Cape's coming attractions

Anne Berendsen didn't look at the tourist brochures. She moved to Cape Girardeau for a job.

"I came down here not knowing anybody or anything about the town," said Berendsen, who moved to Cape Girardeau in 1997 from Chicago to take a specialized production job with a Jackson manufacturer.

Berendsen, who is single, quickly fell in love with the city. "It is a great town. It is a nice size. It has all the amenities that you really need," she said.

While thousands of people packed up and moved out of Southeast Missouri counties in the late 1990s, Cape Girardeau County saw plenty of newcomers like Berendsen.

The county attracted 13,598 newcomers from 1995 to 2000. That's 1,539 more than moved out, census records show.

Over half of those new residents came from elsewhere in Missouri. The rest moved here from other states.

Of a dozen Southeast Missouri counties, only three -- Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Madison -- showed migration gains.

In all, 2,772 more people left than moved into the region, census figures show.

But statewide there was a net gain in migration.

The state's net gain -- people coming in compared to those leaving -- totaled 46,053 over the five-year period, the 13th largest increase in the nation.

Jobs, school, health

Regional planners and demographers credit plentiful jobs, Southeast Missouri State University and a wealth of medical services for attracting new residents to Cape Girardeau County.

"The very fact that there is a university is a draw," said Brian Balsman, director of planning for the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission in Perryville. "There are people that look for that type of situation."

Ryan Burson, state demographer in Missouri's office of administration, said jobs are the big draw in Cape Girardeau County.

The county doesn't have the recreational lakes and theaters that help draw people -- including retirees -- to the southwest part of the state, he said.

Of the more than 473,000 people who moved into Missouri from other states during the five-year period, one-fourth settled in the 25-county area of southwest Missouri, census records show.

Cape Girardeau County's gains were modest compared to the influx of new residents in several southwest Missouri counties. Still, the news is far better here than in other Southeast Missouri counties.

Cape Girardeau County is home to a university, which attracts both students and new workers to the area, Burson said.

Berendsen knows that. She quit her factory job in June and plans to move away to a new job next February.

She's signed up for the Peace Corps and will be stationed somewhere in Asia.

"I am just gradually migrating south," said Berendsen, who grew up in chilly Milwaukee.

Welcome to Bollinger

Cape Girardeau County isn't alone in putting out the welcome mat.

Bollinger County showed a net increase of 902 people, census figures show. The rural, hilly county, which borders Cape Girardeau County, saw 1,598 move away. But 2,500 moved in.

Balsman, the regional planner, said many of those moving to Bollinger County wanted to live in the country and commute to jobs in Cape Girardeau County.

"Bollinger County is becoming the bedroom community of Cape Girardeau County," he said. "You drive the back roads there, you will be surprised at the houses you will run across," Balsman said.

Paula Bridges and her husband, Frank, know all about the back roads. They moved to Bollinger County from North Carolina in 1999 after her husband inherited part of the family farm.

The couple ended up building a log cabin in the middle of a field. Bridges, a social worker, commutes to a job in Perry County. Her husband works as a lab technician at a Ste. Genevieve hospital.

Bridges said she loves the rural life of Bollinger County. "I love the privacy. I could scream at my husband and nobody would hear me."

Bollinger County's neighbor -- Cape Girardeau County -- had more people coming and going than any other county in Southeast Missouri during those five years.

Burson, the state demographer, said students at Cape Girardeau's four-year university probably accounted for many of the moves.

Medical jobs have been a draw in Cape Girardeau and elsewhere in the state.

"There has been greater employment growth in those fields than in other fields like manufacturing," Burson said. "Areas that depend on jobs in medicine and in hospitals have been faring better than other areas."

Dr. Jeffrey Appleman, who lives in Jackson, moved to Cape Girardeau County from St. Louis in 1998.

He liked the area's rural roots. "I grew up in a small, rural area in Iowa," he said. "I am not a big-city fan."

Appleman said he also was looking for a place with a mild winter. "I kind of stumbled on Cape Girardeau," he said.

Appleman's pleased with his decision.

"I love the area. I love the people. It is a great place to live."

Elsewhere in Southeast Missouri, however, thousands of people packed up and moved out.

Pemiscot County in the Bootheel led the exodus with 1,871 more people departing than arriving. In all, 4,262 people moved out of the county over the five-year period.

Charlie Moss, Pemiscot County's presiding commissioner, said a lack of jobs has sent people packing.

"There are just none available here," Moss said.

Even a riverboat casino and a barge manufacturer haven't stemmed the tide. That's because many of the employees live in Kennett in Dunklin County or across the Mississippi River in Dyersburg, Tenn., he said.

Like other Southeast Missouri counties, Pemiscot's economy centers on agriculture. But increasingly farming relies on modern equipment rather than manual labor.

"There's not a lot of work for farm labor anymore," Moss said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123