It's ok if you have money for private school and a
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7/24/2016
I was born and raised in Arkansas and have lived here most of my life. However, I can not honestly recommend that anyone move here as I don't think they will be happy. Little Rock is better than most places in the state, with the exception of Fayetteville, and maybe Hot Springs or Eureka Springs.
Crime:
Little Rock has a very high crime rate. We are literally one of the most dangerous places to live in the entire country, and you can Google this to verify my comments. According to the most recent stats, there are about 9,500 crimes committed per 100,000 people. So when you do the math, you have a 1 in 21 chance of being a victim of a crime as a citizen and resident of Little Rock. Yes, it is that bad.
Racism and LGBT:
Little Rock and Arkansas as a whole still have not moved on from the days of the antebellum South. Let's put it this way, if Jim Crow could still be enacted without legal barriers, then that is what Arkansas would still be doing. Little Rock is a little bit better than other cities in Arkansas when it comes to LGBT and race issues, but it is nothing to write home about. Most of my friends who are gay end up moving either to Little Rock, Eureka Springs, or Fayetteville, in that order. You might find that your white or black child is bussed to another district or school in order to "balance out" the racial disparities in the schools, no matter if you live 5 minutes from the school. Sometimes the buss ride can be a half-hour and your child will probably still be a minority. Little Rock has a black side of town and a white side of town. If you are black you live in North Little Rock, South LR or East LR. If you are white and have money you live in West Little Rock (Chenal), the Heights/Hillcrest neighborhoods, or you commute into LR for work and live in one of the surrounding small towns. (e.g. Cabot) Racism is alive and well in Little Rock, and while discrimination against LGBT is better than other cities in Arkansas it is still very much still The South here.
Education:
At this writing Arkansas is 41st in the nation in education. The public schools in LR are pretty universal in their incompetence and indifference to education, and virtually every school here is on "watch" from the federal government and Department of Education for standardized test scores. If you are moving here from basically any other state and your child was a B student or better, you will find that you need to put them in Advanced Placement classes in order to be exposed to the average work your child was doing in that school. If you can afford private school that is the best option with Pulaski Academy being one of the best in Little Rock, unless you want to opt for a Christian school than in my opinion Little Rock Christian Academy is one of the better ones.
Entertainment and Food:
Little Rock is a vast improvement over 90% of the rest of the state. You have the Rivermarket area which has a lot of different bars, shops, and places to eat. You can find disco, blue grass, cowboy, rock, hip-hop as well as gay bars. If you are a foodie, LR is actually a little secret that very few people know about. There are many eclectic, diverse, and delicious places to eat. Wine bars, cigar bars and restaurants; genuine Indian, Japanese, French, and Greek restaurants as well as steak houses and BBQ. You can find anything from a TGI Fridays to places where the food looks like an art exhibit and the chairs have 3 legs rather than 4.
Speaking of Art there are many fine exhibits at the Arkansas Arts Center in downtown LR, and many small independent galleries to be enjoyed. Local artists are generally well supported by the LR community and this is one of the high points to the city. There are theaters where you can see a variety of plays, dinner theater, and theater from UALR that are quite good as well. Comedy clubs are good here, and you can even find a couple of strip bars if you are in the mood. You can even go see the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra which is absolutely worth seeing. If you are new to the area or have lived here all your life someone will be having a BBQ virtually every weekend, people in Arkansas tend to pride themselves on their grill and BBQ, so be sure to take them up on the offer or you will quietly be discussed as a commie or a yankee and neither one of those are good. It helps if you like beer and a lot of it.
There are some really good water parks here in Little Rock and surrounding areas, some of them are natural lakes and others your typical modern waterslides of zoom and doom. Annual Riverfest is a lot of fun and there are lots of bands to be seen and fireworks to watch.
The outdoors is probably the best thing about Arkansas. We have more lakes, rivers, and streams than you can shake a stick at so if you are an outdoorsy type there are lots of places to bike, hike, fish, hunt, camp and otherwise get away from it all. Lots of different parks for kids to play at, pumpkin patches, watermelon patches, etc. Arkansas River is easy access with boating and fishing as well. Designated bike areas and paths, good for walking or exercising as well.
Summation:
Best things about Little Rock are the bars, restaurants, theaters, and outdoors. Public school are pretty abysmal and little Billy will need to learn quickly to turn his lock on his locker into a weapon (hint: put it in a sock) or file down his toothbrush into a shank. There is still a lot of racism but it is better than most other small towns in AR, still a lot of homophobia but it is better than most other towns in AR. Crime is terrible sans a few rich neighborhoods, so if you have money it can generally be avoided, just don't leave your gated neighborhood and wander too far, especially at night. People in LR (like the rest of Arkansas) love church and GAWD so if you don't it will be awkward at times as the second question people will ask you after your name is "What church do you go to". People use church here as a sort of fraternity/sorority for adults and children, and if you are looking for a job it will be exponentially difficult if you do not attend church, regularly. Don't you be a C&E Christian (only attend on Christmas and Easter) or you WILL feel the stares from people when you attend. Culturally people are generally more conservative, we like to gossip, and we like to compare ourselves based on zip codes and cars, and trucks. LR is a little more liberal than other areas of the state, but you will still deal with the problem of people who do not want change, like their guns and Bible, dislike blacks and hispanics, and "the gays". If you are white, christian, straight, love college football (only the Razorback. Not ASU, you pinko commie liberal) and like to hunt and fish then you will fit right in; otherwise it will be an adjustment phase and you might be on antidepressants for a while or the entire time you live here.
Hope that helped give you some perspective.
Jeff | Jonesboro, AR