****Talk to me about Harrison AR, considering it for retirement (Mountain Home: appointed, home)

[Luvvarkansas]

Westboro "Baptist" Church is a real piece of work, for sure.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by imbored198824

I am just disagreeing with the sign...that's it. I don't know what started the "imbored wants to take away free speech", debate. I was getting aggravated because a couple posters made it seem like it's a great thing. It's not a great thing to have a kkk sign in your community. It brings nothing positive to the city of Harrison. It really annoys me how people started pointing fingers and saying "oh but look here is a racist black guy." Who cares? Racism is racism...black white purple it doesn't matter. I just feel bad for Harrison because everyone associates everything this group does to that nice little city. Now they are doing more crap and it's make be whole area look terrible...it hurts business and the community in general. Why are some people saying the sign isn't racist? Ask the guy who paid for it he will tell you exactly what it means. He is a self described racist. I support westboro baptists church's right to free speech as well. That doesn't mean if they put a sign in my community I'm gonna be happy about it.

When someone or something gets a bad rep, it is hard to move on. Though I don't know a lot about Harrison, I do know the little city isn't anything like some would want us to beleive. As for Westboro, well, I guess I have to agree with you, it is freedom of speech, but boy I sure think they are nuttier than nuts.

[MOKAN]

I think it's just fine that people don't know Harrison isn't anything like some would want us to believe. Anything that puts the brakes on outsiders moving in too quickly and overwhelming the local culture, driving up prices, etc. is just fine by me. People think I'm crazy for liking Arkansas in general, and I've realized there's no need to address that beyond simply telling them why I like it.

[mapmd]

Originally Posted by Buffalo Girl

it may or may not be offensive to you....

There is very little ethnic diversity in the area...

...the town is clean, friendly....Attachment 142834

Probably because it has very little diversity.

You could also go to parts of Detroit or Baltimore which have very little diversity as well, but which are unlikely to be friendly and certainly unlikely to be clean and tidy.

Why should that be something to get offended over?

We should celebrate civilization and acknowledge those who strive to maintain it rather than pander to those who are prone to destroying their surroundings and create chaos.

[thegreenflute334]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

I think it's just fine that people don't know Harrison isn't anything like some would want us to believe. Anything that puts the brakes on outsiders moving in too quickly and overwhelming the local culture, driving up prices, etc. is just fine by me. People think I'm crazy for liking Arkansas in general, and I've realized there's no need to address that beyond simply telling them why I like it.

\

Perfect, yes! I personally know people that if that sign moved one inch, they'd buy a semi-truck and buy every toilet that Home Depot had, along with all the flowers the truck could hold and have a decorating party to help the sign weather properly.

The KKK is a part of Arkansas's heritage and has been for a long time. Harrison is rather small for the repercussion, so I get imbored's point of it being "over-the-top" at times.

[imbored198824]

Harrison just got another billboard this one says #secede on it. League of the south put this one up.

[SCFC1863]

Uh no. Any living soul would hate it. No shopping with the exception of JC Penney and it is a food ghetto, the only place to get halfway decent ingredients is Prairie Market and they do not have much. The harrisonians tend to think that they're a city when they're just a little town. I am under 21 and I was with my mother who was buying a beer for my da at walmart, the cashier scanned it and put it in the bag as usual, and I picked it up and put it in the cart as I do with all grocerys. This Jerica character promptly shouts "you can't touch it!!" Which nearly gave me a heart attack and is untrue. Apparently they misinterpret "handling in a retail situation" as including customers, which the law does not. Thats what happens when baptists run the area. Other than that, the mail often wont come during the winter, and the post office doesnt have a APC so if you miss closing time you are out of luck. That's another thing, everything closes at 5 pm on weekdays and 12 on saturdays, and when you sleep in like I do normally you cant get anything done. The police department is rather useless, and the crime rate is close to 100 points higher than the national average on citydata's scale. Mostly rape and burglary, though due to social stigma many rapes go unreported. Nearly everybody has a confederate battle flag on their car, if not its that bloody razorbacon. The only good restaurants here are Tokyo sushi and Ugo's eatery. Oh and there is no culture here other than ozarkan hillbilly. hardly any Hispanics, maybe 3-4 Africans (even tho more are on the census, they do not go out much apparently) and maybe 15-20 Asians, mostly Mennonite wives or workers at Tokyo. I think the saddest thing about it all though is that only 20% of people have gone to university and the fact that a job at FedEx is considered "big pay". This place really could use a injection of immigrants, Texas needs to send the Burmese Chin people over here, I'd bet that in 5 years it would be as big as Fayetteville at least, with their work ethic. I'll be moving back to the Dallas area in a month so I don't have much to complain about though, I'm trying my hardest to enjoy my last bit of time here. They just dont have anything you'd expect a city of it's size to have. And it's kind of a depressing place, as I'm reallly a night owl. So I would definitely visit first, see if you like it. If so, great! And i wish you the best of luck in finding a nice, suitable retirement destination. -Preston the British Californian Texan.

