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Fayetteville, Arkansas


Mith242

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Don't build where we are today. Build where we will be tomorrow. Light rail will work in Northwest Arkansas. The time to commit is now.

The historical growth of the region was based on, and centered on the railroad. Development and people in the region today largely move North-South to and from their jobs and shopping along a relatively narrow corridor within a short distance along the historical railroad tracks, I-540, and 71B, just as they did 80 years ago. There are just a bunch more people - with more almost certain to come over the next twenty years.

I traveled north on Crossover from Fayetteville to Springdale yesterday during rush hour and was astonished by the long line of rush hour traffic heading south, stringing along at bumper-to-bumber speeds, with each vehicle containing just one occupant. The amount of wasted energy, resources, not to mention wasted time and pollution and greenhouse gasses was as bad as any big city. How many lanes do we need to add to Crossover this year? In five years? Ten years? Twenty years?

Based on the region's geography and development patterns, light rail presents just one, but nevertheless extremely viable, cost-effective option for moving people around.

In any scenario, we cannot continue to add lanes to I-540. We need choices.

Actuallly.....the development patterns in NWA are mostly suburban in nature and centered around driving cars. The commercial developments have to be reached by car and have large parking lots for that reason. The residential development is either single family homes only subdivisions or multi-family also built with the car in mind. Seems like every family has at least one vehicle and usually more than that and the lilkelihood of them abandoning the convenience of using those cars is slim until forced to.

The major growth areas of Fayetteville and Springdale are the sprawl occuring west of I540 with some occuring on the far east side of those cities. In Benton County the growth areas are to the south and west of the city centers. All of this growth is moving further and further away from that central corridor where the existing railroad is. There are still thousands of vacant lots and partially developed commercial projects that will continue the suburban nature of NWA in the years to come.

The point is that before we commit to light rail we need to look at how we want to develop- what type of development and where it will occur. Until local governments change the present course light rail won't be feasible because the ridership won't be there to support it- they will still be in their cars going their merry individual way to work and play. I am for the changes needed and hope they happen so that light rail is feasible. In cities where it has been developed and it is a success it is a great asset to the area.

One more thing- you can't develop a transportation network around the peak usage times of rush hour. If you do you will have huge amounts of capacity that sit empty the majority of time and still has to be maintained. Rush hour traffic is just one of those facts of life we have to live with.

Edited by zman9810
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The city council was supposed to choose their top 15 deconomic development priorities out of the 38 from the Fayetteville Forward Summit. There was a lot of hoopla about it but I don't think they were ever decided upon. I know there was some support for the Walton Arts Center expansion being one of the top priorities which might have encouraged the administration to take the lead in trying to keep it in Fayetteville. Anyone hear anything about when the choices will be made? Economic development is as important a way to help city finances as cutting itemes from the budget.

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The city council was supposed to choose their top 15 economic development priorities out of the 38 from the Fayetteville Forward Summit. There was a lot of hoopla about it but I don't think they were ever decided upon. I know there was some support for the Walton Arts Center expansion being one of the top priorities which might have encouraged the administration to take the lead in trying to keep it in Fayetteville. Anyone hear anything about when the choices will be made? Economic development is as important a way to help city finances as cutting itemes from the budget.

I haven't heard any more about this either. Although I'm not sure what time limit was set on it. Hopefully we'll hear about it in the near future.

In other Fayetteville news, the city is still fighting the Hyland Park Homeowners Association over a new water tank. Sounds like it could end up going to court.

This was mentioned a little while back but now it's official. Some gas stations are now serving beer. So far only two gas stations have been allowed licenses both on 6th/MLK. But other gas stations are still trying. Granted I find a pretty good selection at Liquor mart and Liquor World. But I had hoped for a possible large liquor store for some possible new selection. Not gas stations grabbing all the licenses to sell some beer.

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I haven't heard any more about this either. Although I'm not sure what time limit was set on it. Hopefully we'll hear about it in the near future.

In other Fayetteville news, the city is still fighting the Hyland Park Homeowners Association over a new water tank. Sounds like it could end up going to court.

This was mentioned a little while back but now it's official. Some gas stations are now serving beer. So far only two gas stations have been allowed licenses both on 6th/MLK. But other gas stations are still trying. Granted I find a pretty good selection at Liquor mart and Liquor World. But I had hoped for a possible large liquor store for some possible new selection. Not gas stations grabbing all the licenses to sell some beer.

