[jooseyjoose]

I meant QUESTION, not quetion! I swear I can spell. Darn keyboard, lol.

Hello everyone. I was on here about two years ago inquiring about Fayetteville. I posted once or twice and received a lot of great answers!
At the time we were thinking about moving there from San Diego.
We have obviously been sitting on the idea now for over two years but are serioulsy considering it again.
Back in 2006 the employment prospects of NWA seemed great. What I am wondering now is if they are still looking good or has the job market been just as badly hit there as it has here in Cali?
My husband and I are in our thirties and we both have secure jobs with the County of San Diego (we have been with the County for about 8 years).
I would throw caution to the wind and move in a heartbeat and let things happen as they happen, but my husband is having a hard time giving up the job security. Other than the secure job, there is nothing else we are excited about anymore here in San Diego. It is an overpopulated, crime-ridden, concrete jungle that has hardly any appeal left. We were both born and raised here and have seen it go downhill year after year. I guess we are just tired of the big city rat race and want to move somewhere a bit more simple but that still affords comforts and conveinences.
Just a note: we have lived here in San Diego for the greatest part of our life but we did live in Portland, OR for 3 years and Salt Lake City for 1.
Any opinions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone!

[joebaldknobber]

Come on down! I lived in Mission Beach about 10 years ago & loved it. The economy is still relatively strong. Rumor is when the US economy turns around this area will boom exponentially.

Fayetteville has everything Mission Beach does minus the ocean & the bums. You'll love Fayetteville.

[jooseyjoose]

Thanks for the quick reply! Everything I read and see on Fayetteville/NWA seems positive. I am just hoping it won't be much of a culture shock. My parents retired to Altus and love it so far. I know Altus is much more rural than NWA but they do a lot of business in NWA and have only rave reviews.
What is it like not being by the beach?
That is one of the things I am worried about but when we lived in Portland we didn't even think twice about it because there were so many rivers and lakes.
Thanks again!
~Sarah

[Stormcrow73]

There have been recent articles touting how the NWA economy is "recession-proof." I won't go so far as to say that is truly is the case but it does seem that the economy up there will require a MAJOR event in the national economy to take a big hit. Now, compared to 2 years ago, job creation isn't nearly as high. I'd say that new jobs are close to flat but it doesn't sound like anyone is losing their job anytime soon.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by jooseyjoose

Thanks for the quick reply! Everything I read and see on Fayetteville/NWA seems positive. I am just hoping it won't be much of a culture shock. My parents retired to Altus and love it so far. I know Altus is much more rural than NWA but they do a lot of business in NWA and have only rave reviews.
What is it like not being by the beach?
That is one of the things I am worried about but when we lived in Portland we didn't even think twice about it because there were so many rivers and lakes.Thanks again!
~Sarah

If you like lakes and rivers and other outdoorsy stuff you shouldn't be disappointed. Beaver Lake is great and there's tons of hiking, biking etc. A fairly short drive away is the Buffalo National River, one of the country's most (ok, I'm not tooooo humble..THE MOST) superb wild streams. If you go on a day when there aren't a lot of floaters out then the stream is precisely like it was when my ancestors first came to AR over 150 years ago.

[loves2read]

we had friends who moved from the DFW area to NWA when General Mills promoted her husband to work with WalMart as his big client--
their house sat on the market for over 7 months when he was transferred back about a year ago--
how does that go along with recession proof...

[jooseyjoose]

Are you saying 7 months is long? If so, that isn't anything! Try selling a home here in San Diego. My neighbor had their house on the market over a year, didn't sell so decided to stay.
My dad has a rental condo that he has had on the market for two years.
A condo complex on my street has only 4 condos sold---out of 20.
Sorry...7 months sounds good to me!
~Sarah

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by loves2read

we had friends who moved from the DFW area to NWA when General Mills promoted her husband to work with WalMart as his big client--
their house sat on the market for over 7 months when he was transferred back about a year ago--
how does that go along with recession proof...

Yeah...7 months really isn't too awfully long these days. But most everyone knows the housing market in NWA was WAY overbuilt even for the growth rate when it was maxed out. The point is, there's too many houses but people have secure jobs for the time being at least which is better than can be said for most everywhere else. Try being in the upper midwest where a lot of people are out of work AND your home can sit for over a year or more!

[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by jooseyjoose

What is it like not being by the beach?
~Sarah

Well, on the positive, no constant wind and no salt in the air. There are plenty of lakes and rivers you could get by in Arkansas....beautiful ones, too. Not quite as dramatic as California, of course, but still beautiful.

On the negative....be prepared for mosquitoes and chiggers.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by luvarkansas

On the negative....be prepared for mosquitoes and chiggers.

Ya know, funny you should mention that. One of the other threads that we talked about that, I mentioned that a buddy that bush hogged took sulpher tablets.

That spurred me to do an informal survey since then of everybody that I know that logs timber or bush hogs a lot, and I found that it is widespread.

The horse ranchers give it to their horses, and if you search "equine msm", you'll see how much there is out there. Health food stores also carry it for people, and it can be bought in bulk.

Just thought I'd mention that, because as long as I've been around here, I never knew it was that widespread, and I got all these, "Yeah....where have *you* been?", kinda responses when asking about it.

Believe me, if the folks around here are going to spend a "sawmill dollar", you better believe it better work.