Concerns about moving to Little Rock (Fort Smith, Fayetteville: lawyer, salary, jobs)

[Stormcrow73]

I think Fayetteville would be a great fit too...all except for the work. Not much real industry there. In IT you'd probably do ok but your husband might have some issues.

You might want to check with LM Glassfiber, they are building a brand new facility and HQing their North American operations in LR. There is also a company called Wellspun which is about to locate in LR. They probably aren't hiring for here yet but in the course of the next year or so, LM expects to staff up to about 1000 employees so they'll for sure need QA and there aren't a lot of those around here! Also, Dassault Falconjet is a major employer and would be hiring QA. Many of the smallish employers around here hire AR first but the likes of Falconjet and LM and Wellspun will be likely to hire from outside and you should have no problems getting a phone interview so long as they have positions available and the quals are good. There is also the IC Corp bus plant just up the road in Conway. You could live in Maumelle or NLR (15 minutes from downtown) and the commute to IC would be about 30 minutes or less and would be against traffic. For IT, Acxiom would be an obvious choice but I've heard they're somewhat of a revolving door.

Hope this helps.

[westlittlerock]

The little rock job market is growing like any other southern city. It is not as big as Dallas or Los Angeles but it has some perks. The up side is that there is a lot of personal income growth in Little Rock.

[defiance]

Yeah, I've known quite a number of people now that worked at axciom, and revolving door is a good way to describe it - two of the people I know that worked there were laid off, 4 moved to different companies (in part because of the instability), and only one continues to work there to this day.

Alltel is great for IT (I work there - in marketing, but I'm basically a liason between marketing and it), we're continuously hiring IT positions ranging from help desk positions to client/server developers to database admins, and the pay is pretty decent. We just got bought out, so there are some concerns about stability, but having worked pretty closely with some of the TPG (buyer) consultants now, this buyout isn't a pump'n'dump - they're far too interested in mid-term strategy (5-year range) for that. I'm pretty sure they're doing a build-up and returning us to public via IPO - and if I'm right, opportunities for advancement will actually increase.

[DeeDee77]

This is great information!
What are the main circulation newspapers in Little Rock?

[Sam I Am]

THE main paper...Arkansas Democrat Gazette. If you open a competing paper, I'll beat a path to your door!

You can get the online version...I think you have to pay for some articles or you can buy it online...not sure, with a regular paper subscription you get access to most stuff anyway.

Arkansas Online

[Art Brunje]

Originally Posted by DeeDee77

Thank you for all the insight!!

The more I read and research LR sounds like perfect for us.
The Scenery, the activities, the lifestyle, the housing costs
And the winters are not that cold (Coming from Miami, 60 is cold)
We are definitively not Miami material

We don't mind commuting as long as it is less that 45 min.
I currently do 22miles one way and it takes me 45 min due to traffic...

I think the main thing now will be for us to see how possible is to get jobs there and on what salary range, so we will know how much house we can afford.
I guess the main plan is, research some more, make the decision, create some savings, put our house here on sell (this can take a few months due to current market) Then move, rent and look for a job.
Unless we can get some phone interviews, but in previous experience, unless the city has a lot of demand, this is not very effective

What are good resources to research for a job?
What are the main industries?
Any industry will do for me because I am in IT, but my husband is in industrial quality assurance and occupational safety. We has worked in the industries of Mining, Oil and Metal manufacturing.

He is also does graphics art on the side

I was too looking at Fayeteville, but now sure how to make a living there.

I don't know much about the Little Rock area, but really do think that you might want to explore the posibility of NW Arkansas. It is culturally diverse and the potential for growth is good. It seems to me that the education in the area is really good.


art

[strumpeace]

The Arkansas Times is a good alt-newspaper. It's a weekly and is available online. I read it religiously.

[JohnN]

Little Rock is a slum through and through unless you're far west in Chenal where the lawyers (ie: politicians too) and doctors are.

NW Arkansas is much MUCH nicer, a great place to be.

[Sam I Am]

John, ain't no doctor, lawyer, politician or Indian chief - and I resided quite happily in the slum for 25 years before a job transfer. Didn't live far west either...and I'd be surprised if you didn't know how vastly mid town has grown and how nice it is. Areas that were marginal 10 years ago are absolutely super places to live now.

Every town has the less than savory areas, but I think calling the entire town a slum is a little bit of a stretch...and there are infinitely other places to live than west Little Rock. Lots of people don't do the newer stuff and the older neighborhoods suit them quite well.

All in all? Your biggest dollar margin is in the Heights, which is not west Little Rock by any stretch of the imagination. Those little cottages are going for $300-400 a square foot, making me wish I'd hung onto my little 3 BR a few more years. I'd surely have retired by now....

[bchris02]

If you think Little Rock is a slum, you must have either been hanging out in southeast Little Rock or in N Little Rock north of Argenta. I like the density of the city far more than NW Arkansas. NW Arkansas is the stereotypical suburb that could be Anywhere, USA, but Little Rock has a lot more character to it.