[Yuptag]

I work mostly from home, need high-speed internet access, looking for a small town (2500-25000), nice climate (Oklahoma and Texas are a bit too dry for me), want to a small plot for raising some of my own food, need to be 2-3 max from at least a regional airport.

[ArkansasTgirl]

2-3 hours? If you mean miles or minutes thats probably going to narrow things down a lot.

Van Buren, Alma, Greenwood, or Barling would all be within 30 minutes of Fort Smith regional. I'm pretty sure all have high speed internet through at least at&t or cox.
They are all dry but Barling is trying to go wet. You can buy alcohol in Fort Smith.

Pocola is right across the border in Oklahoma, has a casino if thats your thing. Not dry but the beer is crappy Oklahoma beer. Weather is the same, I drive there for work from Arkansas sometimes. Also well within 30 minutes of Fort Smith regional. I'm not sure about isp's but I would bet high speed is available.

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFeller

2-3 hours? If you mean miles or minutes thats probably going to narrow things down a lot.

Van Buren, Alma, Greenwood, or Barling would all be within 30 minutes of Fort Smith regional. I'm pretty sure all have high speed internet through at least at&t or cox.
They are all dry but Barling is trying to go wet. You can buy alcohol in Fort Smith.

Pocola is right across the border in Oklahoma, has a casino if thats your thing. Not dry but the beer is crappy Oklahoma beer. Weather is the same, I drive there for work from Arkansas sometimes. Also well within 30 minutes of Fort Smith regional. I'm not sure about isp's but I would bet high speed is available.

hrs

[ArkansasSlim]

We lived in Malvern for 40+ years before needing to move to L.R. nine years ago, and I would prefer to still be living there.

It is 10,000 pop, joins Interstate 30, one hour to the Little Rock airport, has DSL, and Cox Cable high speed (I think), 45 minutes to Hot Springs, and lots of lakes and rivers.

Undeveloped land within five miles of town sold for $2,500 per acre nine years ago. But that price would depend on how far out and which direction. Also important, make sure you have access to the needed Internet before you buy because I'm not sure how far out of town the coverage is. We were about two miles out and had cable.

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by ArkansasSlim

We lived in Malvern for 40+ years before needing to move to L.R. nine years ago, and I would prefer to still be living there.

It is 10,000 pop, joins Interstate 30, one hour to the Little Rock airport, has DSL, and Cox Cable high speed (I think), 45 minutes to Hot Springs, and lots of lakes and rivers.

Undeveloped land within five miles of town sold for $2,500 per acre nine years ago. But that price would depend on how far out and which direction. Also important, make sure you have access to the needed Internet before you buy because I'm not sure how far out of town the coverage is. We were about two miles out and had cable.

Thanks. Interesting.

[Sam I Am]

You know, I'm thinking Perryville or somewhere like that? Within an hour or so of the Little Rock airport on Hwy. 10, which is a beautiful drive. It does take you straight into west LR and if you are traveling at commute time you'd really need to allow a lot of room in your schedule for that. AT&T U-Verse is there, I'm pretty sure. Gosh, truth is that there's a BUNCH of towns that would fit your criteria, but you need to narrow it down some more. Other than nice climate, which we all want, would you prefer hills or flatter land? What other amenities would you require? England and Scott also come to mind when I think of farming closer to Little Rock.

OP, have you looked at this map to get an idea? It divides towns by population in the upper tab, then you can click on the town link for more info.

//www.city-data.com/city/Arkansas.html

[nmnita]

There are so many small towns like what you are looking for in AR. In fact you are describing a good part of AR, but one thing you say bothers me: you think Texas and Ok are too dry for you? What do you mean by that. Both states are very humid. They are not all that green most of the year because the states do not have a lot of trees and mountains, some of what we have here, but dry, they are not. Unless you are talking about the drought we have all experienced in the past 2 or 3 years.

Now, some places you might want to consider that have not been mentioned: Gravette comes to mind, so does Huntsville area. I think they both either have U-Verse or will shortly. I know they have high-speed. Oh and another really nice little town is Pea Ridge. Like Sam said, there are so many. I have just given you the names of a few towns that are in NWA. I will add though, I don't think you are going to find too many places like ArkansasSlim mentioned for $2,500 an acre unless you are looking at buying several acres, like maybe 25 or more. I could be wrong. Good luck and keep us posted. Like I said there are many towns that fit what you are looking for and most are within a couple hours of a regional airport. We have Little Rock, FT Smith, and North West AR for starters. There is also a nice regional airport in Branson MO and Tulsa, if you stay on end up in NWA or even closer to Hot Springs, plus if you ended up, say in Mountain Home or Harrison, which are other places to consider you have Springfield airport.

[Sam I Am]

I guess that's the best question - how much do you intend to spend on a few acres? Or are you even talking acreage? Your post just says "plot" of land. I think there's probably a lot for $2500 acre - but it will be undeveloped (like TOTALLY) and probably in the delta, NE, or SW Arkansas. But topography has so much to do with it - you may love the delta or duck blinds, and good for you if you do - it would certainly broaden your horizons.

Gravette is a nice little town and close to everything (relatively speaking), but you aren't going to find land that cheap there. NWA is booming all over. I know you won't find much, I've looked. Actually, you can find it, but again - it is undeveloped and sometimes you have to buy larger tracts - 25 acres or more - to get much of a break. Gravette is pretty flat, too - and the wind blows ALL THE TIME.

Wow - just too many variables - the ball is in your court, OP :-)

All that being said, there are lots of tiny towns out from small towns that might fit if you don't mind commuting for groceries....but then again, the HS internet probably drops off the map at that point.

[Cruzin' Boomer]

Originally Posted by Yuptag

I work mostly from home, need high-speed internet access, looking for a small town (2500-25000), nice climate (Oklahoma and Texas are a bit too dry for me), want to a small plot for raising some of my own food, need to be 2-3 max from at least a regional airport.

Pocahontas, AR. Population 6800. Excellent high speed internet thru Suddenlink. 2 hours from Memphis and Little Rock. We're in NE Arkansas. Foothills to the Ozarks. Highway 67 runs thru town and nearly completed 4 lane to Little Rock. Temps rarely lower than 30 degrees in the winter. And we just happen to be planning to sell our 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on 1 acre and 3 additional acres outside town after the first of the year. We're retiring to become fulltime RVers.

[gemstone1]

I lived in Loafers Glory (look that one up) in the 70's and could get to the LR airport in way less than 3 hours....I used to commute to Baptist Med Center daily...100 miles one way (and 10 miles of that was dirt road). 3 hours pretty much opens up the whole state to you. I see good broadband access as the limiting factor. Hughesnet satellite internet may be a solution, if your application can stand the extended ping time.

The best thing you can do is to make an extended visit, tour the whole state, see what suits you best....we took 6 months, starting out renting with a home base in Malvern, ending up in Searcy county, on 20 acres, 10 miles from town, 2 miles to the nearest neighbor....with the property butting up the Buffalo River boundary. If a work from home solution would have worked for me at that time, I might still be on the farm there....the only way I could get telephone service that far out was to be an employee of the phone company....

Lots of pretty country to see in AR

Regards
Gemstone1