Alabama or Arkansas

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by doddsjr78

Northwest Arkansas is not on our list
We want to be at a lower average snowfall than we currently are. We are looking specifically in the Little Rock suburbs... Really no more than an hour away. Conway, Cabot, Greenbrier, Maumelle, Benton are some of the areas we've been looking at.

Harvest, Athens, Meridianville are some of the areas in Alabama.


I appreciate the input thus far! Don't think that I don't. I'm just trying to clarify as I realize some things weren't clear.

I would probably lean the direction of Arkansas, Conway specifically. I dated a girl who's family lived in that suburb and I always thought Little Rock (while it has it's downsides for sure) was a nice little city overall. Conway was a very popular and generally nice suburb to spend time in.

Living outside of Huntsville would be a very close second though. That city seems to be booming and it's proximity to Nashville is a bit plus in my book.

[march2]

Huntsville, AL or Fayetteville/Springdale, AR. Both are great choices.

[Phil P]

It was interesting flying from ATL to Denver last night. Looking out over Northern Alabama's night light signature, it's essentially developed from Huntsville all the way to Nashville. There's quite a few people in that part of the country, I mean it's well over 10 million people in the Atlanta - Birmingham - Nashville triangle, which isn't a very big triangle. It wasn't till you cross the Mississippi that significant dark patches without lights appear - that's the Ozarks.

Do you want to be in a more populated and centrally located spot or do you want more wilderness feel??

Both of these states look cool to me, but for myself I'd lean to Arkansas because I like the open space and that it's been less disturbed than the heavily agriculturized cotton belt. The issues both states have seem to be similar, but Alabama has more rural poverty than Arkansas just because there's less people in Arkansas and there was less early development. I'd say both states are equally pretty, Arkansas having more mountains but Alabama having more water activity. Arkansas gave me a pretty granola vibe but there's not as much urban amenities and 'culture'. Both have pretty decent new development. Alabama has better access to the Gulf, but Arkansas is within road trip distance of the Rockies.

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by Phil P

I'd say both states are equally pretty, Arkansas having more mountains but Alabama having more water activity. Arkansas gave me a pretty granola vibe but there's not as much urban amenities and 'culture'. Both have pretty decent new development. Alabama has better access to the Gulf, but Arkansas is within road trip distance of the Rockies.

I would say the coverage of mountainous terrain in Arkansas isn't dramatically higher than in Alabama. Essentially the entire Northeastern quadrant of Alabama is covered in mountains, ridges, and hills. Arkansas does have wider swaths of consistently rugged terrain of large hills and low mountains. Alabama has proximity to the higher terrain of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

[eddie gein]

Huntsville, Al and NW Arkansas are easily the best places in those two states by most measures.

However with the weather component I would recommend the east side of Mobile Bay. Fairhope/Daphne/Foley in particular. Small town but easy access to Mobile and Pensacola and the nice gulf beaches. Not terribly far from New Orleans.