Safety around the area of Cedars apartments at Wellington Lake, Little Rock (to rent, crime rate)

[LittleRock09]

My whole family (my wife and 2-yr old daughter) will move to Little Rock at the beginning of Sept, 09. We are kind of excited to experience a different life style from current one (we live in upstate of New York now). But we are kind of worrying about the safety there based on info from the internet. I am planning to rent an apartment from Cedars apartments at Wellington Lake based on the information I got from this forum (that area west of 430 and north of 630 in little rock will be safer). But some people in this forum said safety in the area west of 430 and north of 630 in little rock is getting worse due to migrants from new orleans when katrina happened. Is that true? Any of your input about safety around the area of that Apartments is high appreciated.

[HANNU]

I do not know these apartments that you mentioned, but the 'west of 430 rule' is not ironclad e.g. Green Mountain Drive area apartments have issues. But the majority west of this boundary are good. What I can recommend though, is to use the advanced search feature at the top of this page and type in "apartments" and make sure you select 'search titles', and the results will show almost everything about apartments that was discussed in this forum. It is very informative.

This thread should also be moved to the Little Rock Metropolitan Area forum.

[North Pulaski Player]

Originally Posted by LittleRock09

My whole family (my wife and 2-yr old daughter) will move to Little Rock at the beginning of Sept, 09. We are kind of excited to experience a different life style from current one (we live in upstate of New York now). But we are kind of worrying about the safety there based on info from the internet. I am planning to rent an apartment from Cedars apartments at Wellington Lake based on the information I got from this forum (that area west of 430 and north of 630 in little rock will be safer). But some people in this forum said safety in the area west of 430 and north of 630 in little rock is getting worse due to migrants from new orleans when katrina happened. Is that true? Any of your input about safety around the area of that Apartments is high appreciated.

Arkansas received more Katrina evacuees than any other state outside of Texas, but I think that people are exhagerrating when they talk about the evacuees' influence after relocating here. I can only think of one crime that occurred in Little Rock by a Katrina evacuee since the storm. Those from New Orleans that fled from Katrina were spread out all over, so they were never really able to group up and cause trouble. It seems like most of them have moved back to Louisiana now anyway.

Now back to the apartments, the only negative thing I have ever heard about them is that they are "expensive", so if you have already decided that these apartments are in your price range, that maybe a good thing. Good luck on your move!

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by LittleRock09

My whole family (my wife and 2-yr old daughter) will move to Little Rock at the beginning of Sept, 09. We are kind of excited to experience a different life style from current one (we live in upstate of New York now). But we are kind of worrying about the safety there based on info from the internet. I am planning to rent an apartment from Cedars apartments at Wellington Lake based on the information I got from this forum (that area west of 430 and north of 630 in little rock will be safer). But some people in this forum said safety in the area west of 430 and north of 630 in little rock is getting worse due to migrants from new orleans when katrina happened. Is that true? Any of your input about safety around the area of that Apartments is high appreciated.

Most people are afraid of anything east of I-430, but there are many good areas especially north of I-630.

[North Pulaski Player]

Originally Posted by bchris02

Most people are afraid of anything east of I-430, but there are many good areas especially north of I-630.

The apartments on Reservoir Road is why people no longer simply say "stay north of I-630". It's embarrassing how they allowed Reservoir Road to become a "hood" in an otherwise good part of town.

[LittleRock09]

Sorry for late response. I was away of internet due to a business trip. Thanks a lot for all your helpful information. As for the price, my original plan was less than $900/month. Certainly cheaper is better. But between safety and price, I weigh more on the safety. One important reason I chose that apartments is that it is within a reasonable distance to UALR (where i will work). I knew there are quite a few other apartments along the chenal pkwy. But based info from this forum, it seems that the Cedars is better than Shadow lake and Chenal lake. Let me follow HANNU's suggestion to dig out more information about apartments in Little Rock. Also, I would appreciate if you can recommend some good apartments in terms of both rent and safety.

[strumpeace]

Shadow Lake was not bad when I lived there a few years ago. It may not be great now.

If you could spare a few extra minutes on your morning commute, I would point you to a hidden complex off Cantrell called Foxglen. It's very small and quiet and backs up to the racquet club and a great neighborhood. Rent is affordable. This one never gets mentioned on here, but imo, it is one of the best complexes in town. And you can walk to the Purple Cow!

[LittleRock09]

Thank you for your recommendation. It seems that Foxglen is very close to the Cantrell Rd. Some people in this forum said that area is nice before but is not as safe recently due to migrants from new orleans. Do you live in that place recently?

[jenni-b]

I'm sorry, but this "migrants from New Orleans" thing is starting to bother me. Is this just code for "black"?

Besides which, black or white, most people who have moved here from New Orleans are not criminals or troublemakers. It is a shame that a few bad apples have tainted some people's opinions of all these newcomers.

[LittleRock09]

jenni-b, I definitely did not mean it codes for "black". What I concern is that the crimes around the apartments I will live, no matter what colors are involved. As I mentioned earlier, safety is of high priority when I look for apartment. when I dig the internet regarding crime rate and Little Rock, it frequently comes up high crime alert. That's the reason I, like many other "going to be" new residents came to this forum to find more accurate information on this issue. I believe local residents have the most authoritative and accurate/reliable information about which area is safer even the overall crime rate of Little Rock is high from statistics of different sources.