’t charged appropriately for vandalism, harassment, stealing. (Kelsey, 8 years)
Depends a lot on the area of Sedalia. Downtown area and north of 16th street are seen as higher crime areas. Lots of theft and drugs around, but per capita, very comparable to most every town. (Shelbie, 10 years)
Drugs and theft. (P, 12 years)
High and rising. (Sue, 14 years)
Parks are bad for crime, they just don’t get them selling drugs. Crime is about at a 70 per. (Jimmi, 17 years)
Right now it sounds like it’s getting bad. (Sharon, 17 years)
Drug dealers. (Allison, 20 years)
Stay away from the north and east sides of town. (Lynn, 24 years)
Meth heads everywhere. (Joni, 30 years)
Average…North side. (Brenda, 40 years)
We have an outstanding Police Department so I think crime is maybe 5%. (Dean, 44 years)
Not bad. Typical for a small rural town with typical drug problems. (Beth, 50 years)

Any advice for people moving to Sedalia?

Don’t do drugs. (Jessica, 8 months)
Don’t, there is already enough people. (Yuliya, 6 years)
Buy plenty of locks. (Kelsey, 8 years)
If you have kids, make sure you choose area/elementary district wisely. Great teachers at all, but peer exposure is something to be concerned with. Get involved with something. Church, charity, non-profit organization. This way you will meet the “right” connections and yield long-term friends. (Shelbie, 10 years)
Think twice. (P, 12 years)
Don’t live by a park at all. (Jimmi, 17 years)
Rent so you don’t feel obligated to stay. (Allison, 20 years)
Get involved in community activities asap. (Lynn, 24 years)
It’s not that bad. (Joni, 30 years)
West side. (Brenda, 40 years)
Read books about Sedalia and learn the history and you will be a proud Sedalian. (Dean, 44 years)
Be prepared for everyone knowing everything about you. (Beth, 50 years)

Share an experience you’ve had in Sedalia (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

My family. (Yuliya, 6 years)
State fair is always memorable, trying to navigate to work through the mass amounts of traffic, enjoying the fair offerings, the way the entire town changes during fair time. (Shelbie, 10 years)
I would have to say, I miss when Sedalia put on a free park and families came and played games and had free food. The cops was even there and spent time with everyone. I miss the good old days. (Jimmi, 17 years)
Haven’t really had any lately. (Sharon, 17 years)
Working the fair every year, met the love of my life here. (Allison, 20 years)
Cruising the strip in high school. (Lynn, 24 years)
State fair. (Joni, 30 years)
Sedalia Country Club Events are fun. (Brenda, 40 years)
When we moved here in 1974 the Rock Festival was going on and that was an eye opener for sure. (Dean, 44 years)

How do you think Sedalia will change over the next 10 years?

I just hope they will renew remodel downtown and make it nice place to spend with family. (Yuliya, 6 years)
Hopefully it will expand. (Kelsey, 8 years)
Hopefully, Sedalia restaurants and shopping will expand to include a wider variety. (Shelbie, 10 years)
If the drugs and theft rate keeps going up no one will left but them and the people like me who can’t afford to leave. (P, 12 years)
Hopefully be more family friendly. (Sue, 14 years)
I pray it comes more together for the people. I look at it being bigger than it is now . (Jimmi, 17 years)
I think the crime might be worse. (Sharon, 17 years)
I think it will grow in size, more big businesses will come, the fair may be just as terrible. (Allison, 20 years)
Hopefully more businesses and an updated downtown. (Lynn, 24 years)
Hopefully get rid of meth. (Joni, 30 years)
Growing to the west. (Brenda, 40 years)
The east side of town will change drastically over the next ten years. (Dean, 44 years)
Growth will continue to the west of town. Some better paying jobs for blue collar workers due to new businesses opening. (Beth, 50 years)

Any other interesting facts about Sedalia?

Friendly place to live, with horrible drivers. (Shelbie, 10 years)
There are a lot of good family people in this town, but it’s hard to weed through the users to find the real people. (P, 12 years)
Fair. (Jimmi, 17 years)
Nope. (Sharon, 17 years)
There are many funny stories about Sedalians in Becky Immhauser’s books. (Allison, 20 years)
The Katy Trail. (Lynn, 24 years)
There are still good people here. (Joni, 30 years)
It was known back in the Thirties as the biggest Red light District in the United States. (Dean, 44 years)