[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by Navyman

I have read some extreme hate in this thread and it has become pretty clear to me that the majority is from people that are trying to change Arkansas. As someone that has lived in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Hawaii, both southern CA, and the San Francisco Bay area, Guam, Japan, and currently Germany I have found one thing to be true. Don't try to change where you are to make it somewhere else that you hae been, every place has its good as well as its bad points. I am retiring from 20 years of service this year, I heard about Mountain Home, Arkansas and spent a lot of time looking into it, before choosing this as my next home. I didn't choose Arkansas as a place I can turn into something else, I chose it as a place that I want to become a part of, the tight knit community, I am drawn by the outdoors, and the people, the hunting and fishing have won me over as I see these that I will be able to do while spending some quality time with my Father. I will adapt to become a part of the town, and becuase of this I know that I will be accepted just as I have with every where else that I have been.

Thank you Navyman!! The good people of Mountain Home will appreciate that you choose to not change their town into something else. Go Bombers!

[Clay Lady]

I live in a rural area in SW Arkansas and while there are some ladies here that could benefit from a complete makeover - I see many more ladies dressing casual nice on their trips to the stores of milk, etc. The work force dresses nicer and I haven't noticed any of them looking any different than people I run into on my travels. I travel regularly to southern California, Washington state, Wyoming, and NW Arkansas. Some ladies wear heels with their jeans, some don't. Some don't wear jeans (even the $500 ones). In any of those areas I have noticed a variety of styles. One of the cool things about rural Arkansas - most people can't tell the difference between the $500 jeans and the ones they can get from WalMart!! Try pulling THAT off in parts of southern Cal.

If the fish is polluted in Arkansas - I'm dead! I eat fish at least three times a week no matter where I am. FYI - I'm not dead and the fishing is good!

[luvarkansas]

Originally Posted by Clay Lady

. One of the cool things about rural Arkansas - most people can't tell the difference between the $500 jeans and the ones they can get from WalMart!! Try pulling THAT off in parts of southern Cal.

Here's what I like about rural living....there is no (or at the least, very little) pressure to dress a certain way, drive a certain kind of vehicle, live in a certain neighborhood, etc. The part of AR where our family cabin is located is in a very remote spot. There is a little church close by where we go when we are there. There are ALL different kinds of people there....local "hillbillies", town folks (the music leader), retirees who were raised in the area and some from far away, part-time residents like us....even a black man (who works nearby) and his wife. All are accepted, and everyone dresses the way they want to without anything being said (I'm referring to style, not modesty!). There are suits and ties, jeans and hiking boots, dresses and heels...it runs the gamut of styles. When you're out that far, you can just be yourself. I like it. And people are more self-reliant. Just salt-of-the-earth types. I like 'em. I hate pretentiousness, social ladder-climbing, name-dropping, etc.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Clay Lady

I live in a rural area in SW Arkansas and while there are some ladies here that could benefit from a complete makeover - I see many more ladies dressing casual nice on their trips to the stores of milk, etc. The work force dresses nicer and I haven't noticed any of them looking any different than people I run into on my travels. I travel regularly to southern California, Washington state, Wyoming, and NW Arkansas. Some ladies wear heels with their jeans, some don't. Some don't wear jeans (even the $500 ones). In any of those areas I have noticed a variety of styles. One of the cool things about rural Arkansas - most people can't tell the difference between the $500 jeans and the ones they can get from WalMart!! Try pulling THAT off in parts of southern Cal.

If the fish is polluted in Arkansas - I'm dead! I eat fish at least three times a week no matter where I am. FYI - I'm not dead and the fishing is good!

And we can't wait to move there and taste some of that great fish.....

