[Diamond Dee]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Yes, I actually worked for Abilities Unlimited and one of my good friends mom work for them now........Send me a message if you need some info on it

Thanks . by the way do they sell Wolf Brand chili in the stores their?

[lkstiles]

Hey There!
I actually did live in Jonesboro many years during my college days. I loved Jonesboro. I'm a small town girl though. I now live in St. Louis. I love it here. I can say the only place I've lived in in my 26 years that I hated was Michigan. And that's cause they talked down to me for having an accent. Also they were just too busy. Jonesboro is pretty laid back. Not a ton of fishing going on, misquitoes can be pretty rough honestly during the summer. Craighead Forest Park has a lake there that you can fish in, but nothing too big. I enjoy going to the park when I'm home though. It's very nice and relaxing. Also Jonesboro has recently opened up the Nature Center which is REALLY cool for all ages. Lastly as far as buffets go, I think my parents have the best in town. The Fishboat located on Nettleton Road. They have owned it going on 2 years. They have GREAT southern food. All you can eat buffet. Also my parents are the sweetest people you'll meet esp. my mom! Jonesboro cost of living is considerably lower than most cities which is a huge plus if you are looking at saving money and investing! They also have some great churches there. Now Spring River (Hardy) is less than an hour. There you can go floating, canoeing, fishing etc. That is some great fishing! I hope this helps!

[FrogLadyNV]

Hello!

My family and I are looking into moving from Nevada to Arkansas, especially the Jonesboro area including Bay and Marked Tree. I've read all the above posts and want to thank everybody for their input

Mosquitoes and bug spray will be a new experience for my kids, that's for sure! But so will fishing and boating and all the fun stuff. I hope it's a good trade off for them Being born and raised outside of Chicago I had my fair share of mosquitoes and do NOT miss them!

I do have one major concern: tornados. I assume since most of the houses are still standing it's not too bad, but I'm sure they get their share. Do you guys have any input on the weather?

Thanks in advance!

[magrack]

You might start here:

Tornadoes Location Frequency and Deaths

Lot of good information nationwide.

Every state gets tornados, although the middle of the country is more prone to the really violent ones.

Arkansas gets it's share, but truthfully, it's not something most people I know worry about. It's just another facet of living here.

The place we bought didn't have a hidey hole, but one of the things my wife demanded when we moved here was to install one.

It was a cheap alternative to the nagging I would have had to put up with.

A good weather radio, and some knowledge of the weather patterns more likely to spawn tornados will stand you in good stead, and a decent storm shelter "just in case" and you'll be fine.

After a bit, you'll get more comfortable with the idea that tornados can happen, but it won't be the most worrisome thing in your life.

We do get some pretty violent thunderstorms (always potential for tornados when that happens), but for some stange reason, I find them beautiful...just something about seeing the fury nature is capable of, I guess.

Even my wife has gotten used to them and often joins me for viewing a good storm, and this is a woman who used to hide from a good thunderstorm.

I'm more concerned about hail damage than tornadoes and although hail is almost always present during a tornado, the presence of hail does not necessarily mean a tornado is coming.

I'd be more concerned with the mosquitoes up in J'boro; they really are bad.

[FrogLadyNV]

Thanks for the info, magrack

I was used to thunderstorms and tornadoes while living in Illinois, but have never seen a worse thunderstorm than one I caught while going through Texas/Oklahoma! That was the scariest thing ever since I was driving at the time! Believe it or not we've had 3 tornadoes that I know of here in Southern Nevada. Of course that's over a course of about 20 years!

Being born and raised outside Chicago and vacationing in Michigan was a great education in mosquitoes! Back then they had never heard of West Nile and all those other wonderful things, they were just annoying, buzzing mosquiotoes! 25 years later and I STILL know that buzz!

Thanks for the info and if you can think of anything else of concern, or praise, I'd love to hear it!

