[prowler]

SpiderLadys -

Do you feel that Fort Smith's temps are actually warmer than Fayetteville, given the two cities are only 60 miles apart? If so, that is interesting information.

Also, we would probably not live right in either city, but rather we would try to find a quiet green area somewhere in between the two cities. We would prefer to be 20 miles or so away from medical facilities and shopping and bldg materials. It's just nice to be within easy driving range of a city.

[ArkansasTgirl]

Also, we would probably not live right in either city, but rather we would try to find a quiet green area somewhere in between the two cities. We would prefer to be 20 miles or so away from medical facilities and shopping and bldg materials. It's just nice to be within easy driving range of a city.

Alma sounds like a really good fit.
West Fork, maybe, it would be worth looking at I guess.

[ArkansasTgirl]

Originally Posted by prowler

SpiderLadys -
Do you feel that Fort Smith's temps are actually warmer than Fayetteville, given the two cities are only 60 miles apart? If so, that is interesting information.

Different elevations, we don't just feel such a ways it's meteorological fact.

[Dr. Foosball]

I lived in the River Valley for a long time and would often go to Fayetteville for football and baseball games. The formula we always used was "Fort Smith temperature - 10 degrees = Fayetteville temperature"

[marmac]

Residents near the valley have also stated the weather/driving conditions in winter are worse in NWA than in the valley due to elevation.

[SwingVote08]

Ft. Smith is hands-down hotter than Fayetteville. A little due to being further south, but also due to elevation. Ft. Smith is more of an Oklahoma-type of weather.

Also, quick point - If you are older and looking to retire and that's why you're concerned about your proximity to the medical centers, you might want to consider that all of the cities between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville are very hilly/mountainous. While it's convenient that they're right along the interstate for a quick commute, this isn't necessarily the case during the winter months. This stretch between the two cities has TONS of bridges that are ice threats during our icy winters (we don't get snow, we get ice...and if we get snow, it's icy snow). Also those country roads are slick and slippery slopes in the winter months. The temps in those cities (depending if you live ON the mountains or IN the mountains) are typically a little colder than NWA...as much as 10-20 degrees colder in certain pockets due to elevation, wind, geologically cold traps, etc.

Not trying to discourage you from living out there but think you should be aware of the potential downsides of certain pockets in between the cities.

[prowler]

Lots of excellent information from everybody here. I appreciate all your posts. Thanks.

[OzarkBoy]

While SwingVote08 is absolutely correct that towns off of 540 between Ft Smith and Fayetteville will have dangerous icy roads in the winter, you can live in towns in the river valleys close to Fayetteville with a lot less of this winter driving problem. In particular, Greenland and West Fork are south of Fayetteville in the White River valley and lie along old US 71 (which was the main N/S route before 540 was built). Pretty flat driving there, but hills to either side of the road to live in. Also Farmington, Lincoln, and Prairie Grove lie to the west along 62 and Elkins to the east on 16. Housing costs will be lower and acreage possibilities higher in these smaller communities, and yet it is still easy to get to Fayetteville and the shopping and medical facilities year round.

If you want to experience the next clearly warmer climate zone area in Arkansas, and still retain the beauty of the hills and forests, consider going south to the Hot Springs area or the far west side of Little Rock (Ferndale, Paron) - the eastern edge of the Ouachita Mountains. You will be close enough to Little Rock/Hot Springs for amenities and yet in the hills/forests. And about 8-10 degrees warmer - they always get spring about 1-2 weeks ahead of us in Fayetteville. We have many friends in Hot Springs Village and they love the somewhat warmer climate there but we prefer the somewhat cooler weather in NW Arkansas.

[prowler]

Ozarkboy - Thanks for all your thoughts here. You have picked up on many of our concerns for possible relocation to Arkansas. We'll check out those areas you listed when we return again.

Our list of things to check is growing and we are grateful for all this information so that we can narrow our choices to visit. Also on our list of places to see are, Greenwood, Boonville, and Paris. It would be great ... but almost impossible ... to reduce our search area to one that we could check out in 2-3 days. All you folks here have been helpful in trying to do that.

We currently live in the hills of southern Indiana which helps to defray most threats of tornado plus we never have high water issues. It would be nice to find that sort of protection in Arkansas. We'll look for some sort of topographical wind break that affords some protection while also heeding advice on this forum that too many hills (mountains) can be troublesome in other ways.

We posted on this forum several times during the past couple of years when we thought for certain that Hot Springs was where we wanted to land in Arkansas. We visited Hot Springs 4 times in one year, sometimes riding around with a realtor and sometimes checking out many of the listings on our own. Our interest in Hot Springs slowly waned and neither of us can determine exactly why ... except that nothing really drew us in. We also spent some time in Mena and found that area nice but not precisely what we were hoping for. Leaving Arkansas the last time down there, we cut up NE from Mena and spent the night at Magazine Mountain Lodge. That particular drive home was nice but we didn't see anything en-route that appealed to what we envision for a permanent relocation.

Any other thoughts from anybody else from your area is MORE than welcome here.