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Retirees planning a scouting trip to NWA, any suggestions?
We are two 55 year olds who have found ourselves recently retired (5 years early!) who would like to relocate from St Louis. We have been to parts of Arkansas but never in the serious "relocation" mode. Though we have never been there, we were thinking of the Fayetteville area (because it's a college town and I loved Columbia, MO when I went to school there), Beaver Lake and Bella Vista (because it sounds like a "resort" community). We'd like to be near enough to a lake where we can swim in the summer, bike ride, hike but not too far away from grocery stores. Anyone have any suggestions/neighborhoods,etc. we should look at?
Also, we have friends who recently moved to a "villa" condo (one where they have a garage, basement, small yard/patio and only one attached neighbor) in St Louis. Do they have that type of housing in NWA?
We were thinking of camping while we were there. DH was talking about some highway that maybe we should check it's corridor? Can't remember the name.
Also, anyone relocate from MO to AR? We were wondering what others encountered. We have seen from the posts here that the property taxes are lower but the sales taxes are higher.
We are two 55 year olds who have found ourselves recently retired (5 years early!) who would like to relocate from St Louis. We have been to parts of Arkansas but never in the serious "relocation" mode. Though we have never been there, we were thinking of the Fayetteville area (because it's a college town and I loved Columbia, MO when I went to school there), Beaver Lake and Bella Vista (because it sounds like a "resort" community). We'd like to be near enough to a lake where we can swim in the summer, bike ride, hike but not too far away from grocery stores. Anyone have any suggestions/neighborhoods,etc. we should look at?
Also, we have friends who recently moved to a "villa" condo (one where they have a garage, basement, small yard/patio and only one attached neighbor) in St Louis. Do they have that type of housing in NWA?
We were thinking of camping while we were there. DH was talking about some highway that maybe we should check it's corridor? Can't remember the name.
Also, anyone relocate from MO to AR? We were wondering what others encountered. We have seen from the posts here that the property taxes are lower but the sales taxes are higher.
Thanks!
there are a lot of Mo retirees living in the BV area. Yes, there are townhouses like you are talking about. Some are duplexes, some 4 plexes. They have decks, 2 or more levels, garages or car ports and yes, yards.
It sounds like you would be happy in Bella Vista or perhaps Fayetteville as well, Both cities are as good as life gets in my judgement. If you really want to be mixed in with the busy life, Fayetteville would certainly be a great place to life, if you want a little more sanity and a little less confusion Bella Vista would be a great choice. Bella Vista has homes on and near the lake and yes, people do swim in them. Of course the property on the lake would not be the condo/townhouse situation you are thinking might interest you.
I would take a trip, spend a few days and check the NW area out for yourselves. You are right about the taxes, property taxes are very low, but sales taxes are lower in MO. That is what we like about living on the border. We can have the best of both worlds.
I would check out Huntsville, and Eureka Springs, I have retired friends that live at both places.
I had thought aabout Huntsville as well, but my granddaughters X and his family live there; it is really small town, with the gossip and everything else that goes with rural living, maybe a little more than some would like and the town isn't too open to new people. Everyone there is related to someone else. Eureka Springs is delightful, charming, and very people friendly but might be a little further out that the Op has in mind plus is it so touristy in the summer and almost dead in the winter. I do agree, both might be worth looking at though.
If you are active retirees, do consider Fayetteville. We have a fabulous new trail system. I believe you can now go from Lake Fayetteville and the Botanic Gardens all the way south to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd (formerly known as 6th St). Bikers, joggers, walkers enjoy this great trail.
There are a couple of neighborhoods directly south of Washington Regional Medical Center that are duplex type homes. You'd be very close to the trail too!
Another area which has upscale duplex living is on east Joyce Blvd (near Paradise Country Club).
Off of Hwy 265, near Fayetteville Athletic Club is a *new* subdivision. This homes are in Fayetteville city limits but Springdale school system. You'd be across the road from the Botanic Gardens.
The neighborhood OurGreatEscape mentions is very nice, and is one of the rowhouse style developments that popped up a couple years ago. Rupple Row on Wedington is another such example, and is very nice (but likely has a few houses that are inhabited by college students). I've seen several of the condo/multiplex style developments with garages and yards around town (there is one off Wedington by Harp's), there are several off of side streets along Sang, some off North or Sycamore (I don't recall which), some off Melmar and Peachtree, some off of Mission by an elementary school, a couple off of College, and some in the Crossover/Old Missouri/Joyce area like the poster above me was talking about. Unfortunately I can't think of the names of any of them, but they are out there, and most of them are pretty new so I would imagine they're quite nice. Almost all of those are near nice parks and the trail system- the ones out by Joyce/Crossover/Old Missouri would be ideal location wise since they are right next to Lake Fayetteville park, the botanical gardens, near the trails, and also a very short drive to the mall/grocery store/Walmart/Target and such.
