Fayetteville, Arkansas

[Mith242]

I cant see that they've taken a definitive direction, architecturally.

None of the last few projects really tie in with anything else. Seems status quo to me.

Well, the athletic facilities all match, pretty much.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

Every new building on campus should reflect either Old Main, Vol Walker, or Carnall Hall in some manner.

They don't have to be copies, but they should have some common design elements.

Thats just my opinion, right or wrong.

That's fine I do see where you're coming from. Although I guess I don't mind quite so much seeing all the different styles on campus. I get to see a lot of different styles in person in one general area. So I can see positives to both aspects.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

That's fine I do see where you're coming from. Although I guess I don't mind quite so much seeing all the different styles on campus. I get to see a lot of different styles in person in one general area. So I can see positives to both aspects.

While we're on the topic of U of A architecture, we have buildings that don't even match one side to another.

The Arkansas Union and the main library are both hybrid buildings, one part 70s, one part 90s.

And we have a school of architecture on campus!

Can we get some of that billion working on the asthetics up there?

The union and the library have been mismatched since I was a sophomore and I've been out of school for over five years.

That's pathetic.

[Mith242]

I admit it is odd how they have designed buildings, particularly ones next to each other, when there is a school of architecture up there.

[Mith242]

Well getting back to the smoking ban, that's being focused on quite a bit recently. Sounds like they are going to try to finally take care of this grey area. It sounds like they are looking to get rid of any prepared food for any 'bar'. That would mean if Alligator Ray's wants to remain a 'bar' they'd have to cut down it's menu even more.

[mcheiss]

^That's a shame IMO.

Alligator Rays is such a unique restaurant, I'd hate for them to scale back their menu just so people can smoke there.

[razorbackfan]

^That's a shame IMO.

Alligator Rays is such a unique restaurant, I'd hate for them to scale back their menu just so people can smoke there.

That is ashame because when I go there and start drinking, you get hungry and they have some really good queso dip. IMO they started the entire thing though by trying to get away with more. I hope they don't get rid of their but then again its out of my hands.

GO HOGS GO!

[Mith242]

I suppose they could try to go back the other way and cut the smoking and offer more food again. But yeah it would be weird to think of them without any prepared food. But I can see why the city is trying to set the guidelines like this. It makes it much easier to inforce than to say it has to be a 70/30 split on alcohol and food sales.

Edited February 5, 2006 by Mith242

[masons_dad1]

This ain't a load of crap... or is it? Sewage Plant Construction Begins in Fayetteville

[Mith242]

This ain't a load of crap... or is it? Sewage Plant Construction Begins in Fayetteville

Yeah I've been hearing about that, guess I never got around to posting anything about it. Even Oklahoma is for the new sewage facility. Maybe that's a topic we should dicuss the Oklahoma/Arkansas fight over water quality.

[mcheiss]

^I think Oklahoma supports it, because this new sewage plant will trap the bad amounts of phosphorus that run into Oklahoma. Good to see this coming to Fayetteville.

[Mith242]

^I think Oklahoma supports it, because this new sewage plant will trap the bad amounts of phosphorus that run into Oklahoma. Good to see this coming to Fayetteville.

Yeah but the bad thing is I'm not sure if the cities are really producing a lot of phosphorus to begin with. I thought I saw something and it had Fayetteville's phosphorus level being rather low. Maybe it's all of our environment friendly cleaning products and such that you can find in a number of areas down here in Fayetteville.

[Mith242]

Looks like Fayetteville has set up a new rate for developers. Developers are required to either set aside parkland or pay money if it chooses not to. At the moment the rate is around $23,000 per acre. But it looks like the recomended amount will now be $40,000 per acre. Although figures as high as $67,000 per acre have been mentioned.