I thought I had read that the choices were going to be made at the next council meeting after the 38 items were given to the council- that didn't happen. Some of those priorities need to be acted on at soon as possible. The sooner the Fayetteville city leaders get together a clear plan for keeping the Walton Arts Center expansion in town the better chance of it working. There may not be a money in this year's budget to put together a financial incentive but simply making it clear that it is a priority and starting talks between the city, university and WAC would be good first steps. A WAC Summit bringing together those parties and Fayetteville's business and arts communities would be a good idea.

Yeah, I thought the system in place had served Fayetteville well enough as far as beer sales. I try to stay out of convenience stores as much as possible anyway- if I buy beer it will still probably be at a package store. I guess it could start some price wars though- I might make an exception in that case.

Edited by zman9810
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Looks like Fayetteville is looking into form based zoning codes in place of our current codes. Apparently Nashville switched over a while back ago and it's worked well there. Overall instead of basing it on what function the development will have it will be based more on what the development will look like. Some of the zones would be, an Urban Thoroughfare District, an automobile oriented district with a wide range of commercial uses. A Limited Business Use, offering small scale business and commercial services in a residential area. A Community Services District, a mixture of commercial and residential in a traditional urban form with goods and services along commercial corridors. And a Neighborhood Services District, a mixed-use zone between commercial and residential areas, a pedestrian oriented area as well. Seems like a good idea to me. It doesn't seem to address everything, but I don't guess you have to totally scrap all the old zones either. Just add these to some of the existing zones.

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Looks like Fayetteville is looking into form based zoning codes in place of our current codes. Apparently Nashville switched over a while back ago and it's worked well there. Overall instead of basing it on what function the development will have it will be based more on what the development will look like. Some of the zones would be, an Urban Thoroughfare District, an automobile oriented district with a wide range of commercial uses. A Limited Business Use, offering small scale business and commercial services in a residential area. A Community Services District, a mixture of commercial and residential in a traditional urban form with goods and services along commercial corridors. And a Neighborhood Services District, a mixed-use zone between commercial and residential areas, a pedestrian oriented area as well. Seems like a good idea to me. It doesn't seem to address everything, but I don't guess you have to totally scrap all the old zones either. Just add these to some of the existing zones.

I like the requirement that buildings be built close to the street with the parking in back- that will make for a much nicer street view.

If these had been in place before the Legacy was built it might have made for a more attractive building.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There's still some activity going on between Johnson and Fayetteville. Johnson wants Fayetteville to provide a few city services to part of southwest Johnson while that area still remaining Johnson. Apparently Springdale services some sections of northern Johnson. But while there's an old contract between Springdale and Johnson allowing this to happen there apparently isn't one between Fayetteville and Johnson. Of course Johnson doesn't want to lose a big chuck of land. Especially a piece that has a lot of potential. But there's not really incentive for Fayetteville to provide services either for an area that would remain Johnson either. Even if this part of land doesn't de-annex and become a part of Fayetteville. Fayetteville is considering moving the future extension of Van Asche further south so that it stays inside of Fayetteville. Fayetteville isn't going to pay to extend Van Asche and for Johnson to get all the revenue either.

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There's still some activity going on between Johnson and Fayetteville. Johnson wants Fayetteville to provide a few city services to part of southwest Johnson while that area still remaining Johnson. Apparently Springdale services some sections of northern Johnson. But while there's an old contract between Springdale and Johnson allowing this to happen there apparently isn't one between Fayetteville and Johnson. Of course Johnson doesn't want to lose a big chuck of land. Especially a piece that has a lot of potential. But there's not really incentive for Fayetteville to provide services either for an area that would remain Johnson either. Even if this part of land doesn't de-annex and become a part of Fayetteville. Fayetteville is considering moving the future extension of Van Asche further south so that it stays inside of Fayetteville. Fayetteville isn't going to pay to extend Van Asche and for Johnson to get all the revenue either.

I imagine if I were a lifelong resident of Johnson I would think differently but the deanexation seems to be the best solution for all. For the landowners they get the services that Fayetteville can provide and Johnson can't. For Fayetteville it is a natural area to expand into and in the larger picture this will be infill between Fayetteville and Springdale. Johnson will never be able to afford the costs of all of it's infrastructure needs on it's own anyway- this just helps the overall development of the area.

