Considering move from Michigan to Little Rock (Maumelle: fit in, real estate)

[Brie85]

My husband and I are in our mid-twenties. We have lived in southeast Michigan our entire lives but are considering moving to Little Rock for our jobs. We don't have children yet but would like to find an area with good public schools and a low crime rate. We have two dogs so we would like a fenced backyard. We are also very socially liberal, are there areas where this would be more acceptable?

What areas of Little Rock would you recommend for our family? Also, are there other factors about moving to Little Rock that you think we should consider?

Thank you.

I suppose that I should also add, my husband works in finance and data analysis. I will be graduating law school and securing an attorney position.

[ridicter]

Hillcrest/Heights area: Hillcrest, Little Rock, Arkansas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pulaski Heights, Little Rock, Arkansas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It's a pretty progressive, well-to-do area. Its state representative is an out lesbian (Kathy Webb). As it's a somewhat historical neighborhood and more enmeshed into urban Little Rock, the crime rate will be a little higher than out west in McMansion territory. Central High is a great school that produces the best state talent--some ~15 National Merit Scholars per year, and it is always very competitive in all national academic competitions: Little Rock Central High School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It is very diverse, both economically and ethnically. I think this is a good thing, but if you prefer something more homogeneous, there are a slew of other private/public schools to look at.

[jenni-b]

seconding ridicter's Hillcrest recommendation. residents of the Heights skew older/more conservative than Hillcrest, but they are both great neighborhoods.

Little Rock has lots of great magnet schools at all grade levels, focusing on everything from arts and science to foreign language to traditional studies.

[Brie85]

Thanks, we hadn't considered Hillcrest. We don't currently have any children but I would prefer to live in an area with nice schools since it helps maintain real estate value. I keep hearing great things about Central High but are the elementary and middle schools also good? I'm a little concerned with the level of crime in Hillcrest since my husband and I both grew up in very safe areas.

We've also been looking at the Maumelle area. Would we fit into that community? We both grew up the the suburbs are prefer a suburban setting to an urban one. I'm not too concerned about the commute since my husband's current commute is 45 min. and mine is an hour.

[jenni-b]

If you prefer the suburbs you might like Maumelle better. It's not as liberal as Hillcrest though.

It doesn't matter were you live when it comes to magnet schools. The neighborhood schools in Hillcrest are good too, though. I don't know anything about Maumelle schools, sorry.

[PigSooie]

You'll want to check with each neighborhood you're looking at and see which schools they are "zoned" to. For example, in high school, my neighborhood was zoned to Central High, but my sister's middle school was zoned to one that really wasn't very good, so my parents put her in a nearby private school, which is where I eventually ended up. That being said, since I did attend public school in Little Rock for most of my life but ended up graduating from a private school, the education and preparation I got from the private school was much higher than what I was getting from public school. Not totally knocking public education--that was just my personal experience.

But yes--since where a student can go to public school is defined by the area in which they live, you'll want to check which elementary, middle, and high school your desired neighborhood is zoned to.

You would probably like Hillcrest or the Heights. They're both charming areas. West Little Rock is constantly expanding and moving further and further that direction (Chenal Properties, etc.)

[jenni-b]

You do have options besides private school, though, if you're looking for alternative to your neighborhood school. There are some great magnet schools, and charter schools as well.