Moving to West Memphis (Ish): A Mom's Journey to West Memphis' Neighbor, Marion with MakeMyMove

MakeMyMove first put West Memphis on my radar through its relocation program in 2024. A year later, my partner and I decided to pull over in a burgeoning city off 55. “Isn’t that program located here?”

I was invited to participate in June 2026, but the timing did not line up with a job transition. We were preparing to relocate to a larger metro further South when we stopped for lunch in West Memphis, a city I’d seen dozens of times on Google Maps and was quickly catching feelings for while seeing it in person.

After two years diligently researching where I wanted to live, work, raise my daughter, and continue building, West Memphis continually flowed in and out of conversation. My partner and I thought we had settled on an easier choice with a larger metro, assuming it would have more resources and amenities, but as I stood in the middle of town I started paying attention to the infrastructure around everyday life in West Memphis: schools, healthcare, workforce and economic development in action, strong financial institutions, innovative technology, community relationships, and the opportunities for life-long learning.

We grabbed our to-go bags, fell in love with the Greenways at Marion, and moved in the next week. Although my life didn’t quite align with the official MakeMyMove program, the community in West Memphis, Marion and Crittenden County have given us an undeniable reason to stay and anchor our roots in our new home.

Choosing a Community to Parent with Dignity in the Digital Age

As a mother, choosing the best community to raise my daughter was the highest priority when choosing our next home. I spend a bulk of my time researching parenting environments and understanding how communities can support parenting as the Founder of the Center on Rural Parenting. West Memphis and Marion offer affordable places to live, great school systems, affordable healthcare, community resources, and future-forward thinking around technology education and innovation.

Community understanding of technology and digital landscapes was front of mind when we decided to sign, and re-sign, our lease. Children grow up within digital communication environments, and those environments extend across home, school, healthcare, libraries, youth programs, workplaces, community organizations, and family networks. Technology is woven through those systems. AI is becoming part of learning, support, creativity, customer service, and everyday problem-solving.

That means the adults around children need shared capacity to understand the digital environments children are navigating at a community level. In my work, I call this shared baseline amongst adults Community Digital Awareness: enough understanding to notice change, ask good questions, communicate well, connect people to help when they need it, and ultimately keep our children safe and prepare them for their futures and the workforce.

West Memphis has played a critical role in creating the ‘Digital Delta’ and preparing the community for the future, and collaborating with its neighbors to create the infrastructure necessary for a competitive region.

A Foundation the Future Can Stand On

I can’t overstate the importance of a strong school system, which serves as the earliest investment in our children. My daughter attends a school in the Marion School District, but the importance of academic excellence is part of the glue that holds Marion and West Memphis together. Watching her learn in a new environment has made the connection between education and community infrastructure tangible for me.

Children build knowledge through school, family, relationships, and everyday life. The people around them shape what they understand about the world and what they believe is possible within it.

That matters for economic development because talent development starts long before someone enters a workforce program. Communities are continually preparing people to understand, communicate, solve problems, and learn new things.

Lifelong Learning and Professional Development for Adults

In West Memphis, learning doesn’t stop after high school. Last year, the governor announced a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Commerce, Grow with Google and Coursera to make digital certificates available to Arkansas residents.

100% free and 100% online.

I have continued building technical skills through this opportunity, including completing the Google Cybersecurity Certificate through the state’s Grow with Google initiative. These courses have allowed me to successfully pivot my career into the tech industry and better provide for my family.

People need to understand technology and digital systems, recognize risk, evaluate information, communicate across digital environments, and make informed decisions about how technology fits into their lives and work.

As busy adults, we don’t always have the chance to stop and learn, and understand the latest tech developments or tools coming out. Living here has provided the opportunity to keep building the capacity to understand it, navigate it, secure it, and shape what comes next.

Participating in an Active Community

Even without formally participating in the MakeMyMove program, the West Memphis Department of Economic Development has been a great resource for me to get settled and connected. Economic development becomes meaningful at the household level when people can participate in the systems that create opportunity. That includes employment, entrepreneurship, capital, credit, housing, financial education, and the ability to make informed decisions.

I was introduced to great folks at the Marion Chamber of Commerce, where I learned about initiatives to get young people involved in business and civic life. I’ve also had great service at the local Truist Bank when I realized the local credit union I used before relocating didn’t have a branch within hours of here.

My partner found employment quickly at a respected local business in West Memphis known to invest back into its workers and the community.

That kind of infrastructure is important because access alone does not guarantee participation. People need knowledge, relationships, and practical pathways for using the systems available to them.

A Place to Put Down Roots

When we pulled over in West Memphis that day, I thought we were making a lunch stop on the way to somewhere else.

Instead, we found the place we wanted to stay.

I came to this region looking for a community where my daughter could learn, where my family could build a stable life, and where I could continue growing professionally. What I found was a community already investing in the pieces that make those things possible: education, healthcare, technology, workforce development, financial services, relationships, and opportunities for people to keep learning.

That matters to me as a parent, but it also matters to me as someone who studies how communities communicate, how people navigate systems, and how rural communities prepare for what comes next.

I know West Memphis and Marion are still growing. I’m still learning the region myself. But I have already experienced what happens when a community gives a person more than a reason to move there. It gives them reasons to participate.

That is what ultimately made the decision for us.

We weren’t looking for the biggest city anymore. We were looking for a place where we could build a life.

We found it here.