New England to Little Rock, Arkansas? (Hot Springs, Charleston: crime, best school districts, college)

[Aporkalypse]

Originally Posted by boulder

WriterLarry - to be candid ... moving from New England to Little Rock, Arkansas will be like relocating to a third world country for you and your family.

Little Rock schools and public schools in most of the surrounding towns are awful, the job market in central Arkansas is mediocre at best, and culturally the area is 25 years behind times.

The state of Arkansas has witnessed a major shift in political and financial power from Central Arkansas to Northwest Arkansas (Bentonville / Fayetteville) over the last 10-15 years and Little Rock / Central Arkansas is struggling with this swift castration of it’s previous identity.

As Northbound said, if your blindly throwing a dart at the southeastern part of the USA, there are many other small cities that would offer the cultural, economic, and educational aspects your accustom to along with the C.O.L. financial relief you desire.

Man, you live in a different reality. Culture is the reason I could NOT move to NWA after living in Dallas for years. I love Fayetteville but generally the area is generic suburbia.

Little Rock is outgrowing most other similar-size metros in the region like Memphis, Shreveport, Jackson and Birmingham and is similar to that of Tulsa. It has a thriving downtown that has seen development of multiple midrise buildings in the last few years, a thriving entertainment district, light rail line, and a diversity of restaurants. There are thriving historic neighborhoods with high property values in the Heights, Hillcrest, and Park Hill full of independent restaurants, art galleries, boutique shops, and antique dealers.

As for schools, the LR private schools are the best schools in Arkansas for those that can afford them. LR public schools have issues but the top schools like Central (the only school in Arkansas ranked by Newsweek), the magnet schools, and several elementaries are among the state's best. Central has far more National Merit Semifinalists than the next several schools combined (excepting the state's Science and Math School in Hot Springs, which is 2nd).

LR has been a white collar city for many years but recently there have been three major announcements for manufacturing projects at the Little Rock Port Authority, including locations of American HQs for a pipeline company and the world's largest windmill power manufacturer. This is despite a declining manufacturing base nationally and elsewhere in the state.

LR also is the only county in Arkansas where per capita income exceeds the national average, yet maintains affordability.

It's an adjustment coming from Boston but every Southern city will be. The real question is whether you can stomach living in a mid-sized city.

[boulder]

Originally Posted by Aporkalypse

Man, you live in a different reality.

Or maybe your blinded by reality.

Those are some great statements you made about Little Rock - - that is 'Chamber of Commerce' quality stuff.

Reality is, the majority of folks do not have the same perception of Little Rock as the economic, educational, culturally thriving small city you see it as. Most know about the high felony crime rate from murders to break-ins, ‘white flight’ to the suburbs to escape the diversity, rampant poverty viewable throughout Little Rock, overall dirtiness of the city, and pathetically run public school system. Sure Little Rock has some positives as you pointed out, but for many, especially those raising families, the negatives of living “in” Little Rock far outway the positives.

The OP asked about adapting to Little Rock (not Fayetteville or NWA) after living in Boston and my opinion is it will be a culture shock for his family.

[TodayIsTHEDay]

Originally Posted by boulder

Or maybe your blinded by reality.

Those are some great statements you made about Little Rock - - that is 'Chamber of Commerce' quality stuff.

Reality is, the majority of folks do not have the same perception of Little Rock as the economic, educational, culturally thriving small city you see it as. Most know about the high felony crime rate from murders to break-ins, ‘white flight’ to the suburbs to escape the diversity, rampant poverty viewable throughout Little Rock, overall dirtiness of the city, and pathetically run public school system. Sure Little Rock has some positives as you pointed out, but for many, especially those raising families, the negatives of living “in” Little Rock far outway the positives.

The OP asked about adapting to Little Rock (not Fayetteville or NWA) after living in Boston and my opinion is it will be a culture shock for his family.

Reality is...perception? The poster above pointed to facts, and then you gave perception.... Not a good retort at all. Little Rock, like all cities has some crime and blight (have you seen some of the neighborhoods in Boston with blight...they do exist...) There ARE some issues that LR must improve upon in terms of jails. But your perception is definitely not what the facts state. As the previous poster noted, the city school system, in spite of some obvious problems, still has more high performing students than anywhere else in the state. And, the private schools in LR are all very well received nationally.

The culture shock of living in LR would be apparent when moving to any city that is roughly a tenth of the size of the previous location...not to mention LR being a mid-south city. Having lived in numerous locations inside and outside Arkansas, I can say that living in LR is pretty easy and the lifestyle offers more than any other location in Arkansas. But, life is what you make of it so if you do not wish to reside in/around LR, that's great too!

[Sam I Am]

Knock it off - we're not getting into another north versus south again. Everyone has an opinion - everyone has their own reality. Debate the idea, not the poster.

[boulder]

Originally Posted by TodayIsTHEDay

Reality is...perception? The poster above pointed to facts, and then you gave perception.... Not a good retort at all.

