Game Journal #75.75 - Arkansas Review

Hey all! I've just returned from my vacation/home hunt in Hot Springs, Arkansas. What did I think? Well...

I bought a house! Whoo! Yes, Hot Springs is that amazing. It only took two weeks for me to fall in love with it, and now I'll be living there soon. Not sure how soon, but probably by the end of the year. Hot Springs is a wonderful place!

For the review, I'll split it up into sections so you can easily see where things begin and end. These sections were why I decided to move here, so maybe you'll be interested too.

Walkability/Outdoors

Hot Springs is incredibly walkable! There's a place called Central Ave/Bathhouse Row where there's a ton of little shops and scenery. All of the shops are locally owned small businesses, and the prices were wonderful. What's really amazing is that everything's really close to each other, but not to the point of where it's overcrowded like Jersey. From the house I bought, I can pretty much walk to all the major areas (Oaklawn Casino, Central Ave, others.) There's also a small bike shop that I plan to buy a bike from. Staying fit just got 100x easier!

I really loathe that New Jersey is such a car-heavy state. If you don't have a car, you're pretty much screwed when it comes to transportation. (Someone has a personal vendetta against sidewalks on the government, it seems.) For my move, I wanted to make sure that I could get around without a car if I wanted to. And Hot Springs definitely fits the bill!

Outdoors wise, Hot Springs is right around the Ouachita Mountains. There's plenty of trails and forest to hike in if you're so inclined. What fascinates me most about the area is the hot springs (naturally.) The springs come from underground, and there's a bunch of spots on Central Ave where you can get spring water for free. Yep, free! This fascinated me because I know soooo many people here in Jersey who buy gallons of spring water to drink, whereas it's free in Hot Springs. I'd definitely save on my grocery bill!

Speaking of bills...

Cost of Living

The cost of living in Arkansas is downright amazing. Everything is cheap, and the portions are HUGE! I remember I was at this one restaurant (Smokin' BBQ) and I ordered a plate of BBQ spaghetti for 13$ (pictured above.) Don't be fooled by the photo, that plate is the size of my head. And it wasn't just that place either; EVERYWHERE we ate had these huge portions. Not that I'm complaining, of course! Btw, if you're ever in Arkansas, go to Smokin' BBQ and order the ribs. No joke, they're the best ribs I've ever had. They were so good that my mom asked me to mail some back to her in New Jersey when I move. Haha.

Everything is great. The gas prices... oh, man. I was downright spoiled in Arkansas. Gas was $2.88 a gallon. And that's without the discount program if you apply for the station's credit card. It was absolutely amazing. It was like I transported back to Covid times! The worst part was driving back home and seeing the gas prices slowly increase as I got further away. I wanted to riot when I got to PA and the price was $3.54. Nearly a dollar difference.... UGH, bros. Just UGH.

Regular groceries are cheap. Did you know that Walmart has it's headquarters in Arkansas? Now you do! There's Walmarts everywhere, and they all have good prices. Clothes and other accessories are easy to come by too. I swear, if you throw a dart at Hot Springs on a map, you'll hit a pawn shop or thrift store every single time. They were everywhere! I went to a couple and found some really awesome stuff for dirt cheap. How cheap? Brand new turtleneck for 50 cents type cheap! I wanted to cry at how far my money went. If you've ever heard your parents talking about how they could buy a lot of items for five bucks, you can live that reality in Arkansas.

Now, taxes-wise. Everyone knows that NJ is not tax friendly. You live? Taxed. You die? Taxed. (Not a joke.) Buy a house? Taxed. Sell your home? Taxed. You leave the state because there's just too many taxes and you're sick of it? Taxed. I just could not see myself living here because of all the taxes. In Arkansas, the taxes are much better. As in, my property tax is $315. A year, mind you. That's with half an acre of land. I will say that the sales tax is higher there (around 9%) buuuuuut all the other taxes are much lower. So I think it's a net win. Don't even get me started on the money-making machine that is the NJ police ticketing system. Did you know that if you get six points in 3 years, it's $150? And it doesn't matter about how many points are actually on your license, it accumulates anyway? And you can't declare bankruptcy on it, so you HAVE to pay it no matter what? Welcome to the NJ Surcharge System. Fun fact: NJ has a speed trap every 30 miles on a highway. So if you ever think "Gee, I'm always seeing someone get a ticket" that's why. Fun! For more info, read this lovely Wikipedia article.

Attractions

Because I'm used to staying inside a lot, I don't really invest too much in a place's attractions. But Hot Springs has a lot to offer. I spent a lot of time at Oaklawn Casino. It was my first time actually playing games in one, so I figured to play it safe and just do some slots. The one I did was called Triple Wild Dragon. And, well... I won the jackpot on it. Twice. Okay, not the big jackpot, but a small one. One was for 70 dollars, and other was for fifty. Each spin was only 25 cents. So yeah, I made about 140 dollars there. Of course, the next day I went in and lost 40, so who knows if I'll go back. But for me, I treat the casino as an experience to have fun. Even if I lose money, it's like I paid the price of admission for a fun time. So if I win, great, if not, I had fun and got my money's worth. It was pretty wild winning the jackpot though! The whole machine was flashing, and I was sitting there like "wth?" Lol. I had no idea what was going on. I wish I took a photo, but by the time I thought of it someone had already sat down where I was playing. Aww.

There's also an amusement park there called Magic Springs. I went and it was pretty fun. It's a water park and theme park in one, so you can ride a bunch of roller coasters and then go to the water park afterwards. It's not bad for a day's entertainment.

Last thing I'll say about Arkansas (unrelated but small enough to put here) is that the healthcare is rather sparse. I have an eye condition, so it's very important that I find an ophthalmologist that can give me the medicine I need. Arkansas only has a few ophthalmologists in the entire state, so they travel around and are only available in Hot Springs on specific days. Much different from NJ, where there's a doctor every two blocks. So I will say that if you have a medical condition, be sure to do research on availability before coming to Arkansas.

Overall? Loved the place. Glad to move there? Oh yeah. If my home deal goes through, I'll be sure to do a house tour and everything on here. Stay tuned, I'll write updates on the home process as I hear more about it.