Relocation to Little Rock
 

I realize this is a travel forum, yet I've seen people kindly provide relocation advice so I hope someone can help.

My husband may have a promotion opportunity in Little Rock. We've never been there, nor even to Arkansas, but I've heard some pretty nice things about it- in short, it has the amenities of a city with a small town feel. Sounds nice!

Housing prices seem to be very reasonable. I've seen a number of houses on the internet I like but I would like some advice as to neighborhood. It's likely to be just the two of us so schools aren't an issue. We seemed to be focused on the west side and Maumelle (Benton and Bryant seem a bit further than we would prefer.)
My wish list:
Convenient (though not sure to what!)
Neighborhood feel as opposed to just a development (I don't like houses set in a big open field)
Bike trails nearby- or flat quiet streets for riding
Newer homes
Mix of ages (we're mid 40's)
Community pool?
Sidewalks
Walking distance to coffee house(!)

We also liked the idea of some of the downtown condos we saw but most seem to be out of our price range. (ideally no more than $250k or so)

Any recommendations you can share would be most appreciated!

Maumelle or WLR are both good choices. We have friends who live in the Maumelle Country Club area and it is very nice. You can't go wrong in the Hwy 10(Cantrell Rd.),Chenal, or St. Charles areas of WLR. Winrock Corp. has an area in or around St. Charles that has a very nice community pool, clubhouse, etc.. Another area worth looking into is Conway. It is a 30 minute drive to LR but has a lot to offer. Benton/Bryant is fine if you have children and want good school options but other than that you will need to commute to LR for shopping, culture, dining options, etc.. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your reply. That does help us narrow our focus. I don't yet know where I would be working and he's used to 35-40 minutes so the commute time is not a huge consideration for us. We weren't looking at Conway but I might add that to our list.

I agree with Japw82 about Maumelle and also Cantrell, Chenal, etc. I'm not so sure Conway is your cup of tea, if you want to walk to a coffee house. Were there no in-town neighborhoods that are affordable? If schools aren't an issue, that might work.

Jacksonville is an excellent town, about 17 miles NW of Little Rock. It is a dry town, which is good if you have children. I also recommend checking into North Little Rock and Sherwood.

In my opinion, Jacksonville is one of the nastiest cities in Arkansas. Sherwood has a few nice neighborhoods as does North Little Rock. North Little Rock probably meets more of the desired amenities than Sherwood. I would still recommend the West Little Rock/Maumelle area.

We have a list of several houses that appeal to us. Several are in Country Club of Arkansas neighborhood and some in Maumelle. What appears to be a newer area- Capital Lakes- looks nice. And we found two houses in Brodie Creek which we definitely liked, though those 2 appear to have sold recently. There seems to be a lot of options in Otter Creek, though I am concerned that, depending on where I end up working, that area could mean a longer commute.

I think we will be focusing on West Little Rock. Of course I haven't seen it, but Jacksonville did not seem attractive to me.

Thanks for the suggestions. Any other insight is appreciated!

I'd stay away from Otter Creek and stick to West Little Rock.

Hi Susan,

Could you explain why you recommend staying away from Otter Creek? (I'm willing to take your advice just wondering!)

Do you know anything about the Capitol Lakes or Brodie Creek neighborhoods? Also, we saw condos at Windsor Court. Are you familiar with that area?

Thanks for your help!

Otter Creek is an area that doesn't have much around it. The traffic on I-30 is terrible. I-430 is close, which will connect you to West LR but once again you will have to drive approximately 10 minutes to get to coffee houses, shopping, movie theaters, etc..

When we moved in 2000 to new community, I knocked myself out trying to figure out where to buy. Later, I wished I'd rented for awhile before taking the plunge. I visited Little Rock last year; we loved the Travelers baseball park. They're an Angels AA team, and some great players have come up through Little Rock. Also the stadium is old-fashioned and sweet. Good luck to you!

anyplace is fine, just steer clear from Cabot!

crest - I currently work in downtown Little Rock and live in Bryant. It's a 25 minute commute to downtown from Bryant. The commute time is the same or a little more from WLR and Maumelle to downtown because traffic on I30 goes at about 70 mph and traffic from WLR to downtown on I630 is stop and go. We lived in WLR for a while, but moved to Bryant for better schools and better housing prices. From what you've said, I would think Maumelle or WLR would be a better fit for you. I personally wouldn't consider Conway because the traffic is horrendous and I40 is only two lanes, whereas I30 is three (six across). I would also steer clear of Otter Creek. It's not a very up-and-coming area. The only subdivision I would recommend in the Benton/Bryant area is Hurricane Lakes. I would not want to live downtown either.

Brodie Creek is great. It's an absolutely gorgeous neighborhood. Maumelle is very nice, but not as convenient to shopping and dining as the WLR subdivisions such as Chenal, Brodie Creek, and St. Charles. Anywhere out Hwy 10 or off of Chenal Pkwy. is very nice and in a great area. The coffee house requirement can't be met because everything here is sprawled out and not like a typical northern city. It's not a walking town, but we do have some good biking trails (Maumelle is especially good). Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. I've lived in Little Rock or the general area for the past seven years and my husband has lived here all his life.

Thank you all for the helpful advice. I believe we may be visiting Little Rock in the next two weeks and we now feel like we have a good sense of neighborhoods to focus our search on.

It's also good to hear our instincts on Brodie Creek were right! Now I'm sorry those two houses are gone- perhaps another will hit the market soon.

I didn't realize so many Arkansans read this forum!! I work in LR also but drive 45 miles away to live. Trust me you want to be closer. For me "running into the office" is a 2 hour drive just getting there and back.

We spent the weekend in Little Rock and got to see lots of neighborhoods. We definitely preferred west LR. There were several neighborhoods we liked (Woodlands Edge, Brodie, Aberdeen) but I think our favorite was Villages of Wellington. There were lots of people out and about, the pool looked great, and there was a nice variety of houses.

We had dinner downtown at Sonny Williams (?) steak restaurant and that was very nice.

Thanks again to everyone!

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. I think the Villages of Wellington is very nice as well and I know you'll enjoy living in that area. We lived out Chenal when we lived in LR. I love Sonny Williams too!

I know this is an old thread, but I just had to comment. When I traveled to Little Rock I was struck by how genuinely nice people were. It seemed like a very laid-back town.

We are also relocating to Little Rock this summer from the Washington, DC area and have never been there before. My husband will be working downtown. We are leaning towards private schools for our kids, based on what we have read. We have two general questions about Little Rock. (1) If we go private we are looking at The Anthony School, Little Rock Christian Academy, and Central Arkansas Christian. Are these good ones? Is there something comparable in the public system (our preference)...if so where? (2) We are looking for good neighborhoods with housing prices in the low 200s. Is WLR the best place to look (Brodie Creek, Chenal, Maumelle,.."anywhere off Hwy 10")?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Sorry - just saw this today. Yes, those are all the good places to look. I would also look in the Heights and Hillcrest since your DH will be working downtown. If I could afford it, that's where we would be. Pleasant Valley is also very nice.

I can't provide much help in the private school arena. I would go private if your kids are older. From the little I know, I would lean towards CAC and LR Christian over Anthony.

I would fly in and get a feel for the area. Southwest has a direct flight from BWI.