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Hot Springs attractions

bigboyz05

By bigboyz05
in Arkansas

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bigboyz05 Burg

bigboyz05

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I haven't been to The Springs since 1992 when I was 14 and me and my family went to Magic Springs and the Petting Zoo and several museums. We stayed at the Majestic Hotel. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on. Anyway, I know the city has changed a lot since 1992 so I'm asking forumers familiar with the area to tell me about area attractions. I've heard that Magic Springs looks different now.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I haven't been to The Springs since 1992 when I was 14 and me and my family went to Magic Springs and the Petting Zoo and several museums. We stayed at the Majestic Hotel. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on. Anyway, I know the city has changed a lot since 1992 so I'm asking forumers familiar with the area to tell me about area attractions. I've heard that Magic Springs looks different now.

Johnny would be the best person to ask but I'll throw in my two cents sine I vsited in the Spring. It was certainly a lot nicer than when I visited back in the late 80's. The city, in particular the downtown area had really gotten rundown. Magic Springs was closed for a while and now there's different management. I know they have a new rollercoaster, other than that I can't say much about it. There's a pretty nice botanical garden there now. I have some pics of it and the city in the Pics of Hot Springs topic. I didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked. Maybe I'll get a chance to go back sometime in 2006.

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Magic Springs looks a lot different! The park is a lot bigger, has more rides, and even a decent water park. They are expanding it every year. They added a new roller coaster 2 years ago, a new water ride this past year, and now they are about to add a huge metal roller coaster that is going to have the highest inverted loop in the world. The peope that bought Magic Springs had just sold Kentucky Kingdom to Six Flags, that is a possiblity here, but not so sure with the six flags money situation. They have really turned that park around in the 5 years they've had it, and they still have another 75 acres to develop and add to it. The city really is beginning to grow and change. They've gotten a lot of new restaurant and retail. They also have the Garvan Woodland Gardens botanical garden on Lake Hamilton...Very Beautiful. They have been renovating the bathhouses and are going to lease them for business use...it will be interesting to see what they put in them. They were going to put a Ripley's in one, but the park service turned that down. The city is beginning to boom like it should...there's a lot happening around there and still a lot of untapped potential.

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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One thing that makes me mad is how the city of Hot Springs is not aggressive in annexing residential areas into the city. The newest estimate puts Hot Springs at around 38,000...but really, about 80-85,000 people live there...for some reason, the city won't annex the lake area where most of the people live. All of the new apartments being built in the city are even outside the city limits...maybe the city will realize some day that they can get more money with more people being in the city limits.

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bigboyz05 Burg

bigboyz05

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One thing that makes me mad is how the city of Hot Springs is not aggressive in annexing residential areas into the city. The newest estimate puts Hot Springs at around 38,000...but really, about 80-85,000 people live there...for some reason, the city won't annex the lake area where most of the people live. All of the new apartments being built in the city are even outside the city limits...maybe the city will realize some day that they can get more money with more people being in the city limits.

Thanks you guys for your input. Tim, if Hot Springs would annex those areas then that means Hot Springs would be the 2nd largest city in Arkansas right?

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Thanks you guys for your input. Tim, if Hot Springs would annex those areas then that means Hot Springs would be the 2nd largest city in Arkansas right?

Yeap...It would be more than Fort Smith. It's amazing at the amount of people not counted there. Anyone west or south and some on the northern part of the lake are not in the city limits. Most people in Hot Springs live on and around the lake lol.

Well I could see Hot Springs maybe annexing more areas but not the whole thing. Every city could make itself quite a bit bigger if they annexed more land. :D But Hot Springs is more than what the city limit figures suggest.

Most cities could annex a little land and get some extra people, but not 40,000 plus! We're talking major population. You travel like 5 miles up Hwy. 7 from the south, passing businesses, hotels, and residential areas everywhere, but you don't come to the city limit sign until you reach the mall.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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One thing that makes me mad is how the city of Hot Springs is not aggressive in annexing residential areas into the city. The newest estimate puts Hot Springs at around 38,000...but really, about 80-85,000 people live there...for some reason, the city won't annex the lake area where most of the people live. All of the new apartments being built in the city are even outside the city limits...maybe the city will realize some day that they can get more money with more people being in the city limits.

I always wondered if it was because of school districting - keeping the Lake Hamilton and Lakeside kids from being integrated with Hot Springs High.

That said, if they ever do it Hot Springs would be at the top of those growth lists, even for just a few years.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Most cities could annex a little land and get some extra people, but not 40,000 plus! We're talking major population. You travel like 5 miles up Hwy. 7 from the south, passing businesses, hotels, and residential areas everywhere, but you don't come to the city limit sign until you reach the mall.

