[Sam I Am]

I love it here - but I've lived here the better part of 35 years, married here, had kids here...Arkansas has been good to me. The only other place I'd probably consider would be Mississippi. We moved from Little Rock for a job opportunity that morphed into another job opportunity in the Caribbean - and came back after 18 months. Too different than anything I've known in my short life.

I wonder if what some perceive as backwards is what I perceive as more like my life was when I was a child...I feel very safe in our town, in our neighborhood. I'm sure things happen - I'm sure there is danger out there. There was danger in the 50's and 60's, too, it just wasn't in your face and was taken care of rather quickly. People felt safe in their own home here and in their place in the universe. I didn't find that on an island, and I've not found it in any large cities I've lived in.

I think maybe that's why a lot of retirees move here...the world is very fast-paced and those of us that are "old" don't want fast-paced. We like the slower life and everyone not running at warp speed on the newest Blackberry, setting up their social schedule for months via text.

Life seems simpler here - not backward, necessarily, just familiar in a nostalgic sort of way. Maybe the world is narrower here, or maybe we choose it to be. But I LIKE knowing Miss Rose at Walmart and the girls at the bank who call me by name and ask about my family. It's like I'm part of something much bigger.

I just can't imagine living anywhere else and loving it as much as I do here. There are always frustrations in life, and you are where you are and you deal with it or find somewhere that matches your stride. My stride just happens to be in hay rides and block parties and having no fear of opening the front door or having to manage my life through cyberspace while I commute to somewhere far from home with a bunch of strangers in a metal box hurtling through a tunnel.

[GetmeoutofAR]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

I love it here - but I've lived here the better part of 35 years, married here, had kids here...Arkansas has been good to me. The only other place I'd probably consider would be Mississippi. We moved from Little Rock for a job opportunity that morphed into another job opportunity in the Caribbean - and came back after 18 months. Too different than anything I've known in my short life.

I wonder if what some perceive as backwards is what I perceive as more like my life was when I was a child...I feel very safe in our town, in our neighborhood. I'm sure things happen - I'm sure there is danger out there. There was danger in the 50's and 60's, too, it just wasn't in your face and was taken care of rather quickly. People felt safe in their own home here and in their place in the universe. I didn't find that on an island, and I've not found it in any large cities I've lived in.

I think maybe that's why a lot of retirees move here...the world is very fast-paced and those of us that are "old" don't want fast-paced. We like the slower life and everyone not running at warp speed on the newest Blackberry, setting up their social schedule for months via text.

Life seems simpler here - not backward, necessarily, just familiar in a nostalgic sort of way. Maybe the world is narrower here, or maybe we choose it to be. But I LIKE knowing Miss Rose at Walmart and the girls at the bank who call me by name and ask about my family. It's like I'm part of something much bigger.

I just can't imagine living anywhere else and loving it as much as I do here. There are always frustrations in life, and you are where you are and you deal with it or find somewhere that matches your stride. My stride just happens to be in hay rides and block parties and having no fear of opening the front door or having to manage my life through cyberspace while I commute to somewhere far from home with a bunch of strangers in a metal box hurtling through a tunnel.

It's funny most of you guys on here consider Arkansas to be slow-paced....compared to what i may ask? ALL rural areas are slow paced. NWA and LR arent all that slow paced IMO. Compared to Dallas, STL, and Chicago yes but not compared to most small towns under 30K

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by GetmeoutofAR

It's funny most of you guys on here consider Arkansas to be slow-paced....compared to what i may ask? ALL rural areas are slow paced. NWA and LR arent all that slow paced IMO. Compared to Dallas, STL, and Chicago yes but not compared to most small towns under 30K

Compared to a lot of stuff. We live in Russellville - trust me, it's slow. I thought a friend from New Braunfels, Texas, would lose her mind...maybe she just didn't like shelling peas. People are weird that way. The population of New Braunfels isn't that terribly different than Russellville, but there sure is a lot more to "do" there if you like to "do" - with the proximity to San Antonio, you're never far away from the bright lights, big city. Russellville ain't close to nothin'.

Maybe that's what people like and are craving...more rural. Actually, I don't guess we're that much different than rural Vermont or off a farm-to-market road in Texas, but this suits me just fine. I'd imagine lots of folks are moving to rural Vermont and rural Texas as well...whatever melts your butter. I just don't think lots of rural Texas is a pretty as rural Arkansas, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If everyone liked the same thing it would be a pretty boring world...everyone has to catch their stride. Some of us do it here and think it's a fine place to be.

Hey Rog - where's that sign???

[GetmeoutofAR]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Compared to a lot of stuff. We live in Russellville - trust me, it's slow. I thought a friend from New Braunfels, Texas, would lose her mind...maybe she just didn't like shelling peas. People are weird that way. The population of New Braunfels isn't that terribly different than Russellville, but there sure is a lot more to "do" there if you like to "do" - with the proximity to San Antonio, you're never far away from the bright lights, big city. Russellville ain't close to nothin'.

