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Fort Smith, AR


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I'm a new poster who has lived in Fort Smith or near Fort Smith most of my life. i have also lived in Bentonville for 1 year, Little Rock for one year and Conway for 2 years before moving back to Fort Smith. I have noticed that most of the pics posted on here are of Downtown Fort Smith. While the city tries to focus on this part of town and has for years, the growth is to the East and South. We have several new restaurants set to open within the next few years along with at least 2 major shopping centers (one anchored by target and the other by the city;'s 3rd Wal Mart Supercenter)...Both will be highly visible from I540...I'll try to post some pics of the more modern areas of Fort Smith soon. Many folks perception of Fort Smith is that it is a "dirty" city, and some parts of town are. However, we have some better parts of town and have a fairly good standard of living at a lower cost that other progressive parts of the state. Also, we have some good schools and a growing college. Keeping our best and brightest students at home or getting them to come back to Fort Smith after they leave may be a key in determing our future.

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I'm a new poster who has lived in Fort Smith or near Fort Smith most of my life. i have also lived in Bentonville for 1 year, Little Rock for one year and Conway for 2 years before moving back to Fort Smith. I have noticed that most of the pics posted on here are of Downtown Fort Smith. While the city tries to focus on this part of town and has for years, the growth is to the East and South. We have several new restaurants set to open within the next few years along with at least 2 major shopping centers (one anchored by target and the other by the city;'s 3rd Wal Mart Supercenter)...Both will be highly visible from I540...I'll try to post some pics of the more modern areas of Fort Smith soon. Many folks perception of Fort Smith is that it is a "dirty" city, and some parts of town are. However, we have some better parts of town and have a fairly good standard of living at a lower cost that other progressive parts of the state. Also, we have some good schools and a growing college. Keeping our best and brightest students at home or getting them to come back to Fort Smith after they leave may be a key in determing our future.
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You're absolutely right. Fort Smith does have some very modern and very nice parts of town. I shake my head at the people that think of Fort Smith as a "dirty city." I've always liked Fort Smith. It looks much more urban than NWA. It's also starting to look just as modern in most areas of town. The city has its bad areas...but so does every other city, USA. Rogers has some VERY rough areas of town, but you don't hear people referring to it as a "dirty city." The only bad thing about Fort Smith is that it can only do so much growing, because of being bordered by OK to the west, the AR River to the north, and another county to the east. It can and is growing to the east for a while...but to the south is about the only way it can grow. Hopefully something will happen and they will start to build up, rather than out. NWA is very nice, new, & shiny...but I enjoy a day in Fort Smith much more than a day in NWA. Fort Smith is more urban, and has a lot more character.
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Another thing I forgot to address in my first post is the city government. Unlike many cities, we have a city administrator that essentially acts in the role that most other citiy mayor would. Sure we have a mayor, a clown, but nonetheless a mayor. :wacko: We have recently had a change in city administrators. The previous fella had a problem with the alcohol. Our fair city also recently spent upwards of $2 million to hire a consulting firm to tell them what "is wrong with our city"...why aren't we growing like NWA...well who is? Anyway they paid this company all this money to tell them what I and many others could have told them for free...It's about quality of place...people's perceptions like I said before that the city is old, dirty, etc...To some degree, I think we owe some of this to the State of Arkansas...the main entrance for most into the city is I540 from the north crossing over the Van Buren River Bridge. We have this nice new I40 all across the state, but as soon as you hit 540 it turns into this awful road with trash everywhere...I mean when the state mows in the Summer, they literally just mow the trash, shredding it into hundreds of pieces. The main drag in Fort Smith is Rogers Ave. This is also Hwy 22 so guess what, the state maintains it. bad idea...I can't tell you the last time it was repaved. the sidewalks are crumbling, street lights look like they are barely hanging onto oles that are 35 years old, weeds grow out of the median, etc... to me these are the little things that the state could help with that represent quality of place. just sprucing up a few things could totally reverse this idealogy. Please excuse my rambling post but there are just so many issues I feel we could cover with regards to Fort Smith.

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Our fair city also recently spent upwards of $2 million to hire a consulting firm to tell them what "is wrong with our city"...why aren't we growing like NWA...well who is? Anyway they paid this company all this money to tell them what I and many others could have told them for free...It's about quality of place...
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It would also help if there were more things to do in Fort Smith. It doesn't help that there are more old people than average and the choices for entertainment in town reflect that.