True, you do have a point there. I am a bit surprised too that haven't tried annexing a little more land. Not a huge area but just a little bit. If they could get the figures above 50,000 it really puts it in another class. I believe cities over 50,000 tend to get more federal money and such too. You'd think that maybe they'd at least try to do some annexing to get it up to that point.

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johnnydr87 Burg

johnnydr87

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These are some attractions from a post I made a while back:

This is for Hot Springs, AR (not Little Rock):

Magic Springs and Crystal Falls Theme Park (just opened in 2000 and expanding rapidly):

crystalsprings_001_l.jpg

magicsprings_003_l.jpg

gauntlet.jpeg

r3_ps05.jpg

r3_06.jpg

The newest ride (in 2006) is supposed to be a roller coaster that is the "only one of its kind" in the world.

Nature:

untitled_0575_l.jpg

ouachitas_009_l.jpg

Bath-house row and downtown Hot Springs:

hotsprings_001_l.jpg

hotsprings_048_l.jpg

Lake fun at Lake Hamilton (the most commercialized lake in the state):

lake_hamilton_l.jpg

Oaklawn Horse Racing:

oaklawn_003_l.jpg

oaklawn_012_l.jpg

Garvan Gardens (largest botanical gardens in the state):

gwg_int_photo_bridge03.jpg

gwg_int_photo_chapel01_lg.jpg

And the history...........This was Bill Clinton's hometown and used to be a gambling mecca.

I always wondered if it was because of school districting - keeping the Lake Hamilton and Lakeside kids from being integrated with Hot Springs High.

That said, if they ever do it Hot Springs would be at the top of those growth lists, even for just a few years.

That wouldn't surprise me..... although, I live in the city, and I'm in the Lakeside school district.

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bigboyz05 Burg

bigboyz05

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I think they should annex those areas because not only would the city be bigger but, it would create another metropolitain area in the state. That is if it isn't considered one already. Also, wouldn't having a larger population make it an even more attractive area for businesses?

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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It's already considered a metro area. The county has over 90,000 inhabitants.

Yeah, I think Garland County has like 95-97,000 now...and we all know that most of those are in and around Hot Springs. A few thousand live in the village, and we know that the rest of the county is very sparsely populated. I'm wondering if / when Hot Spring County will be added to the metro...maybe even Clark, since a lot of people commute from there to Hot Springs to work.

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johnnydr87 Burg

johnnydr87

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There's also a pic of the new roller coaster coming in 2006

http://www.magicsprings.com

I found it interesting that Johnny said Lake Hamilton is the most commercialized lake in the state...and yet, not in the city.

A lot of the east coast of the lake is in the city limits. Probably 70-85%. (I'm looking at Google Earth here.)

However, the whole west coast, and beyond, is not.....

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johnnydr87 Burg

johnnydr87

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Yeah, I think Garland County has like 95-97,000 now...and we all know that most of those are in and around Hot Springs. A few thousand live in the village, and we know that the rest of the county is very sparsely populated. I'm wondering if / when Hot Spring County will be added to the metro...maybe even Clark, since a lot of people commute from there to Hot Springs to work.

Around 60% of Hot Springs Village is in Saline county....

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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A lot of the east coast of the lake is in the city limits. Probably 70-85%. (I'm looking at Google Earth here.)

However, the whole west coast, and beyond, is not.....

Yeap, and there's a lot on the northern shore that is not...around Grand Point Bay Apts, off of Matthews.

Nor is any of the area around the hotels on hwy. 7. I always thought Piney in the western part of Hot Springs was just a community, not part of the city of Hot Springs, but it is its on city, population around 5000.

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Around 60% of Hot Springs Village is in Saline county....

I knew a lot of it was, but wasn't sure just how much.

I didn't know that, guess I need to take a closer look in Google Earth too. Too bad it's not in the high resolution though. :P

Yeah, it's weird how they only have a little piece of Hot Springs, and almost all of the county west of there in the national forest.

Most of the land area of the village is in Garland, not sure about the population distribution though.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hot-Springs-...e-Arkansas.html

They don't have the latest est. on there for the village, cause it's a cdp I guess.

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Since 60% of Hot Springs Village is in Saline County,which is part of the L. R. metro, then if the city of Hot Springs grows into the Village would that make Hot Springs part of the L. R. metro?

Hot Springs won't grow into the village...the land between would prevent that...it's rugged, a little mountainous and just not suitable for that kind of growth.

actually, most of the land and population are in garland county.

Garland County Hot Springs Village CDP (pt) 6,656

Saline County Hot Springs Village CDP (pt) 1,741

That's 2000 census, no estimate available because it's not an incorporated city.

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