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About Hot Springs
Hot Springs is the tenth most populous city in the state of Arkansas in the
United States of America, the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, and the
principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all
of Garland County. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of
the city is 37,847.
Hot Springs is traditionally best known for the natural spring water that gives
it its name, flowing out of the ground at a very high 147 degrees Fahrenheit (64
degrees Celsius). The tourist trade that this brought made it a very successful
spa town. However, it is now also noted as the boyhood home of US President Bill
Clinton. It is a sister city of Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan. Along with its famed
Bathhouse Row, one of downtown Hot Springs' most noted landmarks is the
Arlington Hotel, a favored retreat for Al Capone.
The city takes its name from the natural thermal water that flows from 47
springs on the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain in the historic downtown
district of the city. Approximately 800,000 gallons of 143-degree water flows
from the springs each day. The rate of flow is not affected by fluctuations in
the rainfall in the area. Studies by National Park Service scientists have
determined through carbon dating that the water that reaches the surface in Hot
Springs fell as rainfall in an as-yet undetermined watershed 4,000 years
earlier. The water percolates very slowly down through the earth’s surface until
it reaches superheated areas deep in the crust and then rushes rapidly to the
surface to emerge from the 47 hot springs.
Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto was the first European to visit what Native
Americans referred to as the Valley of the Vapors when he and his men reached
the area in 1541. Members of many Native American tribes had been gathering in
the valley for untold numbers of years to enjoy the healing properties of the
thermal springs. There was agreement among the tribes that they would put aside
their weapons and partake of the healing waters in peace while in the valley.
Congress established the Hot Springs Reservation in 1832, granting federal
protection of the thermal waters and giving Hot Springs the honor of being the
first “national park” to be designated for such government protection. Hot
Springs National Park was formally created in 1911.
World-famous Bathhouse Row, consisting of eight turn-of-the century structures,
lies within the National Park and is supervised by the Park Service. Only one of
the bathhouses, The Buckstaff, remains in operation. However, another bathhouse,
the Fordyce, has been converted into a museum to give tourists a glimpse into
the fascinating past of the city. The federally supervised natural thermal
waters are also used for thermal bathing at several downtown hotels, health spas
and the Arkansas Rehabilitation Center. The water is available free for drinking
at several fountains in the downtown area.
The city has been a tourist mecca for generations due to the thermal waters and
attractions such as Oaklawn Park, a thoroughbred racing facility; Magic Springs
& Crystal Falls theme parks; a fine arts community that has earned the city the
No. 4 position among “America’s Top 100 Small Arts Towns”; the Hot Springs Music
Festival; and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, held each October at
the historic Malco Theater, one of the top documentary festivals in the world,
attracting numerous Academy Award winning films and producers. Lacey Cole, a
local resident, was noted for designing posters for the documentary.
Other annual events in town include the Hot Springs Jazz Festival in Sept (free)
, The Hot Springs Blues Festival in Sept (free), The downtown Bathtub Races
(spring), The Big Barbecue Cook off (spring and fall), the World's Shortest St.
Patrick's Day Parade every March 17th, and The outdoor skating rink November
through January.
Educational institutes and conventions are also important events in the Spa
city. Perhaps the most popular of these events is the Hot Springs Technology
Institute (HSTI) drawing over 1300 participants each June. Hot Springs is also
home to the annual alternate reality game Midnight Madness, based on the movie
from which it gets its name. Teams race throughout the city at night, solving
clues based on difficult puzzle and physical challenges. Games last 12 hours or
more, with the winning team designing next year's game.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to
think through what are the most important things to you in an apartment
and plan your search based on those priorities. Here are some things to
consider when planning your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in
the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in
unit laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air
conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. apartment, efficiency, bed-sit,
or bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest
rents in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a
large room which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually
kitchen facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own
smaller separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom
apartments where one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment.
Then there are two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments
often have only one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two
entrances/exits, perhaps a door in the front and another in the back. Depending
on the building design, the entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside
or to a common area inside, such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments
may be available for rent furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a
tenant usually moves in with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often
included in an apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.