What is it like in Mountain Home (Little Rock, Russellville: environment, tornadoes)

[ArkansasBound]

Where are you originally from?

You sound like you really don't like Mountain Home. What you don't like about it may very well attract other people. That's their choice.

I think most people make the effort to find out about an area before they move there. I did. And I did have the opportunity to visit Yellville several
times before I made up my mind. The only thing I couldn't have known
was the lying locals who keep telling their silly stories to run us off. We
had already purchased the land, and I was not about to turn and run.

And we are making sure we have a steady monthly income coming in from
some investments. It won't be much, but we won't have any other big bills.
We'll just have utilities and groceries. We now own the Arkansas property outright, and my property where I'm at now. When we sell here, we'll finish
paying off some big bills, and have a little left over.

I really don't think there'll be any problem finding jobs. And everyone seems to complain about the low wages. Heck the wages are low where I'm at.
So what? If you need money to live, you just have to do what you have to do. At one point in the last 5 years, I went from a $20 an hour job to an
$8 an hour job after I got laid off. And I might have to go lower up there.
Oh well, that's life. I don't whine about it, I deal with it.

[ElginGary]

We're from a Northwest Chicago suburb. After a debacle in Virginia, we decided to chcck out MH as my father just glowed while describing it over 20 years ago. We checked it out in Feb 06 and found that the area was more beautiful than Virginia. Deep hills vs. rolling hills, a much lower cost of real estate and construction, low taxes, and better weather.
We had some concerns such as the humidity, chiggers, snakes, and the locals. What we found is this: About 60% of the people that we met were from the Chicago area. In fact, the locals call Mountain Home "Little Chicago". So, the concerns about "fitting in" didn't apply. There are many people from all areas that have found MH a great place to live. Regarding the humidity, everyone has the ability to place different cities/towns on the Google home page that shows weather reports. I did this in Feb. just to compare the weather in MH to my home city of Elgin. The results were astounding. Throughout the year, the humidity in MH was significantly lower than in Chicago. I don't know if this is an anomoly or not but it is a fact for 2006. Regarding tornados, I was told by many locals that occasionally the sirens go off but tornados rarely touch down as they get dispersed by the mountains before any damage can occur.
We fell in love with the area, the people, and many other aspects. As a born/bred/raised Chicagoan, my only concern is with the news. The TV news is horrendous as is the sport reporting. While I'm looking forward to NOT hearing about every drive by shooting, murder, or other crime that is found in and around a big city, I would like to know more than who won the local spelling bee or when the next quilting class will meet.
Anyway, we bought a lot in Bull Shoals and are currently building there. Anyone thinking of building should talk with many contractors as the level of competence and styles of new homes vary greatly. We happened to do our due diligence and found a very forward thinking contractor ( a rarity there), but that is another whole forum.
Sorry for the long post.
ElginGary

[ArkansasBound]

Hello!! I am originally from Illinois, near Chicago. I grew up in KanKaKee.
I'm sure you'll love Arkansas. I can't wait to get there myself.

[wooo]

Originally Posted by ElginGary

We're from a Northwest Chicago suburb. After a debacle in Virginia, we decided to chcck out MH as my father just glowed while describing it over 20 years ago. We checked it out in Feb 06 and found that the area was more beautiful than Virginia. Deep hills vs. rolling hills, a much lower cost of real estate and construction, low taxes, and better weather.
We had some concerns such as the humidity, chiggers, snakes, and the locals. What we found is this: About 60% of the people that we met were from the Chicago area. In fact, the locals call Mountain Home "Little Chicago". So, the concerns about "fitting in" didn't apply. There are many people from all areas that have found MH a great place to live. Regarding the humidity, everyone has the ability to place different cities/towns on the Google home page that shows weather reports. I did this in Feb. just to compare the weather in MH to my home city of Elgin. The results were astounding. Throughout the year, the humidity in MH was significantly lower than in Chicago. I don't know if this is an anomoly or not but it is a fact for 2006. Regarding tornados, I was told by many locals that occasionally the sirens go off but tornados rarely touch down as they get dispersed by the mountains before any damage can occur.
We fell in love with the area, the people, and many other aspects. As a born/bred/raised Chicagoan, my only concern is with the news. The TV news is horrendous as is the sport reporting. While I'm looking forward to NOT hearing about every drive by shooting, murder, or other crime that is found in and around a big city, I would like to know more than who won the local spelling bee or when the next quilting class will meet.
Anyway, we bought a lot in Bull Shoals and are currently building there. Anyone thinking of building should talk with many contractors as the level of competence and styles of new homes vary greatly. We happened to do our due diligence and found a very forward thinking contractor ( a rarity there), but that is another whole forum.
Sorry for the long post.
ElginGary

A list of good contractors would be appreciated

[bestwest24]

