I live here, it's not as bad as you make it, it's quiet and friendly, we don't have a lot of crime, prices and taxes are low. In Illinois we paid $2,500/yr for a house on 1/2 acre, here we paid $500/yr for a house on 8 acres. Yes, on Sundays it's not jumping busy, don't care.

Keep traveling folks. Thanks for visiting.

I use to luve in West Plains,Mo. My Children still live there. It's a Beautiful little town and I Miss Home so much! Take You're time and explore all of the Great things West Plains has to offer! It's Amazing!!

As a native of West Plains, and former military, I have been to many places within the United States and the world. I can tell you that West Plains is a wonderful town and community that unfortunately you couldn't possibly experience in the few minutes you passed through on Sunday. It may be shocking to some, but on Sunday many people go to Church, and the Stores close.

I grew up a couple of hours north of there. Any Missouri small town is dead on the weekend. The population is either at a lake, drinking beer, or both.

I came across this video by accident, but watched since I grew up in West Plains, graduating from high school and starting college there. I moved away for a job, but have visited multiple times over the past 38 years and I still have relatives who live there. West Plains isn't for everyone, no town is perfect for everyone. But for all the people who might watch this video who have never spent any time there the town is far better than presented here. West Plains is, and for decades has been, the hub of the area for shopping, medical care, and education beyond high school. To do better a person probably typically travels to Springfield, about a two hours drive west. Yes, Washington Avenue used to be the epicenter of West Plains. I know because I worked for four years at Richards Brothers Dry Goods immediately after I graduated from high school. I have all the great memories of Richards Brothers yearly anniversary sale and Christmas time when the downtown merchants gave away a car yearly in a drawing. But, as with most small town downtown areas, strip shopping centers and a highway bypass spell their spiral down. As MODOT likes to say, "Progress as Promised." Anyway, West Plains always has been a pretty good place to live and I imagine and hope it will be in the future. GO ZIZZERS!

Shops are closed on Sundays. Not uncommon.

I live in West Plains .... Washington st. and the square are always like that on a Sunday .

I have a friend that lives in West Plains, nice quiet place to live.

If you come to West Plains on Sunday, everything is closed. I relocated from the DC area to West Plains and never looked back. West Plains is actually the largest Missouri town around for two hours. You happened to miss the shopping center, which is the hub of activity, by not going down route 160. West Plains is a Mecca for recreational activities. The great Ozark Trail starts at its back door. Nearby you’ll find hiking, biking, unbelievable horseback riding trails, camping, fishing, kayaking, and boating.

No body in there right mind would be in town when there's numerous spring fed streams to swim in

City folks crack me up !

I loved west plains. People were so friendly to us, roads were clean, grass along the roads were green and cut. Im from California looking for a small town like west plains to raise our family. Family values are important to these folks and I appreciate everyone of them

Huh? Very hard to understand. The whole family sounded like marble salesmen with a mouth full of samples...

I grew up there and graduated as a Zizzer there. My heart will always be there.

It's Sunday drive by a church and you will see everyone. Most of the stores close at four. The big attractions are on the near by rivers. Hibbeys is the best place to eat. Most people live outside of town. This place is great beats a big city.

Some people worship God on sunday, and not joy ride aimlessly with no coherent thoughts.

I live in West Plains, downtown is empty on Sunday's , everybody is at Wal Mart, Bumper to Bumper traffic atleast that part of town, passing through dosen't make justice spend a day here its not as bad as you think, Alot of small businesses are closed on Sundays but that's the way its always been and probably will be..

I grew up in this area. The reason there wasnt many stores open downtown is because it was Sunday. You didnt drive around and see the rest of the town that surrounds downtown. Was kinda a bad review of this town . Sorry

Used to live just north of there in mountain view. Man I miss that area. Drove those same roads. Thanks

The population of West plains is closer to 12,000. No declining here. You didn't even cover the bulk of town. On Sunday no one is open on the square and Washington Ave. The bulk of business that is open is off preacher roe Blvd every day of the week. On Sunday everyone is at the lake, enjoying their day off. You did not show the hospital, the college or the country club area. We have 4 Casey's, 2 McDonald's, 2 Taco bell, Colton steak house, ruby Tuesday, the best catfish place in the area. We have a tractor supply, harbor freight, Walmart, big lots and many more business. We also have an excellent school system for our kids and sports of all kinds. We have a kiddie park, the city park, bowling alley and roller skate place. We have a civic center that has concerts and college sports. Drive thru all of town before you bash a place. Stop and shop or eat a bit before you talk negatively about a town.

I love our small towns . Especially the old downtown buildings . We live in a beautiful state .

Jose it is so refreshing to see you be patient with Katie. I myself have worked with those with special needs and know how frustrating it can be. Next time you guys swing by, watermelon slushes are on me!

I stay in West Plains, Missouri at the Baymont By Wyndham you mentioned least once a year to attend family activities in Willow Springs and I can tell you it is a very healthy town. So I don't see the point of your video title.