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Southernkomfort27

I'm done with work, and have had some time to read all these post. As a person researching this state as a possible place to relocate and escape a state that's in economic peril ( Mich), I need to know what is fact and what is , well, maybe not so accurate.[I don't find it helpful in my quest for information, to read post that have little to do with reality, but rather the poster's own jaded perspective. So please, those of you with first hand information, like those that live there or have recently visited, what is Arkansas really like? Especially the NW area.
My husband and I like the outdoors. He likes to hunt, and we both enjoy fishing. A previous poster stated that the waters are polluted and the fish contain mercury. What information is out there to back such a claim? /Is wildlife really on the decline? Are there statistics? Posters mention the litter all over. How about a bottle and can returnable law? I assume that there isn't one, but to you think it might be possible to pass this? When I drove through TN, I disliked all the billboards slapped on the mountainsides...I thought it detracted from the natural beauty. Does that occur in AR as well?
Hairstyles from the 70's and misapplied makeup?...c'mon, the poster made it sound like the state was full of Tammy Fayes...(no offense, may she rest in peace). After reading some of the previous post one could get the impression that Arkansas is populated by nothing but uneducated hayseeds popping open cans with there teeth, then throwing the emptys on the ground. I don't believe this is true, but where does this nonsense come from? I'm from Mich., and can't get down there to visit just yet, so help me out here. I don't want the view from rose colored glasses, but then again, I would appreciate any negative information to be backed up by facts, especially facts that I can look up myself. Thanks in advance.

We are re -locating from NM to AR. While visiting last summer I saw about 1% the amount of trash along the highways that we have here. If the water is filled with mercury, I bet most other waterways in the country are filled with the same. There will always be those who have an axe to grind or like to put themselves just a tab above others. We found the people to be so friendly, the cost of living loser than many places and didn't see many Tammy Faye types running around. I am sure our 21 year old granddaughter who is about to graduate from AR would laugh at the commet about 70s hairstyles. That is if she even knows what a 70s hairstyle is or was.

We have lived all over the country or at least on both coasts plus Texas and New Mexico, we have mostly lived in the burbs and worked in large cities. The past 7 years we have lived a quiet life in a small town. That part fits us, but I know the people in AR are harder workers, more sincere and life is good.

Nita

[COUNTRY_ANGEL_HORSE]

Hillbilly60, kinda surprised u used hillbilly, I understand that it is hard to change from Cali where everything is at your fingertips to a rural Arkansas area. Why dont you consider moving yourself and your parent to a better part of the State or back to California. No one should be somewhere they are not happy. Your not being happy has the possibility of having negative affects on others. Try to see the glass as half full and maybe use your intelligence to start up some after school programs for the kids or change you atmosphere. Dont become a product of your environment; Make your environment a product of you =)

[COUNTRY_ANGEL_HORSE]

We say Grace, we say maam and if you aint into that we dont give____ Country folks can survive!!!!!

Sorry I had to

[COUNTRY_ANGEL_HORSE]

Originally Posted by Littlexred

My boyfriend and I are looking into moving to Arkansas due a job offer he was made and while we were decided if we wanted to move or not, we visited Arkansas and did a bit of researched online, which led me here.
I have to say first of all, reading all this as an outsider, that while most (but definatly not all) of the people defending their state of Arkansas on here, don't come of friendly at all. They come of as just plain angry and rude, which I find funny, since in most of those posts I read so many of those people saying that one of the great things about Arkansas is how friendly the people are.
Which I actually I have to agree with. Most people I met while visiting the state were very friendly (until they found out I was in a bi-racial relationship) and the state was very beautiful and completely different from the Southern California beach town I was raised in.
While I'll be the first to say that California does have it's flaws. A lot of them, one of them was never racism, which I have never full on experienced until visiting Arkansas. It's a visually beautiful state, but I not for me.

We are friendly till you make us MAD! Just kidding. People are just defending the love of their home state. That shows dedication, and the fact that Arkansans care what goes on in Arkansas and what people think about our home. We are very passionate people.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by COUNTRY_ANGEL_HORSE

We are friendly till you make us MAD! Just kidding. People are just defending the love of their home state. That shows dedication, and the fact that Arkansans care what goes on in Arkansas and what people think about our home. We are very passionate people.

Have ya ever seen a MAD RAZORBACK? OOOH!

[Darlynn0217]

Originally Posted by COUNTRY_ANGEL_HORSE

We say Grace, we say maam and if you aint into that we dont give____ Country folks can survive!!!!!

Sorry I had to

Bocephus knows what it's all about!! Love him!!!!!!!

I may not be IN Arkansas, but I am close enough to throw a rock that far!! NW AR and SW MO can't be beat!!