We are considering moving to Mountain Home, need opinions. (Little Rock: for sale, car insurance)
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We are considering moving to Mountain Home, need opinions.
We are considering moving to Mountain Home. We visited there only for a couple of days on our way back to Texas in June 2010. It looks very nice there. I have done some research but one important question that I have is about tornatoes. Does anyone know how often one may come through if at all? I know they have warnings and heard one went through a surrounding town but has MH actually been hit and how bad? If we do move there we want to be more in the country only within 5-10 miles from town. We like camping, hunting and fishing. I have always wanted to live in the mountains but not the northern states because there is too much snow. Have already been there, done that. Any info please would be appreciated.
Thank you. Mindy/Texas
I've lived near Mountain Home for over 30 years now and don't remember a tornado ever hitting Mountain Home directly, wind damage maybe. The tornado you speak of was in '08, I believe, and yes it was bad...it hit the town of Gassville which is just west of Mountain Home. That evening was catastophic for many in Arkansas....the town of Clinton was hit hard also. In my opinion, the worst part of our climate is the humidity! omg! Hurry October!
Mountain Home and the surrounding "twin lakes" area is a great place to live. We travel to either Harrison or Mountain Home for health care, shopping, etc. Not as many options compared to Branson, Springfield MO or Conway, Little Rock AR but you don't have to fight the traffic so much.
I have never been in the area for long, but hear positive things about Mountain Home. We had thought about looking there, but decided it was just a little far from what we wanted..As for tornados, there are no guarantees anyplace in the midwest or parts of the south that you will never have one, but it would be exceptionally unusual. If we worry about every possible naural disaster, we would have to live in heaven only.
Mindy,
I lived in Mountain Home for quite some time (13 years full time, sporadically since then), and still have family there. For a town of 10-20,000, I can honestly say I've never encountered a nicer overall place. The lakes are beautiful, crime is virtually nonexistent, the parks are nice, schools have a great reputation and often send kids to the top colleges, healthcare is exceptionally high-caliber (I'm in Little Rock now and am spoiled by the new UAMS facilities, but their hospital is the nicest/largest I've seen in a sub-50-70,000 person city without a doubt), and housing prices and cost of living are quite low. A lot of this is due to it being a large retirement area and its natural beauty, but it's a great place for retirees and families alike, in my opinion.
There's been quite a bit of growth there in the last several years with a lot of it occurring in generic commercial sprawl on the east end of town and gradual in-fill (and a newer, quite nice, country club I believe just turned ten years old) on the west end of town and the new Arkansas State University- Mountain Home campus, but it hasn't "exploded" and lost its atmosphere like so many other places have in the last decade.
That said, Mountain Home is still a small town (I haven't seen the latest figures, but it's a 12-13,000 or so person city serving a 30-40,000 person area as far as retail and services go, last I read) and there's not a lot of late-night activity, non-generic shopping, or fine arts. There has been some progress in the culture arena recently, they've always had a nice little arts theater and activities each week on the square, but they're apparently opening (or may have opened by now) a new community performing arts venue with art gallery on the ASU-MH campus and the new library (right next to the college) is supposedly quite impressive too.
On the tornado issue- my family lives on the end of town closer to where it actually hit- it happened as part of a huge storm system that spawned tornadoes all over the state. The one that hit Gassville (immediately west of Mtn. Home) did take out a few houses and a couple small businesses, but as far as tornadoes go, was pretty minor. There are always some rough storms there and the occasional warning, but in 13 years that's the only one I know of that was big enough to take out a house.
I know that's more than you probably wanted, but I hope it helps. If you have any more questions, fire away and I'll try to answer them when I can get on here.
Mountain Home gets a little boring sometimes, and heaven help you if you want to eat out after 9, but other than that it's not bad at all. One note though: if you're retiring, it's great. Looking for a job is a whole 'nother story.
Tornadoes aren't too frequent. Lots of warnings, lots of scary clouds, but very few actual "ZOMG Dorothy!" tornadoes. Keep some emergency supplies around though, cause if you live outside of town, you could lose power every once in awhile during storms.
You might even try Cotter. It's about 11 miles from MH (I grew up/went to school in Cotter), and tornadoes NEVER directly hit Cotter because of the bluff. Also, there are a lot of really nice houses for sale there, and for good prices. Good fishing too.
Sorry, but please think twice, or maybe more than twice...
If you're under 65 years old, don't do it. We moved to Mountain Home 4 1/2 years ago. There is very little social activity unless you are retired. Airports are far away. Shopping is limited to Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot. Fine dining is 2 restaurants. People are initially friendly but after they figure out you aren't going to join their church, that changes somewhat. The 2 year college is primarily medical focused. We mistakenly thought it was a 'real' college. On the plus side, the area is beautiful! The lakes and rivers are great. Lakes are uncrowded, even on weekends and in the summer. Property taxes are low. Utilities are reasonable. Since it's rural, car insurance is low. We like the climate. There are 4 distinct seasons. Overall though, knowing what I know now, I'd research locations more throughly, and choose somewhere else.
