Moving to Little Rock, what to expect? (North Little Rock, Hot Springs: apartment, condo)

[wxurbanite]

Very long time dweller, first time poster... (Lived all over the south: Central Florida, East Tennessee, and Coastal Alabama)

I recently acquired a job in Little Rock. Though I've seen Arkansas near the bottom of a number of Quality-of-Living lists, I have read quite a few articles on new happenings in Little Rock. The River Market looks to be a wonderful place... it also looks like a bunch of new stuff is happening on Main Street(right?).

So I have a few questions regarding Little Rock- What's the city's attitude? Typical southern conservative? Or is it more progressive? Is there a good local music scene, or even one at all? Where are the "bad" areas I should avoid? And what's it like living there? What other city does Little Rock most compare to?

Oh, and please tell me there is good beer.

Thanks!

[Rock Climber]

Originally Posted by wxurbanite

Very long time dweller, first time poster... (Lived all over the south: Central Florida, East Tennessee, and Coastal Alabama)

Oh, and please tell me there is good beer.

Thanks!

Little Rock has a growing craft beer scene, and Arkansas in general has quite a few craft breweries. The beer is good. I can't answer strongly on any of your other questions, but I agree with the River Market and Main St areas downtown being nice and seeing a boom.

Arkansas is a conservative state, but Little Rock is also the home of the Clinton Library. There are probably a lot more liberals there than you'd expect.

[CraigCreek]

Lots of Delta blues traditional musicians in southern AR, plus old-time musicians in the Ozarks., whose traditional culture parallels that of the Southern Appalachians in many ways, not surprising, as many early residents migrated from the Appalachians to Arkansas back in the early to mid-nineteenth century, and are of similar English/Scots-Irish/German background.

There's also some American Indian influence - the old Indian Territory is adjacent to Arkansas, and the Trail of Tears runs through the state. The Cherokee Old Settlers were there before the Trail of Tears (not so much in Little Rock, but not that far away, either).

Little Rock is a neat small city - check out the area around the Old Capitol and the Clinton Library for thriving historic and cultural attractions, plus small restaurants.

Late summer can be oppressively hot and humid in central AR, but fall is great and autumn colors can persist until around Thanksgiving some years. Winters are usually fairly mild but can include ice storms and some snow, while springs are beautiful but are also tornado season.

There are lots of great outdoorsy places within a short distance of LR - Pinnacle Mountain State Park, the lakes near Hot Springs, Petit Jean State Resort Park a couple of hours up the road (atop very scenic Petit Jean Mountain - that's "Petty Gene", not the French pronunciation) and more. Duck hunting is popular with many, with Stuttgart, about an hour from LR, known as the Rice and Duck Capital of the World.

Arkansans are generally friendly, helpful, and pleasant. Politics run the gamut, as elsewhere. There are some wonderful historic neighborhoods in LR - Pulaski Heights comes to mind - as well as newer developments. Little Rock is not very large, but it looks like a city (check out its skyline along the Arkansas River!) and is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan.

Since you're already an experienced Southern resident, LR will feel much like the other places you've lived, with a slightly Western flavor - it's not that far to Texas and/or Oklahoma. It sounds as if you're doing good advance research, always wise. If you can, make a short advance visit and check out LR in person before your move, to help you get it right.

Best wishes to you.

[Old Fossil]

I fully agree with everything CC has Posted. Where to live? It depends on what you would like to have; stand alone rental, apartment, condo, buy (low, medium, high price), near town or out in the 'burbs, etc.? Places to avoid? That is a hard question to answer because like any other town, of any size, there are "bad" areas with pockets of good areas within, and the other way around. You will probably hear from people Post here to stay away from the area east of Broadway and south of I-630, but that's painting with a broad brush. So give us more answers and we can be more specific with our help/information.

Oh, this is my third time to live here and this time I plan to stay.

Welcome to The Natural State

[bawac34618]

Arkansas is a conservative state, but if you are progressive you usually end up in Little Rock. The city is a blue island in a sea of red. The only issue is because its so small and because the surrounding areas are so conservative it can still feel pretty conservative. Downtown Little Rock along with Hillcrest/Heights and Midtown are all pretty progressive. The Argenta area in North Little Rock is pretty nice as well.

[wxurbanite]

Originally Posted by Old Fossil

I fully agree with everything CC has Posted. Where to live? It depends on what you would like to have; stand alone rental, apartment, condo, buy (low, medium, high price), near town or out in the 'burbs, etc.? Places to avoid? That is a hard question to answer because like any other town, of any size, there are "bad" areas with pockets of good areas within, and the other way around. You will probably hear from people Post here to stay away from the area east of Broadway and south of I-630, but that's painting with a broad brush. So give us more answers and we can be more specific with our help/information.

Oh, this is my third time to live here and this time I plan to stay.

Welcome to The Natural State

I was talking, more or less, about areas to avoid when exploring, by foot or car. I already have a place to live in NLR. A little far from the city's center for my liking, so I'm gonna try to get my bum down there as often as possible.

Are there many events held in Little Rock? All I can seem to find is Riverfest... which looks cool. But that won't be happening for another year!

Also, any good hiking spots within an hour's drive from LR? Thanks :-)

[jeffbase40]

Originally Posted by wxurbanite

I was talking, more or less, about areas to avoid when exploring, by foot or car. I already have a place to live in NLR. A little far from the city's center for my liking, so I'm gonna try to get my bum down there as often as possible.

Are there many events held in Little Rock? All I can seem to find is Riverfest... which looks cool. But that won't be happening for another year!

Also, any good hiking spots within an hour's drive from LR? Thanks :-)

You might want to avoid the Breckinridge movie theater. Someone came out of the movies this week to find their car on blocks and tires gone! Crime is getting bad even in that area.

If you go to meetup.com, you can find Little Rock groups to join for hiking and outdoor adventures! Pinnacle mountain is a fun start and close by.

[Luvvarkansas]

Originally Posted by wxurbanite

Also, any good hiking spots within an hour's drive from LR? Thanks :-)

CraigCreek already mentioned several in post #3. I would add Mt. Nebo and Mt. Magazine to the list. I believe they are also around an hour from Little Rock.

[Detroit9000]

I lived in Little Rock for 9 years, though I am originally from Detroit and had lived in Boston, Chicago, NYC, and Seattle prior to Little Rock. There were good and bad things about the place, of course, like any place. But I found the biggest problem in Arkansas to be, not conservative politics, which I disagree with but can understand and , rather the cronyism in the professional environment. It was very difficult to get opportunities in Little Rock because every arena was a good ol' boys network...much moreso than any other place I have been. I was in a health profession that was sorely needed in Arkansas, yet still ran into one blockade after another due to cronyism and "outsider" status. This was particularly bad at places like UAMS and the health care systems there. Since leaving, I have more the doubled my income and had more opportunities offered to me than would ever have occurred in Arkansas. My spouse, too. There are many things I definitely miss about it. But the barriers to advancement there were really frustrating and I couldn't go back for that reason.

[wxurbanite]

What about cycling? Are there a good number of bike lanes? Active cycling community?