[raiders_2010]

ok don't listen to pearlbob.
jonesboro is a great city
it is getting larger and just got a fantastic large mall.
i have lived here all my life and still love it.
i will cry(not out of happiness) if i have to move from here
we just got a chili's and chick-fil-a and are about to get an olive garden and red lobster. we do NOT just like fish and fries. i don't know what pearlbob was saying when she said i don't know how a diverse restraunt would stay in business here because we have hundreds of diverse restraunts here and only a few of them serve fish...but the ones that do serve fish are excellent. so please don't take any advise from "pearlbob" because she does not know what she is talking about. we also have a great library and are the wettest dry county in america. so many of our restraunts have liqour liscense that we might as well be wet. we also have plenty of churches to choose from.
if you do decide to move here you will make one of the best decisions of your life.

[raiders_2010]

[quote=Pearlbob;443536]These are opinions, right? She asked for opinions, these are my opinions.

It's a tiny little town. Outback? Ruby Tuesdays? These are the best options to be listed for dining there? That says a lot.

I grew up in cities that were much more cultured, without the persistent racism that I found in Jonesboro. It was a shock and very sad to me when I moved there.[/


i live in jonesboro and have found no racism at all so you don't know what your talking about...

[Pearlbob]

I only know from my own experiences from moving to Jonesboro as a child. I had never seen or heard racist remarks before in my life until I moved there. Maybe things have changed.

And sorry, I do not consider Chili's and Olive Garden to be diverse restaurants. Maybe if you are used to less, then those options sound good to you.

Again, these are my opinions and also happen to be the same opinions that every other friend I had who was an "outsider" felt. When you move there from a much larger, much more cultured area of the country, it will be a total shock to the system.

[Pearlbob]

Raider:
According to your answers above, you have lived in Jtown for years and love it and have tons of opinions on it. So why are you re-asking these same questions on other threads as though you are ignorant about the city?

[Stage]

As most others have said- please ignore Pearlbob.

I grew up in Los Angeles- I think most would agree that LA is a highly diverse and "cultural" place. I am definatly not "used to less" as Pearlbob says- I'm used to much much more.

I now go to school in Walnut Ridge- about 30 minutes from the largest big town which happens to be Jonesboro. Now I'm more partial to the Ozarks and plan to reside in Cotter after graduation, but I spend quite a bit of time In J-town as we at Williams refer to it.

J-town is quite a lively place to live. There is great local music, great theater at community theaters and at the college. There is a very active church social life if that is your cup of tea. I love movies- and there are two good movie theaters- one large and fancy, the other small and somewhat dumpy- but still nice enough.

The old mall was kinda icky. The new mall is wonderful, even to LA standards. They have great chain stores like Target, Barnes and Noble, Bed bath and Beyond, and some of the nifty lesser knowen specialty stores like Trade Secrets and World Express.

As people have already said- there are your typical chain restraunts. If you are into buffets you simply must go to Ryan's. I don't remember what street its on- but its got a great buffet. You can also find some real local gems if you take the time to look. There is a great lil coffee stand that has the best mocha I've ever had- even in Seattle WA.

If you want good fishing- There is the Black River not far away, The Spring river in Hardy- a good 1.5 hour drive, or if you are up for a weekend getaway- take a weekend and come on up to Cotter- the trout capital of the USA (a 3 hour drive but WELL worth it). Arkansas has so many wonderful weekend trips you'll be hard pressed to see them all. Eureka Springs is worth a visit, as is Hardy and Branso MO.

And if you do want to find something outside of J-town- head on over to Paragould- its about 45 minutes if you take "the ridge" (aka Crawly's Ridge)- They have countless lil stores and more theater and such.

And the other comment- Racism. Yes- it exists here. It is an every day fact of life- people make ignorant comments. But far far less than I heard in LA. And the racial violence? there's no comparison. I come from the land of gang wars- where every race wanted to kill the others- Here there is relative harmony. And as others have said- Racism exists everywhere. Although I have found the occasional uneducated ignoramous, the vast majority of the people here are kind, honest people- who would give you the shirt off their back and take people's measure based on who they are, their work ethic, and what they do for others, not who they know or how much money they have.

To me- Arkansas is paradise and I would never want to live anywhere else. And by the way- I'm 25 years old. I chose to move to AR when I was 23. So don't just think that its the mature crowd that appreciates the Natural State. The "youthful" crowd have a blast here too!