My parents used to have a cattle ranch about 20 miles north of West Plains, so I have been there many times. It hasn't changed much since the 1980s. That stretch of empty storefronts north of the courthouse square has been that way for decades, and nobody seems to know what to do about it. There is a lot going on in this part of MIssouri, but not on Sunday, when most things are closed.

at the top of the hill on the right the old home I once lived in.

We were just there a couple weeks ago. I have lots of family there. Pretty common for small towns to be dead on sunday.

I used to live here. I moved 3 years ago I went to the school and loved it. It was pretty sad leaving

This is a fantastic town with wonderful people. On Sunday most are in church. We have tons of great businesses and a great community.

As a person who has basically lived there almost there entire life, the downtown is basically always empty on a non work day.And most of those building are over 100 years old. And it’s not crap literally it was a church day and 90% of our population goes to church. As well as it is very fun. Especially bc our basketball girls won state last semester. I’m not trying to be rude at all, but you have to live there to know what it’s like. I know that it may not seem all that great but it is and there is a lot more people than it may seem.

The streets are nice and clean. No trash or litter. Like the old time buildings and shops. Hope some of them are still in business.

You only seen part of West Planes , lot more to it than what you all seen . Don't trust a GPS in my area it will take you someplace other then you wanted to go . GPS takes people 10 miles past my home they have to call they get lost in the Mark Twain forest . the first Exit Porter Waggoner would of saved you 3 minutes . than going to CC AKA Gibson St . after leaving the town square you should of took business 63 south back to the HWY . Next trip back let me know i buy ya a beer at Muggs .

the bass pro shop is the pyramid on the river.

Is there any reasonably priced land around there for homesteaders to farm on?

West Plains is a lot bigger than what you showed, and it is definitely not vacant. It's one of the busiest towns in the area.

As a citizen of west plains it is amazing and if you come on down there will be a racetrack a theater and a movie theater there are 2 McDonald's and now 2 Taco bell's and 1 KFC and Arby's. Please come we would love to meet you, and I can't not forget the Wendy's and 2 subway the fast food and some extras like domino's and Little Caesars. There used to be a Pizza Hut and there is a Walmart and Aldi's and they mentioned doughnut palace which I totally recommend they are amazing we are great friends with them. And I am only 10 but I do know the mayor and he is amazing. And also they talk about how some of the stores weren't open maybe because you were in historical downtown, but it's ok because maybe they didn't know. There is also Soccer fields, Basketball courts, track, baseball fields, tennis courts, and I think 5 parks. Oh, and I can't forget Dairy Queen and Sonic, also we have 2 snowcone stands, city pool, and a country club. And that wraps it up oh, and the fairgrounds and churches, alright bye come visit.

Moving here next year is it nice?

Hardees here in Springfield is almost always super busy.

I've been living here since my family moved me here since 2001 as kid moved from south Florida town Leah high Acres Florida. Graduated from high school in 2008 still living here outside of town though. The towns okay but living here for a few years its slow growing town that they want to keep it as a retirement town we where supposed to get a Lowes and A Homedepo and Manards but that never happened. We need more better shopping stores and groceries we need more better paying jobs the town could use A mall.

It seems to me that the couple in the car judge the quality of life by the size of the Bass Pro shop or basically any other large box store. This might make for cute banter but it means you have basically written off a large proportion of the entire world. Beautiful villages in England, glorious French vineyards, tiny mountain villages in the Alps... None of which have a Bass Pro. Making a single pass through a small town on a Sunday and declaring it empty only shows your lack of understanding about the area through which you are passing. Many parts of America and in fact around the world, still consider Sunday a day of rest. Many are in Church, some are home, some use it as a time to go visit. They are not up and down Main Street. We all like the weekend off.... including those working on "Main Street". (Which by the way is not West Plains main street). Contrary to this very ill informed little video, West Plains is a very busy place. So it is known, Donut Place has the best donuts I have ever tasted (way better than Krispy Kreme's).....but, yes, the restaurant selection does suck. The town has it's problems, as do they all, but judging a town in this way is unfair and judgemental. You can't look at a tiny corner of a painting and tell anything about it....same goes for a whole community of people. We like a more quiet way of living. We want our Sundays to ourselves, our Church or our fishing. If we wanted Memphis ( Homesides up by 58% between 2019 and 2020 to almost 350, home break ins, even higher ) then we would live there. No, thank you..... You can keep it.

Perfect, leave the left and diversify out!

Crazy almost 10,000 views and we almost didnt do this video 🤯 figured its too small of a town

You guys forgot to do the other side of west plains if you turned right instead of left at end of video would have seen the movie theater and the rest of the shopping area where you will always find people. On Sundays ain’t much open and hardly any business down town. But all in all their ain’t shit to do in this town unless you drive to Springfield

My grandparents live in WP.

you guys still riding around

Nice ride !🙂

Igrew up in Pottersvill, Mo 8 miles out kk

You happened to drive by one of the Best Fish Restaurants in South Central Missouri.... The Fish Shack! Best Catfish anywhere.

Great town to visit and Live in!! Not good for criminals.

Once you mute the volume and just watch the video it's a lot better.

The video was quite a bit more interesting after muting the asinine commentary.

