Benton vs Bryant vs Conway - Where To Live? (Little Rock: rental, condo)

[YouSeeYourGypsy]

My husband and I are 30 years old (ugh it feels so weird to type that, the years fly by) we don't have kids but if we do it will obviously have to be in the next several years. We work from home. My budget is under 250K. I won't consider renting again due to many reasons including that rental rates have skyrocketed.

My aging parents live in Mississippi, I lived the first 22 years of my life there and I just can't bring myself to spend my whole life there to be close to them. For what I like, I know NWA area would be a good fit but again, that would have me 8 hours away from them.

I got the idea of moving to the Little Rock area because it will have me within 4 hours of them, still kinda far but about as close as it gets besides Memphis which I don't want to live in, and Little Rock looks like it has many of the amenities I like. The only thing I will sacrifice is proximity to the beach. I have been living in upstate South Carolina where I was within a few hours of the beach. But I was 8 hours away from my family and I was isolated away from everyone for years. I basically never got to see my family all through my 20s. Plus if we did have kids, being so far away would truly be doing it on our own 99% of the time.

What makes me think Conway could work for me is that I like being close to a cute, walkable downtown and hopefully in close enough proximity that I could ride my bike to downtown or maybe even to a grocery store.

I do like the idea of having more space, 1 acre or more, however, as active of a person as I am and not being constrained to needing a car in order to leave my house, I'm willing to sacrifice space in place of a better lifestyle fit.

So the questions:

1) What's the differences between Bauxite, Benton, Bryant, and Conway areas?

2) What has the most amenities and a little downtown with some shopping, coffee shops, and maybe a walking trail/greenways and park(s)?

3) In Conway I see some houses that look to be biking distance into town, is this true?

4) The Maumelle area appears to have riverside parks and a huge paved path that runs all through it, however is crime an increasing concern for this area?


Thank y'all for answering my questions, I do appreciate it!!

Namaste xoxo

[latunafish]

While I cant tell you anything about Bauxite, and not a lot about Benton and Bryant, I can tell you that Conway is a nice town. Great downtown area, with bike trails from most areas. You mentioned Maumelle, great bedroom area/community for Little Rock, but not anything like Conway. Conway has great restaurants, shopping with about all the major stores, a 3 lane interstate to Little Rock, and several colleges. We have some family in Conway, they love living there and plan to stay. I love the safety aspect of Conway also, you want to go to Kroger, Walmart or any place at 9 or 10 o’clock at night, you will be fine. If you do have kids and schools become a priority, Conway had a great public school system. Conway has two full service hospitals and a good medical community, especially for the younger generation. ( Little Rock does have the best medical in not only the state, but UAMS has some world renown doctors)

Cabot is a growing town, just north of Little Rock with a lot of young families. Kinda like a small Conway. My only real issue with Cabot is lack of medical. They do have a new emergency medical center, with a few beds, but I just won’t live in a town without a hospital. ( about 20-25 mins from a great hospital in north Little Rock )

[YouSeeYourGypsy]

Thanks latunafish for your detailed reply!

I like that Conway seems like its own town with its own self-contained amenities so I can easily do errands and do some fun stuff like eating out, all without having to drive into LR.

I like that Maumelle area has that big paved trail and water access, but I don't like that it seems some are concerned that crime is spreading outward through west LR and it seems like there is less immediate access to amenities in Maumelle, like when looking at Google Maps I see a Kroger and not much else, it appears the big trail and waterfront are the primary pros for that area. Anyone let me know if I'm wrong.

I keep asking about Maumelle because I keep seeing really nice houses there that are in my budget.

I also see nice houses in my budget in the Benton/Bryant/Bauxite areas. Is there less stuff there than in Conway?

I've been going by street view on Google and looking up different things like "cafe" "restaurant" "grocery store" and it looks like Benton area has a few things and a bit of a downtown, but Conway appears to have way more appears to have a more developed town center. Let me know if I'm wrong, again I haven't even been any of these places lol

But the Benton areas have lots of homes that are nice in my budget. Currently , Conway has a couple, but way less.

So far it appears I'm leaning more toward Conway until I can get some more info about Benton/Bryant etc.

I could always make the trip, it's 6 hours from where I'm currently at, but so soooo burnt out from everything since I sold my house in Pickens SC back in November. So ready to get into a home and not sell it this time!! Biggest mistake ever!

I agree about the medical and hospitals. My husband last year, at age 29, got Covid so bad he did almost die and I had him laying on the couch for about 6 days before I realized this isn't like any other illness and he's not going to start getting better, he was laying there gasping for breath when I realized I could really lose him and had to call an ambulance, he couldn't even pull himself up for me to drag him to the car, he was literally on the verge of suffocating at that point, I feel so guilty because it was me who let him get to that point. So grateful we lived 8 minutes from a decent hospital.

