Nice city, beautiful topography, friendly locals.
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12/6/2022
Little Rock is a city that I thoroughly researched before moving to, but nothing prepared me for the hills! They're even steeper than San Francisco, and they're everywhere. Keep this in mind if you plan on biking around. Luckily, I had upgraded my eBike battery before moving, so it goes up the hills just fine.
Upon arrival, my AIRBNB was a noisy mess, w/ lots of drinking and carrying on, but that's just AIRBNB these days. From now on, I'll make sure that the host actually lives onsite.
It's difficult to review the city, because it really depends on where you live. That's true for everywhere of course. There is a lot of crime, murders are way up, but that seems to be between people that knew each other and had a beef or something. No one (that I can tell) is breaking into people's homes or robbing them on the streets (probably depends solely on what neighborhood you're in). Rents are very reasonable, but again, ck out your neighborhood's crime statistics before moving into it.
Fortunately I'm a senior, and got very lucky. I am now in the Good Shepherd Community, a non profit that has several different properties grouped together depending on people's needs and incomes. It's probably not going to help reviewing things in here to a newcomer unless they fit the senior profile. But I will say that it's the best place I've ever lived.
As for the city, it's very pretty. Lots and lots of trees that are turning colors now and dropping their leaves. People are generally Southern Polite, you hear a lot of yes sir and no mam, something I never heard in 2 1/2 years back in Tucson where I was stuck during covid. Walmart is a mess, but again, that's usually like that everywhere. Cabs are reasonable, but the other drivers drive terribly. Foot to the floor everywhere, and absolutely no respect for someone like me on a bike. The bus system is horrendous unless you live on a main line. There are all sorts of para transit buses available, and the Metro Connect comes to my door and takes me anywhere within my zone for $1.35, but getting past the rude dispatch people you have to call on the phone is miserable. I wasn't expecting that, but there's workarounds. If you do drive, good luck! This is not a safe city to bike in at all, but driving a car is not fun either. Now that I've been here a while, I have some safe routes carved out and it's fun again.
Winter seems to send us a lot of rain, and further into the winter the locals say it might snow, but nothing like Up North. Haven't seen the summers yet, but hot and humid are OK w/ me. It will surely be that way too, so this is a heads up. Speaking of Up North, nearly everyone I talk to is either from Little Rock or other towns in Arkansas. Like Mississippi, where I was raised, our old, bad reputation keeps a lot of snowbirds away. That's a big plus. Florida was full of them, and they tended to be rude and never got involved in their new city. Lots of griping about "how we did it back home". You know, those roads run both ways, they can certainly feel free to leave anytime they choose. So for me, not having them in Little Rock is a huge positive.
The air quality seems good, but w/ all the trees (lots of pines), allergy problems could be an issue. When you have to call a business it's hit or miss. You're usually talking to someone that is polite, courteous and professional. When they're not, it's not fun. Sorry that I don't have more info to share, but I do want to empathize that my new home at The good Shepherd is full of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met in 71 years of living. It's nearly all Christians, but no one has given me any grief about my Zen practice. It seems that when people get our age, it's a different ball game. Only here in Little Rock though. In Abq, Tucson, and all the other cities I suffered to live in before finding Little Rock it wasn't like this. An old person was not given any respect at all.
steve | ,