Moderator cut: edit
Please share some facts about the 'more high performing students than anywhere else in the state. And, the private schools in LR are all very well received nationally".

[DC at the Ridge]

Agree with Sam. Northwest Arkansas AND Little Rock have much to offer. The schools are great in both areas, the shopping is great, economic growth is good. The two areas have differences, they've developed differently, Little Rock is a city that functions as a central hub with communities growing around it, Northwest Arkansas is a chain of cities with each city having a distinct feel and personality. Little Rock is a more established city, and the capital of the state. Northwest Arkansas is a more random urban setting because the amenities are spread out between four primary cities. Fayetteville is the most urban of the four because of the University. Both areas have cultural offerings and great independent restaurants, Little Rock having more of this because it has had a larger population/tax base for a longer time, but the influx of new people into Northwest Arkansas is creating demand for the same venues. One thing for sure, the OP definitely discovered that Arkansans are passionate about their state and the diverse cities within it.

DC

[Aporkalypse]

Originally Posted by boulder

Or maybe your blinded by reality.

Those are some great statements you made about Little Rock - - that is 'Chamber of Commerce' quality stuff.

Reality is, the majority of folks do not have the same perception of Little Rock as the economic, educational, culturally thriving small city you see it as. Most know about the high felony crime rate from murders to break-ins, ‘white flight’ to the suburbs to escape the diversity, rampant poverty viewable throughout Little Rock, overall dirtiness of the city, and pathetically run public school system. Sure Little Rock has some positives as you pointed out, but for many, especially those raising families, the negatives of living “in” Little Rock far outway the positives.

The OP asked about adapting to Little Rock (not Fayetteville or NWA) after living in Boston and my opinion is it will be a culture shock for his family.

Moderator cut: edit The problems you complain of are those of pretty much any city of any size.

I agree that Little Rock would be a culture shock coming from Boston, though less so than NWA.

It sounds honestly like you hate anything urban or diverse. LR is one of the few core school districts in the South where you still find a large number of white students. The crime rate is comparable to other mid-sized cities in the region and is almost exclusively black-on-black, limited to certain neighborhoods, and drug-related. This has never impacted me, nor did it when I lived in Dallas when it was the worst of the nation's ten largest cities in crime rate. For those that want to flee the crime, they can go to Conway, Cabot, Bryant or Benton and get an experience similar to NWA but keep the city amenities nearby. As for poverty, how can one criticize an area with a higher per capita income than the one you live in? The tens of thousands of immigrants up there that most in Rogers and Springdale seem to decry are ruining their schools aren't making Acxiom or Alltel money.

I'm raising a family and having zoos, museums, etc nearby as well as first rate medical facilities is a plus for me. Most important to me is having "college prep" schools like Catholic, Pulaski Academy, Episcopal Collegiate, Lutheran HS, CAC, etc to give my children the opportunities I had.

Keep in mind I love Fayetteville, it's a wonderful college town and I love to visit for games, etc. It's a great place to live, but it's not for everyone.

[Jimrob1]

My best advice too you is this. If you have your heart on this move and have done enough research on Little Rock and decide to make the move then RENT. Rent a place and give it a year or whatever you need to make a decision on whether it is the right place. Moving from New England which I did several years ago is very stressful, as it is from whereever one moves. I think New England is a very different region of the USA, most of us come from generations in that region and many have family ties to European ancestry. Meaning many of us are very close to our families and distance becomes a problem for us when we move. I found moving alot more stressful than I ever would of thought and I moved to Portland, Oregon, it was a huge culture shock and in many ways still is. Nothing against any place in the country but New England has a very homey felling that is hard to duplicate. I think some of the south and the midwest would be the closest too that feeling though. I would not recommend moving and buying something right off if your not completely 100% sure of your decision. Once you leave New England it is very difficult to return and buy again, or for that matter rent and heat some place your living in. Give it alot of thought before you leap. Good Luck.

[TodayIsTHEDay]

Originally Posted by boulder

Moderator cut: edit
Please share some facts about the 'more high performing students than anywhere else in the state. And, the private schools in LR are all very well received nationally".

In Newsweek, May 27, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Little Rock Central High School was ranked 26th in the nation, after having been ranked 20th in the magazine's 2006 rankings

Little Rock Central High School won the 2007 National Fed Challenge competition
Central has had seven Presidential Scholars in last decade

Pulaski Academy National Merit Scholars: 105. A quick look at their SAT and ACT scores shows exceptional averages.

Just a quick look for that...it's easy to find if you look for it

[Aporkalypse]

Here are more facts, so LR schools must be doing something right...

Percent High School and College grads:
Pulaski Co: 84.4%/28.1%
Faulkner: 83.3%/25.2%
Washington: 79.5%/24.5%
Benton: 80.4%/20.3%

Little Rock: 89.0%/35.5%, 13.4% with graduate degree

If you look those numbers up, LR does as well as virtually any core city in the South in terms of education.