Howdy Howdy!

Helllloooooooo Arkansas!  My name is Janice, and I have a couple of questions, if y'all would be so kind... My DH was just offered a job in Hot Springs with AT&T, and has 24 hours to accept or decline the position.  Nice of the company to give us so much time to make a life altering decision, eh?  lol  Anywho, does anyone know about the school systems in Hot Springs?  Nice areas to live in?  Cost of living?  Anything??? Thanks! Janice

Hello, I live in Hot Springs. The schools are great as long as you stay out of the city limits. Lake Hamilton and Lakeside are your best bets.  Lake Hamilton is on the west side of town and Lakeside is east. You live in Houston right- Hot Springs is a lot cheaper on the cost of living.  It is a very beautiful place to live. It is surrounded by lakes and mountains.  Gas is about 3.79 right now. It is gonna be a culture shock for some place as massive as Houston.  Population is only about 50,000 or so. Probably a little less.  If you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Tina

HI, I also live in Hot Springs and Tina is right. It is a great place to live. We moved here seven years from missouri.  We love it here. The three lakes are right here. The schools are good. We live outside the city limits. We live by Lake Hamilton School that Tina talked about. It is not a big a place as Houston but we have shopping here and they are building more stuff all the time. It is only an hour to Little Rock from here. The landscape is beautiful here, that is, if you like hills which I do. I'm sure the cost of living will be cheaper here than Houston also. Don't know if it helped much but I hope so. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I live near the front gate of Hot Springs Village (a gated community about 20 - 30 minutes north of Hot Springs.   I agree with everything the first 2 posters said.  I loved growing up in this area so much that I came back after marrying and having my own children to raise them here.   Beautiful mountains, lakes and wooded areas abound.  The schools "outside" Hot Springs (Lake Hamilton and Lakeside are wonderful), but if you don't mind moving a little farther out towards the village, Fountain Lake and Jessieville schools are excellent as well (and are much smaller than Lakeside and/or Lake Hamilton which is nice if you like that kind of thing).   Houston is going to seem like its own STATE next to Hot Springs.  Hot Springs is MUCH smaller.  It is a tourist town where people from all over come for various things such as: - shopping at the shops on Bath House Road - gambling on the horse races at Oaklawn (one of only 2 places  you can gamble in the state of Arkansas)  - getting a massage or bath in one of the original (albeit restored) Bath Houses - boating on the lakes that surround the city - etc, etc, etc We have 3 hospitals (one large, one small, one tiny).  We have more doctors of various specialties (other than bariatric - go figure) than anyone could ever want, including EXCELLENT pediatricians.  We have more restaurants than I could count if I tried (including cuisine from any and every country you could possibly think of).  You could eat somewhere different for breakfast, lunch & supper every day for a year and probably not eat everywhere there is in Hot Springs. We have PLENTY of boutiques and places to shop for pretty much anything you can possibly imagine (including groceries, specialty health foods, clothes, shoes, etc, etc, etc).  However, Little Rock is just an hour away if you ever can't find what you want here shopping wise.  (Our local mall has a Dillards, Sears, JCPenney, Victoria Secrets and various other stores which I can't remember all the names of.)   If you're a big city girl... you will probably hate it.  If you don't mind (or like) being surrounded by nature - water, trees, birds, squirrels, etc - and living in a smaller place that feels more like a community than a city, you will love it. 

You will love Hot Springs, very pretty and nice area of the state.

AB

Thank you SOOOOO much, everyone!!  The family and I actually went camping around HS last summer and LOVED it.  I am originally from NY, grew up in ST Louis, moved to Houston, now there is the chance of HS, so the areas I have been living in have been getting consecutively smaller...I guess preparing me for the move, eh?  LOL It is still up in the air on whether or not it will actually happen, but I do thank all of you for settling my mind on whether or not HS is a good place to live, esp for children.  My kids and their future are my main concern, as I could live without all of the hustle and bustle of big city life.  While growing up in Missouri, I would run away to the country any chance I could just to get a bit of peace and serenity, lol, so I think, if it does come to fruition, we will settle in JUST FINE! Thank you ALL soo oo much!

Just wanted to say Hi, and welcome to the Arkansas board!

Thanks!!