Casey's is based, fuel wise anyway. Out of Hartford IL. Which is considered part of Metro St Louis. Ot is a regionally operated company.

Are they friendly with color people? Only asking cuz i will be new

Y’all don’t even know😔(it sucks I live here)

A little bit of trivia for you. Casey’s General Stores is a an Iowa based comvienience store chain. They are headquartered in Des Moines our state capital. I’ve been through West Plains many times in my life traveling between my hometown in southeast Iowa and when I lived in Arkansas. I enjoy your channel and videos! Mark in Iowa. A side note from, I’m also a Toyota owner! Mark.

All of those downtown stores are actively in business, they’re closed on Sunday. They’re not in decline. Hard concept for you to comprehend. Branson is near there and packed with tourists, has Table Rock Lake and is a beautiful area. But what would you know about anything.

I live in Missouri west plains

On a Sunday everyone trying to get a bit of praise from the Preacher. Some go to the lake. Some make fun of a great Christian home town.

I live in West Plains. At about 3:50 when you said you were sure the food sucks, you would be right. I grew up in this town. Moved to Phoenix for 15 years, things happen, and I am back. I miss bigger city life and will probably move again eventually. I came back to help take care of my dad who is 83 years old. Good video man. When I moved back, I did a video tour and put it on my youtube channel to show friends back in Phoenix.

Because it was Sunday

i live here and a lot of people do go to church and sundays ussaully arn't that busy

8:23 Bought my first guitar here.

you missed walmart that is a bit newer and nicer looking.

I lived here for over 14 years and there isn't much unless your going to the lake. And that's not just on Sunday's. I find it interesting that so many are commenting on how everybodys is in church on Sunday's. I find it interesting that of all the places I've lived (and there have been many) nowhere have I encountered so much callousness and self-righteousness as I have living here in West Plains. As far as crime goes it's statistically higher here than the national average, particularly property crime and theft.

DONT COME BACK !!! 🙂

Stay survive the best way you can. Pray pray pray

I moved from Alabama to west plains in March 2023 and there’s definitely no resemblance to Dothan Alabama. I’ve been the Dalton many times. There’s not a single resemblance to it.

2 cannabis shops but med only, sad.

I live in West Plains. You are about 90% correct about pretty much everything here. Sundays are dead as a morgue

I bet there a lot of towns like that in the U.S., towns with population decline and town square with businesses closed and decayed and there are some towns flourish and booming

i have lived is missouri west plains for my whole ife plus theres 2 chinese restarunts and japan ones idk why people say its a same toown its actually not really

Once you got there it looked like it had just been abandoned or evacuated

i live in missouri west plains

Grew up here and you couldn’t pay me enough money to ever go back. The comments here crack me up. “People go to church!” Okay, people go to church everywhere. “There’s no crime!” There’s way more crime than the national average. It’s emptying out completely bc the older generation would rather see the town die than change at all from the 1950s.

This place might seem beautiful but if you've not lived here recently you'd understand why the population would decrease. It's a very deceiving town and for sure not one to raise a family in anymore no matter what anyone says for any reason!! This town is what one calls a death trap and it's no joke !

What a miserably annoying video. All people have to do is listen to your mindless banter for the first few minutes of the video and know past that point this review is either satire or there may not be enough oxygen in your car... either way, we only watched the remainder of your review as a joke. If you're the kind of person who needs to have it explained why a small town square is empty on a Sunday, then you are the kind of person who needs to stay on HWY 63 and keep going south to Memphis. I've been in many places all over the world and I am more than proud to call West Plains home.

We lived there for a short time back in 2015. It was boring then and sad to see it even worse now.

Katie, you better start treating Jose better! 😅😅😅just kidding 😉😉😉

You guys aren't very bright lol. How can you judge a town by just driving around for a bit. As for downtown. You literally came on a Sunday afternoon. Most normal people close their business on the weekends in small towns. And we are far from being in decline. Maybe you shouldn't insult a place just because you drove around for a few minutes and it wasn't hopping like Vegas 24/7.

Nobody is out and about on Sundays, because they're all at home cooking speed on Sundays

I hate Missouri I hate west plains! There is no good jobs here! If I had my choice I would go back to Philadelphia pa! There is nothing to do here for fun no adult places to go for a good time! Gotta drive to Springfield for some excitement

The worst thing that ever happened to me was growing up here in the 80s. Richard's represent. Nothing good happens in west plains.

Would be better w/o the singing and annoying chatter...

Looks depressing compared to lively Florida

They racist down there

Not a bad place to retire, area is a food desert , taxes are cheap, property used to be cheap but that’s changing fast , people in general a narrow minded and bordering on racist , fairly clickish, if you spend time in the area one can see there is a fair amount of inbreeding that goes on , very shallow gene pool , a lot of meth use in the area and poverty would not recommend the area to young people looking to make a living , very slow paced , lack of services , nothing really for young people except to get high and get pregnant, but it’s the rural south so the I Q is what you would expect, geography of area is pretty though, Walmart is a real freak show scary humans in there , why abortion should be allowed..

Click bait