Like me, you may be living (or used to live) somewhere outside of Northwest Arkansas and thinking: “There’s got to be a better place to live in America.” I moved to Northwest Arkansas from Chicago about a year and a half ago, and I want to talk about the pros and cons of living in NWA.
Living in Northwest Arkansas gives you access to amazing schools and allows you to pursue an active lifestyle, biking, hiking climbing, enjoy the culture and the arts, and have lots of business and job opportunities. However, NWA is also said to have snakes in deeper parts of the forest, medium taxes, a bit of humidity, and some traffic.
As I said, I’ll be talking about the pros and cons of living in Northwest Arkansas. But before I get into that, let me tell you my backstory of how I made it to Northwest Arkansas.
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How I Chose Northwest Arkansas: The Backstory
When I was living in Chicago, I got tired of the city and was looking around for a better place to live. To me, Chicago was the land of high taxes and politicians. Also, it was always in a deficit (and, I mean, a billion-dollar deficit), which is probably why a lot of cities in Illinois support Chicago.
So if you don’t live in downtown Chicago, chances are you’re being taken advantage of by the City of Chicago. And I got tired of that. I was paying astronomical taxes, particularly property taxes, and the price of everything just kept going higher and higher.
At one point, I decided to pull the Band-Aid and say “I’m done.”
What I did next was I opened up the map of the United States (on Google Maps, of course), and I looked for a couple of different things:
- Mountains
- Four seasons
- Better housing
- Better taxes
- An area that’s growing
- Warmer climate
My first thought was Colorado. But I realized it was too expensive. Then, I thought of the Pacific Northwest — there are mountains there. But again, way too expensive. And then I thought of California — but no, it didn’t fit the bill. My next thought was of Phoenix, Arizona. But they have really expensive housing, and it’s awfully hot all the time (115°F or 46°C in the summer).
Next, I considered the Appalachian Mountains because of its four-season environment, better property taxes, and better housing. But when I looked more deeply into it, I realized it’s not growing per se.
I also looked at Bentonville and researched all the different cities on Interstate 49. I discovered Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, Farmington, Elkins, West Fork, Tawny Town, and all these other cities in the NWA area.
After that (and this is the nerd in me) I read all of Fayetteville’s 2040 Plan, which includes plans on avoiding city sprawl and making sure everything is bikeable within the city. To me, it was really interesting how the area was so progressive and thoughtful compared to Chicago.
However, if you’re an outdoorsy person who doesn’t like biking (or hiking), check out my other article about five different outdoor activities that don’t include biking or hiking.
The Pros of Living in Northwest Arkansas
I hope that as I tell you the pros and cons of living in Northwest Arkansas, you’d keep in mind the backstory of how I got here so that you could also use it as a comparison of where you’re coming from to what NWA has.
Amazing Schools
The first and greatest thing about NWA is that it has an amazing school system. What makes it so amazing is that there’s not only a great public school system with A+ plus ratings across the board, but there’s also an amazing charter school system and a great private school system.
There are many reasons why the school system here is just leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of other states in America:
- Arkansas passed a law requiring students to take a science/coding class by the time they graduate.
- You have your school of choice here.
- There’s a lot of competition between the systems, making each system strive to be the best.
By the way, if you just moved to some of these cities and don’t know what to visit, check out my article about moving to Northwest Arkansas, Bentonville, or Fayetteville and what I did first there.
Also, I have a 3-day itinerary that can help you decide what activities to do if you’re overwhelmed by everything Northwest Arkansas has to offer.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a foodie, a sports person, a sightseer, or want to spend quality time with your kids; I have something for you. Check out the link below to learn more:
https://www.allthingsnwa.com/3-day-itinerary-northwest-arkansas
Three of the Biggest Companies Are Located Here
We have J. B. Hunt, Tyson, and Walmart headquartered right here in Northwest Arkansas. What that means is that not only does this provide an amazing amount of jobs and resources, but it also brings mid-to-large companies into the area. These three companies draw so many other companies here because they want to be near where these other companies are.
Over 400 Miles of Trails
Number three on the pros list is the fact that we have over 400 miles (563 km) of trail systems right here in NWA. This is amazing because not many places in the world have that many trail systems made for people to use daily. It’s no surprise that people call NWA the Mountain Biking Capital of the World because Bentonville specifically is intentional about making its outdoor play space usable by kids and adults.
There’s a trail system from Fayetteville up to Bella Vista. There are also trail systems around rivers, mountains, and valleys.
