Jacksonville or Cabot (Little Rock, North Little Rock, Searcy: transplants, real estate, crime rate)

[LizzyS]

My husband is transferring with his job to BeBee. We currently live in Canada and have just started our initial research and looking into places to live. We are looking at either Jacksonville or Cabot since it is between BeBee and Little Rock. Does anyone have any thoughts on the area or any other ideas?

[Ashley Wolfe]

It matters what you're looking for. Jacksonville is a slightly bigger city, but Cabot would put you about 15-20 minutes closer to Beebee. Jacksonville is very much based around a typical single airmen.... there are two "gentlemans clubs" and two adult novelty shops, but NO movie theater. Cabot is more of a family town, but there is a BIG race issue there, that is slowly improving... I worked at Wal Mart there, and I could go weeks without seeing a single black person, but after Katrina there are a few more blacks living there now, and of course some military families are deciding to move there. But, just about 2 years ago, two black women were shopping and an old white lady walked by them and spit on them, so Cabot does consist of quite a few ignorant rednecks. You could maybe consider Searcy. The black/white ratio isn't quite so uneven there, and its even closer to Beebee. Well, if you wanna know anything else, let me know. My husband and I lived in base housing in Jacksonville Arkansas for 2 years, so I know a little bit about the area. Good luck making your decision.

[North Pulaski Player]

Originally Posted by LizzyS

My husband is transferring with his job to BeBee. We currently live in Canada and have just started our initial research and looking into places to live. We are looking at either Jacksonville or Cabot since it is between BeBee and Little Rock. Does anyone have any thoughts on the area or any other ideas?

If you are caucasian then I would recommend Cabot over Jacksonville. Cabot is much closer to Beebe and it is a nice family oriented community. If you have any "tint" in your skin I would pick Jacksonville over Cabot and you may also want to consider Beebe itself since it is actually a nice little open-minded community.

[MimiCYN]

If you have children, then Cabot schools are the best in the area! However, be careful when buying a home - we're having a terrible situation with our new home - foundation has cracked - and they're trying to tell me this happens a lot in Cabot...in fact, our neighbor's home was bought back by his builder, the problems were so bad. In fact our home has already had Power Lift put in piers, and that hasn't even helped (only 1 1/2 yrs old), still having foundation movement, etc. SO BE CAREFUL when buying a home!

[LulaBell07]

My husband and I just got orders to Little Rock Air Force Base. I had set my sights on a house in cabot, because I want my kids to go to the best schools possible. But now, I'm not so sure. I'm white, and my husband is hispanic, which gave our kids a little "tint" to their skin and a hispanic last name. I'm worried that my son in 7th grade will have problems. He has no idea about rednecks or even hispanics for that matter. We've lived overseas all his life. Any thoughts?

[aajackson]

Wow! I'm almost embarrassed to say I'm from Arkansas! You do run into a more "backwoods" mentality the further you get from the city. I would definitely choose Jacksonville. You will get more of a mix of ethnic backgrounds. Plus, it's about a 15 minute drive to Little Rock (where you'll need to go for everything entertainment) and it definitely doesn't have the crime rate that Little Rock does.

[Sam I Am]

Lula, I would say simply based on the fact that you have lived overseas all his life that you may all be more comfortable in Jacksonville, where there are so many military transplants and kids that have been raised much the way as your son. Cabot tends to be very insulated in a lot of ways but there are a great number of military folks there, too - just not as many as J'ville. All things being equal, I don't think the Hispanic name or "tint", as you call it, would be a stumbling block for him in Cabot - it's certainly not the same little sleepy town it was even 10 years ago. My argument AGAINST moving to J'ville would be proximity to Little Rock and North Little Rock, but I know that Cabot used to have a lot of problems simply because there wasn't that much for the kids to do there. If your son loves sports and academics, he really shouldn't have a problem in Cabot....sports rule and they do have excellent schools.

[LivingInLittleRock]

I agree with Sam I Am!!

[LulaBell07]

Thanks everybody for your opinions.

It seems that I may not have much of a choice about where we live, since the real estate agents in Cabot won't even talk to me. I have to assume it's my last name. With the housing in the state that it is, you'd think they'd jump at the chance to sell a house, no matter where it is.

I am completely amazed! My husband is a 3rd generation AMERICAN. I'm starting to really resent America and it's "freedom".

[Sam I Am]

Lula, I doubt seriously it is your name, but one never knows. I actually think this is probably like a lot of areas - if you aren't already there, they aren't sure you are really relocating and therefore don't want to invest a lot of time in someone who may never show up. We've certainly lived that experience before when we were moving. If you had a realtor where you live now that is with a national company, they will be happy to call ahead for you and get you an agent to work with.