Considering moving to Bella Vista (Little Rock, Fayetteville: real estate, condos, hotels)

[designer]

I presently live in the southwest but I am considering moving back to the
midwest to be closer to some of the larger cities like Kansas City and Tulsa.
Several of my friends said they love the Bella Vista and Bentonville area.
I should mention that I am retired but do a lot of art work so I want to
be close to some of the larger markets. I have heard that this area of
northwest arkansas has good shopping and even a airport as well as good
medical facilities. These are my questions.

1. What town is the largest shopping mall located in?

2. Also which town would the major hospital be in.

3. I think I noticed that Fayetteville has a VA hospital.

4. Is the airport located in Bentonville or Rogers?

Thanks for any input.

[rackensack]

Originally Posted by designer

1. What town is the largest shopping mall located in?

The largest mall in the area is the Northwest Arkansas Mall on the border between Fayetteville and Springdale, about a half-hour drive from the Bella Vista area (straight shot down I-540). There's also a new development on I-540 just to the south of Rogers/Bentonville called Pinnacle Hills Promenade that's in the newer outdoor-plaza style that's all the rage for upscale commercial development these days -- it's 20 minutes or so from Bella Vista.

Originally Posted by designer

2. Also which town would the major hospital be in.

There are significant (200+ bed) hospitals in Fayetteville (Washington Regional), Springdale (Northwest Medical Center), and Rogers (St. Mary's), as well as lots of affiliated and satellite medical centers, specialist offices, etc. clustered around them.

Originally Posted by designer

3. I think I noticed that Fayetteville has a VA hospital.

It does.

Originally Posted by designer

4. Is the airport located in Bentonville or Rogers?

Northwest Arkansas Regional airport (XNA) is located to the southwest of Bentonville and Rogers, about 8 miles due west of Lowell. The airport's in the middle of the triangle formed by the towns of Cave Springs, Vaughn, and Highfill (locals joked about naming it "Highfill International Airport" during planning and construction). It's about a 20-25 minute drive from most of the Bentonville/Rogers area, 30-40 minutes from Bella Vista.

[GetmeoutofAR]

its a good spot if you want to be a easy commute from KC or Tulsa

[designer]

I would be going to KCMO and Tulsa quite often. I would assume there
is not much in the way of public transportation especially to both of those
cities from the northwest arkansas area? I'm pretty sure Amtrak does
not have a route near there.

Thanks

[DC at the Ridge]

Public transportation to KC or Tulsa would be pretty limited. Actually, I don't know how people who don't have personal vehicles get around in Northwest Arkansas. There is Ozark Transit that has some limited routes. Jefferson Bus Lines has stops in Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville, so you could certainly check with them on routes to KC or Tulsa, but I would think it would take at least twice as long as going by personal vehicle.

[Stormcrow73]

Even at today's fuel prices, Amtrak is barely at parity unless you drive an Escalade or something like that. Of course, give it another couple of months and it may be pretty cost competitive. I'm not sure even if there were Amtrak in NWA it would make much sense to take it to cities like Tulsa and KC which aren't exactly known for great public transit themselves.

[rackensack]

There is no passenger rail service in Northwest Arkansas (other than a couple of excursion train operations -- nothing that would get you to KC or Tulsa). The only passenger rail service in Arkansas these days that I know of is Amtrak's Texas Eagle which runs between Chicago and San Antonio, with stops in Walnut Ridge, Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia, and Texarkana.

[designer]

Could anybody who lives in or near the Bella Vista area recommend a good clean economical motel? When I look on the internet it appears that most
of the larger chain motels are located in Bentonville.
Also I see a few smaller two bedroom houses listed on one of the real estate web pages for under the low 70K price range. Would most of these houses in that price range be decent to live in or would a person have to go up to
the 100K price range? I am single and not looking for a large house
but I don't want to live in a dumpy area. Possibly a condo would
be the way to go for a smaller but nice place. I should add that I am an older
retired person.

thanks for any info.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by designer

Could anybody who lives in or near the Bella Vista area recommend a good clean economical motel? When I look on the internet it appears that most
of the larger chain motels are located in Bentonville.
Also I see a few smaller two bedroom houses listed on one of the real estate web pages for under the low 70K price range. Would most of these houses in that price range be decent to live in or would a person have to go up to
the 100K price range? I am single and not looking for a large house
but I don't want to live in a dumpy area. Possibly a condo would
be the way to go for a smaller but nice place. I should add that I am an older
retired person.

thanks for any info.

designer,

from what we have seen and been told, you can probably find a really nice condo/townhouse that would suit you for under $100 but I am not sure about that $75,000 range; that might be on the low side. As for hotels/motels there are none in Bella Vista but you can give vacation rentals a try: I don't have their number, we did stay there a few weeks ago; again, they have condos/townhouses for rent by the night and they are really nice. We will rent from then again when we move in 3 weeks as we are going to have a couple of days overlap.

Nita

[briansgi]

If you do a lot of artwork, have you looked into living in Eureka Springs, it's a miniature version of Sedona Arizona.