Little Rock Move Mistake (Fayetteville, Springdale: crime, homes, neighborhood)

[FortRock]

Originally Posted by Fred Fleet

I very seldom post on forums, but I feel compelled to at least inform others. You can accept or reject what is written here, but from conversations with many others my experience is far from unique.

I’m a retired professional who moved to Little Rock a year ago to be near family. I bought a house in an upscale part of west Little Rock in an area I was told was “safe”. In short, it has proven to be the most dysfunctional southern city I’ve ever experienced (and I’ve known many). There haven’t been any major catastrophes, but so many little irritations continue to occur on a regular basis. Almost every entity in town has displayed incompetence - the bank, the public utilities, the postal service, the local merchants and contractors....something is constantly being screwed up, lost, or just plain ignored. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just the local culture. The bar is indeed low in Little Rock.

Then, of course, there is the crime. Little Rock’s poor statistics for violent crime are widely known and frequently on the news, but it turns out that lower level crime is much more pervasive. I approached some guys in my driveway late one night eyeing some of my property. They gave me some attitude and left, but came back later that same night and keyed my car badly. I asked around, and it turns out that every one of my neighbors has a story of a crime or attempted crime that has occurred on their property. And this one of the safer neighborhoods. I’ve been approached at night in the parking lots of major markets and stores in the “good” part of town by suspect looking individuals panhandling and soliciting. I no longer go anywhere after dark in Little Rock without a CCW, and have become very wary. I’ve come to the conclusion that the only truly safe areas here are inside gated communities, and even then I’d keep my guard up.

In fairness, most of the people I’ve met have been very nice, though typical southern manners are surprisingly lacking. What happened to “Please” and “Thank you”?? And my neighbors are the best I’ve ever had.

Is LR a bad place to live? No, but it is continually frustrating and angst-inducing (though never boring, I must say). No way would I remain here if I didn’t have ties.

Welcome to New Mexico.

[Need4Camaro]

I passed through Little Rock not too long ago and saw it for the first time in decades...it 'seemed' like an up and coming place... I had no idea it was this bad...

[Sarahsez]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I passed through Little Rock not too long ago and saw it for the first time in decades...it 'seemed' like an up and coming place... I had no idea it was this bad...

I think the interstates route you through some nice looking places. Living there was a different reality. Some of the places I considered decent when I lived there are no longer considered safe by the folks I know that still live there. There have always been good places to eat. The shopping has improved.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Sarahsez

I think the interstates route you through some nice looking places. Living there was a different reality. Some of the places I considered decent when I lived there are no longer considered safe by the folks I know that still live there. There have always been good places to eat. The shopping has improved.

What exactly happened and why is crime there so rough? economy? outlaws moving in?

I was in West Memphis on I-40 about a month or so ago and that place had me looking over my shoulder every other minute... is it that bad in Little Rock too?

[Loveswater_outdoors]

Originally Posted by Old Fossil

Interesting Posts above. This is the third time I have lived in L.R. and this time I plan to stay. 15 years ago we moved into "upscale" west L.R. and have had none of those problems in our area, or in town. Makes me wonder if people find what they look for

No. You are just lucky, or found a neighborhood that's considered "off-limits" for whatever reason. I hate when people are like, "Well THAT never happened to me!" Ya that means it never happens...

[Fred Fleet]

I circled back around to this thread - the responses are interesting reading. The emphasis of the original post was not the crime, but the day-to-day ineptness of the non-criminal element. For what it’s worth, that hasn’t changed much - the bank removed my name from my checking account(!) (I took my business elsewhere), the insurance company can’t seem to get my bill straight, most around here still don’t return phone calls, and southern manners have fled to the hills.
I see that mentioning CCW touched a nerve with some. I wasn’t going for drama, just illustrating my own perspective. I still carry at night, the guys who keyed my car came back and keyed it AGAIN (I assume it was the same person), and I was propositioned by a hooker in one of the large home improvement stores in the middle of the afternoon. I still have the the best neighbors ever, and have determined that 100% of them have a personal LR crime story.
And the largest source of stress is still by far the dysfunctional culture and not the threat of crime.

[techie_g]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

What exactly happened and why is crime there so rough? economy? outlaws moving in?

I was in West Memphis on I-40 about a month or so ago and that place had me looking over my shoulder every other minute... is it that bad in Little Rock too?

Yes, West Memphis is quite a story. Some parts of Little Rock i.e. south of 630 et al are now quite bad. I lived off west Cantrell and near Reservoir, and even that area has changed for the worse I think, nor would I live there or near there again. West Memphis is a problem, but Marion is still pretty decent.

[Sailorjosh]

I loved Cabot!Lived there for 3 yrs Great schools a smaller town but still isn’t to far from Little Rock/North Little Rock and the crime is mostly non existent!!!

[latunafish]

i totally agree with cabot being a safe community with great schools.

[98sb715]

Even some parts of West Little Rock have issues now. Seems like areas north of Markham around Rodney Parham and Green Mountain Drive are going downhill. Lots of shady apartments around that area.