Considering relocating family of 5 to NWA due to a recent job offer (Rogers: sex offenders, low crime) - Fayetteville - Springdale - Rogers - Arkansas (AR) -Northwest Arkansas - City-Data Forum

sickofsnow67 · 12-23-2012, 09:57 AM

My husband is excited about a recent job offer he received in Joplin MO. While I firmly believe good and bad exist in all communities, I would feel more comfortable settling into a town like Bentonville or Rogers with their good schools and low crime rates. We have mapped the commute and my husband assures me it is not a big deal. We currently live in a suburb of Chicago where an hour or more commute is the norm. Does anyone else do this commute? I would welcome any constructive insights or thoughts. Thanks!

nmnita · 12-23-2012, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickofsnow67

My husband is excited about a recent job offer he received in Joplin MO. While I firmly believe good and bad exist in all communities, I would feel more comfortable settling into a town like Bentonville or Rogers with their good schools and low crime rates. We have mapped the commute and my husband assures me it is not a big deal. We currently live in a suburb of Chicago where an hour or more commute is the norm. Does anyone else do this commute? I would welcome any constructive insights or thoughts. Thanks!

coming from Chicago area you really know about traffic. That was like us, we had lived in both So and No Ca, No Va and Dallas, so we laugh when people here talk about traffic plus he will be going against the traffic. I do think you might want to consider the east side of Bella Vista. You will be much closer to Joplin and still within the Bentonville school district. You are right all communities have pros and cons...There are a lot of newer homes east of hwy 71 if that is what you are looking for and many of the sub divisions have a lot of young families, more every year. In fact some of the old crabbies complain about too many young families moving into the town: I say, to grow we welcome younger people..I love seeing kids riding their bikes, playing outside and shopping with mom and dad in the grocery stores or enjoying Sundays either at the parks or in church or both for that matter.

sickofsnow67 · 12-23-2012, 11:33 AM

Thanks nmnita! I thought about Bella Vista but then dismissed it as been as being mostly a retirement community. I will ask my realtor to include it in our search. My husband will be glad to know he is doing a reverse commute.

nmnita · 12-23-2012, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickofsnow67

Thanks nmnita! I thought about Bella Vista but then dismissed it as been as being mostly a retirement community. I will ask my realtor to include it in our search. My husband will be glad to know he is doing a reverse commute.

It was designed to be a retirement community but is changing so fast as the old crabs and some not crabs are either passing away or moving to be closer to family..In several cases family have moved here to be closer to the oldsters. I believe, at the last report only about 40% of the people were over 60, it is just we stick out like sore thumbs everywhere we go...

The elementary school is completely full and another one will soon be built on the west side. Even looking at our church it is easy to see the difference and we live way on the west side, which is heavier retired people: When we became members, about 3 years ago there would be maybe 5 kids in the early service; today we had about 25 and that is early service..I think someone that attends the Episcopal church (which is on the east side) said they now have about 75 kids in Sunday school. I could have that wrong, it might be 75 kids in the membership.Anyway, this gives you an idea what is happening. We had no kids in our neighborhood when we moved here: now there are several teens, a few older elementary kids and a couple younger kids. Right now a bunch of them are riding their bikes in front of our house...

Alphareign · 01-06-2013, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickofsnow67

We have mapped the commute and my husband assures me it is not a big deal.

67 miles one way is no big deal?

soanchorless · 01-06-2013, 04:32 PM

Well, I'm looking into doing this commute for a year if I get into a specific college program in Joplin. I've driven it to get to Kansas and it's not too bad. It takes a little over an hour if you go the speed limit. Not a whole lot of traffic is backed up or anything like that, it's mostly very rural area you are covering, with minimal traffic. I'd think it would be a piece of cake compared to an urban commute in Chicago (I'm terrified driving about an hour outside of St Louis into St Louis...that's how not used to urban traffic I am). I personally wouldn't want to do this commute indefinitely, but if you don't mind an hour commute one-way, it's not a big deal.

Ebanks · 01-06-2013, 05:48 PM

I think by moving 70 miles from work you'll be forgoing one of the major benefits of living in a small town compared to a big city... SEEING YOUR FAMILY!

If you lose that you basically lose the key benefit, IMO, to living in a small town vs living in a giant city.

sickofsnow67 · 01-09-2013, 06:15 AM

We chose to live in a suburb of Chicago because of the safety, schools and quality of life -- so my husband's commute is about an hour. We are considering Bentonville over Joplin for the same reasons. A short commute is nice, but life is about choices. Thanks for your feedback.

nmnita · 01-15-2013, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soanchorless

Well, I'm looking into doing this commute for a year if I get into a specific college program in Joplin. I've driven it to get to Kansas and it's not too bad. It takes a little over an hour if you go the speed limit. Not a whole lot of traffic is backed up or anything like that, it's mostly very rural area you are covering, with minimal traffic. I'd think it would be a piece of cake compared to an urban commute in Chicago (I'm terrified driving about an hour outside of St Louis into St Louis...that's how not used to urban traffic I am). I personally wouldn't want to do this commute indefinitely, but if you don't mind an hour commute one-way, it's not a big deal.

I am always at how different people look at commuting. for those of us who have lived in large metro areas, an hour isn't that bad. Of course we would all like to be 15 minutes from work, but some of us just accept the long commutes, especially if you are not talking for years and years, others think anything more than 10 miles is too far. The same with traffic; those of us, who have lived in Dallas, Chic, DC, LA, Denver, etc know what commute traffic is. Those who haven't think a little stop and go back up of 10 minutes or so is horrible.

Sickofsnow: I am one that completely understands what you are saying.

sickofsnow67 · 03-14-2013, 12:38 PM

I have been to NWA on two separate occasions in the past month looking for housing for our family. We sold our house here in the Chicago 'burbs but won't move until June so the kids can finish out the school year. So here is my latest dilemma: moving in from out of town, I want real answers to my questions. Which school is better? What neighborhood will retain its value? I'm not Walmart, will I feel left out in certain communities? How 'bout Shiloh -- is that a good option? I have poured over this forum and it seems the resounding answer would be to get a good realtor. However, good realtors seem to be bound by some ethical fence sitting and are only allowed to give public information. If you moved to my part of town (I'm happy to report that I am NOT a realtor) I could tell you where you would feel more comfortable black, catholic, jewish, sports, no sports, etc. I could tell you where you definitely would NOT want to live -- where the sketchy parts of town are etc. Everyone I talk to seems to prefer Bentonville schools (we were impressed by the high school). BUT, some of the nice housing area like Talamore and Hanover feed into Thomas Jefferson and Sugar Creek -- old and tired schools in a part of town that has a fair amount of sex offenders in its shadow. The non-traditional school, Elm Tree, has a closely guarded wait list 30 deep. Pinnacle has some nice new schools that also have wait lists. My 7 year old would have to leave her school in Chicago, bide her time at Sugar Creek -- one of the lower performing schools -- in the hopes that her name gets to the top of the list. That's a lot of change for a 7 year old, right? My realtor will tell me to check out great schools, look at crime maps, give me comps for a neighborhood so I can sift through it and try to figure it out myself. I would love some realtor recommendations but that seems taboo on these forums??? My initial post in this forum was asking a question and instead, I received some unsolicited opinions (not you, nmnita). Now that is exactly what I want. My budget is Pinnacle, Talamore, and Hanover -- but doesn't need to be. Thanks for letting me vent. I hope I haven't offended anyone.