I am a UAFS student, and I regret every day not going to Fayetteville or OU because I am so bored here. Fort Smith sucks if you are in the 18-24 age group. This is why a vast majority of that age group leaves town to go to college elsewhere.

It would really help the city if they would do more to attract and keep college students from leaving. Right now, there is nothing. Maybe businesses that target this age group stay away from Fort Smith for a reason? If Fort Smith offered more in the way of things to do for this age group, UAFS may grow and prosper and one day become more than just a local commuter school. It would also help keep people in town after college graduation. That would be great for the city because a more educated population would mean more growth and better jobs.

I am a junior at UAFS and am counting my days left in this awful town. Maybe somebody or something will come up with an idea to make this a place I may want to come back to when i retire.

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So, what exactly does Fort Smith not have that other cities do? It's easy for people to say, "I'm bored, there's nothing to do." But the fact is, Fort Smith is no different than any other city...especially of its size. What is there to do in Fayetteville or Norman, OK...or OKC for that matter to do that you can't do in Fort Smith? The only thing I can think of is maybe a better club scene in OKC...if you're into that. But, that's about it. Any city is what you make of it. Nothing more, nothing less.
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This is the big one in addition to the lack of a club scene. Ft. Smith has some of the major big box retailers, but lacks the higher end ones and there is a BIG lack of specialty food and cuisines. Hooters is a big step in the right direction. Also, does Ft. Smith really need 3 Wal-mart Supercenters?

Central Mall should be remodeled adding a second level with more of the stores you find in real city malls. However, I dont think the market would be able to support it.

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There are very few restaurants and retailiers in NWA or Little Rock, that aren't in Fort Smith. Most of what NWA has gotten recently, Fort Smith has had for many years. There may be a lack of a club scene...but that's about all you can say. Notice, apork mentioned dickson st...but that was about it. It's easy to say there's nothing to do, but it's quite hard to start naming things that a city is lacking, compared to other cities. People shop & eat in every city, usa. When it comes to there being "things to do," you have to expand out of the realm of eating and shopping. Once you think outside of that box...Fort Smith has a lot of "things to do." that NWA (and some bigger cities) don't. If you think about it...there is only so much a city can do for you...the rest is up to you!

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There are very few restaurants and retailiers in NWA or Little Rock, that aren't in Fort Smith. Most of what NWA has gotten recently, Fort Smith has had for many years. There may be a lack of a club scene...but that's about all you can say. Notice, apork mentioned dickson st...but that was about it. It's easy to say there's nothing to do, but it's quite hard to start naming things that a city is lacking, compared to other cities. People shop & eat in every city, usa. When it comes to there being "things to do," you have to expand out of the realm of eating and shopping. Once you think outside of that box...Fort Smith has a lot of "things to do." that NWA (and some bigger cities) don't. If you think about it...there is only so much a city can do for you...the rest is up to you!
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We have to agree to disagree, strongly disagree here. I think Hot Springs may even have a better restaurant situation and entertainment scene than Ft Smith, which is clearly behind NWA and miles behind LR. I'm not only throwing out my opinion, but that of many friends of mine who left Ft Smith and now live elsewhere.

Still, all of these things follow the people. This all ties in to Ft Smith losing its key young professional demographic. If it could keep that it could probably compete with NWA in these things.

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I very much agree with the quote - Ft. Smith is losing its young professionals.

Hello, new to the forum, somewhat new to Fort Smith. My husband and I moved here in the late summer. He has his MBA, and an undergraduate degree in Physics, 5 years experience running his own property management company, 1 year experience in Banking, and one year experience in Financial Advising - and he can't find a job here. He has been on so many job interviews, with the big companies, small companies, etc, it is getting absolutely ridiculous. It took me 5 months to find a job, and I am an attorney - and I actually do have some connections with the city.

I have always called Fort Smith home, although as an army brat, I never actually lived here before - lived all up and down the Northeastern coast as well as a few foreign countries. I was excited to move here, to be near extended family, but now, it is just sad - the town is really dying.

It is not just the lack of shopping, or the restaurants either, the demographics are shocking. Only around 16 percent of Sebastian county has an education higher than a high school diploma.

While Garrison Ave is great, and the historic district is promising, Rogers Ave really needs to be cleaned up for lack of a better word. Perhaps some of the higher traffic stores or restaurants should be moved to Phoenix.

And what is with the no sidewalks??

Anyway, I am happy to be here, but I do not know how long I will be staying.