NWA is a wonderful place to move to! Find out the REAL Reasons People Move To Northwest Arkansas
Outdoor Community and Best Health Life
Northwest Arkansas is a very outdoorsy community. Between kayaking, climbing mountains, swimming in pools or lakes, going fishing or boating, and even gardening — there are so many things you can do outside, that you’re probably going to be in the best shape of your life.
Art, Culture, and Music
There’s so much art, culture, and music going on in NWA. On the art side, we have the Walton Arts Center, which is where the symphony plays and all sorts of theater groups perform. We also have the TheatreSquared where a lot of music and theatrical performances also happen.
In addition, we have the Walmart Amphitheater where top-tier artists perform. There’s also a huge cultural arts center in Bentonville, as well as the world-renowned Crystal Bridges Museum.
Major College
The next pro, which I love, is the fact that we have a major college located right here in NWA. Not only do we have an amazing community college, but we also have John Brown University and the most well-known one, which is the University of Arkansas. They have a full medical services degree there, as well as animal science, sports, business, and even blockchain technology.
Major Airport
Another thing about NWA is that we have a major airport located right here. In case you want to travel to Chicago, LA, Dallas, Florida, and even up to the East Coast, you won’t have any problems. XNA (Northwest Arkansas National Airport) travels to those places non-stop, making flights all over America very affordable.
The Weather Is Amazing
The weather in NWA is fantastic. I’ll never stop raving about the fact that fall never, ever stops here. We have fall from September to December. Where I come from in Illinois, fall was about a two-week event. And then either the snow or a big storm came.
But out here, fall lasts forever. Even the winters are very mild. You can drive around with your windows down and enjoy the trees outside.
Endless Business Opportunities
The last pro that I want to talk about is endless business opportunities. There are a lot of places in America that talk about being local, but NWA is focused on local communities and local businesses. And what I mean by that is if you have a local business, people will specifically go to your shop over a chain because you are local.
NWA is one of the first places to truly live and die by the principle that if you are a local business, we will support you hands-down.
That’s why businesses thrive here.
The Cons of Living in Northwest Arkansas
Now that we’ve talked about the advantages of living in NWA, let me share some cons that I heard about before I moved here. I’m also going to share my opinions on these “cons” so you would know how accurate they are, based on my experience.
Snakes
The first thing that I heard was that there are lots of snakes around here. The thing about it is that I do a lot of long-distance trail running. I’m on the trails a lot. And how often do I see snakes? Hardly ever. So I’m sure they exist, but I almost never see snakes here. If I were to go deep into the forest, there could be a bigger chance of encountering a few.
Taxes
Another thing I heard about was the taxes. One thing that I found fascinating is that every state got COVID money from the government. And what Arkansas did was they took that tax fund and put it towards the budget to reduce the state tax. Arkansas has had a solid budget for a long time, but what they did was expedite lowering the taxes because they can.
Another thing is that I’m used to paying very high taxes in Chicago, so moving here, I was still putting so much more money in my pocket. Also, when I moved down here I knew the taxes were a little bit higher than, say Texas or Oklahoma, but I didn’t mind paying that because there are so many things going on here. I could see where my taxes were going.
Humidity
Another thing that people mention a lot is the humidity. But I believe that the humidity is more extreme in Illinois than in Arkansas. Down here, you may get a humidity of up to 85 or 90 percent (which is pretty high), but that’s nothing compared to Illinois or Florida.
So if you’re coming from a dry climate like Colorado, Arizona, or New Mexico, it’ll be an adjustment for you. But it certainly is nothing crazy.
Traffic
A lot of people also mention traffic. When I was living in Chicago, there was traffic there (to say the least). In comparison, the traffic system down here is so much better than in Chicago. Here, they use a fifth lane for left-turning so you don’t have as many stop lights.
You can cruise across town or get up from Bentonville to Fayetteville a lot faster. In my experience, traffic down here does not exist. It’s not a thing especially when you compare it to Chicago, LA, New York, or Houston.
Final Thoughts
As far as I have seen, NWA is always trying to be five to ten steps ahead of the rest of the country. And I agree that this is the best place by far to live in America.
Also, if you happen to come to town, I made a three-day itinerary for you — whether you’re a foodie, have kids, or are into culture, art, music, or sports. This itinerary will help you check out all the best places you’ll probably like during your stay here, so make sure to download and pass it on to your friends.