[nmnita]

Originally Posted by aquawaltz

my brother moved from mass to hot springs village, arkansas. he says its the best place to be in that state! its a gated community with its own services and schools, and only those who can afford, live there. he says a lot of arkansas is red neck territory, and not so fine. i used to live in greenlawn, ny, btw :-)

This is true about HSV, but it is also fairly isolated with little shopping and not very convenient to hospitals etc. Do take a look, you will either love or hate it..Yes, AR does have a lot of rednecks, poverty and not the most educated population. These are the negatives: positives: beauty, friendlines, low cost of living including property taxes. Rural living with city conveniences at your finger tips, lots of fishing and hunting, kids raised to have manners, hard workers, and state pride. I mention the lack of education, but don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean everyone is a 5th grade drop out or you can't find people with intelligence..

The most important thing is not to try and make AR like New York. You will be unhappy and make others unwilling to accept you. Accept AR for what it is, the "Natural State"

BTW: I got an email the other day which tells what a Redneck is and if it is true I would love to wear a sticker on my forehead that says "I am a Redneck"

NIta

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by RogMar

Hmmm.................

I'm in redneck territory.

Are those gates to keeps us out....

or them in?

of course, didn't you know that, you sign in everytime you go though the gates to what some think is heaven, that is the reason for the gates.. Shame on me!!!!!!

[Sam I Am]

So is Hot Springs...way too far.

[ziaAirmac]

OP: I'm in with the folks recommending you take a look at staying near (not next to) your work. If you're going to do Arkansas, you need to just do Arkansas. That means start looking at the school systems in the area for your kids. You have to watch what you pull off a map of Arkansas. Just because mapquest says it'll take so long, and the map calls it a state highway, doesn't mean it wont be a twisty, tree-lined two laner that will turn your night time commute into a pain. Can you talk to the folks at the place you're going to? See if you can find out what your peers are doing for house/schools. After all, some of them have probably been there quite awhile and I'm sure they did the best they could for what they saw.
If you end up on any kind of property, it's going to be brush hogs or riding lawn mowers and cooking outside all summer to keep the heat out of the house. If you want to hang with the guys on the weekend, you better pick up a Bass Pro catalog and figure out what to do with a minn kota and a flat bottom. That's just all there is to it. If you can come to terms with it, and see Arkansas for it's beauty as is, you're in for one of the most 'connected to the land' styles of living you can imagine. Country is just country. There's no out commuting it. Best of luck.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

OP: I'm in with the folks recommending you take a look at staying near (not next to) your work. If you're going to do Arkansas, you need to just do Arkansas. That means start looking at the school systems in the area for your kids. You have to watch what you pull off a map of Arkansas. Just because mapquest says it'll take so long, and the map calls it a state highway, doesn't mean it wont be a twisty, tree-lined two laner that will turn your night time commute into a pain. Can you talk to the folks at the place you're going to? See if you can find out what your peers are doing for house/schools. After all, some of them have probably been there quite awhile and I'm sure they did the best they could for what they saw.
If you end up on any kind of property, it's going to be brush hogs or riding lawn mowers and cooking outside all summer to keep the heat out of the house. If you want to hang with the guys on the weekend, you better pick up a Bass Pro catalog and figure out what to do with a minn kota and a flat bottom. That's just all there is to it. If you can come to terms with it, and see Arkansas for it's beauty as is, you're in for one of the most 'connected to the land' styles of living you can imagine. Country is just country. There's no out commuting it. Best of luck.

one exception to what you just said: the cooking outdoors, depending on where you are coming from, the weather, including humidity may not be that bad and we all have central Air. Living in Dallas for 13 years and then NM we did not find this past summer bad, nor were our air conditioning bills any higher the NM (maybe a little) and much lower than Texas....

Nita

[nmnita]

To those of you who live in HSV, I didn't mean my comments to really be putting you down, I just thought the OPs opinion, from what a relative had said was a bit snobbish to say the least...I am sure not everyone in the village has the attitude, "we want to keep thoe without money out". At least I hope not.

Nita

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by nmnita

one exception to what you just said: the cooking outdoors, depending on where you are coming from, the weather, including humidity may not be that bad and we all have central Air. Living in Dallas for 13 years and then NM we did not find this past summer bad, nor were our air conditioning bills any higher the NM (maybe a little) and much lower than Texas....
Nita

Yep, I hear that but you'd be surprised how different the weather can be between NW Arkansas and Central/South Arkansas along the river. NW Arkansas also has a lot of relatively new homes along the 71 corridor with new heating/cooling and fresh insulation. May not be the same if you're getting an existing home in the areas outlying Pine Bluff.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

Yep, I hear that but you'd be surprised how different the weather can be between NW Arkansas and Central/South Arkansas along the river. NW Arkansas also has a lot of relatively new homes along the 71 corridor with new heating/cooling and fresh insulation. May not be the same if you're getting an existing home in the areas outlying Pine Bluff.

forgot about the difference in the humidity particularly. You are right!!!

NIta

[Racole]

I grew up in Pine Bluff and my parents and grandparents are still living there now. All of Pine Bluff is not bad as far as crime. My parents live on the South end. It is nice. They have lived there for 25 years. They have not experienced any crime.

However, Pine Bluff is a decaying town. The only place to shop is Walmart. That is why I left. There are very few high paying jobs or even decent paying jobs. This creates poverty then comes the crime. I worked in Pine Bluff for two years and lived in Little Rock. I hated my drive. So that is something to consider.

Finally the school system and college were very unfair. When I was growing up if your parents were not flashing or rich the teachers did not really care for your well being. I did not like the mindset of many of my teachers and leaders. I felt like many people there were shallow minded. I am so happy that I moved from there.

[ThumperGal]

ziaAirmac, believe it or not, we actually have new a/c units, fresh insulation and other "modern" amenities south of Pine Bluff (in PB, too). And just because we don't talk educated, like you many transplanted Arkies, doesn't mean we don't have the education.