Possible move to Benton (Little Rock, Bryant: homes, neighborhood, schools)

[descentofman]

I lived in Hot Srpings for a few years. Great town but it was a bit too tourist for me. I discovered Benton and Bryant, both very close to LR and we love LR and what it has to offer. LR also has much more work available than HS does. My question is; What is the thinking of Benton and Bryant areas? I see homes seem to be down a bit, not like Florida but from the 175 to 145 range give or take. Its only about 12 or so miles to LR and the work base is much larger than HS. I work in the banking industry and have also worked in Title for years. Thanks for any imput.

[ArkansasSlim]

The "rush hour" traffic from/to Benton/Bryant is a bear but if you don't get impatient it will work. We commuted from Malvern for 40+ years without much problem. I would suggest you scout out alternate routes in case of an accident, and monitoring a CB radio helps. And if you watch your commute schedule you will find that 15 minutes+- can make a big difference in the traffic density. I understand there is quite a variety of housing available. Schools have a good reputation if that is and issue. The traffic is the result of "white flight" from L.R. I have friends living in both towns and they are pleased with them.

In case you are interested, there is quality housing available in west Little Rock from 175K up. Our daughter lives in the Pride Valley neighborhood and she (and we) are well pleased with the area. It is clean, quite, and well maintained, and if you work downtown the neighborhood borders Chenal Parkway which is one of the main east/west (4 lane) routes.

And when snow/ice hits Chenal Parkway is one of the first worked on.

[descentofman]

We used to go to LR every weekend when I lived in HS about a year ago. We moved for family and I am not sure that was the best idea. We really like Florida but its so far from family that I would never get the chance to see them but maybe once a year. LR is only about 8 hours away and even though HS is a bit closer by 35 miles by being able to keep on 40 it would actually be a faster drive. There seemed to be a lot to do in LR, river fest is soooo much better than in Wichita. Also the bike path and down town are much more appealing than Wichita which is flat and boring. Another plus is we would only be about 3 hours away from Memphis, 10 from New Orleans 4 from Eureka Springs. In Wichita the only thing that we have is being 3 and a half from KC [not a bad town at all] I see homes that were selling for 175 going for the 125 to 140 range. So they are down but not like other places.