What is it like to live in Mena? (Thinking of moving there)

On my visits to Mena I have found the people warm and caring with what appears to be a real sense of community spirit. Do I have Mena right? With all the past publicity of Mena airport, are illegal drugs a community issue? From what I read it issuppose to have a low crime rate. What can you Mena locals tell me? I'm thinking of retiring there.

DON'T EVER MOVE THERE!!!! You'll know why once you do

http://www.myspace.com/polk_county71953

NOPE wrote:

DON'T EVER MOVE THERE!!!! You'll know why once you do
http://www.myspace.com/polk_county71953

I answered this but I did it in the wrong place and it went off into space somewhere. I'll come back again and comment when I have more time. Thanks for your info.

I have seen Mena to be a very friendly small town and we are considering moving there too. I wish I knew more about the political arena there though...seems they change Mayor's a lot and have no Chief of Police currently so I would want to know about that...otherwise I have found it very quaint and nice.

I lived in Mena from birth until 1998. Now live in south Arkansas. Mena is a nice place to live. Sure, there's politics, but that is anywhere. I'll answer any specific questions you might have. My question is why would you want to leave Sedona for anywhere?! That is the prettiest place I've ever seen.

Tree wrote:

I lived in Mena from birth until 1998. Now live in south Arkansas. Mena is a nice place to live. Sure, there's politics, but that is anywhere. I'll answer any specific questions you might have. My question is why would you want to leave Sedona for anywhere?! That is the prettiest place I've ever seen.

In answer to your question: Sometimes beauty alone is not sufficient. It takes more than a beautiful place to make a real community. I think as a part time place to live it is great. Full time, for me, doesn't cut it. Besides, a little mositure in my life would be great!!:)

So my question to you "TREE" is are there drug problems in Mena? If I bought in the city am I going to have to worry about drugs and crime?

No, it's not something you're going to worry about. On a scale of worry 1-10 (10 the worst...I'd say a 3). In the city -- I'd say a 1. There are certain areas you need to be wary of (in the country) and I'm not saying they are horrible, but seems those names come up most often when you hear of drugs. They are a bit remote. You won't stumble into those areas by accident. The sheriff is very good and much against the drugs, and to my knowledge they still crack down pretty hard on the dealers (no matter who they are).

Mena's crime rate is almost nill. If you think something is stolen you more than likly you miss placed it or your neghibor put under your carport so it wouldn't get wet.Dave lived drugs are everywhere if you run in that crowd. I have lived here all my life. And I don't lock my doors at night, Keys in my car and I worry more about getting hit by lighting then robbed

Ok... No matter where you go there is going to be crime. I lived there for 15 years and I can tell you this... do not retire there. It is in the middle of no where and that is why it is hard to find out how the true Mena is. For starters the cops there are totally out of control and run around like its a communistic society in which they have complete control. They are very dirty and cocky. Not to say all of them but a majority. If you are wondering why it is I think that look up Gibbons (who raped his younger daughters and has been linked to a few murders) Lawler (who has gotten in trouble for beating his own son and numorous other things) and there was one other one but I cannot think of his name..it has been awhile. It is boring so yes young people are looking for something to do so I wouldn't be so brazen to leave my door unlocked.. there have been robberies in the area. And from my understanding it is one of the worst places in AR when it comes to drugs. Also, the hospital has a horrible reputation which is understandable. Talk to most people in the town and they would rather drive 2 hours then go to the hospital there. For example, a few years back they hired a doctor, Cappello I think, who messed up on over a 100 patients and it was later discovered had lost his license in over 5 states before being hired. Don't you think some simple investiagtion would have uncovered that?? If I where you I would wonder why such a small commmunity has been mentioned so much in the news? And if anyone is upset by this article it is not bashing everyone that lives there it is just the cold hard truth. My parents still live there but are currently looking at moving. I hope this helps some...

only the ones that talk bad about the people in Polk county (Mena) and the Local Goverment are the ones that give our area a bad name

I lived there off and on from 1974 till present.What you say about city police is true(was O.D Hale the one you were thinking about)?
It's a dry county(60 mi. to closest booze)which isn't always bad,but there they're such fanatics about it that they create alcoholics out of their children and others(but most of the citizens are sneaking around doing what they say not to.
Which brings up the fact that in a town with only 5,000 population,there are over 30 churches in the city limits!Polk county has 20,ooo with over 80 churches at last count.
Beautiful,but not near as "Godly" as they would like you to think.

pondering wrote:

Ok... No matter where you go there is going to be crime. I lived there for 15 years and I can tell you this... do not retire there. It is in the middle of no where and that is why it is hard to find out how the true Mena is. For starters the cops there are totally out of control and run around like its a communistic society in which they have complete control. They are very dirty and cocky. Not to say all of them but a majority. If you are wondering why it is I think that look up Gibbons (who raped his younger daughters and has been linked to a few murders) Lawler (who has gotten in trouble for beating his own son and numorous other things) and there was one other one but I cannot think of his name..it has been awhile. It is boring so yes young people are looking for something to do so I wouldn't be so brazen to leave my door unlocked.. there have been robberies in the area. And from my understanding it is one of the worst places in AR when it comes to drugs. Also, the hospital has a horrible reputation which is understandable. Talk to most people in the town and they would rather drive 2 hours then go to the hospital there. For example, a few years back they hired a doctor, Cappello I think, who messed up on over a 100 patients and it was later discovered had lost his license in over 5 states before being hired. Don't you think some simple investiagtion would have uncovered that?? If I where you I would wonder why such a small commmunity has been mentioned so much in the news? And if anyone is upset by this article it is not bashing everyone that lives there it is just the cold hard truth. My parents still live there but are currently looking at moving. I hope this helps some...

go to menaforum.com . visit the diff. chat sessions as a guest or register and sign in to add your 2 cents worth. live topics on community events. get a feel of the town, its people and whats going on in mena, ar.

dave

it is no jobs here,it is only a place mainly for weathly people to live..it is a beautiful place and low crime rate but there isnt nothing here to do.good luck if u move here

It may not be a big issue to you, but the weather is always bad in Mena, it seems. They seem to have lots of tornado's. Be careful.

FreebiesHeaven.com

Joe S wrote:

It may not be a big issue to you, but the weather is always bad in Mena, it seems. They seem to have lots of tornado's. Be careful.
FreebiesHeaven.com

I have lived in Mena for 2 years and the weather is wonderful. Sure we had a stretch of 100 degrees this summer but the humidity is nothing like what I left in Indiana. I believe the last tornado was in the 80's.
I will say that finding a job is very hard. It seems if you have medical background it would be easier.

Come to Mena and see the town. We are very small and very slow. Weather is really quite nice. Not any jobs but we sure could use some new businesses if you have one to open. The people are very friendly and housing prices are pretty good. Come visit, you might like it.

what is the income base there?how are the schools?we live in texas now,some of the schools are pretty bad.Isn't there alot of state parks in the area?

Tree wrote:

I lived in Mena from birth until 1998. Now live in south Arkansas. Mena is a nice place to live. Sure, there's politics, but that is anywhere. I'll answer any specific questions you might have. My question is why would you want to leave Sedona for anywhere?! That is the prettiest place I've ever seen.

I am thinking of moving to Mena from Florida. My husband is brown (Java, Indonesia) and he is worried about racism. Is there racism against oriental brown people?

I am thinking of moving to Mena from Florida. My husband is brown (Java, Indonesia) and he is worried about racism. Is there racism against oriental brown people?