If you're under 65 years old, don't do it. We moved to Mountain Home 4 1/2 years ago. There is very little social activity unless you are retired. Airports are far away. Shopping is limited to Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot. Fine dining is 2 restaurants. People are initially friendly but after they figure out you aren't going to join their church, that changes somewhat. The 2 year college is primarily medical focused. We mistakenly thought it was a 'real' college. On the plus side, the area is beautiful! The lakes and rivers are great. Lakes are uncrowded, even on weekends and in the summer. Property taxes are low. Utilities are reasonable. Since it's rural, car insurance is low. We like the climate. There are 4 distinct seasons. Overall though, knowing what I know now, I'd research locations more throughly, and choose somewhere else.
I strongly disagree with the above post outside of the area's natural resources. Yes, it is a retirement area. However, social involvement is what you make of it- as I mentioned, there is very little nightlife (if that's what the above poster considers social activity), and what there is, I'm not going to recommend.
There are a lot of restaurants for a city that small, much of that is probably due to it's regional focus. There aren't many high-end restaurants (certainly enough to cover special occasions), but on a daily basis there are plenty of options (although, as one poster mentioned, after 9pm you're stuck with a few fast food places).
Shopping is also much better than most cities that size (anyone who thinks there isn't has not visited many 10-15,000 person cities), but not stellar. There's a lot of generic commercial strip mall development out by the Wal-Mart/Lowe's/Home Depot side of things that has basic clothing stores like TJ Maxx, Maurices, Cato, etc. and a Petco, Staples, etc, but nothing that's probably going to thrill you. There isn't a real mall- the old mall closed down, has supposedly been gutted and redeveloped, but the last time I was there I believe it was still entirely empty- I heard the developer has plans for it that involve a significant anchor in the former Wal-Mart, but who knows how long away that could be.
Airports- Well, it's a city of 12,000 people that isn't an urban suburb. Of course it doesn't have a large airport. It's within 3 hours of NWA Regional Airport, about 3 hours from Little Rock National Airport, and about 2-2.5 hours away from Springfield-Branson airport. They once offered small commercial service at Baxter Regional Airport (Mtn. Home), but I'm pretty sure it got cut with the recession.
I've never encountered anyone who was less friendly to me because I wouldn't go to their church. It is a pretty conservative area (a lot of that has to do with the retirees, I imagine), but I wouldn't consider it hostile or judgmental.
The college is largely focused on Nursing, Education, Mortuary Science, and Business, but does have other offerings, and they do offer 4-year bachelor's degrees (on-campus) from ASU. It's an extremely nice two year college with quite a few options if you want to get your bachelor's through the ASU system as well. Once again, not many 12,000 person towns have that (I have a sister doing a bachelor's there right now, as a matter of fact, and used to be a college admissions counselor for a top-tier state school, so the compliments for ASU-Mtn. Home are well deserved).
It's good to get opinions from everyone (provides balance) and I can understand why the above poster might have been disillusioned. It's not for everyone. If you want big malls, airports, and a hopping nightlife- don't move to a town with 12,000 people. I don't live there right now, and Mountain Home doesn't fit my wants/needs right now, but if I were looking to relocate to a city that size, I'd be hard pressed to think of a better one. Ultimately of course, only you will know if it's the right place for you. Spend a few days there, get to know the town, go to the lakes/rivers, and look around at houses, etc, and let us know what you think!
If you're under 65 years old, don't do it. We moved to Mountain Home 4 1/2 years ago. There is very little social activity unless you are retired. Airports are far away. Shopping is limited to Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot. Fine dining is 2 restaurants. People are initially friendly but after they figure out you aren't going to join their church, that changes somewhat. The 2 year college is primarily medical focused. We mistakenly thought it was a 'real' college. On the plus side, the area is beautiful! The lakes and rivers are great. Lakes are uncrowded, even on weekends and in the summer. Property taxes are low. Utilities are reasonable. Since it's rural, car insurance is low. We like the climate. There are 4 distinct seasons. Overall though, knowing what I know now, I'd research locations more throughly, and choose somewhere else.
Yes, I guess you should have done a little more research if you thought a 2 year college was a regular university and didn't realize a city the size of Mountain Home would not be terribly close to a major airport nor would it offer great shopping. These are usually the trade offs one accpets for the pleasure of small town life. Small towns are not known for 5 star dining.
When we choose to settle where we did we looked into all the above. That is why we choose Bella Vista. It did offer a better mixture and is closer to airports, dining choices and shopping. Even then, within our city we do not have even a 4 star restaurant, we are not next door to an airport and our shopping is Wal-Mart or drive 45 min to a mall. We have no real chain grocery stores, only Wal Mart and a couple smaller choices. We knew all this and decided, for us, it was a great local.
Why you choose Mountain Home I don't know. Because you have only posted one other time and that was 3 years ago it is hard to figure out. It would sound like you are retired but obviously not so you must work in the area.
ASUMH is a "real" college btw. You can get a 4-year degree there, not that that makes it real. They don't have dorms, but don't demean the education of others. (I didn't go to ASUMH, I went to a "real" college...and now have lots of student loan debt. I'm a little bitter.)
I think the main thing is how far are you willing to be away from things? If you go to church, you will have an easier time meeting people, but you certainly don't have to for people to like you/to get involved in things. I never went/go to church, but I managed to be involved, sometimes too involved. And I've never had anyone be hateful about me not going to their church...irritated maybe, a little confused, but never to the point that I wouldn't talk to them again.
Mountain Home is a nice town, the area is nice. Visit, stay a couple of days, drive around at all times, and see what you think.
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