[SCFC1863]

Originally Posted by folkguitarist555

Yep, I have no problem at all with the sign. There is black pride, Latino pride, Asian pride, I have no problems with them either...if you are proud of your ethnicity and people, God bless yer little heart, as they say in the south...

but white is not a "people" it's just a skin colour. A people is like English, Polish, Irish, French, Scottish etc.. which are all peoples of the white grouping. why group yourself with others not of your ethnic origin? Just like "black" as a grouping, they are African, Carribean, Aboriginal, French Black, etc... all have enormous cultural differences, just as the peoples of the white grouping do. To say that a Pole and a Scotsman are the same just because they have the same skin colour is purely wrong.

[SCFC1863]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

As towns go, Harrison has a lot going for it. They have a great health-food store, a couple of decent thrift shops and since they fixed highway 65, close enough to Branson (and Eureka Springs), to make day trips possible and inviting.

The other posters have mentioned that it has a rural feel to it, which is true. There is certainly nothing urban about Harrison. Overall, it's a nice little town and I wouldn't mind living there, especially since they are no longer a dry county.

You are right that some of Arkansas has really gotten overpopulated lately. The last time I went to Rogers and Springdale I was shocked at how congested it was. If you really, REALLY want small town, then check out Omaha, which is between Harrison and Branson. It doesn't get any more small town than that.

20yrsinBranson

Sorry 20 but have you ever been to a Sprouts? Natures wonders and prairie market suck and are overpriced compared to Sprouts. And the thrift shops suck unless you like walmart, JC penney and 80's clothes

[okflip]

So I was like a lot of you that I am reading about looking for a place to retire in the area of Branson. I traveled here 3 times before making the leap and as I email the mayor this AM you have to live here to discover all or a lot about Harrison.
I retired and after traveling I searched so very much and many places, AZ, Nm, WY. Ok and Arkansas. My grand Parents are buried in Mountain Home and so I was some watt familiar if the area. I moved here in Oct/Nov 2014 and started looking to purchase a home and OMG what a lesson that was and the properties are as I remembered 40 years ago traveling to and through the back woods of AR, KY, TN as a family my folks took us on vacations every summer and no money camped and the likes and Picnic baskets every day. These people are still as they probably were that many years ago and very content with all of life. If you are not flexible or easily to changes you may be shocked. I love Branson and travel the 40 or less miles there as much as possible all about Branson is wonderful and you always feel like you are visiting big time at reasonable rates or maybe acceptable rates. Now for Branson, I was not ready for stock car and racer motorcycles on every road and they all think they are still running shine. Ok so I have over expressed it but they are as crazy as LA drivers ad all think they are in the NASCAR circuit. I live on a dead end street and they travel up and down it at 50 mph plus. Yankee remember that word because you will be either a damn Yankee or damn dumb Yankee or other local placed words. I go so sick of being asked where I was from I just automatically answer " My mother" I was so happy and comfortable at first and then I started getting out and paying close attention to a lot of stuff. It will be all to what you are use to or moving from. I retired and lived in Kansas and the gangs and black activity were more than I wanted to keep living with. Not much of that here but local boys with jacked up trucks and stupid driving and race car sorts of maneuvers. So I purchased and 1600 sq. ft.. fixer home in what looked to be a good area, and there are plenty of run down areas. I discovered every person has dogs and they bark and run lose and bark day and night, and did I mention the barking wondering dogs. So after trying to accept the constant dog noise I contacted the 2 local alderman who were elected for this neighborhood. I received almost noting in return from one who did say he was out of town. The other was a bit snippet about his response and so I decided to attend a city council meeting and meet my so called representatives. One was in fact out of town and the one who was there was the same attitude one and I introduced my self and he snipped oh you and the dogs and well we all have that problem and if you have a problem, talk to that man and he pointed to the local 30 plus police chief. I learned that night what sort of crony good ole boy town Harrison is and since there has been many lessons and I realized I may have made a very bad choice in moving here. I here horror stories of Yankees having many problems because or relocating here. I contacted local Chamber of Commerce and was trying to get a feel and answers about the area and people. Tis is just my personal feeling that they want the tourist money but don't think about buying and or moving here because you will be surprised. Cost are very surprising, water sewer and trash 50 dollars a month, that was more that when I lived in CA. very questionable medical options and prices are as if they are in CA. Rude and insulting people and one went as far as to ask "WHY did you move here" So this is very long and what I have experienced I could go on and on but I am just in that place now after realizing "We all deal with that" from Alderman Johnny Savage. Sorry so Long but as I said I sure wished I had spent more than 100 hours researching Harrison and 3 trips and 4 thousand dollars wasted before I moved here.