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I, too, am familiar with Arkansas. It is an objectively impoverished state. It does not cater to an impoverished lifestyle.
I'm from Arkansas. I wouldn't say it caters to an impoverished lifestyle, kind of an odd choice of words, but it doesn't care to do much about it's plight as one of the poorest states in the country.
I'm from Arkansas. I wouldn't say it caters to an impoverished lifestyle, kind of an odd choice of words, but it doesn't care to do much about it's plight as one of the poorest states in the country.
Exactly! I'd say they do the opposite of catering to poor people. They go out of their way to make it difficult for them to access healthcare and education.
Exactly! I'd say they do the opposite of catering to poor people. They go out of their way to make it difficult for them to access healthcare and education.
I have my issues with Arkansas, but access to those things are not an issue. The problem is culture, not necessarily the people in charge. They can only work with what they've got, which is a stubborn populace that doesn't recognize or don't care that they have problems that could use some work. Indifference is a key component to that state's culture.
Let me ask you a question - why would it cost me $7000 MORE a year to live in Arkansas than it does for me to live in Texas? Why would I pay more to live in Arkansas? (Hint - it has a lot to do with income taxes and for the record, in spite of some truly amazing natural beauty, it's just not worth it to me.)
Arkansas has some beautiful areas. It also has some very desolate areas. To me, it just seems a lot easier - and acceptable - to be poor in Arkansas than it does in many other states. The reasons are many - but let's not pretend that poverty isn't perpetrated in Arkansas. It's not just one or two causes, it's a multitude of causes. But no thanks.
I know nothing but northwest AR, but I'm a mostly lifelong east TN native. Land prices here vary considerably.
In upper northeast TN, the highest land prices are going to be in Washington County, which has the premiere city in the area and is the most developed. Rural counties, especially those without interstate access or poor infrastructure, like Hawkins, Grainger, and Claiborne, land and housing prices go down dramatically.
I used to live in Indiana and Iowa. On roughly the same income as Indiana, I save about $200/month in income taxes. Property tax rates are somewhat cheaper here. Sales tax is a couple points higher in TN, but I live about a mile from Virginia, and do most of my shopping in Virginia.
How accessible are those rural counties though? Do they have good utility and internet access? There are definitely a spectrum of price points to pick from in both states, but I'd wager AR would be decently more affordable when comparing apples to apples across the two states. As an indicator, the median list price per sqft for homes in TN is $136 and it's $101 in AR according to zillow. Land prices are probably the same story.
From a tax perspective, I think it's fair to say that TN beats AR and a lot of other states. But I myself am leery of the low tax gravy train. Colorado is a low tax state (comparatively), and you can tell. Most obvious is that the roads are in a state of freefall, with the state being the fastest falling in rankings of highway conditions. They are 10 years behind on every project and congestion's going to get a lot worse than it's already pretty terrible condition. Also the state has a big problem retaining teachers and funding education in rural areas, and it's in the bottom of states funding higher ed. Taxes are lower in TN, but it's not because the government is somehow 1.5x more efficient.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FalstaffBlues
I, too, am familiar with Arkansas. It is an objectively impoverished state. It does not cater to an impoverished lifestyle.
It's unfair to say that Arkansas caters to trailer people. Is there run down trailers? For sure, but that's the same story of every rural area that's declining. Minnesota along the Mississippi looks the exact same way (with confederate flags as well) as do a lot of small towns in CO. Does MN cater to the poverty lifestyle??? But there are a lot of nice houses and nice neighborhoods we saw while visiting, but they weren't front and center, they were usually tucked back a little ways.
The key difference IMO is that AR is just more undeveloped, for better and for worse. People haven't been there nearly as long, there hasn't been as much development and wealth accumulation, and the population density is lower. In the same respect, it's easy to find a ton of beautiful areas you basically have to yourself, and everything's basically a bargain.
How accessible are those rural counties though? Do they have good utility and internet access? There are definitely a spectrum of price points to pick from in both states, but I'd wager AR would be decently more affordable when comparing apples to apples across the two states. As an indicator, the median list price per sqft for homes in TN is $136 and it's $101 in AR according to zillow. Land prices are probably the same story.
You can't possibly compare housing prices in the entire state of Tennessee to the entire state of Arkansas without factoring that half the growth in Tennessee and half the new homes are in fast-growing Nashville which is also much more expensive than the rest of the state.
There are areas 1-1.5 hours east of Nashville that are thoroughly rural, very inexpensive, and with gigabit fiber internet. Specifically, look at Jackson and Overton counties, probably also Smith County. I don't think Arkansas has anything similar: cheap, hilly land with gigabit internet access just 1.5 hours from a major city and major airport.
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its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
You can't possibly compare housing prices in the entire state of Tennessee to the entire state of Arkansas without factoring that half the growth in Tennessee and half the new homes are in fast-growing Nashville which is also much more expensive than the rest of the state.
There are areas 1-1.5 hours east of Nashville that are thoroughly rural, very inexpensive, and with gigabit fiber internet. Specifically, look at Jackson and Overton counties, probably also Smith County. I don't think Arkansas has anything similar: cheap, hilly land with gigabit internet access just 1.5 hours from a major city and major airport.
True, Nashville's expensiveness is a factor, but even still Smith county and Dekalb county have zillow sqft prices in the 140s while Carroll and Garland counties, where Eureka Springs and Hot Springs are, come in at the 110s. If we go a little more out into the boonies to compare to Jackson County TN ($116) , there's Yell county AR with $78 a sqft. No airport and fiber, but probably equally pretty.
I believe that as a general trend across the eastern US, you generally get better prices as you get further west from the east coast. VA > KY > MO. Similarly GA > AL > MS pricewise, apples to apples.
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