# Figuring out my big move!



## kodacakes (Apr 6, 2013)

Hello all, first time poster here but I've been reading the forums for a while now. I figured I would ask the opinion of people with similar mind sets that live in various states!

I currently reside in Illinois. I've been here most of my life and I have hated it the entire time! I can't stand the weather or the lifestyle.

At first I was thinking about Texas but with all the research I've done it seems the drought problems have been getting worse and worse and it seems silly to move somewhere that just keeps getting worse. And let's face it; animals on forage versus feed year round is pretty nice... So my search continues!

Right now I've been looking at Arkansas but I've never been there (I would definitely visit before moving) I like that it's far enough south to not have extreme snowfall but gets good rainfall. Of course there's more criteria than that to picking a place to settle down and call home but those are 2 big factors for me personally. So what I'm looking for is people's input on Arkansas as a place to live and eventually have a family... or other states that have decent rainfall but not immense amounts of snow... i.e. up north.

Thanks for your time and input! I'm sure some people will be biased but that's fine too! I'm a huge researcher so I love any input.


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## homebody (Jan 24, 2005)

We have visited the Russellville area numerous times. Find the pace of life is slower there, lots of country people there, most are friendly. We feel like we have temporarily escaped from prison and enjoy ourselves immensely. I find the people down to earth and so very different from people here. WAY too much meth here in this county. PA and judge always let them off and that has been an open invitation to cookers/users to move here for years. I just hope and pray we can find a buyer when we get ready to sell and move to AR.

If you go to the main page and put Arkansas in the search box, you should be able to find more info. Also AR drought conditions are improving, something else in it's favor.

Reread your post, assume you are young since you mention raising a family. We are close to retiring so can't address that. There is another website you might visit, have to register in order to post but can read and use search function to look up info on towns, etc. It's city-data forum, can't remember exact link. I'll watch this to see if you find the right website.


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## greenacresusa (Jun 20, 2005)

We love Arkansas, but like homebody said if you're looking to move and you have a family you'll want to have a job waiting for you there first. We are just a few years away from retiring and it's a great fit for us. We have been going out to Arkansas since 2000 and in 2006 bought land near Evening Shade in Sharp County and we just bought some additional land this year next to our land. We like you Kodacakes were born and raised in our state (Maryland) and have family that goes back here for around 300 years. But it's changed so much in the last 40-50 years that we just hate it here and can't wait to move out. 

We've found all of our neighbors and new found friends to be great and they will give the shirt off their backs to help out. We visit twice a year (more if we weren't two days drive away) and in the fall trip we do a mini-trip to different places in Arkansas. We like some places to visit better than others but we like them all. 

As far as weather; we have a pond that never goes dry and a seasonal creek. Even though they had a dought last year things stayed green in our part of Arkansas (Ozark mountains). We will not be drilling a well until the year we move and build the house but neighbors here have drilled wells and did good on the wells. The wells are deeper here than back home but then again the drillers don't charge as much as up home. 

Good luck in checking out Arkansas, we think you'll love it. Come visit some places in the state and see what you think. Let us know how you make out.

BTW the website that we think homebody had mentioned is http://www.city-data.com/forum/arkansas/ we check it out at least once a week for different topics. Also check out their tourism site http://www.arkansas.com/


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## kodacakes (Apr 6, 2013)

I thank you both for your time to leave a response. I actually have checked both the state's page and I always look at city-data. I also look at cities on sites like realestate.com; I like the pooled information from various sites whether I'm looking at area safety, schools, jobs, housing costs, etc. There were definitely parts of Arkansas that sounded nice but it does seem from everything I've read that there are areas that have problems with things like meth which is of course a bit offputting. I would never judge an entire state or people based on that but I think in terms of things like that the law should crack down. It only promotes people looking for loose laws to suit their means. 

