Checking out Little Rock (Fayetteville, Conway: job market, theater, school)

[GuyArcher]

Hello. So my partner and I have been mulling over moving out of Columbia, Missouri for a few years now. We have a bit of a list of options of larger cities still within a decent driving distance of Kansas City, MO due to his parents living there and getting older. Little Rock has made the list and we are looking into planning a weekend trip to check it out in a few weeks. I have a few questions and hoping someone could answer.

1. If you had to recommend one thing to see/place/activity to do in Little Rock for a tourist, what would it be?
2. Hows the job market? I am in IT and he is in Marketing so both white collar office jobs.
3. I'm edgy moving further south being a gay couple. I figure there must be gay bars considering the size of the city and neither of us are particularly flamboyant or in anyone's face. It is a factor though. I'm not talking about the occassional jerk with an opinion but any thoughts on the local gay community?
4. How is the social/recreational scene? Columbia offers adult enrichment classes on various things like cooking, sports, games, etc which I enjoy.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Feel free to give your honest opinions...good or bad.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by GuyArcher

Hello. So my partner and I have been mulling over moving out of Columbia, Missouri for a few years now. We have a bit of a list of options of larger cities still within a decent driving distance of Kansas City, MO due to his parents living there and getting older. Little Rock has made the list and we are looking into planning a weekend trip to check it out in a few weeks. I have a few questions and hoping someone could answer.

1. If you had to recommend one thing to see/place/activity to do in Little Rock for a tourist, what would it be?
2. Hows the job market? I am in IT and he is in Marketing so both white collar office jobs.
3. I'm edgy moving further south being a gay couple. I figure there must be gay bars considering the size of the city and neither of us are particularly flamboyant or in anyone's face. It is a factor though. I'm not talking about the occassional jerk with an opinion but any thoughts on the local gay community?
4. How is the social/recreational scene? Columbia offers adult enrichment classes on various things like cooking, sports, games, etc which I enjoy.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Feel free to give your honest opinions...good or bad.

!. The Clinton Library and the near-by Heifer International. Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park is a few miles east.

2. There are IT jobs available, but it depends on which area you are interested in.

3. I see no problem there. There are gay bars of varying quality but I don't know enough to answer about "the local gay community".

4. They are available through University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Pulaski Technical College, and other groups, but I'm not knowledgeable enough about them to give direct info. Oh, there is "Life Quest", an organization that gives those types of classes, but again I don't have a direct Link to them. In the past I have attended some of their classes and found the presenters to be professionals in that field and did a superb job.

Come on down to The Natural State. I think you will like what you find.

[Sam I Am]

GuyArcher, have you looked into Fayetteville and NWA? With all of the large corporations there it might be easier for both you and your partner to find jobs. I'd think there are lots of community courses there as well. I think NWA is also pretty open-minded with regard to the gay issue, although I'm not aware of it being problematic in Little Rock. There are a couple of gay bars in LR, but I'm thinking age may have a lot to do with which one you feel most comfortable in. One of them was strictly a gay bar for many years but then sort of morphed into "the" place to be for a lot of people. Much more mainstream now, as the writeup indicates. DISCOVERY

I can't think of the name of the one out in west Little Rock. Give me time, I'm old.

There's also a couple of gay bars in N. Little Rock - one on Pike Avenue and one on Main St. that are brother bars.

[thewizard16]

Originally Posted by GuyArcher

Hello. So my partner and I have been mulling over moving out of Columbia, Missouri for a few years now. We have a bit of a list of options of larger cities still within a decent driving distance of Kansas City, MO due to his parents living there and getting older. Little Rock has made the list and we are looking into planning a weekend trip to check it out in a few weeks. I have a few questions and hoping someone could answer.

1. If you had to recommend one thing to see/place/activity to do in Little Rock for a tourist, what would it be?

Hmm. One thing is hard to recommend without knowing your interests. What sort of element of the city to you want to see? Outdoorsy: (Pinnacle, downtown nature center) Active: (River trail network/converted bridges/etc.) Artsy: (Sculpture park, museum, downtown galleries) History/Politics: (Clinton Library) Funky/Electic: (Hillcrest/Heights) Country Club Life: (Chenal/Promenade area)... Just depends on your interests. I'm very partial to the Hillcrest/Heights area as a former resident, but the River Market is worth seeing too. Ride the trolley. It's super cheap, and the trolley attendant was an excellent tour guide- even after living there for 4 years I learned a lot on the ride I took.