[masons_dad1]

^

That's great news. I enjoy the parks in Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville, but Fayetteville parks are much nicer. Of course, as far as Fayetteville's parks go, I've only really been to Wilson Park and Lake Fayetteville Park. Wilson Park is by far my favorite park in Northwest Arkansas and I can't wait to take my son there this summer to enjoy the Wislon Park Castle.

Edited February 8, 2006 by masons_dad1

[Mith242]

^

That's great news. I enjoy the parks in Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville, but Fayetteville parks are much nicer. Of course, as far as Fayetteville's parks go, I've only really been to Wilson Park and Lake Fayetteville Park. Wilson Park is by far my favorite park in Northwest Arkansas and I can't wait to take my son there this summer to enjoy the Wislon Park Castle.

Yeah I know Wilson Park is probably the most popular park in the city. Although Lake Fayetteville and Gulley Park are up there too. I'd say the rest of the parks aren't quite as popular. But I can't really say much about them because those three are the ones I pretty much stick to.

[Mith242]

Apparently Fayetteville has been listed in two books as one of the top 50 places to either retire or to raise children in by Career Press. The two books are, 50 Fabulous Places to Retire in America and 50 Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family . Sounds like Hot Springs Village also showed up in the top 50 retirement locations. The only negative for Fayetteville is the increasing property prices.

[mcheiss]

That's great news for Fayetteville, I'm a little suprised to see Bella Vista not on there.

[Mith242]

That's great news for Fayetteville, I'm a little suprised to see Bella Vista not on there.

The only thing I can think of is that Fayetteville also being a part of the metro was considered a better place. I don't think they'd pick two places in the same metro.

[mcheiss]

So may'be they included the entire Northwest Arkansas Metro area.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

The only negative for Fayetteville is the increasing property prices.

Yesterday I was doing a COL comparison between Plano, TX and Fayetteville, AR and the source I used listed Fayetteville as having a higher average home price than Plano.

Overall the COL was slightly higher in Plano (the largest city in Collin County, the wealthiest county in Texas according to DMN), but the average home price was higher in Fayetteville.

The rub is that average incomes in Plano are probably at least double what they are in Fayetteville. Even when you factor in the income level dips from college students and retirees, its still low compared to the COL.

[Mith242]

Yesterday I was doing a COL comparison between Plano, TX and Fayetteville, AR and the source I used listed Fayetteville as having a higher average home price than Plano.

Overall the COL was slightly higher in Plano (the largest city in Collin County, the wealthiest county in Texas according to DMN), but the average home price was higher in Fayetteville.

The rub is that average incomes in Plano are probably at least double what they are in Fayetteville. Even when you factor in the income level dips from college students and retirees, its still low compared to the COL.

Yeah I think that is becoming a problem here not just in Fayetteville but all of the metro. Home prices are going up quite a bit and I think it's making it hard for the average wage earner to afford owning your own home here in NWA. I haven't heard anything for a while but for a while there was a lot of news about how the NWA home prices were passing up a lot of other markets last year.

[Mith242]

There's a Fayetteville City Plan 2025 meeting tonight in the lobby of the walton Arts Center tonight at 6:30. I plan on attending and take my camera along just in case I'm able to take some pics of what's going on. This is the first type of meeting that I've actually heard about ahead of time that I am able to attend. Either that or I wasn't at work while it was going on. I'm not sure what to expect but I think it should prove interesting.

[Mith242]

I guess I should add that since this is in the lobby of the WAC it's rather unlikely they'll let me take pictures. The WAC seems very against any pics taken inside. But I'll see what I can get away with.

[masons_dad1]

Yeah I think that is becoming a problem here not just in Fayetteville but all of the metro. Home prices are going up quite a bit and I think it's making it hard for the average wage earner to afford owning your own home here in NWA. I haven't heard anything for a while but for a while there was a lot of news about how the NWA home prices were passing up a lot of other markets last year.

