What about pea ridge?? (Fayetteville, Springdale: sales, hair salon, rental)

[goindownsouth]

Hey everyone, I have lived in northwest arkansas before and really miss it. My wife and I really like small towns but also want to be close to a city for work. Pea Ridge looks like a good option for being close to Bentonville. Anybody live there that can tell me more about it? Hope to visit sometime soon.

[mom-n-teacher]

That's actually a question I have been wondering about myself. My husband is actually leaning a bit toward Pea Ridge (for the small town feel) over Bentonville/Bella Vista, but I haven't heard much about it from people who actually live around there. I hope someone with some insight replies.

[DC at the Ridge]

Pea Ridge is only 10 minutes from downtown Bentonville (highway 72), 12 minutes to downtown Rogers (highway 94). During the housing boom a few years ago, Pea Ridge only grew modestly. However, it's 2000 population of around 2400 has grown substantially. The downtown now centers around the intersection of highways 72 & 94, and in the past few years the town's acquired a McDonald's, Sonic, Subway and a new pizza delivery that has finally caused the old Pizza Hut to add delivery to its services. There is also an ice cream shop (that serves a small menu of sandwiches, bbq, and so on), a Mexican restaurant and a cafe. There is a video rental store/tanning salon, several automotive places, two gas stations, 3 banks, 2 discount stores, a grocery store (it's pretty expensive, but they have an in-house butcher so the meat department is good, the produce is not good), and 2 carwashes. The family-owned hardware store was taken over by Ace Hardware a year or so ago. It and the feed store and the barbershop are the three stable businesses in the old downtown, along with a volunteer library that is open at irregular hours. A new bookstore opened this past year, and next to it the old First Baptist Church was converted into a movie theater. There are at least two hair salons, and a self-serve laundry (still no drycleaners in town) and a second-hand clothing store. Oh, and I almost forgot, there is a florist in town, too, and a pharmacy. The doctor used to be part-time, but I think he may have gone full-time now, the dentist I think is still part-time, 2 or 3 days a week. Of course, you are close by Rogers and Bentonville with the excellent facilities they have available.

There are several housing developments in the area, and average home price is about $122,000. Pea Ridge has a golf course, the Little Sugar, which is one of the prettiest golf courses in the area though it still lacks some of the amenities. The Pea Ridge Military Park is a national historical park operated by the National Park Services and features yearly re-enactments of the battle and year-round tours of the battlefield.

The new growth has allowed Pea Ridge to replace its old schools with new ones, the old high school had to be torn down because it just wasn't structurally solid. The schools have a good sports program, and most parents seem pleased with the academic programs as well. The city has a very nice park on the north side of town, and a sports park for baseball not far off of Highway 72. There were plans for a Wal-Mart on Highway 72, but that has not progressed much and the economic slump may have put those plans on hold.

Electric is AEP/SWEPCO, gas is Arkansas Western Gas, cable is provided by Cox, water is Pea Ridge Water (a rural utility provider), phone is CenturyTel (AT&T may be available in some neighborhoods close to other cities like Bentonville or Bella Vista, and AT&T cellular as well as Alltel cellular provide service as well). Internet is available via CenturyTel, they have DSL as well as the old phone lines, and through Cox. Direct TV and Dish Network provide satellite services in the area. The only utility that has an office in town is the water company. The police force is small, 911 will actually refer you to the Sheriff's office, the fire station is manned by volunteers.

They tried last year to get a farmer's market going, but I went twice to find only one pick-up with a small selection of tomatoes and cucumbers, so I don't know if they are going to do anything with that this year. There is a man three days a week in the parking lot at the video store, he's there pretty much year-round, so his stuff may not be local. Someone else may know more about these things.

You have to take your recycling into the bigger cities. Trash pick-up is not provided by the city but there are two or three private companies you can contract with. There are also two veterinarians in town. And of course several Baptist churches, and a Methodist church.

The big fair of the year is the Mule Jump. It attracts mule owners from all over, and has a kiddie fair to supplement it. It's really quite fun. Mules can really jump high. They also had a Mule Basketball game earlier this year, with people riding mules trying to make baskets. Since different people train their mules differently, a whistle blow would make some mules stop, some turn, etc. Mass confusion.

That's all I can think of.

[Sam I Am]

Great post, DC - now I want to move there! No love for you, I have to spread it around some first...

[KennyMac]

a small addition/correction

Electrical could also be Carroll Electrical Cooperative - depends on your address.

[eburns69]

A couple other perks about living in Pea Ridge...if you happen to smoke the White Oak gas station uses Missouri's sales tax, so you can buy cigarettes at a considerably lower price as compared to the rest of Arkansas's cig prices. Also, there is a nice, reasonably priced workout facility which is open 24 hours a day and the price includes tanning. I just moved to Pea Ridge a couple months ago. It's not a bad place to live. I prefer the city living and will only be here for a short while. It takes me 10 minutes to get to Bentonville, 5 minutes to Rogers, 20 minutes to Springdale and 30 minutes to get to Fayetteville. So even though there is not just a whole lot in Pea Ridge, I'm just a short drive away from any place I want to go in NWA.