[OKSpirit]

Husband accepted a position at Lockheed Martin. I am a Nurse, and prefer to work in hospital setting (floor). Will be house hunting in the local area mid July. Best public school??? fairview? Have elementary age child, horses, dogs. Love adult softball, and want an area where kid can continue rodeo, little league, swim team and music lessons. Is there a YMCA? I have been reading varied post and shudder at some of the posts (crime rate)... any advice. Is East Camden good? It is hard to find a selection of homes online... we will be working with a realtor. any comments or advice appreciated.

[partyharty]

My wife and myself are pretty much in the same position. There is a really good chance that we will be moving there in July as well (for my wife's job) and we are trying to find out more about the area. Housing cost's are really good right now (International paper shut down the paper mill there a few years ago and due to the loss of people/jobs there are a lot of houses for sale).

It is kind of amazing to me that there is so little information out there.

In Camden there is a Boys/Girls club however I think you have to go to El Dorado for a YMCA (its around 30 or so minutes away). My wife was really impressed by the school (camden fairview high school) when she went down to check it out and she said the administration appeared to be very helpful/approachable.

Hope this helps,
Chris

[OKSpirit]

Guess we will wait and canvas the area for a home. I have read several posts about the declining industry in Camden.... Does Lockheed Martin not support employment in the town?
Thank you Chris, for your reply.

[anjoe]

I live in Camden. My spouse works in the industrial park at Aerojet. Camden Fairview Schools are crowed and problems seem to start around 5th grade up. It's a good school that offers a lot but there is problem children there. Problems do start with the home enviroment these days, not the schools fault. We have (2) Christian Schools, one is Assembly of God ,Victory Christian School and Camden Christian Academy. Camden Christian Academy, Harmony Grove Camden School and Camden Fairview all have their own websites. Just google the names of the schools. There is a large Home School Group in the Camden area also if home schooling is a choice. Harmony Grove is a rural school 9 miles from Camden close to East Camden. I would not recommend East Camden for living. It was a nice area around 20-30 years ago when I was growing up and going to Harmony Grove School. There is crime and a lot of rental apartments and housing in East Camden. You can buy a home in the country around Harmony Grove or the Camden Fairview Area. There is also Hampton Schools in Hampton that is closer to the Industrial Park. Some say that they like Hampton Schools but the town of Hampton is very small with only 1 grocery store. Most go to Camden or El Dorado to shop. You have to be careful when looking for a home. They may tell you that a area is safe just to sell a house to you. Crime is everywhere, every town these days. Even in rural areas you have to be careful because there are some that will steal anything, anywhere. If you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them. We are getting a Wal-Mart Super Center in 12/08 so that's a good thing. There is a Boy's Girl's club that is very active with soccer and baseball/softball teams for kids. They is also a private swimming area called the Fairview Racquet Club (private paid membership) that has a swim team that does swim competitions in other towns. My spouse is an original Okie from Bartlesville, OK> He's been an Arkie for 33 years now. Welcome to our neck of the piney woods in South Arkansas!

[OKSpirit]

we did see a house that we thought we liked, and it was in the Hampton school district. Rt 4.... map quest couldn't track the address, so, I have no idea where it is. We also found one in Eldorado... Thanks for the advice Anjoe!!

[matto]

Camden...

[anjoe]

Hampton is Rural Route 4 area. There is also Locust Bayou which is between East Camden and Hampton. Usually is it's Route 4 then children go to Hampton School District. If it's a Ouachita County Rd. address if would be rural Harmony Grove, Bearden or Camden Fairview rural areas. There are some people that carpool from El Dorado to the Industrial Park. The nearest carpool route is usually from El Dorado, thru Hampton, Woodberry and then the Inustrial Park. If you decide to live in the El Dorado school district there is the Murphy Oil Company Promise where they have put 50 million dollars into a trust fund for the next 20 years to provide college tutition for kids that graduate from El Dorado. There is also the Smackover School District that is between El Doardo and Camden. It seems to be a nice rural school and not as large as El Doardo or Camden. At Hampton, there is a big rodeo every year at the annual Hogskin Festival and also there is a place near El Dorado where you can rent horses to ride, they give lessons, etc. There may even be a horse riding club somewhere is our area. Lockheed Martin is a good company to work for, so is Aerojet. You husband will probably like his new job. There is a few good companies still left in Camden. It's a shame that we had to lose some of our bigger companies. It seems to be a trade-off from Northwest Arkansas. Camden has a good few companies to work for but the scenery is not that spectacular than is Central to North Arkansas area. Most nearly all of the people that you will meet are friendly and helpful. Here to help if you need any!

[OKSpirit]

That spreads some light on the home on RR4, it does say Camden, but in Hampton school district. Is RR4 a busy road then? I am trying hard not to get all excited. My husband just wants to mark this off the list. I am thinking that we should just rent, in El Dorado, and then canvas the area until
we find what we are comfortable with. I like the idea of hampton being a rodeo local..... We have 4 horses, and although we are not serious rodeo people, we like to hope that our son's switch might turn on... and get competitive.

[partyharty]

Renting for around 6mo. is what we have decided to do as well. I have noticed online there is a lot of listings (with pretty reasonable prices) however it is best to know the area's prior to moving in.

[anjoe]

The main highway from East Camden to Hampton in Highway 274 East. The rural routes would be off of this highway. www.ezmls (broken link) has listings from around the Ouachita County area, which includes Hampton and Locust Bayou which is in the Harmony Grove School District. It usually will tell what school district the home is listed in. I also think that El Dorado is also included on the www.ezmls (broken link) list also. I wouldn't recommend renting anything in the East Camden area though. Lake Calion is also a nice rural area that has a very pretty lake. We have a friend that lives there and drives to Aerojet in East Camden each day. Calion Lake is between Hampton and El Dorado. I look at the ezmls list alot and I did see a beautiful log home on RR4 Hampton School District. I do believe that this house is on the edge of RR4 closer to the Industrial Area than Hampton but the kids go to school at Hampton. I do believe that this home would be closer to your husbands job at Lockheed that to Hampton Schools. They would ride the bus or be taken to school. I did have a friend once that lived in this area and she sent her children to the Harmony Grove School District. Hope this helps also.There is also a great baseball gamboree put on by the Camden Boy's and Girl's Club every spring. Loads of fun for the baseball family. They have a website but it is still under development. www.boysandgirlsclub (broken link) of camden.com