I was paid $10,000 to move from Texas to this tiny Arkansas town… here’s how it went

A woman was paid $10,000 to move from her home in Austin, Texas, to a quaint town in Arkansas.

Alisha McDarris, an outdoor and travel journalist for Business insidertold how she and her husband packed up and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, a 22-square-mile city with a population of just over 103,000.

McDarris said they were lured into uprooting their lives in a bustling city by an incentive program offered by the Northwest Arkansas Council, an economic development agency.

The couple have both filed with the agency ‘Life works here’ initiative which is offering $10,000 in bitcoin or cash and a mountain bike to 100 lucky remote workers from around the world.

After being selected, McDarris and her husband traveled to the state in July 2022 and lived there for 15 months.

During their time, the couple discovered that they enjoyed the place they lived, but didn’t really love it.

During their time in the Bear State, the journalist and her husband grew to love the many outdoor activities that surrounded them.

She noted that they enjoyed staying active in their new community as they participated in mountain biking, backpacking, camping and trail maintenance.

McDarris added that they had the pleasure of accessing trails minutes from where they lived to backpack and camp wherever they wanted without reservations.

Another part of small town life they enjoyed was meeting others, including small business owners.

“We found it easier to connect with fellow creatives and befriended small business owners who were as invested in their community as they were in their own success, which isn’t always the case in big cities,” says McDarris.

McDarris and her husband also discovered that the cost of living in Arkansas is significantly cheaper than that in Texas.

McDarris found that the cost of living in Arkansas was significantly cheaper than in Texas. (photo: the skyline of Austin, Texas)

According to American newsArkansas is the number one state in the country to live in based on cost of living and housing affordability, while Texas ranks 28.

Although the couple found a cheaper apartment than the one they previously lived in, the location of their home was not ideal.

McDarris explained that their new home was just one freeway exit away from Arkansas Razorback Stadium. The arena has been home to the University of Arkansas Razorback football team since 1938.

“Living there became a headache that lasted throughout the late summer and fall as fans blocked the streets and angrily honked at anyone not wearing the team’s signature red,” she said.

The couple were “immediately disappointed” when they arrived during what she said was an apparent “housing crisis.”

“I was also confused as to why we were being enticed to move if there weren’t enough places to actually live here,” McDarris said, adding that it panicked them.

She and her husband were “immediately disappointed” when they arrived during what she said was an apparent “housing crisis.” (photo: Fayetteville, Arkansas)

After trading city life for a simple outdoor life, McDarris and her husband decided to pack up and move to the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.

“After six months, we knew Arkansas wouldn’t be our forever home,” McDarris said.

She admitted that the spontaneous move helped them realize what they wanted in their lives.

“I have no regrets about our transition period at Arkansas,” McDarris said. “Our time there was a necessary stepping stone across the river of life, a leap that seemed achievable the next.”

Alisha McDarris, an outdoor and travel journalist for Business Insider, was paid $10,000 to move from her home in Austin, Texas to the small town of Fayetteville, Arkansas

The ‘Life Works Here’ initiative was first launched in November 2020 by the agency supported by the Walton Family Foundation ‘to attract top talent to the region’.

In addition to receiving a cash incentive and a mountain bike, the agency also offers participants the opportunity to become annual members of the region’s top cultural and arts institutions, according to its website.

“This program not only benefits recipients and new talent for our region, but also contributes to the vibrancy of our existing, growing market and our local economy,” said Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of Northwest Arkansas Council.