Indianapolis to Little Rock (Ozark, Cammack Village: apartments, rentals, low crime)

[whitney353]

We are potentially moving from Indianapolis, IN, to Little Rock thanks to a job change with UAMS. My family and I (myself, my husband, our toddler, and our two dogs) are looking for suggestions as to which areas would be best to settle into (we will be renting) for the next few years...before our toddler starts kindergarten. I'm going at this a bit blindly, so specific zip codes or areas would be such a help!

We are looking for daycare suggestions, too!

Thanks!

[Sam I Am]

72207, 7221-anything, 72227, and some of 72205.

Most of the med students live in the area just north and west of the med school.

The mantra is - north of I-630, west of about Woodrow. You don't say what you're looking for in a neighborhood, though, so we're a little handicapped. Maybe a little more info? How do you feel about commuting, and if that's okay, how far?

[whitney353]

We are wanting a safe, family-friendly neighborhood with amenities (movie theater, Target/Walmart, restaurants, etc). We aren't med students, rather professionals in the administration buildings. We do not mind commuting. We are used to a 20-40 minute commute depending on traffic, so that wouldn't be a big deal. Basically, we are looking for the idealistic, green lawn, 2-3 car garage suburban community with low crime.

Thanks for the response and help!

[Sam I Am]

Welll.....I'm going to take a wild stab and say you want west Little Rock. There is a Target midtown and movie theater in Riverdale, which is about the 2500 block of Cantrell Road. To get all the big boxes and things like that together, though, it's probably WLR. The debate would become where central becomes west since the boundaries have shifted a lot over the years.

I am not up on my WLR neighborhoods except the older ones - you will have to wait on someone else to weigh in on that. I'm sending you a link to a map from a realtor in town that sort of lays out the boundaries and I think it will be helpful as you begin your relocation.

First - maybe you'll find this helpful, maybe not :-) Main Street and Markham are the baseline streets for Little Rock. The major thoroughfares are pretty much numbered north and south of Markham and east and west of Main. The only caveat for WLR, and it's probably considered midtown by now, is stay away from the apartments on Reservoir Road. They just tend to be icky a lot.

I'd personally pick Leawood but that may not interest you - primarily 60's and 70's houses and they vary in quality. You may not find much for rent there anyway - people are longtimers there! Foxcroft is another lovely area...as is Pleasant Valley - but then you get further west into the newer developments and I get very, very lost. Brodie Creek is south of I-630, and west of I-430. It's really a great little neighborhood. In Kingwood, the Heights, Hillcrest, Cammack Village you are going to get older Little Rock. You have Heights shopping but not much in the way of the big box stores. Okay, nothing. But Park Plaza, the mall, is close at University and Marham and there's a large shopping center across the street that has Anne Taylor and Williams Sonoma and some other larger chains. The funky shopping is in Heights/Hillcrest.

I'm flying blind, too - can you give us a rough budget to work with? Oh - one more thing - and this isn't to start a debate, just info - if you have a pit bull or APBT mix, Little Rock is a no-go for you...there's a ban on. And that's all I have to say about that

[Old Fossil]

ZIP 72211 may be worth looking at. Our divorced daughter and her daughter live in the Pride Valley area and it is diverse, quite, and safe. You see women, including our granddaughter, walking all hours of the day and evenings. Most of the houses in the area are single level with two car garages and all I'm familiar with have "big" back yards. All the amenities you asked for are within 10/15 minutes and UAMS is a 20/30 minute straight shot on east bound Chenal Parkway/Interstate 630. There is (or has been) rentals in the area. I don't know enough about facilities for the little one, to comment.

Good luck and welcome to The Natural State. FYI, in 1956 I helped our department move into the new University Hospital (now UAMS). Gee, has it been that long

[whitney353]

Thank you so much for the responses! Here's a little more info...

Although we are relocating from Indianapolis, my husband and I are originally from southern Missouri. We are hoping this move gets us back closer to family and to our roots. Try finding a good chicken fried steak anywhere in Indianapolis! Most people don't even know what I'm talking about. And, when my "Ozark accent" pops out every once in a while, it definitely is a laugh around my current office

We are hoping to stay in a rental budget of no more than $1,300/month. We don't need anything fancy, just a nice, clean safe home and neighborhood. As for the dogs, We have two senior dogs, a boxer and a dachshund. They are our "furry children," so pet-friendly is a must! @Sam I Am, poor Pitbulls! I will definitely be looking into the Humane Society of Pulaski County to see how I can help!

If anyone out there has daycare recommendations, we are in great need of those, too!

[Sam I Am]

Oh lord - Whitney, Miss Selma's! Can't believe I drew a blank on that one. Cantrell and T Street. About Us Ages 2 and up. A fabulous place. Miss Selma has actually passed, but her school has been around for 55 years! I believe her daughter runs it now. There's also Children's House Montessori on Lee Ave. Children's House Montessori | Providing a Montessori education to generations since 1973 if you subscribe to the Montessori method - but Miss Selma's has consistently been one of LR's favorites for kids. They take ages 2 and up.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by whitney353

Thank you so much for the responses! Here's a little more info...

Although we are relocating from Indianapolis, my husband and I are originally from southern Missouri. We are hoping this move gets us back closer to family and to our roots. Try finding a good chicken fried steak anywhere in Indianapolis! Most people don't even know what I'm talking about. And, when my "Ozark accent" pops out every once in a while, it definitely is a laugh around my current office

We are hoping to stay in a rental budget of no more than $1,300/month. We don't need anything fancy, just a nice, clean safe home and neighborhood. As for the dogs, We have two senior dogs, a boxer and a dachshund. They are our "furry children," so pet-friendly is a must! @Sam I Am, poor Pitbulls! I will definitely be looking into the Humane Society of Pulaski County to see how I can help!

If anyone out there has daycare recommendations, we are in great need of those, too!

L.R. has a max of four dogs per household so that will be no problem unless they are "barkers", then the neighbors may complain.

[whitney353]

Hi all,

We have found a rental home that may just work! It is located north of Rodney Parham (just north of Grassy Flat Creek) and west of Reservoir Rd. The zip code is 72227.

The neighborhood (based on what we can see via Google Maps) looks older, but nice. However, there are some really sketchy looking apartments within a half-mile, off Reservoir Rd. @SamIAm, I think you said that we should stay clear of these!

Any suggestions or comments as to the safety and demographics of that specific area are much appreciated!

Also, based on our online research, we really like the Children's House Montessori. Miss Selma's looks nice, but isn't quite what we are looking for. Any other daycare recommendations out there?

Thank you again for all the help!

[whitney353]

Originally Posted by Old Fossil

L.R. has a max of four dogs per household so that will be no problem unless they are "barkers", then the neighbors may complain.

They are definitely not barkers, just senior dogs who lay around and sleep all day. We joke that they make great feet-warmers in the winter 😊