I've only ever lived in St. Louis, MO but I think its a pretty good place to live.
Jobs: unfortunately St. Louis has lost a lot of jobs over tha last several years due to the Closing to 2 Chrysler plants, 1 ford plant and Since Anheuser Busch sold to InBev it cost 1000 or so jobs but there are plenty of opportunities.
Housing: St. Louis is one of the cheapest placed to live as far as Major Cities goes. Just stay out of the City limits. Depending on whether you like neighbors you can get a nice 1500sq ft home for $150k on either an average sized lot of on a few acres if you like living rural.
Education: St. Louis has a very large Catholic population so there are plenty of private schools to choose from and 2 or 3 public districs are some of the best in the state. As far as college we have Washington University or St. Louis University but you btter be rich to attende either of those. University of Missouri St. Louis is a good 4 year school and there are 3 decent jr colleges. All of these schools are within 40 minutes of each other.
Crime: Like I said as long as you stay out of the City you shoule be ok. The South and West parts of the County are much lower crime areas. Jefferson county just south of St. Louis is the meth capital of the country but violent crimes are pretty low.
Weather: St Louis has 4 definite seasons. Summers reach into the low 90's and on rare occasions you will see a 100 degree day. The humidity sucks though. Winters are generally mild and you will usually see 3 snows of 6" or less per year.
Sorry, no beaches...and I wouldn't recommend swimming in the Mississippi. Ozark mountains aren't too far away but they are only foothiss compared to the sierra's, Rockies or Appala....however the heck you sppell them
My sister-in-law is from Fresno and she likes it better here....if that helps