I have just come across this website and have been reading the pros and cons regarding Mountain Home Arkansas. There was much talk about the medical facilities at Baxter Regional and the need to travel far and wide for good medical service. I can speak from first hand knowledge, having lived in Mtn. Home from 1998 to 2005 (still have a home there), that it was not for the wonderful physicians at Baxter Regional, my husband would not be alive today. He suffered a ruptured aortic aneurysm (I am sure you know the survival rate on that) and was taken immediately to the hospital, diagnosed and given a 5% survival chance. Dr.Brett May was his primary surgeon, along with Dr. Ford, who were absolutely phenomenal. Their professionalism was without question, as was that of all concerned with his treatment. Now, lets get to the "bugs, ticks, mosquitos, snakes, etc.". Possibly if you live back in the woods you will be confronted with this, as you would anywhere. However, our home is in the city and one of my greatest joys is the fact that there were no mosquitos, snakes, etc. We were the owners of the Best Western Motel and Chelsea's Restaurant, and the motel had extensive gardens to the rear. In all of our years there, we have never seen a snake. A bullfrog in our pool, but that is about it and certainly no mosquitos. The humidity is no worse than anywhere else. I have lived in Florida, Georgia, Louisanna also, and trust me, there is really no difference. When we sold our motel, we moved to Little Rock and purchased another business. We have been here for nearly two years and are ready to move back to Mountain Home.

[clearly]

bestwest24 ~ I read your post about your experience with BRMC relative to your husband’s AORTIC ANEURSYM. God bless Drs. May & Ford real good. It sounds like your husband had more than a little divine protection working for him. You didn’t indicate whether the aneurysm was abdominal or thoracic. Location seems to matter when it comes to how complicated the surgery is. Also, you didn’t mention where he was at the time the aneurysm ruptured, or what time of day, or if there were other medical conditions. Was this something you were aware of, and monitoring? It sounds like you lived very close to BRMC so transport time wouldn’t have been a factor?

In any case, a general internet search will show that survival rate and long term outcome are considerably improved when such surgery is done by a surgeon that does a high volume of the these procedures, especially so when performed by a vascular surgeon. A HealthGrades search shows no vascular surgeon in the Mountain Home area. There is a board certified CardioThoracic Surgeon (Dr. Goccia). But there is no indication of how many of these types of procedures he has performed. If your husband had experienced a brain aneurysm, it appears unlikely that there would have been a neurosurgeon available. None appeared on a current search, either. Symptoms would be a factor as well. If you were more distant from BRMC, would that have been the first choice for care? Especially if you were subscribed to AirEvac Lifeteam (highly recommended by many here in the area) would BRMC been the likely choice for treatment ~ assuming your husband was stable enough for transport?

No one is saying that there aren’t some good doctors here. The concern is the active marketing of the area to seniors as a community that has “excellent, state of the art” care available "close to home". The state website on relocation also puts out these claims. If you are relocating from an area where there is access to medical care that actually meets such standards, BRMC and locally available medical services can be a real shock; especially in the areas of care important, if not critical to seniors. When more and more people choose Mountain Home over another area due to this marketing campaign, the gaps in medical care become more and more significant.

There is a physiatrist, but he only accepts BRMC patients. So don’t look for the kind of care that has the best chance of insuring that a stroke patient makes the best possible recovery. I’ve also been told this is not a good place to find yourself with Parkinson’s disease. Someone else has commented that the one neurology practice here isn’t known for treating conditions that are seniors are more likely to suffer. Last we checked, BRMC holds a rating of unacceptable for stroke care. There are a number of specialties where there is one practice, one physician, or no representation at all. BRMC & Mountain Home are at the center of service for a fairly large area.

[clearly]

Update - To their credit, ****.com has done a great deal of work on looking at health care claims for senior communities. They really do want to present good information, so if you are in an area that doesn't seem to match what is presented at ****, let them know. My understanding is that their information on Mountain Home will be revisited for accuracy. When medical care is an important issue, other areas might fare better in a search than Mountain Home? Nice to know they care about what they are doing.

[clearly]

Royearl...
Have you looked into AirEvac Lifeteam? It has been highly recommended to us by a number of people. Subscribing to the service is surprising affordable. You can check them out at: http://www.lifeteam.net Membership inquiries: 1-800-793-0010
We worked with Mindy (sp?) and she was incredibly helpful!

[clearly]

Snakes - depends on where you live - Copperheads & rattlers are 2.
Chiggers -- Oh Yeah! (Preparation H Maxium Strength - best for bites)
Scorpions -- Yes
Mosquitos -- not so many You still need to treat your dog for heartworms.
Ticks -- Several kinds and nasty stuff for pets, especially cats. Keep your pets treated all year.
Spiders -- numerous - 2 venomous (black widow & brown recluse)
Insects -- Buy the Audubon Guide! Screened porches are a selling point!

Overall -- not so much worse than Minnesota when it comes to insects; just different. Winters are much nicer.

Buyer beware is non-optional. Standards are just different. Talk to people and find out who they use.

[Aliza4boys]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents....I really like it here. We, my husband and 4 sons, moved here in October 2004, and I really have no complaints. We moved here for our sons, to raise them in an enviroment more like the one that existed when we were kids. Sure, I miss my family: left 5 siblings, parents, and extended family; but we have gotten so much living here. I am not a religious fanatic, matter of fact only went to church a few times since moving here, but no one has excluded us from any social activities. It is a small town, but we knew that before moving.....that's one of the reasons we chose this city. If any of you have any questions about MH, please post them here and I'll answer them as soon as I can.....I will try to check back every couple of days.

Ali