[MyCitySearchName]

I've spent several months looking at places to move and finally picked one
.....but I have a few concerns about it and I am just snooping around for other areas to compare it to.

I chose Floyd, VA.....but the taxes and government intrusion there scare me a little,
otherwise it meets all of my requirements. I don't know much about Oklahoma, but Poteau sounded kinda nice.
Anyone on these forums familiar with it?

looking for:
*low cost of living
*small government, mostly conservative.....with LOW TAXES. I'm wanting to make my next move permanent.
*low crime rate
*gun friendly
*pet friendly
*pretty scenery, with low cost acreage available near near water...MILD climate....not extreme either way.....how does this area compare to the mountains/foothills of the Appalachians as far as humidity...bugs....nice weather.....pretty scenery.....access to water?
.....I do like to play in snow occasionally and prefer rolling foothills near mountains.
I also like hunting, kayaking and rock climbing.
*rural, yet vibrant community with artists, artisans, self-reliant homesteader types and musicians
....within a 30 min. drive of a larger community (30k to 150k people) for business/shopping purposes
*access to organic produce, meat and raw goat's milk
*no big box stores or blacktop jungles. I like a town with some character, slow pace of life and interesting architecture.
*a decent hardware store and a nice restaurant or two.
*NOT a dry county, I like wine with dinner.

Choices so far have been:
#1 Floyd or Boones Mill, VA
#2 Townsend, Tullahoma, or Johnson City, TN
#3 Mountain Home or outskirts of Fort Smith or Fayetteville, AR
#4 Corvallis, Coos Bay, Roseburg, Astoria, Seaside or La Pine, OR
#5 Florence, Rock City, Gadsden or Mentone, Alabama
#6 Coeur D'Alene, Idaho
#6 Poteau, OK

Any other recommendations would be welcome.

Not sure of all that Poteau offers, but it sounds nice.

Broken Bow seems like a pretty area as well....anyone know much about it?....what about Heavener?

[amybeth79]

first let me say i am from virginia. I moved to okc with my hubby 4 years ago and my hubby is from broken bow. Broken bow is very pretty but a small taking town.. there is nothing to do but fish and ride boats and play in the lake. Dont get me wrong the lake is very nice but you have to leave the town to go to a mall or anything besides walmart my hubby family goes to texas to shop and see the docs which i think it way to much when you have to leave a state to get to the nearest big city..I also will say this i do not like oklahoma city i find people here are rude, not open mined at all. I have been wanted to move out of here the first week i came here 4 years ago. The schools in the city are not very good and people do not mix here there is a scection for each race seems like to me.jmo on okc. the good things are low cost of living, low real estate. not trying to put the state down or anything but i just dont fit in here..

[MyCitySearchName]

I LIKE small rural towns with "nothing" to do.....I have no interest in city amenities (or problems) for the most part. I just need access to a few dentists for work purposes....a community between 30k-150k people, within 30 miles, is just about right.

A tightly knit local community with a few small live music venues, organic market/store, hardware store, homesteader type country folks, pretty scenery with lots of outdoors activities, low taxes and small government is what I'm after. This isn't impossible or "Utopia", Floyd, VA has almost all of these things.....its just the taxes and nosy government bother me, so I'm shopping around. I may still end up there.

I'm not trying to be hard on you, so don't take it that way. I just have no use for malls, traffic, politics, big government liberals and all of the crap that goes with living in a big city.

I just have a few specific amenities I'm after and I want someplace mild, pleasant and GREEN. Since you lived in VA, is this area of OK anything like VA as far as the countryside? I'm worried about bugs....and pokey plants....and brown vistas. I have that in NM and I'm DONE with it.

[eddie gein]

I lived in Poteau about 10 years ago. I think it fits all your needs that you described except for the organic food place. I expect you can find that in Ft. Smith Arkansas (about 30 miles away).

Poteau is at the southwest edge of the NW Arkansas market area which includes about 750K. Between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville you can get most Big City things you need. Ft. Smith even has a symphony.

Poteau is a blue collar town. It's a hunting, fishing, fourwheeling kind of place. The town itself is kind of a dump but the setting is borderline spectacular. If you get a house on the ridges up on Cavanal hill the views are truly spectacular. I think there are a couple of decent restaurants there now.

[MyCitySearchName]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

I lived in Poteau about 10 years ago. I think it fits all your needs that you described except for the organic food place. I expect you can find that in Ft. Smith Arkansas (about 30 miles away).

Poteau is at the southwest edge of the NW Arkansas market area which includes about 750K. Between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville you can get most Big City things you need. Ft. Smith even has a symphony.

Poteau is a blue collar town. It's a hunting, fishing, fourwheeling kind of place. The town itself is kind of a dump but the setting is borderline spectacular. If you get a house on the ridges up on Cavanal hill the views are truly spectacular. I think there are a couple of decent restaurants there now.

Thanks eddie, I'll investigate a little further.

[amybeth79]

well if thats all your looking for broken bow is a small town with lots of out door stuff.the lake is wonderful..It looks very outdoor and woods there..

[EarthBound?]

Hey MyCitySearchName,

This is SeaBeebolt, Get ahold of MelinPoteau she has been real helpful to my wife and I on info on Poteau. Later Gator

[MyCitySearchName]

thank you...I'll do that.

[DebbiePio]

I live in Poteau. We have a low cost of living, senior citizens can file for a freeze on their property taxes, there are also benefits for veterans. We have opportunites with community theater at Carl Albert College. Ft Smith is about 30 minutes east, and they have summer outdoor concerts. We are within about 2 hours of several lakes. If you like horseback riding, there are trails about 40 miles south of Poteau. Robbers Cave near Wilburton, OK has great hiking trails, and I think rock climbing. The Illinois River offers float trips, and there are several places south, close to Broken Bow that also have float and canoe trips. Hope this helps

[bbcoc]

Broken Bow is a very small town with lots of charm and big oportunities. Anyone looking for a small town to live in will love Broken Bow.