[lindata]

Hi. My family and I are moving into the north/central area near Conway/Heber Springs/Russellville and are wondering where is the best place to live? Where's the most scenic, closest to shopping, near lakes, near rivers, near schools, near recreation areas, the best small town, the best city, any or all of these? Anyone who has lived in this area, what's your favourite spot and why? Any comments would be most helpful. Thank you!
Linda

[kitty71]

OMG, so are you moving for sure then!! wow, I'm going to have to grill you for the details when we talk next!! I can't help with the actual question, but I'm sure someone can.

[mlrfo4]

I recommend you take a look at Mountain Home. Have the lakes, good schools.........little short on the shopping as of now, but only 1 1/2 hours to Branson or Springfield. Did hear a JC Penny and Target are in the works tho. Also, it's just beautiful here !

[Stormcrow73]

Avoid Russellville, definitely!! My wife is from there and she has LOTS of horror stories about the schools. The kids are very clicky and if you aren't a part of the "in-crowd" you get totally ostracized. She moved there from St. Louis and it took her years to get acclimated to the culture and fit in. I lived there for a while for internships at the nuclear plant and I would never choose to make a permanent home there. There are two types of monied people in the town: old money families and nuclear plant workers and both have very high opinions of themselves. In my opinion, it epitomizes what many people think of Arkansas: small-minded and reclusive. Oh... did I forget to mention it's in a dry county?!?!?! I've heard good things about Heber Springs and Conway looks pretty decent these days.

[lindata]

Thank you very much for your replies. Every little bit of information helps.
Linda

[monka]

We just moved to Heber Springs 2 weeks ago from Fort Worth, Texas. We really like it so far. The people are SUPER nice.

Cleburne is a dry county. Heber Springs has a Walmart and a few dollar type stores so not much as far as shopping goes but Conway is only an hour away.

Coming from what we are used to being around..rude people, expensive everything, lots of hustle and bustle. This place is a breath of fresh air.

Everywhere you look here there are mountains, the lake and trees!

[woopig_sooie]

i didn't go to high school in russellville, but i did go to college there. I ablolutely loved it, and if I could afford the commute to Little Rock ever day, I would move back in a heart beat.

I live in Conway now and really like it as well.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by woopig_sooie

i didn't go to high school in russellville, but i did go to college there. I ablolutely loved it, and if I could afford the commute to Little Rock ever day, I would move back in a heart beat.

I live in Conway now and really like it as well.

When I lived in Russellville, I met lots of people who had lived their entire lives there and almost every one of them hated the place totally. They couldn't wait to get out of there but few of them ever did manage it. It's like there's this force, a swirling vortex of mediocrity if you will, that keeps pulling people back there. My wife and I joke about it all the time. Sorry to dump on the place, but I got a real bad vibe from when I was there and it was reinforced by basically everyone I met. Not saying the people from there are "bad" or anything like that. Just trapped in a cultural void space.

[woopig_sooie]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

When I lived in Russellville, I met lots of people who had lived their entire lives there and almost every one of them hated the place totally. They couldn't wait to get out of there but few of them ever did manage it. It's like there's this force, a swirling vortex of mediocrity if you will, that keeps pulling people back there. My wife and I joke about it all the time. Sorry to dump on the place, but I got a real bad vibe from when I was there and it was reinforced by basically everyone I met. Not saying the people from there are "bad" or anything like that. Just trapped in a cultural void space.

Lots of people hate their home town and wish to get away. I felt the same way about my home town of Piggott, AR. This is very common all across the state and I would assume it's the same way in other states. That doens't mean it's a bad place to live, just that it doens't fit everyone.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by woopig_sooie

Lots of people hate their home town and wish to get away. I felt the same way about my home town of Piggott, AR. This is very common all across the state and I would assume it's the same way in other states. That doens't mean it's a bad place to live, just that it doens't fit everyone.

True enough...I know I'd never go back to live in my home town, but I would still live pretty close by, if Harrison had an ice rink, lol.