Belle Vista, Ark?

[fireorbust]

Anyone live there? Please share thoughts about retiring there.

Fireorbust

[Bamaman]

Wikipedia has the city covered. It is on the Arkansas side of the Missouri state line in the far NW corner of the state.

Many people don't realize that the two most northwestern counties of Arkansas are two of the most progressive and fastest growing places in the U.S. The driving forces are the home offices of Wal mart and Tyson chicken. Combined population is around 400,000 which makes it bigger than Little Rock.

Belle Vista started as a real estate development and homeowners association. The resort town is up to 25,000 people and is a viable city. With a bunch of lakes in town, you will find this a superior place to retire.

(I used to travel to Bentonville and Fayetteville on business when I w*rked. It is a lovely midsize society with the University of Arkansas.)

[AS2019]

My mother has lived there for the past 15 years. She's 70 for reference. I live 2.5 hours away.

It is next to Bentonville, and the Walmart HQ. In the 1960's, this was rural Arkansas. Through the 1970s, corporations like Walmart, JB Hunt Trucking, and Tyson Foods began to really grow in size. But it was still rural Arkansas. Beginning in the late 80's, it exploded in population. Walmart required that every vendor which sells to them have an office in the area. This caused the population to swell with highly educated and successful people from around the US and around the world.

Meanwhile, Bella Vista was established as a golfing and tennis retirement community. Until relatively recently, it wasn't even a town. As Bentonville grew, Bella Vista began changing from a retirement community to a bedroom community for Bentonville. There is still no high school, but there are elementary schools within Bella Vista. Kids go to high school in Bentonville.

Jane, MO is the adjacent town to the north. 25 years ago I had to go to Jane for work. The directions my boss gave me were "Go down old Johnson road until you see some Angus cattle. Turn left at the Angus cattle." No joke. Now, the same directions would be "Go down the interstate until you pass the amphitheater, pass the mall, etc".

As for Bella Vista itself, my mother absolutely loves it. She just won the state championship mixed doubles tennis for her age and skill level. Her team went to Nationals after that. She kayaks the Buffalo river with her friends 10-14 times a summer. She's in the hiking club. She has Bunko night. She just got married in June and they go on camping trips, play tennis, take golf lessons, etc. This is a retirement community like no other. It is a population of highly active retirees with more energy than I ever had.

It's worth checking out. If you have specific questions, I'll try to answer them.

[fireorbust]

Thanks for the reply. We recently visited BV and the metro area south (Bentonville,, Rogers and Fayetteville). I must say, we were pleasantly surprised by how well kept the entire area is. Walmart and the other corporations have obviously contributed to make the place appealing to their employees. We spent 2 days driving around BV and looking at neighborhoods and amenities. We saw hundreds of houses and only 1 or 2 were in minor disrepair.

The people we spoke to all seemed very friendly and everyone waved and smiled as we passed them. We've been looking online at homes. Prices and property taxes are below national averages. Now we need to play a few rounds of golf to see if we like the courses.

We've visited other similar sites and we not nearly as impressed. The best part is we would only be 15 minutes from every dinning and shopping option you would ever desire.

This area has definitely moved to the top of our list

[AS2019]

Yes, the houses are well kept. It's most likely due to several reasons. 1. Although affordable compared to the rest of the country, it started out as a rather upscale retirement community. By todays standards, it's not all that upscale any more. But the culture is one of upper middle class affluence (even though you no longer have to be affluent to live there if that makes any sense at all). 2. Since even elementary schools are a recent addition, the population of Bella Vista is skewed towards retired people or at least empty nesters. 3. The town has municipal codes similar to a traditional HOA - minimum square footage requirements, etc.

I'm glad to hear that you like it. Northwest Arkansas is a well-kept secret. Beautiful scenery, lots of amenities, dynamic population.

[mokan]

I just joined the forum & this is actually my first post. Bella Vista is one of the places my wife & I are considering for long term retirement. The other descriptions capture it well. We go there multiple times a year but always in the fall for the craft shows. Nice area, affordable and lots of amenities in nearby towns. The only downside that I can see is very heavy traffic coming north from Rogers. You have a four lane interstate/highway that runs into stop lights in Bella Vista. They've built new routes but people don't take them. At certain times of the day, you really have to plan around it.

[Bigdawg]

Selling my townhouse there on a contract for deed. 2Bd/2Ba. I started the contract in May at 80K and the property is already valued at 90K. Right on a gold course. Area is growing. DM and DSF bought there in 1983. DM is 86 and lives in a progressive care facility. She loves it. Always on the go. Heading down to Galveston for a cruise in a few weeks. A bit hot and humid in mid/late summer. Not great winters. Prop taxes WAY low. COL pretty low. Bella Vista itself has lots of highly educated midwesterners. I get there once a year and if I didn't love water so much I would consider it.

[hopefullyoneday]

Was comparing there as well as hot springs village ark. Went with hot springs village because the townhouses on the water were cheaper and the village is gated. I want to retire with piece and quite with little traffic and the village fits the bill. BUT, if you want a little faster pace with more to do shopping wise then yes bella vista.