[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

considering the real estate inventory of the area, I think it might still be a secret...

for the OP, whether or not it's a best kept secret depends on how much money you have and what you're after. NWA isn't for everyone. But for people who are looking for a place that's fairly laid-back with clean air and water and outdoor activities (compared to real urban areas) and who don't have a lot of money spend to live, yes, it's a great place. But if money was no option, I'd be in SoCal over NWA in a heartbeat.

sorry, we all have our opinions and I strongly disagree with you about So Cal. No matter how much money one has, the problems, the crowds, the changing enviornment certainly would not drive some of us to choose So Calif. Maybe there are places more desirable than NWA for some, but I don't put anyplace in Calif in that catagory and I was born and raised there.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

Oops, the word "option" was a typo. I meant to say object or perhaps obstacle if you will. Yes, I've been there a LOT. My previous job took me there often and for extended periods so for some times I was practically living there. Just was never there quite long enough to get that settled feeling.

In fact, before coming back home to Arkansas, we were on the verge of going out there. But we just couldn't stomach the thought of paying half a million for a 1200-1500 sq ft 3 bdr postage stamp in Simi and me still having to commute an hour to Pasadena. Made no sense.

My brother lives in Simi valley, ask him why he is retiring in Williams AZ? beleive me, visiting and living there are two different things.

Nita

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by nmnita

My brother lives in Simi valley, ask him why he is retiring in Williams AZ? beleive me, visiting and living there are two different things.

Nita

You're totally right! We might have gotten out there and hated it. Which is yet another reason why we decided to go with a known quantity and come back to Arkansas. Now, even if we had gone there and loved it, I wouldn't have wanted to have lived the rest of my days there! This is home, and I'd always have wanted to have come back at some point.

Now...back on topic... Sorry for derailing things! 'Twas not my intent

[Capt. Dan]

stormcrow--if i HAD to move back to California, I would choose the central coast. The San Luis Obispo area

[Art Brunje]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

You're totally right! We might have gotten out there and hated it. Which is yet another reason why we decided to go with a known quantity and come back to Arkansas. Now, even if we had gone there and loved it, I wouldn't have wanted to have lived the rest of my days there! This is home, and I'd always have wanted to have come back at some point.

Now...back on topic... Sorry for derailing things! 'Twas not my intent

This is great...not a derailment at all. Threads wind their way all over. Every place has it's good points and bad points. I lived most of my adult life in Western Wisconsin...a fabulous place to live minus the long, cold winters and high property taxes. However summers are great and how about those Packers !

art

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by nmnita

sorry, we all have our opinions and I strongly disagree with you about So Cal. No matter how much money one has, the problems, the crowds, the changing enviornment certainly would not drive some of us to choose So Calif. Maybe there are places more desirable than NWA for some, but I don't put anyplace in Calif in that catagory and I was born and raised there.

Nita

I think allot of people just don't understand what SoCal is like. but those if us that were born and raised their know what kind of cesspool it is. If I hit a 200 million $$ power ball I would stay right here in north Arkansas.

[Stage]

I was born and raised in Cali and no amount of money in the world could induce me to return. Its a polluted, crime ridden, stuck up, shallow dump.

As for NWA. . . as has been said- its not really a secret anymore. There are other, still secret- secret places that are wonderful though :-)

[sergio]

I dont think its a major secret but it is still unknown. Coming from Florida, everyone I told i was moving to NWA asked me the same thing, where? NWA and most of the rest of this state is not well known or even talked about in the rest of the country. I used to be one of those people that knew nothing of the area until I decided to move here. Now, I am very grateful I did. But I think alot of the reasons it isnt so well known is because of the stereo-type: "Arkansas is full of inbred backwards hillbillies". But NWA is nothing like the rest of the state and little by people are noticing.

[marmac]

--unknown?----best kept secret?------( certainly not to any person contemplating a re-location when retiring.
Nearly every book I have read or magazine over the last 10 years have featured NWA Arkansas in it and covered it quite extensively--------Fayetteville, Beaver Lake area ( and Mountain Home).

If it is a "best kept secret" it would only tell me that someone did no research and threw darts at a map in making their decision to re-locate.

[anthonym267]

NWA is nice but better for retirees I think. Arkansas does not have much to offer for high paying jobs like some of the bigger states.