21st and Arch Streets

Dr. Walter Kimbrough is not an old-house person like a lot of people who choose to live in downtown’s historic homes.

“All the new-house amenities I’d gotten used to, we don’t have here,” said Kimbrough, who moved to Little Rock with his wife, Adria, two years ago to become president of PhilanderSmithCollege.

The Kimbroughs looked at houses in the Chenal area, but on a drive through the neighborhood around Philander Smith, they saw a for-sale sign in the yard of the historic John M. Martin House at 21st and Arch streets, built in 1903. “With the proximity to campus, it just made a lot of sense to take a look,” said Adria Kimbrough, who also works downtown. Too, she said, “We felt it was important to be part of the community that made up the college.”

<module>The Kimbroughs said they save a lot in terms of gas money and commuting time by living downtown.

Adria said she also likes that the houses in the neighborhood are closer together than houses in West Little Rock.

“You almost have to get to know your neighbors,” she said.

They also like the proximity to the early childhood program at Rockefeller Elementary, where the Kimbroughs’ 6-month-old daughter is enrolled.

But there are down sides, they said. There aren’t many young families in the neighborhood, and they don’t have easy access to amenities that are taken for granted in other areas of town.

”It’s even hard to get a pizza delivered down here,” she said. “The big question is, ‘What side of Roosevelt are you on?’ I do understand, but we really have had no issues in terms of safety.”