Little Rock Metro ranked top 10 place for young professionals

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas is a top spot for young professionals to move in according to Forbes.

The magazine and media company ranked the nation's 100 most populous metro areas and placed the combined Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Conway Metro within the top 10.

This Central Arkansas metro made its way into the top 10 with the tenth spot. Forbes said they ranked each area with 10 metrics spanning four key categories: employment and pay, housing affordability, lifestyle, and cost of living.

Each area makes the Natural State a natural fit for young professionals. Just ask 26-year-old Christian Wood.

"You go to a Dallas a Charleston, a big metro area there's a lot more people. It's hard to create something for yourself. Here you meet a couple of the right people. You know, the opportunity is a little bit quicker to make something happen," Woods said.

He moved to Arkansas from South Carolina to pursue a career in insurance. He also doesn't mind the opportunities it gives him to golf and duck hunt.

"So far so good. I don't plan on leaving any time soon," Wood expressed.

According to Forbes and its list of the "Top 10 Places For Young Professionals To Live", Little Rock, North Little, Rock, and Conway's combined metro area beats out 90 other of the country's most populous cities. That's not quite good enough for Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and where he wants to be "number one".

To get there he says might take utilizing the Arkansas River for downtown recreation, adding more parks, creating affordable housing, and attracting more big business headquarters.

It also requires keeping a low cost of living which Forbes says is currently around 17% lower than the national average. The article also mentions the metro's low unemployment rate, currently at 2.3% or the sixth-lowest among the 100 cities ranked.

"As mayor, it's my job to be the chief growth officer, and that's the reason why I've been very focused alongside the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce as well as our other economic development partners to help recruit close to new 10,000 jobs. We've got to make certain too that we are focused in growing knowledge-based economy jobs because we know that's what the jobs of the future are," Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said.

For the past 10 years within the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, Create Little Rock has worked to attract and retain young professionals through networking and development.

Chelsea Boozer and Summer Khairi are both involved. Boozer as chair, Khairi making connections through her job in healthcare.

"It is kind of a hidden secret. I know that when people start living here that they want to stay here, they want to start their families here because cost of living is good. Getting around is easy," Khairi said.

"We've really got on get on that national scale where when we're traveling we tell everybody about the great community that we have. We all as residents now need to be screaming from the rooftops what a great place this is to live, work, and play," Boozer added.

And if they can pull off that, and keep the pace of current improvements, these young professionals are confident top 5 or better is in the future.

"My mind works like okay how can we get better, and I'd love to see more young people here," Wood concluded.

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