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I'm a new poster who has lived in Fort Smith or near Fort Smith most of my life. i have also lived in Bentonville for 1 year, Little Rock for one year and Conway for 2 years before moving back to Fort Smith. I have noticed that most of the pics posted on here are of Downtown Fort Smith. While the city tries to focus on this part of town and has for years, the growth is to the East and South. We have several new restaurants set to open within the next few years along with at least 2 major shopping centers (one anchored by target and the other by the city;'s 3rd Wal Mart Supercenter)...Both will be highly visible from I540...I'll try to post some pics of the more modern areas of Fort Smith soon. Many folks perception of Fort Smith is that it is a "dirty" city, and some parts of town are. However, we have some better parts of town and have a fairly good standard of living at a lower cost that other progressive parts of the state. Also, we have some good schools and a growing college. Keeping our best and brightest students at home or getting them to come back to Fort Smith after they leave may be a key in determing our future.
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There are very few restaurants and retailiers in NWA or Little Rock, that aren't in Fort Smith. Most of what NWA has gotten recently, Fort Smith has had for many years. There may be a lack of a club scene...but that's about all you can say. Notice, apork mentioned dickson st...but that was about it. It's easy to say there's nothing to do, but it's quite hard to start naming things that a city is lacking, compared to other cities. People shop & eat in every city, usa. When it comes to there being "things to do," you have to expand out of the realm of eating and shopping. Once you think outside of that box...Fort Smith has a lot of "things to do." that NWA (and some bigger cities) don't. If you think about it...there is only so much a city can do for you...the rest is up to you!
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I agree that many areas of Rogers Ave need to be cleaned up. As I have said before, the State Highway and transportation Dept needs to help us out with the roads and asthetics. However, I still have not seen anyone really give a definite list of what there is to do in NWA that there is not in Fort Smith. The Mall??? I actually prefer Central Mall to NWA. Nwa mall is too narrow inside and is usually too crowded to even walk through without getting run over. Nice food court though. I guess Springdale is getting a minor league baseball team, but if your not into the "club scene", I really don't see that much to do in NWA either.
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Well I have to admit that there are numerous restaurants in Fayetteville that Fort Smith does not have such as Noodles, Red Robin, Fudruckers, O'Charleys, and on and on...Ft Smith doesn't have all of the chains but tends to have a pretty good mix of locally owned and operated eating places. One of the most appealing aspects of NWA to me anyway is that there are areas that are asthetically pleasing, such as around NWA mall in Fayetteville and even more so around the new mall in Rogers...When I lived in Bentonville in 1997-1998 that area was a cow pasture...It is incredible how fast that area has changed. I am glad for NWA...Makes you wonder why all of this growth happened and how it got started. Geographically, it seems like Fort Smith is the city that should have taken off. i mean we are right here on the Arkansas River, I 40 goes just north of the city, we had the airport before Fay, rail, etc...What would NWA be like today if Sam Walton had been from Fort Smith??? I think it all goes back to city leadership from long ago..We focused on bringing in the factories which worked ok until companies started shifting production to countries with cheaper labor and now we are left with a loarge blue collar workforce that is running out of jobs and with no education. In other words, we put all of our eggs in one basket...We have fumbled away opportunity for at least the past 100 years in my opinion.

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Well I have to admit that there are numerous restaurants in Fayetteville that Fort Smith does not have such as Noodles, Red Robin, Fudruckers, O'Charleys, and on and on...Ft Smith doesn't have all of the chains but tends to have a pretty good mix of locally owned and operated eating places. One of the most appealing aspects of NWA to me anyway is that there are areas that are asthetically pleasing, such as around NWA mall in Fayetteville and even more so around the new mall in Rogers...When I lived in Bentonville in 1997-1998 that area was a cow pasture...It is incredible how fast that area has changed. I am glad for NWA...Makes you wonder why all of this growth happened and how it got started. Geographically, it seems like Fort Smith is the city that should have taken off. i mean we are right here on the Arkansas River, I 40 goes just north of the city, we had the airport before Fay, rail, etc...What would NWA be like today if Sam Walton had been from Fort Smith??? I think it all goes back to city leadership from long ago..We focused on bringing in the factories which worked ok until companies started shifting production to countries with cheaper labor and now we are left with a loarge blue collar workforce that is running out of jobs and with no education. In other words, we put all of our eggs in one basket...We have fumbled away opportunity for at least the past 100 years in my opinion.
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