Maybe that's what people like and are craving...more rural. Actually, I don't guess we're that much different than rural Vermont or off a farm-to-market road in Texas, but this suits me just fine. I'd imagine lots of folks are moving to rural Vermont and rural Texas as well...whatever melts your butter. I just don't think lots of rural Texas is a pretty as rural Arkansas, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If everyone liked the same thing it would be a pretty boring world...everyone has to catch their stride. Some of us do it here and think it's a fine place to be.

Hey Rog - where's that sign???

Yeah, funny the Texas Hill country is one of the places ive never been that I would love to visit.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by GetmeoutofAR

While ultimately Arkansas wasnt for me, I find beautiful the fact that Arkansas still has an intact identity all to its own. Missouri...on the other hand doesnt seem to be quite as loyal to itself. One reason is the two large cities that anchor it. Arkansas has no big cities and is primarily a rural state without any "burbs"

In Arkansas, the difference between the Delta and the Ozarks is profound. As someone who grew up in the Delta, the Ozarks might as well have been in another state, if not another country. The cultures are quite a bit different.
At the end of the day, though, every square inch of Arkansas is southern, they all eat fried everything, and drink that vile stuff called sweet tea.

True, Missouri's cities allow for more differences within the state, but it doesn't stop there.
Northern Missouri and southern Missouri have a starker contrast than even the one between the Delta and Ozarks in Arkansas. Southern Missouri is much like northern Arkansas, though a little more midwestern in culture, while northern Missouri is... Iowa.
Of course, St. Louis is like an eastern, rustbelt city, while Kansas City has a Wild West past, and is still more western than otherwise.

Then there's the boot heel, which might as well be in Arkansas, and would have been if not for a wealthy land owner way back when that was very adamant about not being in Arkansas. He got his way.

Oh yeah, back to the thread... I no longer live in Arkansas, but when I did, it was because one of my parents got homesick for the place, while the other one kept wanting to live elsewhere. I am like the other one. They always loved each other, but it was a tug of war at times. We lived in Arkansas more often than not. As an adult, I tried my hand at a different place within Arkansas, but still didn't like it. Now that I've escaped, I'll never live that far south again.

[GetmeoutofAR]

Originally Posted by northbound74

In Arkansas, the difference between the Delta and the Ozarks is profound. As someone who grew up in the Delta, the Ozarks might as well have been in another state, if not another country. The cultures are quite a bit different.
At the end of the day, though, every square inch of Arkansas is southern, they all eat fried everything, and drink that vile stuff called sweet tea.

True, Missouri's cities allow for more differences within the state, but it doesn't stop there.
Northern Missouri and southern Missouri have a starker contrast than even the one between the Delta and Ozarks in Arkansas. Southern Missouri is much like northern Arkansas, though a little more midwestern in culture, while northern Missouri is... Iowa.
Of course, St. Louis is like an eastern, rustbelt city, while Kansas City has a Wild West past, and is still more western than otherwise.

Then there's the boot heel, which might as well be in Arkansas, and would have been if not for a wealthy land owner way back when that was very adamant about not being in Arkansas. He got his way.

Oh yeah, back to the thread... I no longer live in Arkansas, but when I did, it was because one of my parents got homesick for the place, while the other one kept wanting to live elsewhere. I am like the other one. They always loved each other, but it was a tug of war at times. We lived in Arkansas more often than not. As an adult, I tried my hand at a different place within Arkansas, but still didn't like it. Now that I've escaped, I'll never live that far south again.

I agree with you, In a long long debate on the the Missouri forum we debate what parts of Missouri are southern or midwestern. I gotta ask you though, what did you not like about Arkansas? the people? the culture? The politics?

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by GetmeoutofAR

I agree with you, In a long long debate on the the Missouri forum we debate what parts of Missouri are southern or midwestern. I gotta ask you though, what did you not like about Arkansas? the people? the culture? The politics?

The people of Arkansas don't particularly like it when you're not like them. I wasn't like them. It wasn't a rural v. city thing, and I think I'm kind of normal. Just a fish out of water. I didn't hate the people, I just didn't understand where they were coming from most of the time. The culture goes along those same lines.

The good ol' boy network didn't appeal to me.
My wife and I have all sorts of ideas going through our heads. One of them is to open our own business someday. Arkansas is a bad place to do that. People aren't receptive to new businesses, unless it's their cousin Jimmy opening up a BBQ. Between the people and the state, it's very difficult to get off the ground. People do it, of course, but it seems to be much harder than need be. Of course there's Wal-Mart, Dillards, etc..... Sam must have been a Jimmy, I guess.