Thanks for all the great suggestions. We will definitely plan on looking at those areas. I really think we should concentrate on Fayetteville but I think hubby is going to push for a lake. He keeps mentioning that on the map it looks like there are subdivisions around Beaver Lake. Anyone know anything about them?
Also, we want somewhere that won't hold it against us that we are not a "local".
Thanks for all the great suggestions. We will definitely plan on looking at those areas. I really think we should concentrate on Fayetteville but I think hubby is going to push for a lake. He keeps mentioning that on the map it looks like there are subdivisions around Beaver Lake. Anyone know anything about them?
Also, we want somewhere that won't hold it against us that we are not a "local".
there are so many transplants in NWA I don't think the "not a local" will be an issue. We found this to be an issue when we lived in NM, but certainly not here.
Thanks for all the great suggestions. We will definitely plan on looking at those areas. I really think we should concentrate on Fayetteville but I think hubby is going to push for a lake. He keeps mentioning that on the map it looks like there are subdivisions around Beaver Lake. Anyone know anything about them?
Also, we want somewhere that won't hold it against us that we are not a "local".
There are mini-communities around Beaver Lake, with many subdivisions, some condo development, some homes all by themselves. The park areas around the Lake that are managed by the Park Service provide roads and access to the lake, and it's along those roads that much of the development is clustered. Prairie Creek is the closest to Rogers. It has probably the most development, but also the oldest, so in terms of subdivisions, it can feel a little dated. Rocky Branch is further out, and the houses out there don't seem as much part of subdivisions as they feel like someone just bought some land and custom-built their homes. Between Prairie Creek and Rocky Branch is the Highway 12 Bridge. Before you cross the bridge, turn right and head up the hill to another developed area that's built on the old bluffs that overlooked what was the White River. Fabulous views up there. Past Rocky Branch, if you turn to the right, you will run into the War Eagle area. If you don't turn and stay on Hwy 12, you will pass through the Hobbs Estate area which was donated to the state as parkland. There are some developments within the Hobbs Estate area, that were constructed before it became a park, but I don't know how that works now. I'm sure that no new development is allowed there, but I don't know the policy regarding the existing residences. Eventually Hwy 12 T's out, you can go south to Hindsville or north to Berryville and Eureka. Rocky Branch and Prairie Creek and part of War Eagle get utility services through Rogers and children attend Rogers schools. The other part of War Eagle gets their services and sends their children to school in Springdale.
Heading north out of Rogers instead of east, you run into Avoca, parts of Avoca are on the lake. Avoca is a small town, they have a city council and mayor, but their zip code is a Rogers zip code, and utilities and school is Rogers. Past Avoca, you run into Garfield. Some of Garfield is on the lake. The Park Service park in Garfield is Lost Bridge. Lost Bridge has numerous homes on windy roads, some of which are quite steep. Some of the homes have fabulous views. Many of the homes on the lower elevations are vacation rental homes. They also have a swimming pool for the community there. Garfield has an elementary school of its own, but the school is part of the Rogers school system, and once past elementary, students attend schools in Rogers.
Past Garfield, the next town is Gateway. Gateway is a fork-in-the-road community. Go left and you are in Missouri. Go right, and you are heading out to Beaver Dam. Before you get to Beaver Dam there is another park area, Indian Creek. Along the access road, there are numerous dirt roads that lead to several areas where people have built little clusters of homes. Some of the homes are extremely nice. Some of the homes are similar to cabins. Off of Indian Creek is the road that leads to Beaver Dam. (Hwy 62 goes to the dam as well, but I think the Indian Creek way is shorter and more scenic.) One of the nice things about the dam area is that on one side you have a beautiful lake, and on the other you have the White River which is quite lovely.
Past the dam is another park, Stuckey's. It's associated with a marina. There are some homes along the way. The park at Stuckey's is one of my favorites. Even on hot days, there's always a breeze on this part of the lake, and the water seems clearer. Also, there aren't as many campers at Stuckey's, so it's not as crowded, but the boating traffic is usually pretty heavy. But you are pretty far out from town at this point. Indian Creek and most of the dam area kids go to school in Rogers, but past the dam area I'm not sure if they attend school in Eureka Springs or not.
Development on the eastern side of the lake seems to be much sparser. I've noticed several churches out there have church summer camps, and there are more rental/resort type establishments, probably because Eureka Springs is a tourist destination.
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