An update; the state decision is now North Carolina. Both my boyfriend and myself have been there and have family and friends there and we know the state is nice and that you can certainly have farm life there. I know it's a bit more north but I don't mind the snow so much as I hate the way it comes in Chicago... I will take rain any day but Chicago weather is a whole 'nother breed in itself. Right now I've just been considering the 3 regions heavily... the mountains obviously bring more snow but I'm offput by the coast because of the hurricanes that come around each decade. The piedmont is obviously nice but it's almost a concentrate of more populated areas which of course means more crime rate, etc. I don't so much care about having "luxuries" by me. Give me a good general store and I'm good. Shopping? I don't know what that is... I buy more things for my animals in a month than I've bought for myself in years hahaha


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## kodacakes (Apr 6, 2013)

Is there anyone in North Carolina that has suggestions on decent areas with land? I'm not looking for anything crazy; I just mean places with... between 5 and 20 acres?


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

In general, you are going to find the land a good bit more expensive in NC than in say AR or MO. Taxes will be higher, too.

Certainly, there are plenty of rural areas in piedmont NC, but the overall population density is quite a bit higher there than the Ozarks of AR and MO.

Having family near could be the decider though!


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## Raymond James (Apr 15, 2013)

I looked inland 150 miles at the states of NC and SC then west to Kansas and Oklahoma. I did not want the bad winters but wanted winter. Did not go further west do to lack of annual rain fall. So parts of NC, SC, Ky, Tn, MO and Arkansas. 

I would look at areas where you are no more than two hours away from a metro area depending on how you define the Ozarks that would be the cities of Springfield/Branson MO, Russell, Fayetville, Little Rock Ark. 

Being near a small college town is a plus. Free or low cost art shows, concerts, speakers . 

Lots of smaller rural towns are dead or dying. Look for nearby town or towns with a Vet, medical clinic , auto parts store, grocery, bank, pharmacy, feed mill/ag store/MFA, hardware store . A lumber yard /home improvement store, a tractor dealer and a hospital in the area is a plus. 

What profession are you in? 

If still going to school consider what are the top paying professions in rural areas- Vet, Doctor, nurse, teacher. The hardest part about living in the rural Ozarks is finding a job. 

I would look hard at the area between Norfork and Bull Shoals Lake it is getting a little crowded but it seems like a good area. If you are in health care they have a lot of retires with health insurance to take care of.


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## homebody (Jan 24, 2005)

Because of some areas that have meth/drugs.:gaptooth: Please let us know when you find a drug-free area/state. As far as my research tells me, no such thing exists. There might be less in some areas but how would anyone know for sure? Statistics don't tell the whole story and I don't believe every"statistic" anyway. Those can be biased.


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## Raymond James (Apr 15, 2013)

Lots of problems in rural areas with meth. Getting better but we still have some issues. Not sure you can ever be somewhere that it is not there or some other drug. Spend some time driving around your prospective property on different days of the week and time of day. If there is any indication that something is wrong then look for another property .


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## kodacakes (Apr 6, 2013)

I definitely know that drugs are a problem anywhere you go. I live in the suburbs of Chicago and have also lived downtown where there's "red light districts" (flashing red lights where the cops really won't go). So as soon as you see red you turn around. Yet there's nice neighborhoods all around them. I know it all depends on the area and the people and how it is handled. I think what turned me off towards Arkansas is that everything I was reading in regards to the meth labs is that it'll be found out about... but no law officials do anything about it.

I obviously want to be able to have the neccesities (pharmacy, hospital, at least decent schools, jobs, etc.) it seemed like Arkansas was also lacking in the job department which was another point against it. I'm not saying it's a bad place to live; there's just other places that have caught my eye more. I know that North Carolina is a bit more expensive but you're also living where there is more things around because of major cities. My profession is just customer service at the moment. I was majoring in veterinary medicine but I don't receive financial aid so the debt just isn't reasonable at this time. My significant other works in the automotive business but he's also an army vet so he has experience with various machinery and vehicles. I've read some good things about Kansas and before I wasn't sure I wanted to live that far North but North Carolina isn't exactly deep south haha


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