Relocating to Little Rock from Raleigh NC (North Little Rock, Conway: mortgage, real estate)

[pagwilliams]

Hello everyone,

I hope you can help me with some questions about Little Rock.

The company my husband works for might have an opening in Little Rock, AR. He works for an airline and we would like some feedback about the city and the neighborhoods.

If we move, our income is going to be reduced, because I'll have to quit my job here in Raleigh. We want to buy a place because we really don't want to rent. We hope we can afford a small place (2+bd), in a good neighborhood, family oriented (I'm pregnant); I really don't care if it's close to attractions, I just want to feel safe. We'll prefer a place close to the airport, and close to a hospital (for the birth

I hope you can help us with this info, and if any mom or woman has any info about birth centers (hospital, private) please let me know.

Thank you.
Gabriela

[bchris02]

The airport, unfortunately, is not in the best area of town. Stay away from south of I-630 and east of University. You might look into the N Little Rock/Sherwood areas. WLR and Maumelle would suit you well too but its a little expensive (by Arkansas standards). You might find it cheap coming from Raleigh. For a little longer commute, you could look into the Bryant area. It is one of the fastest growing suburbs of Little Rock. Many families choose to live even farther out in places like Conway, Cabot, and Benton, but with the ever-rising price of gasoline it doesn't pay to do that as much as it used to.

[Stormcrow73]

I know guys who work at the airport and live in Sherwood, Cabot, and even Conway. To be totally honest with you, NLR, Sherwood, Cabot and even Conway aren't really much more expensive than Maumelle on a per sq. ft. basis. I know, we looked in Cabot, Conway and Maumelle and finally settled on Maumelle. That said, you'll find a LOT more of the modest sized homes you're looking for in Cabot or Conway than Maumelle. Most new or recent construction homes are selling in the $100/sq. ft. range so for what you're wanting you'd be looking in the $100-150k range for a home (not many homes under 1200 sq ft. around here). If I were you guys, I'd give most of my consideration to Sherwood, NLR, Lonoke, and lastly Cabot, in that order.

I once did some looking around the Triangle area and I think you'll be a good deal better off here in terms of affordability and family.

[Hog-I]

I live in the Bryant area and I love it. It's a quiet, family-oriented community just a stone's throw from LR. The airport is also very accessible because I-30 heading toward LR is six lanes now and the exit to the airport is before you ever get into downtown LR, where the traffic on I-30 starts getting bad.

In sum, Bryant is relatively inexpensive, safe, quiet, and the commute to the airport would be easy.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

I know guys who work at the airport and live in Sherwood, Cabot, and even Conway. To be totally honest with you, NLR, Sherwood, Cabot and even Conway aren't really much more expensive than Maumelle on a per sq. ft. basis. I know, we looked in Cabot, Conway and Maumelle and finally settled on Maumelle. That said, you'll find a LOT more of the modest sized homes you're looking for in Cabot or Conway than Maumelle. Most new or recent construction homes are selling in the $100/sq. ft. range so for what you're wanting you'd be looking in the $100-150k range for a home (not many homes under 1200 sq ft. around here). If I were you guys, I'd give most of my consideration to Sherwood, NLR, Lonoke, and lastly Cabot, in that order.

I once did some looking around the Triangle area and I think you'll be a good deal better off here in terms of affordability and family.

Isn't Lonoke a rural community? And I would put Bryant and Jacksonville into consideration before Cabot and Conway. The rising price of gasoline will hit hard if you live in those places. Unless you are saving $250-$300 or more per month on your mortgage, its not worth the commute with $4 gas.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by bchris02

Isn't Lonoke a rural community? And I would put Bryant and Jacksonville into consideration before Cabot and Conway. The rising price of gasoline will hit hard if you live in those places. Unless you are saving $250-$300 or more per month on your mortgage, its not worth the commute with $4 gas.

Yeah I think Lonoke's ruralish but the commute from there to the airport is about the same as Cabot, might even be a bit easier because 67 could be a real PIA. And you're right, Bryant is a bit closer than both Cabot and Lonoke but only by about 4ish miles. I have no idea how traffic would compare between those commutes though. Jax I didn't include because, well, I don't view it as being as family friendly a community as the others. And I totally agree with you, no need to bother looking in Conway.

