maggiecbs's Profile

I think this is AWESOME and I love how hard everyone is repping their cities.

I need to put in a word for LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas. I'm 32 and I make $48k a year. My income is definitely on the upper end of the spectrum in my social group, since I'm a lawyer. About 5 years ago I bought an 1100 sq ft (2br/2ba) house and my house payment is about $650 a month. Most of my friends rent, but several of them are in houses with plenty of yard for whatever endeavors they might hope to undertake. A typical 1 bedroom in the midtown or downtown neighborhood rents for $400-$600. I recently apartment hunted with a friend and one of her options was a roomy 1 bedroom that was on the back half of a house (with another apartment in the front), which had a big patio and fenced back yard; it was going for $475. I have a HUGE back yard but I don't garden there because I have a very curious Great Dane. I do have two community gardens within about 5 blocks of my house, one of which has chickens/ducks and the other of which has bees. Both have tons of veggies. I also have several neighbors with full on urban farms going on in the back yards. Little Rock city ordinances are very friendly to urban farmers, with few restrictions beyond those that protect the health and welfare of the animal.

Little Rock also has an amazing local music scene, born of what was a thriving DIY punk scene in the 90's. Really incredible local bands getting national attention in genres from hip hop to metal to alt folk. We have a great literary festival, a thriving film community and film festival, and a burgeoning fashion community with a nascent fashion week. There are three farmers' markets within two miles of my house and some great people organizing efforts to make local food even more accessible.

In terms of job opportunities, state government is the biggest employer here. We also have a few large corporations and two of the biggest nonprofits in the world, Heifer International and the Clinton Foundation. I really can't say enough about how much I love this town. And I'm not alone: most of my friends are musicians and two of them recently discovered that they both have songs about Little Rock with the same title.