Potential Move to Little Rock - Schools and Neighborhoods (North Little Rock: rent, low crime)

[cg0405]

Greetings,

Our family is considering relocating to the Little Rock area. My husband has a really great opportunity there. His territory would consist of most of the state, but Central AR is where most of the business would be. We have never been to Arkansas! We are currently living in Saint Paul, MN in a wonderful neighborhood which is very active and family oriented. Our children are in 1st grade and K, and currently attend a parents choice public school. I guess our main concerns are moving to a good school district (private school is an option) and a safe, yet fun neighborhood. We have heard good things about Maumelle and Conway. I would really appreciate any feedback!

Thanks,
C

[jenni-b]

Conway and Maumelle are both very nice communities. I'm not sure they're known for being "fun" but then I'm not overly familiar with either.

[bchris02]

Conway has the best schools in the Little Rock area but its one heck of a commute. Maumelle is an up-and-coming suburb with a much more reasonable commute. I've also heard North Little Rock schools aren't too bad. Unfortunately, the LR school district still has many problems.

[McCallister1]

I work for a Sheriff Office in one of the areas your asking about, work part time for an ambulance service that covers most of them, and on 2 vFDs and 1 County emergency response team and grew up in grant county and then lived in perry county and i figured id share my opinion.
Lonoke County- NO CLUE
Perry County- I would recommend removing it from the list. 1) not much to do and not very family oriented with more problems to many to note - no offense intended to anyone reading this from there - note i lived there for 6 years
Grant County- SO-SO but you can do way better due to not much to do again but better than perry
Faulkner county- Conway has gone down hill over time and lost its former glory - Traffic is a nightmare to and from little rock and in town itself. crime rate is up but not as bad as little rock or pine bluff YET!!! plus it has out grown itself
Pulaski County- Little Rock - NO!!, North Little Rock- NO!!, Jacksonville - NO, Sherwood is good, Maumelle in my opinion ties with Bryant but Bryant's houses and cost of living is much cheaper
Maumelle= Public schools are among the best in the state and are improving everyday, the town is growing and public safety is top notch and crime rate is low and fairly family oriented but like i said is getting bigger
Saline County-Benton is great but Bryant is Better
Bryant - awesome schools, very low crime rate, 20 min from downtown LR, 15 min from benton (bryant is between the two), 40 min from AR #1 tourist spot Hot Springs,40 min to Conway. very family oriented with allot for kids to do - downside for parent entertainment (clubs, fine dining, concerts ext.) its a drive to LR,HS, or Benton but thats for anywhere. traffic is somewhat bad from 7:30 to 8:30am to LR and 4:30 to 6:00pm from LR but at those times its the same from what ever direction to and from LR from any surrounding city (it turns a 20 min drive to 30 to 40 min). the town is growing and the people are great and the public safety is outstanding
My personal choice would be 1) Bryant (a very close second)2) Maumelle 3) Benton 4) Sherwood
now the private school thing i wouldn't have a clue - i'm a cop and can't afford it so i don't look lol
but overall AR. is a wonderful place to live and we would be glad to have you. I lived in Woodbury for 3 years and loved it up there but to my taste i like AR

[cg0405]

Thank you so much for all your replies. McCallister, thank you for taking the time to offer this info. This is absolutely perfect coming from someone in your profession. This was exactly what we were looking for. We are thinking we will rent in Maumelle while we search for a home and explore the area. Thanks again!

~C

[thewizard16]

Originally Posted by cg0405

Thank you so much for all your replies. McCallister, thank you for taking the time to offer this info. This is absolutely perfect coming from someone in your profession. This was exactly what we were looking for. We are thinking we will rent in Maumelle while we search for a home and explore the area. Thanks again!

~C

That sounds like a good idea. I have friends (with kids) that live in Maumelle and love it. Cabot is another popular suburb with a strong school system. Little Rock is a very underrated overall school system (Central High is one of the top 20 high schools in the nation, there are a few excellent private school systems, and there are some fantastic magnet schools), but the neighborhoods are more hit and miss depending on where you are. There are some great family-friendly areas in the Hillcrest/Heights areas and in West Little Rock, but they might be more expensive than a comparable house in Maumelle, Cabot, Bryant, Conway or the other bedroom communities.

All depends on what you're looking for I guess. If you want a more dense, active area that is family friendly, I'd look into Hillcrest/Heights first thing. Maumelle is nice (it's a planned community) but "active" may be a stretch. Same goes for Cabot and Conway, although I really do like all three of those towns and wouldn't hesitate to recommend their school systems.

You've probably already seen this thread, but it might help answer some questions if you're considering private schools or want more information about Little Rock schools: Considering job offer...advice about schools

Good luck with your search!

[jenni-b]

I personally don't find this kind of thing:

Little Rock - NO!!, North Little Rock- NO!!, Jacksonville - NO

especially helpful from anyone, no matter what their profession. there are plenty of people who live in these cities and love it.

but you know, whatever.

wiz as usual provides a very well-rounded and fair assessment.

[GoHogs82]

Both West Little Rock and Maumelle are nice communities to live in. In Maumelle there is Country Club of Arkansas and Maumelle Valley Estates. In west Little Rock there is Woodlands Edge, Chenal & Villages of Wellington. Good luck with your move.

[ArkansasSlim]

See above, "Considering job offer---advice about schools"

[kdb05f]

[quote=thewizard16;17076872] Little Rock is a very underrated overall school system (Central High is one of the top 20 high schools in the nation, there are a few excellent private school systems, and there are some fantastic magnet schools),

Little Rock school district is much maligned and a lot of it probably deserved but every year at graduation time I see in the newspaper, dozens of graduates from the district that are going on to Ivy League and other prestigious universities around the country.