Politics.
Arkansas is a weird one. It's staunchly Democratic, yet it has that brand of conservatism that tries to legislate far too much of people's lives.
Don't get me wrong. I've never voted for a Democrat in a presidential election. They're too socialist for me. Also, I share a lot of the social conservative beliefs of Arkansawers, but I don't think that government is the answer to those issues. So many places in Arkansas have ordinances against so many little things, it's confusing, stifling, and ridiculous.
As for those who are religious, most of them believe that God allows for free will, yet all too often they are not willing to extend that right to their fellow citizen. Of course there should be basic laws preventing us from doing harm to each other, but those laws should be sensible and limited.
I have much in common with many people in Arkansas who don't like the government telling them what to do, and particularly hate the tax code. Taxes in Arkansas are way too high. Democrats. And, uh, Democrats with the help of governors from the other side.
This past election, as well as the bailouts, have driven me into full-blown libertarianism.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

I love it here - but I've lived here the better part of 35 years, married here, had kids here...Arkansas has been good to me. The only other place I'd probably consider would be Mississippi. We moved from Little Rock for a job opportunity that morphed into another job opportunity in the Caribbean - and came back after 18 months. Too different than anything I've known in my short life.

I wonder if what some perceive as backwards is what I perceive as more like my life was when I was a child...I feel very safe in our town, in our neighborhood. I'm sure things happen - I'm sure there is danger out there. There was danger in the 50's and 60's, too, it just wasn't in your face and was taken care of rather quickly. People felt safe in their own home here and in their place in the universe. I didn't find that on an island, and I've not found it in any large cities I've lived in.

I think maybe that's why a lot of retirees move here...the world is very fast-paced and those of us that are "old" don't want fast-paced. We like the slower life and everyone not running at warp speed on the newest Blackberry, setting up their social schedule for months via text.

Life seems simpler here - not backward, necessarily, just familiar in a nostalgic sort of way. Maybe the world is narrower here, or maybe we choose it to be. But I LIKE knowing Miss Rose at Walmart and the girls at the bank who call me by name and ask about my family. It's like I'm part of something much bigger.

I just can't imagine living anywhere else and loving it as much as I do here. There are always frustrations in life, and you are where you are and you deal with it or find somewhere that matches your stride. My stride just happens to be in hay rides and block parties and having no fear of opening the front door or having to manage my life through cyberspace while I commute to somewhere far from home with a bunch of strangers in a metal box hurtling through a tunnel.

Heh......

Exactly

How many times in my life have I heard....said..."If you don't like it, there's the door".

I have lived *urban*.

City street, traffic jams outside the window, sirens all night, 3 locks on the door, urban.

For many, many years.

I was raised *country*.

I have never put down a persons choice of lifestyle or where they make their nest, but personally I have always chosen to find out for myself what is so great/not so great about something.

At one time, I had hair down to my shoulders, and a beard, and that's exactly what I looked like when I raised my hand and enlisted in the military.

Then I raised my hand again, and volunteered for Viet Nam. The same war that I had spent so much time protesting and then returning to the safety of my college dorm room.

I just wanted to see what I was protesting against.

I never protested again.

When my enlistment was up, I quietly left military service because I knew it was not for me.

I worked and lived in San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago....not to mention smaller venues.

When that time was up, I knew that urban society was not for me, and I left quietly, sparing my barbs and arrows on those that choose that lifestyle.

I chose Arkansas because (1) It's a part of the confederacy (2) As long as Mississippi exists, it'll never be dead last (3) I have tons of kin in KY and TN, and I have much less of a chance of people seeking handouts in Arkansas.

Most of Arkansas is rural and conservative. It's going to stay that way for a very long time. Yes, there are pockets of urbanism and progressiveness, but make no mistake, folks, those places are exceptions to the rule.

Yes, I love this state. When the naysayers come in here and post about the problems and deficits of this state, citing the "backwards" attitudes and lack of progressiveness and "seizing the opportunities", I gotta wonder about the directions of their lives.

Where they going to be next year? In Indianapolis complaining about the unbridled development? In the Upper Peninsula, complaining about the tourist trade?

All of y'all that had a gun held to your head to make you live here....raise your hand.

That's what I thought.

This is a great state...........for me.

Sam hit the nail right on the head, as always.

If I'm standing in the rain complaining about getting wet while I grasp an umbrella in my hand, whose fault is that?

I didn't let the door hit me in the <elbow> on the way out, and when one gets sick of the mild winters, beautiful scenery, friendly folks, and wonders of nature, I'll be the first one to hold the door for them.

Can I have that recliner if you ain't taking it? I got room right next to the warshin' machine on the porch.

[strumpeace]

I'm here for my job. I like it here for the most part, but I do not see myself living here long-term.

I think the best thing about Arkansas is its progressive community. The people within the progressive community in Arkansas are pretty tight-knit. There are great clusters in Little Rock, Conway, Fayetteville, and Eureka Springs. Cool people.

[GetmeoutofAR]

Originally Posted by strumpeace

I'm here for my job. I like it here for the most part, but I do not see myself living here long-term.

I think the best thing about Arkansas is its progressive community. The people within the progressive community in Arkansas are pretty tight-knit. There are great clusters in Little Rock, Conway, Fayetteville, and Eureka Springs. Cool people.

Outside of those few progressive communities the rest of the state is so hardliner right wing its not even funny