[hsharp]

Sarahmorgan,

I hope you are still thinking of moving to Arkansas! I am from here (Little Rock), but have lived in Ill, Mo, and MN and truly think Arkansans are some of the nicest people in the world! All the posters above have given great suggestions. Although I live and work in Little Rock and love it, I also love NW ARkansas. I have relatives that live in Lowell and travel up there quite a bit. The cost of living is a little more as the cost of housing is a little more in that area, but it's so beautiful its almost worth it. Little Rock is really pretty as well. Good luck and blessings to you and your family!
Hollie

[venshore2003]

What about Heber Springs or Greers Ferry. We are thinking of moving there because it looks so beautiful with a large lake and the river w/mountain views.

[Greenmon]

We lived here in the Flippin -Yellville area now for 3+ years, growing slow, but will fill in next 15yrs from Mountain Home down to Yellville. Great place to raise a family or retire. CDLs are in demand all over no problem. The schools here score very high statewide and nationally, low crime. We came from SOCAL, i am a native Cal. lived from Bay area to bottom, have no regrets. Here we have Clean Air ,water, mild winters,summers too. Lakes , rivers ,wildlife, provide plenty of recreation, and FIshing galore-Bass,Trout,Catfish, Walleye. Roadrunners,(yes),Herons, Eagles, Red Cardinals,BLue birds, Woodpeckers, real frogs, and turtles. Canoeing in rivers here.Your kids would love this place, when my 11yr old son came to visit from CA, we shot targets from our front porch, and shot fireworks with no one to bother us! real Nice People , very friendly helpful. Take a look at BLue Eye AR and Ohmaha , Ar. near Branson,Mo where you can be near entertainment, and great shopping, and SIlver Dollar City a place for the kids to have fun. Check out the Peel Ferry, near here, one of the last working lake ferrys in AR. Look into recent tax changes in MO. they raised their gas tax. Love this Natural State of ours,(Arkansas) . For Cost, you can find a House to rent cheap here, plus get land with it!

[sunrizentx]

My husband & I live in Tx., but his job brought us to Conway in Feb. We have really enjoyed being here. We have found good Drs. & a vet clinic we are very pleased with. Any thing you need you can find in Conway & if you can't ' Little Rock is close. We really like it here, it is so beautiful. The people are friendly. The job opportunities are plentiful. I think it would be a wonderful place to raise children. Good luck!

[venshore2003]

Originally Posted by venshore2003

What about Heber Springs or Greers Ferry. We are thinking of moving there because it looks so beautiful with a large lake and the river w/mountain views.

I flew to Memphis Tennessee and rented a car. The money I saved flying here instead of Little Rock paid for my rental car as well as my motel. When I got to Heber Springs I knew that this was not for me because there are no nice resturants, no fancy hotels, malls, hospitals or epress ways close by. You have to drive everywhere out of town to find any of these much needed amenities. But on the other side of the coin, there is a low crime rate, nice people, and a very pretty lake. So I drove about 20 miles to Fairfield Bay which is country club living and very beautiful. The hills going up and down the mountain can be compared to the first hill on a roller coaster. It is a big agjustment from driving on flat land in Florida to these big hills and very sharp curves. I do not think I could drive in the rain, at night, or in the snow. But Fairfield Bay had everything I could ever want in terms of club house, pool, tennis, golf, breath-taking views of the lake and mountains. I found a beautiful stone house with the golf course in the back yard, a water fall, and the mountains as my view from the deck. This house was on the market for 139,000. In Florida I would have had to pay around 450,000 for the same house with no view. So if you like mountain driving, fishing, little crime, and the country club lifestyle I would recommend Fairfiled Bay. I asked how far a hospital and town is from my beautiful house and was told Clinton is close by and has a newer hospital and is very fast growing towm. I drove there and found it to be homey with nice people.

[Greenmon]

We live in No Central Arkansas, Kids here are very happy, Mountain Home area is very safe has a good school system and a College, NWArkansas is still growing , just slower, great area , also has lakes , rivers, water falls, caves to explore. Has Colleges and good schools, SOcial , Churches . ****Plenty of things for your Kids to do, Canoeing , Fishing, water sports, Hiking, + more...You can contact me directly , my bother in law drives Truck, with his WIfe, SOn, does well, can give you a lot of info, and help with Job- they are positive fair people.
Oh on rental, no problem staying under 800 for a house even with some land around this area, you can look just outside the larger towns for deals, try owner financing on a Home when your ready, just make sure to have an attorney look at the papers to be safe. have a Great ThanksGiving.

[sarahann]

Do not move to Guy. That is my advice. Small towns in Arkansas are big on being against outsiders unless your child is a great sport player. The people that have grown up there do not like "new" people much rolling in on their turf so to speak. Childish but that is the way it is.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by sarahann

Do not move to Guy. That is my advice. Small towns in Arkansas are big on being against outsiders unless your child is a great sport player. The people that have grown up there do not like "new" people much rolling in on their turf so to speak. Childish but that is the way it is.

btw, this thread is so old, I doubt the op is even still on here. If they decided to make the move they are probably already settled. Not all small towns are the way you say, btw. I think it depends on what part of AR you choose to make your home.

Nita

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by nmnita

btw, this thread is so old, I doubt the op is even still on here. If they decided to make the move they are probably already settled. Not all small towns are the way you say, btw. I think it depends on what part of AR you choose to make your home.

Nita

It also all depends on what your definition of small town is!! Some people would consider Fort Smith or Conway small towns. I would say it's a bit unwise to move some town with fewer than 500 people if you have no connections to the area or if you aren't VERY willing to just immediately buy into the local culture and power base. Usually in tiny little towns, most of the commercial property is owned one or two people and they more or less dictate a lot of what happens. If you're an outsider and don't side with them then your life could become pretty miserable because they usually have the mayor and city council, sheriff, constable, what have you, in their back pocket. That's small town living though, I'm sure it's no different in tiny towns all over the country.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by nmnita

btw, this thread is so old, I doubt the op is even still on here. If they decided to make the move they are probably already settled. Not all small towns are the way you say, btw. I think it depends on what part of AR you choose to make your home.

Nita

You're right. Greenwood is very against outsiders but somewhere like Van Buren or Alma might be a little more open.

And Ft. Smith has the atmosphere of a town much smaller than it is, mostly due to the good-ole-boy network there, and Conway functions as a suburb of Little Rock. The atmosphere of a place has a lot to do with how it is perceived.