It's not just Fayetteville but all of Northwest Arkansas. Not only home prices but every aspect of the cost of living is going up and I can't imagine it will ever come back down. The funny thing is there's absolutely no reason for home prices and cost of living to be so high in Fayetteville or anywhere else in Northwest Arkansas because there's nothing here that you can't find in Plano or any other fast growing city in the U.S. It's all about the growth rate (which is actually slower than Plano) and when the growth stops Fayetteville will find itself with depreciated values and surplus utilities.

[Mith242]

It's not just Fayetteville but all of Northwest Arkansas. Not only home prices but every aspect of the cost of living is going up and I can't imagine it will ever come back down. The funny thing is there's absolutely no reason for home prices and cost of living to be so high in Fayetteville or anywhere else in Northwest Arkansas because there's nothing here that you can't find in Plano or any other fast growing city in the U.S. It's all about the growth rate (which is actually slower than Plano) and when the growth stops Fayetteville will find itself with depreciated values and surplus utilities.

I think aside from the growth for a long time the thing driving up home prices was the fact they couldn't build them fast enough. It wasn't long ago when I heard about families living in apartments or having to rent a home waiting for a house to be built for them. As far as growth rate as we talking about total numbers or percentages with NWA and Plano? I think the Plano numbers could be a bit skewed because of the fact it's proximity to a rather large city. I'm wondering if thing will depreciate even if growth slows down. I think Fayetteville as long as it stays a highly rated city in many magazine and books will continue to bring in people and keep prices from dropping very much. I think another think driving up prices in some areas is the fact that people from other parts of the country used to paying much more still think is prices here as cheap.

[Mith242]

I just got back from the City Plan 2025 meeting. It's really too bad some of you other guys couldn't have been there. especially some of you guys in Benton County. I know you may not live in Fayetteville but there were some interesting ideas mentioned and might be interesting to use in Benton County as well. Quite a few peop,e turned out, there weren't enough seats for everyone. I also guess I didn't really have any ideas of what was going to happen. Apparently they've had similar meetings with the Downtown Master Plan. Quite a few city officials were there including the mayor. There were members of the Dover Kohl urban design were there. I think they even said the architect of the Renaissance Tower was there in attendance. Although I was a bit disappointed there wasn't a time for any questions and such. Although there are more meetings planned for the upcoming week. Mainly what's being called 'hands on design workshops throughout the weekdays scattered about the city in different areas. Finishing up with an open house and then the work in progress meeting at the Fayetteville Town Center. Anyway I got there early to try to see if I could take pics and such. I was given the impression no I couldn't although there were people there from the papers it looks like taking quite a few pics. Maybe I need to present myself as reporter/photographer of the NWA/Arkansas Forum of UP. There's a workshop tomorrow morning, I'm going to try to make it to there if I can figure out where it's at. There was quite a bit mentioned so it's hard to cover it all. They mentioned that they were predicting another 40,000 in Fayetteville by 2025. There was a lot of mention of density. They showed other neighborhoods and other cities and tried to show that higher density doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing for the many of the more traditional residents. I get the impression there will be more emphasis in the future on not only mixed-use developments but more of the 'new urbanism' like Park West or stuff somewhat similar to it. After seeing all the presentations there I think I feel more comfortable to Park West. I think the hands on workshops will go into a lot more detail. There was also mention about transportation. Concerns about simply widening roads often leads to more problems. There was mentions of traffic circles, roundabouts and squarebacks. Terms I'll try to go into more detail at a later time if there's interest. Unfortunately we were only there an hour and they said they couldn't have the meeting last any longer because another group was coming in and had reserved that area of the WAC. Another interesting aspect was the aerial shots they showed before the presentation started. I thought they were going to be shown later but weren't. Luckily I had gotten there early and got to see them. They apparently had taken them in the last few days and it was interesting to get another view of the city. For that matter it was also nice to be able to see some of the developments and how they were developing. They porbably had around 50-75 shots mainly around Fayetteville but there did seem to be a few in other areas of the metro.