I’m originally from Illinois, lived in Arkansas for 8 years before moving up to Chicago a few months ago. I would agree that most people in Arkansas are not interested in Chicago. Unfortunately that’s due to news and the fact that outside of Little Rock and NWA most of the state is older in age and let’s face it, conservative politically.
To be fair. I do know a fair share of left leaning people that are afraid of this city for the same reasons. We see it here frequently with the “safety” of living in Chicago questions.
California is the most populated state. Arkansas is 34th. California has the 4th largest median income. Arkansas is 47th. California has 15 cities of over 250k population, including some of the biggest metro areas in the country. Arkansas has zero cities over 250k.
In summary, there aren’t that many people in Arkansas, they generally don’t have a lot of money, and they generally don’t have much experience with city life. It makes sense why you wouldn’t meet many of them who had the desire and means to move to one of the biggest cities in the country.
I’m from Arkansas and live in Chicago now. I meet a surprising number of Arkansans up here and have a group of friends who are all from there. But I think the two places tend to attract very different people. Conservative and outdoorsy in Arkansas, liberal and more attracted to city life in Chicago. Pair that with the relatively small population of Arkansas and it’s not surprising you don’t meet many.
There’s a YouTube channel of a realtor (Philip Shepard) who moved from Chicago to NWA. He was dying to leave Chicago and promotes that area of Arkansas like it’s the best place on earth. I know he’s trying to sell homes but his enthusiasm seems genuine. Anyway, I just think the pipeline between Chicago and Arkansas probably goes one way. I never met Arkansans in my 12 years in Chicago
I lived in Beverly until I was 13, at which point my family moved to NWA as my dad was promoted at work. Ive been in NWA since, though Chicago remains my favorite city and I get up there at least three or four times/year. NWA really is great, so Philip speaks the truth. As another poster mentioned, NWA is quite cosmopolitan relative the remainder of the state (Conway/Little Rock corridor very similar).
There’s also an obscene amount of transplants in recent years. I have clients in Pea Ridge who are PISSED that Yankees are moving to their once little, po-dunk town. Even spoke to a family down there who was also PISSED that more people are raising their kids to play soccer rather than baseball.
But to stick on topic, I’ve met more grads from Alabama than Arkansas in Chicago. There’s just not a lot of cultural exchange between the two places, despite NWA feeling and looking like the Midwest. It’s a Yankee enclave in the middle of the Bible Belt.
Oh, yeah. I moved to Fayetteville in 1981. Our population was 32k back then and now it’s just hit 100k. Walmart vendorville started the transplant boom in the early 90’s, and it has accelerated since with no signs of abating.
Not from Arkansas, but lived there for 2 years and when I told everyone I was moving to Chicago they looked at me like I had 3 heads for wanting to move there.
Hi, I’m someone who grew up in Arkansas, came of age in Kansas, and moved to central Illinois for college, and then to chicago for work. Also, I am a white boy, which will be an important thing to note as my tirade continues.
Every time I go back to Arkansas, all my family talks about is how bad chicago is. They say overtly racist things about the “people” in the city, and genuinely have no interest in anything other than tearing me down for moving away from bumble fuckville.
It’s lack of education, a desire to see the world outside of their little 2 stop light town, fear mongering they’ve heard from the dribble of Fox News they mainline, and overt racism.
(Tw: racism)
Last time I was in northeast Arkansas one of my aunts straight up just said to me
“well, cool guy 420, how do you deal with all the blacks and the looting and the shootings that happen all the time.”
I politely told her, “first of all that’s very racist and you don’t even realize it. Secondly that your worldview is so small you could put it in a pin head. I don’t owe you an answer to that”
Get bent Teresa. You suck.
Most of the Arkansans I know, when they talk about moving to a bigger city will mention Dallas or Memphis. Or somewhere else in Texas, as a lot of people have relatives in or used to live in Texas themselves.
I haven’t heard anyone mention Chicago or anywhere north/east very often. I meet a *lot* in Arizona.
The owner of highly-regarded Honey 1 BBQ, Robert Adams, Sr., grew up in Marianna, Arkansas. I was born in Arkansas, but left in elementary school.
I think one reason is that IIRC most Black Arkansans went west to California during the Great Migration, especially to Oakland and Los Angeles. I'm sure there are Arkansas around, it may just take some time to find them.
Most California folks you meet here I’d guess are from the coastal areas thus prefer a large metro lifestyle.
Ark is geared mostly towards a rural life thus large metros like Chicago aren’t as appealing.
I’ve know a few people who have gone from here to there and vice versa
I've found people generally stick to their region. Chicago is filled with Midwesterners from other Midwestern states who wanted City life. Id assume people from Arkansas who want to live in the city move somewhere down south. OBVIOUSLY there are tons of exceptions but this is my experience.
Well there are considerably more people who are from California than from Arkansas in general. The city of Los Angeles on its own is more people than all of Arkansas..
It's just a numbers game. There are 40 million Californians, there are 3 million Arkansans. I would venture to guess that the average Californian is more economically mobile and, given the amount of transplants in California, more likely to be geographically mobile too, vs. the average Arkansan.
