Southern hospitality? Not here. (Ozark: homes, vacation, jobs)

[JGAngel97]

Reading the posts in this thread are very interesting.
I was born and raised in So. California, raised my kids there, got divorced there and then moved to Las Vegas, NV.

We visited AR on the free trip with NRPI in February. We have been looking for a place to go since neither of us likes it here in Las Vegas. We thought of AR as a backward, hick-filled state that gave us Bill and Hillary Clinton!

We came home three days later willing to be referred to as "hicks".
We did our research and found that NWA was a place that we would probably love to live.

This is what we found: Very friendly people. Bella Vista has a population that is above average in both education and income. AR is in the Bible Belt. (Yes, I am a Christian and proud of it. I am not, however, a bible-thumping, gun-toting, redneck wacko). Lots of historical sites to visit. Lots of lakes and rivers, etc. Green, green, green!

Will we like it there? I don't know. Do we want to change it into what we have now? Heck no! We are trying to get away from what we have now. Is is Utopia? Probably not. We are looking for a less-frantic, much calmer lifestyle. No casinos. No in-your-face smut. If that means that we have to put-up with "backward hicks" I'm all for it. Thinkin' about becoming one myself! LOL

We've gotten all kinds of info sent to us about the state. Most of it seems to be positive. We know people who have lived there and they think we will love it. I am a little concerned about the humidity, however and the dog-sized mosquitos?!

AR bashing posts are not very helpful. I would like to know the pros and cons as people who live there see them, preferrably without sarcasm. It simply isn't productive.

Look foward to reading more...

JGAngel97

[arguy1973]

Originally Posted by JGAngel97

Reading the posts in this thread are very interesting.
I was born and raised in So. California, raised my kids there, got divorced there and then moved to Las Vegas, NV.

We visited AR on the free trip with NRPI in February. We have been looking for a place to go since neither of us likes it here in Las Vegas. We thought of AR as a backward, hick-filled state that gave us Bill and Hillary Clinton!

We came home three days later willing to be referred to as "hicks".
We did our research and found that NWA was a place that we would probably love to live.

This is what we found: Very friendly people. Bella Vista has a population that is above average in both education and income. AR is in the Bible Belt. (Yes, I am a Christian and proud of it. I am not, however, a bible-thumping, gun-toting, redneck wacko). Lots of historical sites to visit. Lots of lakes and rivers, etc. Green, green, green!

Will we like it there? I don't know. Do we want to change it into what we have now? Heck no! We are trying to get away from what we have now. Is is Utopia? Probably not. We are looking for a less-frantic, much calmer lifestyle. No casinos. No in-your-face smut. If that means that we have to put-up with "backward hicks" I'm all for it. Thinkin' about becoming one myself! LOL

We've gotten all kinds of info sent to us about the state. Most of it seems to be positive. We know people who have lived there and they think we will love it. I am a little concerned about the humidity, however and the dog-sized mosquitos?!

AR bashing posts are not very helpful. I would like to know the pros and cons as people who live there see them, preferrably without sarcasm. It simply isn't productive.

Look foward to reading more...

JGAngel97

I dont know of any cons...humidity..yea it gets hot in the summer..but if one gets out in it alot..you will eventually get used to it...mosquitos..they arent that bad in town..most towns spray pretty frequently..and some places in AR dont even have mosquitos..for instance..Hardy, Mountain Home..feel free to dm me with any questions..

[Sam I Am]

Glad you enjoyed your trip! So BV is where you want to settle? What kind of time frame are you looking at, and are you seriously looking? (Sounds like it!)

If you will use the advanced search feature on the top of the page, probably many of your questions have been answered and you can read at your leisure rather than being bombarded with information...but I am sure the good people of NWA and BV in particular will be glad to answer anything you'd like to ask. It's such a great area, and growing so rapidly.

As for the dog sized mosquitos...get really big dogs and then the mosquitos don't look so bad. If you have a Toto dog, though, it could fly away in a black cloud and never be seen again! I actually can't speak for BV itself, but I know there has been a lot of talk everywhere in the state about how brutal the mosquitos have been this year. I think maybe because we had a very long and wet, cool spring and have actually had (in our area, anyway) more rainfall than normal.

It is humid - no doubt, although the further north you get and the higher you get, you might get a little relief. Today it is gorgeous, with 31% humidity and 80 degrees in the River Valley, about 100 mi. SE of BV. Perfect day!

[happymom4]

Originally Posted by elainebenes

A few days ago someone told me to check out the Rebel Flag/Gun Rack thread in the Arkansas section. I did, and was amazed at what I read. I've spent time going through many other threads in the Arkansas section as well, and I'm trying to figure out where this "Southern Hospitality" thing is. I don't think it's in Arkansas.

