I appreciate how you can comment on everywhere but somehow not insult the people or make poor taste jokes. I love your work. Don’t change. You make me feel like I’m riding in the car with you just talking.
Thank you for visiting our state again and talking about the core values we hold. We are not rock stars but we are rock solid. Thanks again, sincerely, Jim Thornton
Arkansan here❣️ Thanks for visiting again. Yes, the people are very friendly, the further south you go the friendlier they get..just some down home country folk and I love going to my hometown down south. I am about 115 miles from the towns you visited, now I want to go visit them.🙂
In my travels through Arkansas, I learned three things. 1. They tend to live a "Live and let live life. 2. If you want that done in a hurry, get in line. and 3. If your afraid of hard work, you are in the wrong state.
People choose to believe on what they find more effective to keep them from facing their fears, and from accepting a lot of questions about their lives will never get answers
My experience with Howell County, Missouri (bordering Arkansas) is this. People will look for small excuses to call the cops on their neighbors if the neighbors have out of state plates on their car when they move in. The cops will pull a person over for no reason except for the fact that they have out of state plates. In other words, they weren't friendly to people moving there from out of state. You could live there for 20 - 30 years, and the locals would still refer to you as 'the guy from [X state].'
I love rural towns, so interesting and relaxing to explore ! Gorgeous old theatre ! Always awesome to have a cat sighting, too ! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic.🥰
So boring to grow up in but now I think back it was fun . As a kid trying to catch wild horses, fishing, picking wild corn , making weapons to kill random animals 😊
Love the American "blue skies" and wide open back country where it " real and calming to the soul..Thanks for your great filming, always nice...safe travels to you an Nicole..God Bless! 🌼
Hartford is an old Rock Island railroad town whose history pretty much followed that of the railroad. The railroad was done by the 70s and from what I could tell the town started declining before that. Looks about the same with Huntington. Anoter great tour, thanks much!
Interesting how it seems the Great Depression really walloped these rural towns…and few have ever recovered. You can imagine how vibrant these towns could have been 100 years ago. Look at these decaying “downtowns” and imagine them once being hubs of activity.
The late 70's marked the beginning of the end for many rural towns. By the start of the 90's an irreversible trend had taken it's toll. Gone, not forgotten.
I love these videos. I sit here in England when I'm relaxing and just go to another place, and some of the time, a better place. These small, rural towns are so peaceful, they all seem very Christian too. That's how it was here many years ago, very Christian, but we threw it all out and now our society is unrecognisable and not pleasant at all. Try to keep hold of it, when its gone, it's gone....
Love the rural towns. I do like St. Leo’s Catholic Church. Love the cows! Nice cat sighting!! Crime rate of 1!? Wow!! I like the tractor museum too! I’d love to drive down those roads!!! It’s interesting to see what people collect. It’s nice to hear the people in Arkansas are friendly. Mansfield looks nice. Huge high school. Thank you for an enjoyable video!
You are still my favorite of what you do. No music in the background and your comments are respectful and interesting. Love the stats you share about each location. A work of art. Thank you so much!!!
I love your channel! Nothing like traveling the country - for free - from my armchair. ❤ Your content is real, unlike documentaries on different places, that just show you what they want you to see. I can watch you and feel like I’m actually there, listening to a real person take me on a tour and tell me all about a place. Nothing else like it out there. Keep up the wonderful, and much needed content!!
From my corner of the San Francisco/Bay Area I love that you give a snippet of how much we need to get out of our regional setting and see the vast US out there. Definitely home ownership in CA gives us a lot of leverage in plunking down elsewhere but exactly where is the question. Thanks for the insights.
Joe...I really enjoyed your video in Arkansas today !! The scenery was amazing ! You seemed so happy to be back in the old U.S.A. Comparing Hawaii to Arkansas, I'd rather live in Arkansas esp. when you said how nicely you were treated. That means a great deal to me. And, seeing the CAT made my day ! Thanks so much for sharing. I look forward to many more adventures with you & Nic....😊😊
Spent a number of years in my youth in the town of Knoxville, Arkansas, population around 200 or so at the time. My elementary school had 2 grades in 1 room. Great video, so much about the state just. never. changes. Ever.
I am happy to see some of the small towns preserving some of their old structures. Although it is saddening to see the poverty. With exceptions for the churches and quality of roads, they are similar to small Russian villages where there are mostly older generations living. I guess there not many jobs in these areas, the younger generations have gone to the larger cities. Again, Joe and Nicole, thanks for sharing your adventures. 👍
Thank you for your kind words of appreciation to the Arkansas locals friendliness. I moved here in 1974 from Illinois and it was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. Wave as you pass by my house Joe! 😂 You and Nic are welcome back anytime! 👋
I sold my city house and moved to rural TN. I purchased a much nicer house with 5 acres for half the money from my city house. Love it and should have done it sooner.
Western Arkansas was once a center for coal mining. That's been gone for several decades. Hartford was once known for Southern Gospel Music publishing. The last of that fell to a fire a few years ago. An important economic element for all of these small towns was commuting to Fort Smith to work in a light industry...furniture manufacturing, food processing, etc. The outsourcing to China took care of most of that.
Ummm, aren't this deep southern states republican run? Also, Reagan (you know the republican president) took the laws off companies allowing them to consolidate, monopolize, and grow ever larger. These companies then faced zero effective competition. So they could move overseas as they did t worry about a competitor offering higher quality. Or are you cruel enough that you think we should all work as slaves and be thankful for the scraps from the rich man's table?