Some rough mileage comparisons from the airport area (rounded as calculated by Yahoo maps):
Bryant: 22 miles
Cabot: 26 miles
Lonoke: 26 miles
Conway: 32 miles
Sherwood: 12 miles (I-30 route)
Jax: 17 miles
Maumelle: 18 miles

Added: If you did choose Conway, be aware that your commute could be a fair bit longer than this 32 miles becuase there are neighborhoods in that town that have VERY poor accessibility to I-40!!

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

Added: If you did choose Conway, be aware that your commute could be a fair bit longer than this 32 miles becuase there are neighborhoods in that town that have VERY poor accessibility to I-40!!

Also, I-40 is still only 4 lanes most of the way and it can cause some traffic headaches because most of Conway's 60,000 residents work in Little Rock. A common rush hour commute from Conway takes usually around 50 minutes providing there are no holdups. Cabot has the same issue but they are currently in the process of widening Hwy 67 which will improve things a lot. I-30 from Benton/Bryant is now 6 lanes so things flow a lot smoother.

[North Pulaski Player]

I think that you guys forgot that the east leg of I-440 has been completed from 67 to I-40. It is now 6 lanes all the way from Jacksonville to the LR Airport. From the 67/440 interchange in Jacksonville, it is only 10 minutes to the airport... no need to fool with I-30.

[Sam I Am]

You know, another nice little community to look in would be East End. It's just a jump to the interstate, so I'm thinking the commute to the airport would be 20 minutes or so? That's a very family oriented area and very safe. If you're going to stay for a while it might be a good investment; short term I'm not so sure but maybe someone else has a better feel for the real estate market in that area.

To the OP - what price range for buying or renting are you looking at, and with the price of gas, how far is your husband willing to commute? We may be able to narrow it down from there.

I would highly, highly recommend renting for 6-12 months or so to get a feel for LR and the surrounding areas. I'd recommend that to almost any mover. All we can do is throw out ideas, but a little bit of time in a place lets you zero in more on the areas that suit your needs. I know you are pregnant so moving around a lot may not be an option for you, but better to make an extra move than to get in the wrong place for your needs. Congrats, by the way!

Are you going to have the opportunity to come for a visit before your move if you get the job?

[Aporkalypse]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

You know, another nice little community to look in would be East End. It's just a jump to the interstate, so I'm thinking the commute to the airport would be 20 minutes or so? That's a very family oriented area and very safe. If you're going to stay for a while it might be a good investment; short term I'm not so sure but maybe someone else has a better feel for the real estate market in that area.

To the OP - what price range for buying or renting are you looking at, and with the price of gas, how far is your husband willing to commute? We may be able to narrow it down from there.

I would highly, highly recommend renting for 6-12 months or so to get a feel for LR and the surrounding areas. I'd recommend that to almost any mover. All we can do is throw out ideas, but a little bit of time in a place lets you zero in more on the areas that suit your needs. I know you are pregnant so moving around a lot may not be an option for you, but better to make an extra move than to get in the wrong place for your needs. Congrats, by the way!

Are you going to have the opportunity to come for a visit before your move if you get the job?

Why not consider the Scott/Keo area? It's extremely safe, has a lot of charm for a small town with plantations, antique dealers, etc and it's off of I-440 just a couple of exits away from the airport on the NLR side of the river. That's no more than 10-15 min for the airport. CNN actually wrote an article on this area recently as kind of an alternative tourist destination. It's very inexpensive compared to most of the places mentioned.

Little Rock is geographically small, most of the city is a short commute from the airport (no more than 15 min) and the safe neighborhoods of mid and west-LR aren't that far. Colony West, Leawood, and west LR would still be close enough to get there in a few minutes. Bryant and Cabot are great duburban towns but a signficant distance away. Sherwood would be a good compromise and it would allow him to take the I-440 loop to work which would still make it a reasonably short trip. Sherwood is a very safe suburb of almost 30,000 which is convenient to shopping, etc in North Little Rock. Almost too safe, it's an understood rule around here that you never speed in Sherwood. 3 MPH over will get you a ticket.