[Lovemykiddies]

Hello All! My family and I are looking into relocating to Arkansas. We are looking into Bentonville and Bella Vista! We also have 6 kids.
I really want to live in a friendly area that loves kids.. Any help on the two would be Great.

What is the crime rate? How are the schools?

We are coming from Orlando FL.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Lovemykiddies

Hello All! My family and I are looking into relocating to Arkansas. We are looking into Bentonville and Bella Vista! We also have 6 kids.
I really want to live in a friendly area that loves kids.. Any help on the two would be Great.

What is the crime rate? How are the schools?

We are coming from Orlando FL.

We are in a different age bracket than you but will be re-locating as soon as our house here sells.

Last summer we spent a week in AR and OK trying to decide what would best fit our needs and fell in love with the Bentonville/Bella Vista area. From what we have been told the schools are wonderful. The kids in Bella Vista go to Bentonville schools. Except for the elementary ones, some of them go to the new school. Apparently the area is changing from a retirement community to a family oriented one.

Nita

[Art Brunje]

Originally Posted by Lovemykiddies

Hello All! My family and I are looking into relocating to Arkansas. We are looking into Bentonville and Bella Vista! We also have 6 kids.
I really want to live in a friendly area that loves kids.. Any help on the two would be Great.

What is the crime rate? How are the schools?

We are coming from Orlando FL.

My family relocated to Bella Vista 3 years ago...we love it. I would suggest that you subscribe to The Bella Vista Weekly. Crime rate is almost is very , very low if you don't count barking dogs.

My wife and I both taught in Wisconsin for over 30 years so education means everything to us. The schools in NWA are top notch...Bentonville is nationally known..Gravette is a smaller schools that has new facilities.

PM me if you have anymore questions.

art

[fulluvit]

Bentonville is great for kids. The schools have always been good, but with the crazy growth we've had here, they are now large enough to offer more subjects and elective courses. We've got good parks and a Boys and Girls Club. Lots of the typical kids stuff like Little League, soccer, great city pool, ballet and gymnastics, skate park. Much of the population is upscale, so some of the kids are rather clique-ish in school.

Housing is abundant. With the bubble bursting, builders are going bankrupt left and right and there is a 3-5 year standing inventory of new empty houses on the ground. Bentonville is much flatter than Bella Vista, which is built almost entirely on hills that require tricky landscaping to make the yards usable at all. Bella Vista also requires a much longer commute to most jobs in the area, and the bottleneck going north on the freeway each day at rush hour is a nightmare. Bentonville's traffic is equally bad, with many hotspots backed up each and every day. This is due to the Wal-Mart home office bringing approximately 20,000 people into town each day, plus all of their resident vendors and all of their visiting vendors who clog the streets.

Crime is almost non-existent. People regularly walk and jog after dark around here without fear, except of being run over due to the haphazard existence of sidewalks. A good trail system is partially complete and usable.

Grocery stores suck. Good grocery stores are afraid to come in and compete with Wal-Mart on their home turf. Restaurants have become abundant, but most are faceless chain outfits. Plenty of movie theaters very close by, though none are actually in the Bentonville city limits.

Bella Vista recently incorporated and is still undergoing transition pains due to that. There are still many restrictive covenants that limit what you can and cannot do (such as the colors you may paint your house, whether you can park a boat in your yard, etc.).

Benton County is a dry county. There are no liquor stores, but many restaurants and bars operate "private clubs", which means you get to pay too much for drinks.

We recently changed to a curbside recycling program that is working very well. Brush and debris can be hauled to the city's mulching facility for free disposal. Overall, the city is pretty clean and there are very few slum-like properties left in town.

Although the population in Bentonville is approximately 30,000 people, it joins with surrounding towns to form a metro-complex of about 300,000, centered along the Hwy71/Interstate540 corridor. Going east or west ten miles from this corridor puts you back into rural country.

[Karla Vollkopf]

How would Bentonville welcome a single brazilian woman and her daughter?

We both have excellent English speaking (my mother teaches English Language), and white skin (german and italian descendents), but we're still from South America, therefore, latinos.

And how about job opportunities, you know, basic stuff, like caretaking, waitering, maid job, etc...

How much would the renting of a small house (for two people), and other expenses be?

What are the temperatures there during winter and summer?

Thanks to anyone who can help!!

[floofy]

This is great information! How are the taxes? Are basement's uncommon there? We lived in OKC for four years in the Air Force, I assume the temperature is about the same? Also, how far do you need to go to ski? Thanks again for the information!!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by floofy

This is great information! How are the taxes? Are basement's uncommon there? We lived in OKC for four years in the Air Force, I assume the temperature is about the same? Also, how far do you need to go to ski? Thanks again for the information!!

I am only voicing my views from vists and what I hear from friends who live there. We are putting our house on the market a week from SAt and hope to be living in Bella Vista by summer. I think the weather is a little cooler than OKC with less tornado scares. As for basements, it seems many of the houses do have them, more in the form of split level housing.

Taxes are a mixed bag, depending on what you are accustom to paying. Property taxes are lower than average, there are still lots of sales tax and personal property taxes which many states do not have.

I can tell you, we can't wait to get there, heat, humidity, snakes and bugs, we are still excited about our upcoming move.

Nita

[debbie at bouontiful]

I am trying to relocate my parents to Bella Vista too. Been there several times looking at homes. How is the housing market at the moment. My parents will put their house up for sale in a few weeks. It might take a while for their home to sale.

Does Bella Vista have things for my parents to do, they do not play golf! Also, medical, will they be alright there. I am concerned because my Dad is 80 and mom is 77 and I'll be 4plus hours away

[GetmeoutofAR]

i personally dont like Bella Vista. Its woodsy and steep and kinda boring, not too interesting I don't know why everyone likes it so much. I prefer Bentonville/Rogers

[DC at the Ridge]

Debbie, there are lots of things for your parents to do. There are walking and hiking trails and several lakes. There are also numerous bridge clubs and other clubs for just about any interest. The housing market softened last year, seems to have stabilized a little recently, but there are some excellent buys available. Bella Vista itself does not have a hospital, but there are several very good ones in the area. I think Mercy just off 540 on Hwy 102 is the closest. There are several clinics and numerous doctors in private practice in Bentonville. Hope that helps!