@@cunit80 In 2017 Trump and the GOP enacted tax laws which created clear incentives for companies to move jobs abroad or overseas. These tax policies started in the 80's under Ronald Reagan, who was also a Republican. These policies encouraged companies to relocate overseas with the promise of 0 taxes. Outsourcing began in the 60's but these tax incentives signaled the end of American manufacturing. The United States began it's decline then. Now how were the Democrats to blame?
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". Love your video what a pretty town
From Arkansas history site..." The city is estimated to have had roughly 4,000 residents in its peak years between 1910 and 1920. Hartford had eight doctors, a hospital, two dentists, several lawyers, three livery stables, three drugstores, several restaurants and saloons, two hotels, two movie theaters".
you should always ask a local in every video 'where is the best BBQ around here?'. Try it. lt opens up a new world with locals from every state. Love the channel.
Being from NYC for my almost 60 years I can't imagine what people here do. Perhaps they actually...talk to each other? Funny how the way people live here seems so unnatural to me but in reality it is big city that is unnatural. At least these people don't have to deal with the god awful politics of a NYC. Thanks for the video.
I've lived in a town of 2,000 people and I've lived in major cities. The rural people have it figured out way more than people realize. The economy is smaller but they make do by helping each other.
Your channel is the only one I consistently give a thumbs 👍 and a LIKE. There is an amazing tenderness in the Hartford town that I can't describe. But it's there.
Arkansas has a large agricultural industry in Rice and Soybeans. Also, what you don’t see is at least 95% of these homes have a large garden in their backyard to grow food for their family and neighbors. I know this because I live in Arkansas. 😊
I was wondering why they had sprinklers running over the logs in the lumber yard. I looked it up and it's to help preserve moisture content above the fiber saturation point. Hmmm. I thought maybe it was to keep wood wet in case a fire broke out or something. Once again, I learned something new.
Welcome back to the lower 48 you guys! While these videos of dwindling population, dilapidated homes, rising poverty rates, and closed storefronts are interesting, I'm still hoping that on balance you will feature some small towns out there that are making an effort by trying to revitalize their main streets and town squares so they can attract business.. Happy to continue to watch videos like this current one, but for towns fighting the good fight, I actually divert my travel and get off the highway to support these towns by having a meal, getting gas, grabbing a snack-even getting a haircut.
Another great vid !! My experience traveling down south was pretty much the same, people are genuine and real friendly ! Always willing to chat … Railroad tracks everywhere some still running … I’m back in my home state of MA & sure do miss the Southern hospitality ♥️👍 Thanks Joe & Nick
A good start to the next Road Trip. Mansfield was indeed the best town of the 33 for amenities and housing all probably due to its size. It is interesting that folks there are friendly. I noted a high Christian component to these towns which shapes attitudes especially Hartford where for it's small size it had quite a few active churches. The finding of a cat is a real milestone as cats have been scarce for quite a time. Thanks for the look into Arkansas. I knew a fellow who was from there in the Army and he impressed me as a good example of a good American. Thanks again and we will continue to watch as this Road Trip develops.
You make me laugh. I love your comments about the "stuff" that people accumulate. I do the same. Lol It would drive me nuts to have all that "stuff" on my property. Keep doing the videos. Entertaining. Be safe out there.
Disappointed when you got to Mansfield you didn't mention how clean and neat it appeared. You drove down streets that had nice uncluttered lawns and well maintained houses, but you didn't say anything until you passed the one house with all the junk. But totally agree about people. I worked for a map company and when traveling in Arkansas, the people were very nice, friendly and down to earth
It’s always sad to see towns dying with abandoned homes, schools and buildings. But it sounds like the people are cordial and most likely happy with what they have.
Thanks Joe for the ride. Appreciate it , great video. Love these small towns. It’s how I travel now when I do get the chance. Most of the time I’m not on any ones schedule but mine anymore. LoL. Really hated to hear how things have changed in Hawaii in 20+ years. But I gotta agree with you on folks in these small towns and Yep you’re right they will talk to ya long as you want to. Best of luck to you guys on this long run you’re starting on. Looking forward to seeing and hearing about these places along the way. I gotta tell ya after a few days of everything I just want to sit and watch whatever you have found along the road and listen to a great narrative reminds me of just riding around and listening to a good friend telling ya about everything where you are at at the time. LoL. Safe travels my friend. Keep filming I’ll keep watching
Great video Joe I don’t know why I find these small town rural areas so interesting guess cause my father used to live in one in Southern Ga before he headed North to Atlanta for more opportunities, these small town communities were crucial back in the day keep doing what u do best
I'm a life long Arkansan. It's the best place in the world to live. Beautiful with great people. You should go to eastern Arkansas farm country. That's where I'm from...
Hey there, happy Saturday! Always nice to ride shotgun with you on the rural back roads. Quite the change of venue since last week, eh? 🙂Interesting to hear your remarks about the friendliness of folks in Arkansas vis-à-vis the islanders. As usual, while watching I peruse google maps/street view -- to ad an extra layer of immersion, if you will. In Hartford I see there's a spot called "Biscuits And Hugs"...when I'm on the road there are times I could use both. I also note that Frogtown is just down the road, I would've taken a short detour just to see if there was a "Welcome to Frogtown" sign I could grab a photo of. My theory on the yards full of "stuff": I don't think they necessarily have more of it than in other areas of the country. In more affluent locales people have tons of stuff too, but they hide it away in storage units. Until next time, happy trails!
Thank you so much for coming to Hartford I love your channel and I was really wondering if you were actually going to ever come to Hartford since it's so small, but thnx so much Nic
Loved the video but you missed so much of our small town of Huntington. Next time look me up and I can show you all of the great things about our small town.
I love seeing all the churches and Jesus signs all over,very cool. Great road trip very interesting places, looks nice there tho. Ty 4 the vid. Stay safe 🙏.
