Middle Age Single Black Woman Considering Move to Little Rock. (high crime, employment)

[landrews]

I was hoping I could get advice to help me decide if moving to Little Rock is right for me and my teenage son. How many large hospital are in the are? Where are the safest places to live? Does the city have any large black churches? Does the city offer a higher quality of life, cleanliness, educational opportunities, parks, shopping? Are the people happy with life in Little Rock overall? What is like for young black males? Is it easy to find employment?

[Aporkalypse]

Three large hospitals - the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Baptist Medical Center, and St Vincent's Infirmary. There are also several specialty hospitals including Arkansas Heart Hospital, Arkansas Children's Hospital, etc. Most of LR is very safe but there are high crime pockets as bad as any large city. A general rule is stay north of I-630. If you have a teenage son Central and Parkview (magnet) are the best high schools in the LRSD. There are a handful of large black churches, mosteither AME or Baptist. I think it offers all of these things and the employment situation is good, with a few thousand new jobs slated to come into the market over the next 3 years as planned facilities open.

[mbrlr]

I might differ with Parkview, but LR is my hometown and a very nice place to live. Despite the horror at Central 50 years ago, it's a good town and Central is a good school; my wife and I picked where we live in large part to ensure our children will go to school there. My wife moved here from near Chicago and had a bit of culture shock when she first got here with total strangers talking to her and with "please" and "thank you" and "yes, ma'am" and all that --- but she's adapted and loves it here even to the point that she's been known to say "fixin' to" without thinking about it. It's just a typical Upper South/Mid-South town and filled with generally nice people. It's got its good and bad points and places, just as any metropolitan area does. Hillcrest and the area nearby in Capitol View-Stifft's Station are where we choose to live and our favorite part of town simply because it's a little more open and with commercial and residential mixing very easily. Much of the city is now moving west, and that's a legacy of white flight, but I think it's now simply because the momentum is there...but don't join the momentum. There are many very good places in LR, and simply try to get a feel for what's good and what's not. If you choose to move here or have moved here, welcome to LR.