Reviews & Comments
Mountain View, AR
Mountain View -
3/16/2007The Ozark wilderness is a beautiful and breathtaking area. In the summer the ridgetops resemble a rain forest, while in winter they are shrouded in fog and ice. Lightning storms in the spring can be relentness.
Mountain View is as close to the American frontier as most people will ever experience. Highways were only recently paved in the 1970's. The major north-south route, Arkansas 5, was paved in 1978. Party line telephones were common until around 1990. Almost everyone has modern things in their homes now, they just haven't had them for very long.
The southern Ozarks region has no diversity whatsover. The myth that everyone is related isn't exactly true, however they do tend to have similar backgrounds. People of the area actually go to great lengths of family research to avoid marrying a cousin, and it happens much more rarely than you would think.
The main activity of the area is fiddle music, which is a lot like Kentucky or Appalachian bluegrass. For those who like this style of music, this is definitely your place.
Mountain Home, AR
Mountain Home -
3/16/2007Mountain Home is one of the more unique places I have ever lived. A very large percentage of the population are transplants from Illinois looking for a warmer climate and a lower cost of living. The population is also heavily skewed toward the elderly, despite the fact that Mountain Home is not a "planned" retirement community like Horseshoe Bend or Bella Vista. Mountain Home is now actively seeking young families to move there in order to balance out the population.
Because of the elderly population and geographical isolation, Mountain Home has excellent health care for a town its size, including a 268-bed hospital. Water sports are the big activity of the area, including fishing, water skiing, scuba diving, etc. Many record-sized fish(too many to mention) have been caught in the lakes and rivers that surround Mountain Home.
Mountain Home is not exactly a shopper's paradise. It has the usual Wal-Mart and Home Depot, but not a mall within 2 hours. Things tend to be a little more expensive there because of the remoteness. On the brighter side, there is a diverse choice in restaurants, and rainbow trout is a well-known area delicacy.