Weather......The Ozarks vs the Appalachians

[MyCitySearchName]

Sean....your neighbors are lucky people. You are one of the most helpful, insightful people I've come across.

Is that your daughter?....she looks about the same age as mine. Lucky little girl.

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by MyCitySearchName

Sean....your neighbors are lucky people. You are one of the most helpful, insightful people I've come across.

Haha! Thanks for the kind words. Being the poster boy for ADD I can overwhelm people in person if I get revved up but I'm better at detecting the glassing over of eyes as I get older so I'm generally tolerable

Originally Posted by MyCitySearchName

Is that your daughter?....she looks about the same age as mine. Lucky little girl.

Yes that's Chloe she's 4 but will be turning 5 in March. Moira (not pictured) is 7. I've a son Garrick who lives in Vermont w/ my ex-wife - he's 12.

Sean

[MyCitySearchName]

My baby girl is 5....I hope I'm able to find a nice place too, so I can let her experience a garden and animals and stuff. Nice garden!

[Ridgerunner]

MyCitySearchName: I've spent most of my life in SW Virginia. What you are looking for can be found in the Ouachita Mtns. of Arkansas-Oklahoma. Ft. Smith is large enough to support your business and you could commute from some place like Poteau, OK or Greenwood, AR. The climate is slightly warmer year-round than in SW Va. And you'll be amazed at the real estate prices (see Shirley Rodgers Realty at www.realty-srr.com) (broken link). It's only 180 miles from Ft. Smith to OK City.

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by MyCitySearchName

Is Fort Smith the most comparable area to SW VA?

There are no towns in SW VA the size of Ft. Smith except Roanoke which is slightly larger. Lynchburg, farther east, is more comparable to Ft. Smith.

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by MyCitySearchName

From what I've been reading, the temperatures only seem slightly higher in the Ozarks during the summer, are the humidity and bugs THAT much worse?

No one here seems to have any opinion.......

Yeah, the humidity tends to be a little bit higher in the heartland. The bug problem seems to be related to vegetation density.

[MyCitySearchName]

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

Yeah, the humidity tends to be a little bit higher in the heartland. The bug problem seems to be related to vegetation density.

FINALLY!.....someone who has been to both areas! YEAH!
I hope you don't mind if I play 20 questions with you now.

define "a little bit" more humid...

I like being in the boonies.....and in the woods.....compared to SW VA...how are the bugs?......

how much hotter does it "feel"....in the Ouachitas vs SW VA?...if its like Dallas in the summer.....that could be a bad thing....I didn't like it there.
I also lived in Asheville, NC for awhile...and while I didn't like the town, the weather was nice. The temps in the mountains there just felt different, even though they were humid.....you know what I mean?

Any opinions on the Cookeville, TN or Mentone, AL areas?

Is there any rock climbing down in the Ozarks in the areas I've mentioned?

Are there any communities that sell organic stuff?....thats pretty important to me. I'm sick of all the unhealthy crap most places try to sell you. I know a lot of places back east sell organic produce and have range fed, pastured fed animals for meat. Fast food and big farms are causing a HUGE number of health related maladies in this country, and I'm not moving anywhere I don't have access to at least some healthy food.....sorry thats one of my little soapboxes.

Does Arkansas have personal property taxes like SW VA?....does OK?

Would there be a better place to look in OK than Poteau, given this criteria:
(this is from one of my other posts, but my ultimate goal is to move, so it might be helpful here in this discussion)
*low cost of living
*small government, mostly conservative.....with LOW TAXES. I'm wanting to make my next move permanent.
*low crime rate
*gun friendly
*pet friendly
*pretty scenery, with low cost acreage available near near water...MILD climate....not extreme either way
.....I do like to play in snow occasionally and prefer rolling foothills near mountains.
I also like hunting, kayaking and rock climbing.
*rural, yet vibrant community with artists, artisans, self-reliant homesteader types and musicians....within a 30 min.
drive of a larger community (30k to 150k people) for business/shopping purposes
*access to organic produce, meat and goat's milk
*no big box stores or blacktop jungles. I like a town with some character, slow pace of life and interesting architecture.
*a decent hardware store and a nice restaurant or two.
*NOT a dry county, I like wine with dinner.

Choices so far have been:
#1 Floyd or Boones Mill, VA
#2 Cookeville & the outskirts of Chattanooga or Johnson City, TN
#3 Mountain Home, Hot Springs Village, Eureka Springs or outskirts of Fort Smith or Fayetteville, AR
#4 Corvallis, Winchester Bay, Roseburg, Astoria, or Seaside OR
#5 Florence, Rock City, Gadsden or Mentone, Alabama
#6 Poteau, OK

Is that damnable NAFTA superhighway going to cut through the Ozarks anywhere?.....I know its supposed to go to Kansas City, MO....but I haven't seen a map of the route they plan to use.

Thanks for the help.

[twogrand]

I have lived in Arkansas and Southwest VA both. It is much hotter in Arkansas than it is in western VA. VA has some snow, not as much as it used to. This past winter we only had a few snows that covered the ground and one 5 incher. We used to get a lot more than that.We have an occasional ice storm. Gardening and raising a few animals is a big past time here. You can find all kinds of farmland in the southwestern area of the state. Sounds to me like you would fit right in here in the western reaches of Virginia. We do not have a population of 30-100,000 people tho, until you get to Roanoke maybe. You might could find a place for you in Scott County and use the population of Kingsport,TN and Bristol, VA to support your business. That is a tri city area with at least 60,000-100,000 people in the three cities. There is also some farmland in Tennesee in this area.
Lee County is the more beautiful and scenic of the western counties. Wise County has a branch of UVA there, but is more mountainous.
The problem remains that you would be farther away from your daughter. Past that, it sounds to me that you would enjoy Lee County ,Wise or Scott Counties,perhaps Russell County.

I wish you the best in your hunt.