Hardy, Arkansas area (Ozark: real estate, house, travel)

[mominoreg]

I live in Oregon, which is being over-run with newcomers. I'm looking for a place where I can live near (but, hopefully, not in) water, and watch wildlife from my windows. We were recently taken in by an unscrupulous Century 21 real estate broker who neglected to inform us in 2003 that an influx of outsiders was occuring and that property values were increasing drastically, so, on his advisement, we sold our small acreage and mobile on the river too cheaply to buy a nice little home in town. I found the area around Hardy appealing from the real estate sites I've found. We want a small town. We want to live modestly. As a matter of fact, we are less concerned with the house we live in - a beautiful, peaceful site is most important. My husband has always been a handyman, but at 73 and slowly wearing out, can't do much building or rebuilding. At our age (68 and 73) we would like to be within walking distance of most services just in case we might lose driver's licenses in future. We like country people, and my husbands background has been in millwrighting, truck driving, open pit coal mining, hard rock mining, Alaska king crabbing, and carpentry as well as food gardening, canning, and making sourkraut! Living here on the west coast, we're not used to extremes of weather any more. Especially not humidity. I've been tracking Hardy's daily weather for a month and was surprised that it seems similar to Roseburg, Oregon in heat and rainfall. We live 50 miles west of Roseburg, near a town of 2500 called Myrtle Point. Does anyone from the Hardy area have suggestions for where we might visit next spring? Would Hardy be a good match, or are there slightly larger towns with a lake or river we might be able to buy on? We do love to travel by car, so we are God willing, going to come east next year! Thank you for your consideration. Sharon

[jetjockey75]

Originally Posted by mominoreg

I live in Oregon, which is being over-run with newcomers. Sharon

Northern Arkansas and southern Missouri are also being "overrun with newcomers" Seriously, it is almost impossible anymore to find a really nice place to live, that is a well-kept secret. People are moving out of California and Florida in droves, usually with a lot of money in their pockets, and they drive up real estate prices wherever they go.

I don't live in Hardy, but am originally from southern Missouri, so I travel through Hardy from time to time. Fact is, I was just there yesterday. It is a cute little tourist burg on the very eastern fringes of the Ozarks. This time of year it is pretty quiet, but in the summer it is congested. It probably has all the basic services you need (I'm not sure about medical services) and West Plains, MO, a town of 15,000, is maybe 45 min away; anything you couldn't get in Hardy would be available there. Hardy is on the Spring River, which is not a huge river but is nice for canoeing. It does get humid in the summer and cold and damp in the winter. Very pretty area.

[mominoreg]

Thank you, Jetjocky!