It seems that your state suffers all too often from jokes having to do with backwards/overly religious/hunting crazy/Wal-Mart shopping/flag waving fanatics. I've seen nothing to change my mind after reading many of the posts in this section. People ask simple questions about your state and get the common "We like who we are, so leave us alone" response A LOT!

I've spent time in the Alabama, Missisissippi, and North Carolina sections of the forum and not seen any of the poor attitude that's around here.

Far away in Oregon, I guess my thoughts about your state have been solidified.

Wow, that's pretty harsh...I love Arkansas, it's a beautiful state full of kind people...I've always been welcomed with warm "southern hospitality" when we go visit. My husband has tons of people there and I love to visit their friendly state.
I think it's a very unfair assumption of you to make on a state and the people there without visiting and only from the views of a message board.
Besides, who knows, the people posting in the Arkansas forum that you find rude, could be from Oregon...one never knows

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by JGAngel97

Reading the posts in this thread are very interesting.
I was born and raised in So. California, raised my kids there, got divorced there and then moved to Las Vegas, NV.

We visited AR on the free trip with NRPI in February. We have been looking for a place to go since neither of us likes it here in Las Vegas. We thought of AR as a backward, hick-filled state that gave us Bill and Hillary Clinton!

We came home three days later willing to be referred to as "hicks".
We did our research and found that NWA was a place that we would probably love to live.

This is what we found: Very friendly people. Bella Vista has a population that is above average in both education and income. AR is in the Bible Belt. (Yes, I am a Christian and proud of it. I am not, however, a bible-thumping, gun-toting, redneck wacko). Lots of historical sites to visit. Lots of lakes and rivers, etc. Green, green, green!

Will we like it there? I don't know. Do we want to change it into what we have now? Heck no! We are trying to get away from what we have now. Is is Utopia? Probably not. We are looking for a less-frantic, much calmer lifestyle. No casinos. No in-your-face smut. If that means that we have to put-up with "backward hicks" I'm all for it. Thinkin' about becoming one myself! LOL

We've gotten all kinds of info sent to us about the state. Most of it seems to be positive. We know people who have lived there and they think we will love it. I am a little concerned about the humidity, however and the dog-sized mosquitos?!

AR bashing posts are not very helpful. I would like to know the pros and cons as people who live there see them, preferrably without sarcasm. It simply isn't productive.

Look foward to reading more...

JGAngel97

I too was born and raised in California. we have lived in all parts of the state, the Washington DC area, Dallas and now NM. next year we will be moving to Bella Vista and can hardly wait. This weekend is yard sale time (getting rid of junk so we can get our house ready to sell. We too are concerned about creatures and the humidity, but the pros seem to outweigh the cons. Maybe we will run into you along the way. good luck,

Nita

[Cubancoffee]

Many Arkansans do have a chip on their shoulder, a defensive response to being looked down upon by the rest of the nation (and many decades of the state university competing against nothing but Texas schools in the old Southwest Conference). The good people of Arkansas have a hard time being gracious, sometimes, because they've been burned so often.

[arguy1973]

Originally Posted by Cubancoffee

Many Arkansans do have a chip on their shoulder, a defensive response to being looked down upon by the rest of the nation (and many decades of the state university competing against nothing but Texas schools in the old Southwest Conference). The good people of Arkansas have a hard time being gracious, sometimes, because they've been burned so often.

I dont know any Arkansans that give a hoot what the rest of the nation thinks of us..

[Cubancoffee]

I am only a native Arkansan, so you can take that for what it's worth, and I can assure you that people from our state our very well aware of, and sensitive to, how we are perceived, no matter how much we say we aren't. We protest because we have a bit of an inferiority complex.

[mspond1]

My daughter is hoping to get into a college in Arkansas. We live in Connecticut. She gets teased by her friends...I tell her to remind them that Arkansas produced a president who was a Rhodes scholar. Connecticut gave birth to George W. Bush. So who should be laughing at whom?

[arguy1973]

Originally Posted by Cubancoffee

I am only a native Arkansan, so you can take that for what it's worth, and I can assure you that people from our state our very well aware of, and sensitive to, how we are perceived, no matter how much we say we aren't. We protest because we have a bit of an inferiority complex.

native here too..and I guess it depends on whom one hangs out with..whether one cars or not..and I certainly dont have a inferiority complex..lol..thats just funnyif anything Im proud to be from ARk and wouldnt want to be ANYWHERE else