2. Hows the job market? I am in IT and he is in Marketing so both white collar office jobs.

I think it's pretty strong. I moved to Little Rock at 22 for med school, but a lot of my college friends from Fayetteville ended up here for jobs within a year of graduation too, so the number of young professionals seems to be a growing sector there. Axciom, Dillard's, and Stephens are all based there, and there are a number of other large companies with significant presence in Little Rock.

3. I'm edgy moving further south being a gay couple. I figure there must be gay bars considering the size of the city and neither of us are particularly flamboyant or in anyone's face. It is a factor though. I'm not talking about the occassional jerk with an opinion but any thoughts on the local gay community?

I know nothing about gay bars in Little Rock, but I wouldn't worry about being "further south". I knew a few gay couples when I lived in Hillcrest and it wasn't an uncommon thing in that part of town or downtown. I think if you lived in the Hillcrest/Heights or downtown areas you'd be pretty comfortable. There's bound to be the occasional jerk of course, but Little Rock overall seemed pretty welcoming, especially in the younger/more professional parts of town.

4. How is the social/recreational scene? Columbia offers adult enrichment classes on various things like cooking, sports, games, etc which I enjoy.

City wide club sports are good. I played in the kickball league and had a blast and met a lot of new people. I know there are similar leagues for lots of other sports. I know nothing about cooking, etc. classes. There's minor league baseball (beautiful little stadium right on the north side of the river facing downtown), a pretty decent symphony, an above average theater (The Rep brings in some Broadway level shows and their local productions are impressive), a ballet, and a decent selection of concerts and festivals due to a convenient location between Memphis and Dallas.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Feel free to give your honest opinions...good or bad.

Good luck with the search. Fayetteville is awesome too, much more similar to Columbia than Little Rock but with bigger amenities due to the size of the overall area. That said, NWA feels like a bunch of small cities (it has the burb type feel of the North Dallas area if you're familiar with that area) whereas Little Rock feels much more like a "real" central-focused city. It's not big, but it's big enough to offer a lot while small enough to be easy to get around in/affordable.

[jeffbase40]

Originally Posted by GuyArcher

Hello. So my partner and I have been mulling over moving out of Columbia, Missouri for a few years now. We have a bit of a list of options of larger cities still within a decent driving distance of Kansas City, MO due to his parents living there and getting older. Little Rock has made the list and we are looking into planning a weekend trip to check it out in a few weeks. I have a few questions and hoping someone could answer.

1. If you had to recommend one thing to see/place/activity to do in Little Rock for a tourist, what would it be?
2. Hows the job market? I am in IT and he is in Marketing so both white collar office jobs.
3. I'm edgy moving further south being a gay couple. I figure there must be gay bars considering the size of the city and neither of us are particularly flamboyant or in anyone's face. It is a factor though. I'm not talking about the occassional jerk with an opinion but any thoughts on the local gay community?
4. How is the social/recreational scene? Columbia offers adult enrichment classes on various things like cooking, sports, games, etc which I enjoy.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments. Feel free to give your honest opinions...good or bad.

Hi GuyArcher,

My favorite thing to do in Little Rock is to go out to Pinnacle mountain park. It's a great place to bike, relax and get some exercise on the trails. Stunning view if you climb to the top of the mountain.

IMO, Little Rock is a gay friendly place. I don't think you would have any problems here. Lots of people showed up recently here to support a judge's ruling for gay marriage. Also Conway is nearby and has a gay pride parade, and there are quite a few gay friendly churches around the area. Check out the Arkansas Times facebook page which regularly reports on gay issues in the area.

Little Rock pretty much offers everything you would find in a big city, but on a smaller scale. There is even a comedy club and we have Verizon arena which regularly has big name concerts and events.