This is one situation where Mayor Jordan is doing the right thing- let Johnson and the landowners sort it out and don't extend Fayetteville services out of the city boundaries.

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Anybody seem that somewhat interesting looking building just a little west of the spillway at Lake Fayetteville? I've been wondering what it's going to be. I'm guessing it will be some sort of interesting little office building. I haven't taken any pics yet because so far I've only been by Lake Fayetteville while jogging or biking. Sorta a pain to lug around a lot of heavy camera equipment while exercising. But sometime I'll try to drop by and take a pic to show what I'm talking about.

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Anybody seem that somewhat interesting looking building just a little west of the spillway at Lake Fayetteville? I've been wondering what it's going to be. I'm guessing it will be some sort of interesting little office building. I haven't taken any pics yet because so far I've only been by Lake Fayetteville while jogging or biking. Sorta a pain to lug around a lot of heavy camera equipment while exercising. But sometime I'll try to drop by and take a pic to show what I'm talking about.

Do you mean the one on the side of the hill across the creek? If so it was mentioned in a post a while back- here's a pic of the sign at the site. It must have been quite a while ago because I can't find the original pic I took. DSCN0730.jpg

Edited by zman9810
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Do you mean the one on the side of the hill across the creek? If so it was mentioned in a post a while back- here's a pic of the sign at the site. It must have been quite a while ago because I can't find the original pic I took. DSCN0730.jpg

Yeah that's it. I thought it might have been mentioned before but I couldn't find it. I just happened to see it through the trees over the weekend when I was at Lake Fayetteville.

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Businesses on Block St near the square are trying to get the city to remove the parking meters. There's no parking meters on the Square and other areas near the Square have had their parking meters removed in recent years. I like the idea of supporting downtown businesses so I'm for the removal of the parking meters. But I do admit it does put the city in a bit of a bind. You cut down some revenue and such. Worse is that you start having other areas clamoring for parking meters to be removed from their areas as well. You obviously can't remove all of them. Well you could but I don't think that would be a good idea. So I think you have to find a way to draw a line on the matter.

On another matter. The large rock on the 'island' on Dickson St near Block St has been removed. It's apparently been hit numerous times by large trucks turning in that area. Now the city has to try to decide what to do with that little 'island' that was put in during the 'beautification' of Dickson St. It's apparently not easy to maintain that area with the traffic. So a number of landscaping ideas seem to be out. But you hate to just leave it empty also.

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Well looks like more meters around the general downtown Square are will be removed. Mayor Jordan didn't seem in favor of the idea but that ended up being the recommendation. Also sounds like that 'island' at the intersection of Dickson and Center St is going to be removed as well.

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Forgot to mention yesterday. Looks like the future Garland St between North and Melmar won't have a tree lined center median. The AHTD said they wouldn't go with that plan because they thought there are too many streets and homes in the area. So it sounds like the city is going to ask for a few pedestrian islands to be put in. Not sure if it will be just for aesthetic purposes or maybe for some possible future trails that might run through that area. Not sure when everything will be finalized and construction will start.

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Well looks like more meters around the general downtown Square are will be removed. Mayor Jordan didn't seem in favor of the idea but that ended up being the recommendation. Also sounds like that 'island' at the intersection of Dickson and Center St is going to be removed as well.

Seems like removing meters is going in the wrong direction- we need to be increasing parking revenue, not decreasing it. The way to support the local economy in this situation is by creating a revenue stream that will pay for more parking. In order to construct parking decks a reliable source of revenue has to be established and the obvious way to do that is by paying for parking. Of course the business that has a parking meter in front of is is going to want to remove it but that isn't going to help the overall problem of a lack of parking. This was a shortshighted move and will make it harder to get everyone on board with a plan to build decks.

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Seems like removing meters is going in the wrong direction- we need to be increasing parking revenue, not decreasing it. The way to support the local economy in this situation is by creating a revenue stream that will pay for more parking. In order to construct parking decks a reliable source of revenue has to be established and the obvious way to do that is by paying for parking. Of course the business that has a parking meter in front of is is going to want to remove it but that isn't going to help the overall problem of a lack of parking. This was a shortsighted move and will make it harder to get everyone on board with a plan to build decks.

