[gosaints]

Pine Bluff has a terrible reputation, and much of that is earned/deserved and some is not. That said, I have lots of friends that have lived in that part of Arkansas and have never had an issue. The general rule seems to be avoid living in Pine Bluff proper and when visiting, know where to go / not go and what times to go / not go.

Here are some cities around Pine Bluff that seem to meet your need that you can check out: Watson Chapel, White Hall, Rison, Star City, Monticello, Sheridan, Friendship/Woodlawn (leaving some out, I'm sure). To me, none of these are bad choices if you are commuting to work in the prison system in the PB area. Narrowing the choice among these is more a function of preference and I don't know enough about your preferences to guide you between those locations. (As examples: Require a short commute or is 40 minutes OK? Want neighbors close by or don't want anyone within a 1 mile or more? Like to have several sit down restaurant choices within 10 miles or eat out so rarely that it's really not important? Have kids to put in school?) The importance of those preferences could narrow this list even further.

[EnisledLady]

Still stuck in Montana but longing to get to Arkansas. I really enjoy seeing all the variety of responses my original question has gotten. Keep them coming folks!!! thanks

[Bruce81]

Arkansas is 1 of the most beautiful states i have ever been in, but you should reconsider going to Pine Bluff. Since i had heard many bad things, i was just curious what the fuss was all about so i went there for a smal drive. Its pretty run down, and has this eerie feeling and that was like at noon. I cant imagine how it is at night. We wanted to get a postcard or a pepsi and maybe i was in the wrong part of town(I was in downtown) and the only thing we ran into was a lake(which was beautiful) but no place to get a soda or ect. The surroundings of Pine Bluff is gorgeous, trees, and more trees, but i honestly would never move my family there. Now Little Rock, thats a nice town!

[Luvvarkansas]

Originally Posted by gosaints

Here are some cities around Pine Bluff that seem to meet your need that you can check out: Watson Chapel, White Hall, Rison, Star City, Monticello, Sheridan, Friendship/Woodlawn (leaving some out, I'm sure). .

To be more specific, none of these would qualify as "cities" (especially Star City!)

Here is a post I made in response to someone else asking about Pine Bluff that you may find interesting:

Pine Bluff is definitely not somewhere you'd want to live right in the middle of. There are some small communities right outside of Pine Bluff, though, that you might want to consider if you like country living. One in particular area that we always go through on our trips to Arkansas is south of Pine Bluff on Hwy. 15 (that's the number my (old) map shows, but I thinking the road signs say something different). Anyway, it is between Pine Bluff and Warren, and it goes through little communities like Pinebergen, Calmer, Pansy....very pretty countryside, rolling hills, farms, very nice. Not much for rent, I'm sure, but when you start looking for a place to settle, you might want to keep it in mind. One of the little communities in there even has its own little school, and it looks very nice. For the life of me, I can't remember which one it is....maybe some others here can help me out on that.

Every time I go through there, I think, "If I had to work in Pine Bluff, this is where I'd live!"

[Bail_Khan]

I wouldn't live in Pine Bluff, but then I wouldn't be a guard in a prison either. Maybe you have extremely thick skin. Please don't buy anything without seeing it first though.

[ThumperGal]

Stay out of Pine Bluff. Like one of the other posters said, the reason everything is so cheap (housing) is because no one wants to buy here. You want to leave Montana for Pine Bluff? Think long and hard, because once you are here, you may be stuck with a house you can't get rid of. For shopping, nothing but Wal-mart and a mall full of shoe stores. Move to one of the smaller towns, Sheridan, Rison, or if you want more convience, Little Rock.

[ThumperGal]

Little Rock, they haven't had speed boat races in Pine Bluff in YEARS! Granted, Harbor Oaks is a great place to play golf but that's hardly a reason to move to this Hell Hole of a town. Those of us that are negatively commenting know....we are all stuck having to live here! I'd move in a minute, if I could transfer to Mt. Ida. My company doesn't have any plants there, which is sad.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by ThumperGal

Little Rock, they haven't had speed boat races in Pine Bluff in YEARS! Granted, Harbor Oaks is a great place to play golf but that's hardly a reason to move to this Hell Hole of a town. Those of us that are negatively commenting know....we are all stuck having to live here! I'd move in a minute, if I could transfer to Mt. Ida. My company doesn't have any plants there, which is sad.

I second Thumpers thoughts on Mt. Ida! Little slice of heaven. Pine Bluff? The opposite of heaven.

[EnisledLady]

and yet another reason why I want so desperately to get out of Montana and move to Arkansas... I posted a reply to a query raised by someone who wanted to move to the town I now live in Montana. They wanted to know what others thought of the area and so I responded, stating how my husband and I moved there 7 years and hate the place. I went on to explain how poverty ridden and toxic polluted the area is. About the meth lab busts we have seen police swat squads running across the field next to us to bust. How unless you are rich the only entertainment is bars and casinos on every corner (even the laundry mat has a casino sheesh). how the area has multiple superfund sites to clean up the toxins etc etc. I used no foul language. I was polite about about my opinion. and what happened? My post was deleted MOD EDITI am one ofthe people of that town. I live in just one of the areas that is drug infestedand crime ridden. and mine is not the only neighborhood like that. Drive down any street any time of day and see the drug addicts and drunks. see the delapidated and poverty ridden neighborhoods that take up at least half of the town. And this is a relatively small town of 30k Montana is rated among the top meth lab and addiction areas of the country. Seems like if you don't want to blow smoke and sunshine up the wazoo, you better keep your mouth shut. By all means lets help keep the secret Montana wants to keep that it is not the beautiful last best place on the frippin planet. Yes I am having a bad frippin hair day! One can only hope a thunderbolt will shoot out of the sky and blast me out of this state and half way cross country to Arkansas where I want to be. (ARGGGHHH - that was a muffled scream of frustration) I have been reading posts all over the arkansas site and have never once seen a deleted post because someone mentioned there was crime, poverty or other problems with an area. (having vented that she keels over and smacks her head on the keyboard...)

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by EnisledLady

(having vented that she keels over and smacks her head on the keyboard...)

There's a local radio station...has a slogan.

"Hunt when you must, play when you can, and rest in between".

C'mon over.

We got "rehab".