Want a new life, is Arkansas the place to live? (Little Rock: relocation, real estate)

[Yorkie_Mom]

Originally Posted by otto-focus

type the title above into a search engine and fill out the questions and they will find you 4 pages of cities that meet your answers on the questins,they all include cost of living,crime rates,weather data.ave cost of homes,tax information,and photo's of the area.i'm looking also so i use a salary calculator,just do a search for that and follow the directions.type in your current income amd it will return the amount it will take to keep the same standard of living in the town you entered.i am retired annd found some towns that would increase my buying power by up to 30%.it is free and is a good way to narrow down the cities your looking at.good luck otto

Thank you so much for the idea, I will give it a try and see if it helps us narrow down our areas, this forum has been a great help. Thanks, Yorkie

[jstchrmn]

Hi all. I have been researching the Arkadelphia area for about a month now and am finding that I like the people I have talked to. Everyone has been so incredibly helpful. I have emails from the school superintendent, parks and recreation department, job service and several other area commerces. I too am leaving the old behind and want a clean fresh start. I have 4 children ages 23, 21, 9, and 6. The older are off at college but the little ones obviously are still at home so its very important to me that they be comfortable in this venture. Its my understanding that the area offers many many extra curricular activities that are geared for the kids. We have always been active in our community with sports and academics. Piano, swimming, basketball and wrestling are among the tops for us.I am moving there when school is out here (in Kansas) so that we have the summer to get to know the place and people so the kids will already be befriended when school starts. Our town is about 700,000 and I want to downsize. There area about 20,000 in the area I am looking at. The job market offers several venues for my line of work which is a plus for me, and shopping is relatively close. Real estate seems to be reasonable as well. I am going to take a trip there over Spring Break, ( yes thats how we celebrate Spring Break in our 40's, no beach for me!) to "see" it all before I make final arrangements. It is amazing the information you can get about an area through internet research. I have seen the town thru google earth and got contact numbers in general seraches. I know that if I shoose a specific apartment I will be about 10 minutes away from everything I need to do. The kids schools are about 3 miles apart and so on. I have looked at the hospitals, school buildings and classrooms and students as well from pictures posted. I have called medical doctors because I have a specific medical issue,I have seen the streets etc....I would suggest that you dig deep in the area you are considering, call the people there, they are very willing to help. I have the commissioner sending me a relocation packet and have registered with the job sevice, all over the phone and internet. Then make a plan to go there, and see for yourself. Anyway best of luck to you and maybe we will run into one another when we get there. My home email is [mod]please, no personal info - use DM or email feature if it is enabled.. I would be glad to forward anything I have that would benefit you. Keep in touch we may be able to look out for one another. By the way Arkadelphia lists 160 properties that match your criteria@ realtor.com

[Yorkie_Mom]

Hi, jstchrmn, if you want to e-mail me what you have all found, it would be so helpful to me. We have thought about that area also.
Moderator cut: please, please, no personal information - use DM feature or email if enabledfeel free to contact me or send me what ever you can. I haven't had much time to dig deep lately so you would be a big help. Thanks again for all the work you have done. Have a good night. Yorkie

[anjoe]

Sheridan is 30 minutes south of Little Rock. I think is has the what you may be looking for. It's mainly white and I think the schools are good. You could probably find a home is your price range in the country and you are only 30 minutes away from great shopping and entertainment, Little Rock. It's a fairly small town, has a SuperCenter and few nice places to eat at. it's not in the mountains though...

[Pianojazz]

Just take a couple of weeks driving around and checking out communities. For small communities, in the mountains, I like Berryville but I don't know much about the schools there. Charleston, near Ft. Smith, has excellent schools but is in the river area. However, you can certainly a good priced home there with Walmart 15 minutes from you either way. Paris, a little west of Charleston, is another inexpensive small community sitting at the bottom of Mt. Magazine and has a Walmart there.
NW Arkansas has beautiful mountains but also gets a lot of snow. The river valley rarely gets snow or ice, but it does get hot!

[MistyCPA]

COST:
NWA around the Springdale area is actually the most expensive place in Arkansas to live right now due to it's growth rate. (You should have NO problems finding a home in your price range in the rest of the state)

WEATHER:
Here in Arkansas we have 4 seasons. Its almost Summer, Summer, will Summer ever end, & Christmas. LOL

RACES:
Large population of Hispanics in NWA
Large population of blacks in Southern Arkansas & Little Rock

Schools:
NWA is actually ranked the best BUT there are great schools spread out across the state. Research first because some are not good at all.

[The Bluff]

I moved here 3 years ago. In the 90's and up to 3 years ago, it was a city that has had its better days. Crime was real bad. And Jobs were lost. The old people with money move away and so did there kids. Then another thing happened. We that are still here in the city call it the White Flight. Many Blacks moved into the city from the rural areas looking for jobs. The Whites that were left couldent stand to live next to blacks. Whites sold there homes, many to blacks, and moved away . Up to 6,000 left. Now They talk bad about this city, but they dont even live here.

Pine Bluff Today---- The City has new buildings going up all over the cities southside. This area south of 36th street is the best area of the city. Great schools, nice homes, close to the medical center, golf courses, parks, a new supercenter, close to I-530, plans for lots more. Just about everything you want is on the southside. The city just Built a new 375 bed jail to fight the crime. A $75 Million Dollar, school bond was passed. New schools are being built. We are home to UAPB and Southeast Arkansas College. The fire dept. has an ISO rating of 3, (only three other fire dept's in the state are better.) New jobs are coming to the city. We have a Port and an Airport. And you will save alot of money in this city. Nice Homes at really good prices. This city is on the right track.

Crime----- This city is know as Crime Bluff, this name was given to the city by whites and the news. Yes, the city had alot of crime. But 90% of the crime comes from just one area of the city. Just around downtown, same crime as just about every other city in the country. We have a new Police Chief, and Sherrif. There doing a great job.... Crime is way down. As long as your not dealing drugs, youll be OK.

If you have anything else you want to know just ask.

[eric1]

I would look in Mulberry, Ozark, Altus, and Mansfield.

[sidaka]

I would like to hear more about your comments on Ozark. I am considering retiring/relocating to this town. Everything I have seen in my visits and read in brochures and internet are very positive.

[bborum]

Eureka Springs sounds like the perfect fit for you. A great school, Clear Springs is here.