El Dorado
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9/9/2009
I recently moved to El Dorado and overall I like living here. If you are from a larger city (or young and single) you might have a difficult time adjusting to "small town and slow paced" living. It is a very Southern culture and is really more like living in Northern Louisiana than Arkansas (ELDO is only 11 miles from the Louisiana border). It is a lot like HBO's True Blood (minus the vampires). The food is great if you like Southern items like BBQ, fried catfish, sweet tea, and chicken fried steak. Also some great Mexican food. The shopping here is almost non-existent...so most people have to drive to Monroe, Little Rock, Shreveport, or Texarkana to get to a mall. The downtown has been renovated and does offer lots of boutique shopping and neat little eateries. I can't tell you much about nightlife because we have younger kids and are long-gone from the bar scene (though I suspect it is not all that great). There are a couple places on the Square downtown that seem like they try to encourage night time business. The cultural scene is better than you would expect because of the South Arkansas Art Center which has art exhibits, plays, classes, etc. There is also a local Symphony. Most of the Arts are sponsored by big name companies like Murphy Oil and Amercable. The school system is better than I expected mainly because of the investment that Murphy Oil has made with not only the "El Dorado Promise" (where kids graduating from El Dorado schools get most of their college tuition paid by Murphy) as well as supporting curriculum in the schools. They have a great Gifted and Talented program in the elementary schools. The only downside that I have found is that there is quite a bit of poverty....and with poverty typically comes some petty crime. The city seems to be racially divided but mainly the division is due to economic factors. I haven't seen any racial issues otherwise. People are overall pretty friendly. The main focus seems to be on kids activities and church activities (again part of small town life). I am from a bigger midwestern city...but have adjusted to life in El Dorado pretty quickly. This city probably isn't for everyone but there are a lot of people who seem committed to making El Dorado a nice place to live and raise a family.
Ann | El Dorado, AR