True there are negatives to it. But I still like to see people who stay downtown given incentives. Whether it be customers are even restaurants and businesses. I can it being frustrating when the city offers free parking just a few hundred feet down the road. But I do agree we need to be looking more into building more parking decks. I guess what I worry about is the downtown slowly declining as businesses give up some of the 'hassles' of downtown and move out to the sprawl of Fayetteville. I like the downtown businesses given some sort of incentive or reward for staying downtown.

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True there are negatives to it. But I still like to see people who stay downtown given incentives. Whether it be customers are even restaurants and businesses. I can it being frustrating when the city offers free parking just a few hundred feet down the road. But I do agree we need to be looking more into building more parking decks. I guess what I worry about is the downtown slowly declining as businesses give up some of the 'hassles' of downtown and move out to the sprawl of Fayetteville. I like the downtown businesses given some sort of incentive or reward for staying downtown.

That's a good point about providing an incentive for business to stay downtown but it might be better to provide a tax break or some similar reward specificly aimed at the businesses. The businesses don't actually pay for the meter parking- it's the people using the parking who pay and they may not even be patronizing those businesses. The bigger problem in the future will be a lack of parking which will hurt business. Once paid parking is established in a uniform way it will become accepted as a normal part of visiting downtown much as it is in most downtown districts. The downtown/ entertainment district areas are attractive enough that they can withstand paid parking but not a lack of parking.

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That's a good point about providing an incentive for business to stay downtown but it might be better to provide a tax break or some similar reward specifically aimed at the businesses. The businesses don't actually pay for the meter parking- it's the people using the parking who pay and they may not even be patronizing those businesses. The bigger problem in the future will be a lack of parking which will hurt business. Once paid parking is established in a uniform way it will become accepted as a normal part of visiting downtown much as it is in most downtown districts. The downtown/ entertainment district areas are attractive enough that they can withstand paid parking but not a lack of parking.

Valid points. I wouldn't be against some sort of other incentive to downtown businesses other than getting rid of parking meters. I think the city will be reluctant to do something with the current economy. But at some point I think the city is going to have to basically putting paid parking down on Dickson and for that matter around the Square and around the downtown areas. It doesn't seem to work allowing some areas to have free parking yet expect to have paid parking a few hundred feet down the street.

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A decision about the Hyland Park water tower is on hold again. I had some sympathy for the property owners association until I read where they think one of the more expensive options should be chosen and all of Fayetteville's residents help pay for it. The reason given was that if the current choice of the lot 22 on the preliminary plat is used that it would foster mistrust of the city government. HA! Just the opposite- if the city caves in to the association that action would be cause to distrust the city.

Edited by zman9810
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A decision about the Hyland Park water tower is on hold again. I had some sympathy for the property owners association until I read where they think one of the more expensive options should be chosen and all of Fayetteville's residents help pay for it. The reason given was that if the current choice of the lot 22 on the preliminary plat is used that it would foster mistrust of the city government. HA! Just the opposite- if the city caves in to the association that action would be cause to distrust the city.

Yea, when I heard that guy say that I was completely shocked. Maybe this will teach them to investigate a potential home a bit better...

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Yeah if the city chose the more expensive alternative elsewhere then the residents of Hyland Park should be made to pay the difference. I know nobody wants things like water towers in their neighborhood. But the city really needs to build a water tower before this becomes a serious problem. Wouldn't it be great if somebody's home burned down because there was a problem with water pressure? What I find more frustrating is that there are certain neighborhoods like this one who seem to demand preferential treatment.

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I can't help but feel that one of the reasons this has dragged out as long as it has is because there are some serious power brokers who live in that neighborhood. I believe Jim Lindsey and Frank Broyles' homes are both directly affected by this.

I don't have a whole lot of sympathy, given that this has been planned for a very long time, and because Mr. Lindsey has, in my opinion, shown very little regard for the city's wishes when it comes to planning, quality of life amenities, and for lack of a better phrase, not putting up crappy apartments that all look the same everywhere.

This is a classic NIMBY situation.

Worst case scenario for those mentioned above, if they hate it so much, they truly can move on, and it won't hurt them much. Better yet, invest in some trees to screen the thing from view.

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