[latunafish]

i hope your husband has recovered and is doing well. sorry that y'all had to go through that. (there is a new state of the art, heart hospital in bryant. the name is a little misleading, they do have an er and treat most medical needs)



i think you are right about all the points you made above and a visit is the best way to make a good decision.


i have friends in the benton/bryant and maumalle areas, they are all happy and are not looking to move.



i just sold a condo in west little rock last year and if i was to buy anything in the area again soon, conway would be my first choice, then benton/bryant.

[YouSeeYourGypsy]

Thanks, the covid experience was shocking, I thought at 29 it would be a typical rest at home then eventually it goes away, but turned out he was one of the few who almost died, even the monoclonal antibodies treatment didn't do anything. Glad it's behind us now.

It was pretty much me being so fed up I was wanting to move sight unseen, but turns out now my husband is actually going up there tomorrow (staying through Sunday) and has quite a few home showings booked, and of course going to drive all around the various areas to get a feel for it all.

Anyone let me know some places he should check out! He'd like to see any funky/hippie type shopping areas and pretty historic districts, the mill place looks nice. He's going to check out the river trail and downtown etc.

As we spent most of our life in Jackson, MS, he used to really like the Fondren and Belhaven neighborhoods. Those were the artsy places. So places with that sort of vibe he'd like to see.

Edit: He'd like to see anywhere around Little Rock resembling the eastside areas (St Matthews etc) and all the historic neighborhoods of Louisville and Lexington KY. We love the look of parts of those cities, but never felt drawn to live in Kentucky.

[YouSeeYourGypsy]

Alright guess what, typical, our redfin realtor left my husband high and dry. Planned on doing showings for us Saturday, knowing he drove around 7 hours to get there, then texted and cancelled it all. I think that's inconsiderate and pretty much wasted the whole trip. if he had said earlier then wouldn't have even done the trip till next week, although this realtor never said they ddin't work weekends or anything like that. So... in the morning going to get in touch with other realtors to see if he can get last minute showings, if not then the trip was a let down and he will head back tomorrow. Ugh!

[sub]

It’s been a little while since I lived in the area, but Maumelle was easily my favorite suburban area of Little Rock.
Benton and Bryant have both grown a lot since then. Not a fan of the way they’ve developed along the freeway instead of along secondary city streets. Feels busier than it should. They’re okay but utilitarian.
Conway has some colleges. Not my scene, but some seem to like it. A little too detached feeling, but it’s not far either. That’s also the problem with Maumelle: it’s just out there by itself and you end up going elsewhere to do a lot of things.
The Hillcrest and Heights neighborhoods of Little Rock sounds a lot like what you’re looking for.
The downside being they’re actually in the city, but they’re still quite nice.

[latunafish]

Originally Posted by YouSeeYourGypsy

Alright guess what, typical, our redfin realtor left my husband high and dry. Planned on doing showings for us Saturday, knowing he drove around 7 hours to get there, then texted and cancelled it all. I think that's inconsiderate and pretty much wasted the whole trip. if he had said earlier then wouldn't have even done the trip till next week, although this realtor never said they ddin't work weekends or anything like that. So... in the morning going to get in touch with other realtors to see if he can get last minute showings, if not then the trip was a let down and he will head back tomorrow. Ugh!

Wow, that is awful. We had one like that and found out after we switched to another realtor, that our first realtor never worked weekends, but never admitted he wouldn’t do it. Left a lot of people and deals hanging. He was actually living off his parents trust fund. Hope you get a good one this time.

[texas7]

We own property in AR but have not built. I have an elderly parent who i have twice had to take to Houston after doctors/hospitals in Little Rock were not able to diagnose or treat correctly. The second time, the hospital said to just go home and call hospice. Had a procedure in Houston and five years later, that parent is still here and well. Arkansas is beautiful but I wouldn’t expect stellar care.

[YouSeeYourGypsy]

Alright all, getting closer, found a better realtor so that's good. Yeah after the trip my husband agrees that Hillcrest area is probably a good for us, seeing as we like a little more walkability and enjoy roaming historic/pretty streets etc. Although I'm torn cause I'm not a huge fan of old rancher style homes, nor is my budget high enough to afford any of the historic style homes. Benton/Bryant area has newer homes in my budget. We are not handy either and have barely hung a curtain rod, so an old home to do our own flip would be challenge.

We'll likely end up in either Hillcrest and surrounding or Benton.