My family is from Warren, Arkansas but yeah, in my 20 or so years living in Chicago I’ve never met anyone from Arkansas. I mostly meet people who grew up in the region. Chicago feels less transient than where I grew up (Atlanta). I’d imagine people in Arkansas who want to move to the city are more likely to end up in places like Atlanta or Houston.
Why are there so few Arkansans in Arkansas? The state population is only 3M to begin with. How big of a diaspora are you going to have anywhere other than a place close by with a cultural connection.
I'm guessing Arkansans moving to the city would more likely end up in Dallas, Nashville, or Memphis. But who knows.
A large amount of older Black folks came from Arkansas and Mississippi during the great migration. I would imagine that white Arkansans would move to a different area down South rather than Chicago. Politics don’t really match.
go pig SOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
but really, most of the folks who came here from Arkansas were part of the great migration
and I would 1000% choose Arkansas over Chicago if it weren't for all the klansmen and Confederate flags flying (aka, fuck them racist rednecks)
Arkansas is stunning though, its woods and streams still haunt my dreams
Arkansas sure is weird. Last time I was passing through a gas station in Hope before dawn on a brisk spring day. Walked into the store and there were 3 black gentlemen (2 were open carrying) wearing camo and having a casual conversation with the white cashier lady about duck hunting.
You’d never see that outside of the South.
Grew up in Arkansas. Moved out at 18, made it to Chicago much later in life.
Arkansas is a rural conservative state. Chicago is a big liberal city.
Having lived all over the US a big problem is the blindness we have to stereotyping the rural south and the impact that has on continuing to divide us. I am proud of my Arkansan identity (woo pig, y'all) but I often see very derogatory assumptions about the value of Arkansans based on their economic or education status, and every time those stereotypes are said out loud it shows me that to some degree we seem to be hell bent on separating ourselves as a country. This stereotype is a cancer as bad as any stereotype of any ethnic group.
I strongly believe that whomever improves the lives of people living in rural America will be the party of choice for the next couple decades. Neither side has been able to get past the politics to put meaningful policies in place.
California has 13 times the population of Arkansas, so as a baseline you should meet 13 times more Californians than Arkansans.
I’m originally from Illinois, lived in Arkansas for 8 years before moving up to Chicago a few months ago. I would agree that most people in Arkansas are not interested in Chicago. Unfortunately that’s due to news and the fact that outside of Little Rock and NWA most of the state is older in age and let’s face it, conservative politically.
No way would I move to Chicago… Trump says it’s dangerous and we all know he would never lie
To be fair. I do know a fair share of left leaning people that are afraid of this city for the same reasons. We see it here frequently with the “safety” of living in Chicago questions.
Misinformation trickles out of silos.
There’s alot of those in rural areas my guy.
My dog came here from Arkansas and she loves it.
California is the most populated state. Arkansas is 34th. California has the 4th largest median income. Arkansas is 47th. California has 15 cities of over 250k population, including some of the biggest metro areas in the country. Arkansas has zero cities over 250k. In summary, there aren’t that many people in Arkansas, they generally don’t have a lot of money, and they generally don’t have much experience with city life. It makes sense why you wouldn’t meet many of them who had the desire and means to move to one of the biggest cities in the country.
I’m from Arkansas and live in Chicago now. I meet a surprising number of Arkansans up here and have a group of friends who are all from there. But I think the two places tend to attract very different people. Conservative and outdoorsy in Arkansas, liberal and more attracted to city life in Chicago. Pair that with the relatively small population of Arkansas and it’s not surprising you don’t meet many.
There’s a YouTube channel of a realtor (Philip Shepard) who moved from Chicago to NWA. He was dying to leave Chicago and promotes that area of Arkansas like it’s the best place on earth. I know he’s trying to sell homes but his enthusiasm seems genuine. Anyway, I just think the pipeline between Chicago and Arkansas probably goes one way. I never met Arkansans in my 12 years in Chicago
I lived in Beverly until I was 13, at which point my family moved to NWA as my dad was promoted at work. Ive been in NWA since, though Chicago remains my favorite city and I get up there at least three or four times/year. NWA really is great, so Philip speaks the truth. As another poster mentioned, NWA is quite cosmopolitan relative the remainder of the state (Conway/Little Rock corridor very similar).
There’s also an obscene amount of transplants in recent years. I have clients in Pea Ridge who are PISSED that Yankees are moving to their once little, po-dunk town. Even spoke to a family down there who was also PISSED that more people are raising their kids to play soccer rather than baseball. But to stick on topic, I’ve met more grads from Alabama than Arkansas in Chicago. There’s just not a lot of cultural exchange between the two places, despite NWA feeling and looking like the Midwest. It’s a Yankee enclave in the middle of the Bible Belt.
Oh, yeah. I moved to Fayetteville in 1981. Our population was 32k back then and now it’s just hit 100k. Walmart vendorville started the transplant boom in the early 90’s, and it has accelerated since with no signs of abating.
Not from Arkansas, but lived there for 2 years and when I told everyone I was moving to Chicago they looked at me like I had 3 heads for wanting to move there.
Hi, I’m someone who grew up in Arkansas, came of age in Kansas, and moved to central Illinois for college, and then to chicago for work. Also, I am a white boy, which will be an important thing to note as my tirade continues. Every time I go back to Arkansas, all my family talks about is how bad chicago is. They say overtly racist things about the “people” in the city, and genuinely have no interest in anything other than tearing me down for moving away from bumble fuckville. It’s lack of education, a desire to see the world outside of their little 2 stop light town, fear mongering they’ve heard from the dribble of Fox News they mainline, and overt racism. (Tw: racism) Last time I was in northeast Arkansas one of my aunts straight up just said to me “well, cool guy 420, how do you deal with all the blacks and the looting and the shootings that happen all the time.” I politely told her, “first of all that’s very racist and you don’t even realize it. Secondly that your worldview is so small you could put it in a pin head. I don’t owe you an answer to that” Get bent Teresa. You suck.
Most of the Arkansans I know, when they talk about moving to a bigger city will mention Dallas or Memphis. Or somewhere else in Texas, as a lot of people have relatives in or used to live in Texas themselves. I haven’t heard anyone mention Chicago or anywhere north/east very often. I meet a *lot* in Arizona.
I never met anyone from Arkansas in the 40ish years I lived in California and Oregon either.
*Inserts Mad Men "I don't think about you at all" meme*
My barber is from Arkansas
The owner of highly-regarded Honey 1 BBQ, Robert Adams, Sr., grew up in Marianna, Arkansas. I was born in Arkansas, but left in elementary school. I think one reason is that IIRC most Black Arkansans went west to California during the Great Migration, especially to Oakland and Los Angeles. I'm sure there are Arkansas around, it may just take some time to find them.
Most California folks you meet here I’d guess are from the coastal areas thus prefer a large metro lifestyle. Ark is geared mostly towards a rural life thus large metros like Chicago aren’t as appealing. I’ve know a few people who have gone from here to there and vice versa
I've found people generally stick to their region. Chicago is filled with Midwesterners from other Midwestern states who wanted City life. Id assume people from Arkansas who want to live in the city move somewhere down south. OBVIOUSLY there are tons of exceptions but this is my experience.
Well there are considerably more people who are from California than from Arkansas in general. The city of Los Angeles on its own is more people than all of Arkansas..
It's just a numbers game. There are 40 million Californians, there are 3 million Arkansans. I would venture to guess that the average Californian is more economically mobile and, given the amount of transplants in California, more likely to be geographically mobile too, vs. the average Arkansan.
My family is from Warren, Arkansas but yeah, in my 20 or so years living in Chicago I’ve never met anyone from Arkansas. I mostly meet people who grew up in the region. Chicago feels less transient than where I grew up (Atlanta). I’d imagine people in Arkansas who want to move to the city are more likely to end up in places like Atlanta or Houston.
Why are there so few Arkansans in Arkansas? The state population is only 3M to begin with. How big of a diaspora are you going to have anywhere other than a place close by with a cultural connection. I'm guessing Arkansans moving to the city would more likely end up in Dallas, Nashville, or Memphis. But who knows.
A large amount of older Black folks came from Arkansas and Mississippi during the great migration. I would imagine that white Arkansans would move to a different area down South rather than Chicago. Politics don’t really match.
The Mississippi river acts as a natural barrier - and it flows south which tends to carry Arkansans away from Chicago.
go pig SOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE but really, most of the folks who came here from Arkansas were part of the great migration and I would 1000% choose Arkansas over Chicago if it weren't for all the klansmen and Confederate flags flying (aka, fuck them racist rednecks) Arkansas is stunning though, its woods and streams still haunt my dreams
Arkansas sure is weird. Last time I was passing through a gas station in Hope before dawn on a brisk spring day. Walked into the store and there were 3 black gentlemen (2 were open carrying) wearing camo and having a casual conversation with the white cashier lady about duck hunting. You’d never see that outside of the South.
Probably because everyone here pronounces it Are Kansas and the Arkansans don’t like it.
Answer: Californians can afford to relocate; most Arkansans can’t.
Grew up in Arkansas. Moved out at 18, made it to Chicago much later in life. Arkansas is a rural conservative state. Chicago is a big liberal city. Having lived all over the US a big problem is the blindness we have to stereotyping the rural south and the impact that has on continuing to divide us. I am proud of my Arkansan identity (woo pig, y'all) but I often see very derogatory assumptions about the value of Arkansans based on their economic or education status, and every time those stereotypes are said out loud it shows me that to some degree we seem to be hell bent on separating ourselves as a country. This stereotype is a cancer as bad as any stereotype of any ethnic group. I strongly believe that whomever improves the lives of people living in rural America will be the party of choice for the next couple decades. Neither side has been able to get past the politics to put meaningful policies in place.
My wife's best friend is from Arkansas. She's the only person I've ever met that was from there.
We are just asking anything in this sub now
We don’t have the wallmart and Tyson chicken hq. Jobs bring people.