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Growth in Benton/Bryant


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Benton County has experienced tons of outside growth and people aren't largely moving there to get away from somewhere. Conway has the large university presence. Saline doesn't have those types of influences occurring to change the "culture."

Edited by hogwash
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Benton County has experienced tons of outside growth and people aren't largely moving there to get away from somewhere. Conway has the large university presence. Saline doesn't have those types of influences occurring to change the "culture."

You would think that being close to Little Rock would be enough to influence the culture in Saline County. A lot of people from Little Rock have moved to the Benton/Bryant area. They were used to getting liquor by the drink. Now that more retail is coming into the area, there is less driving to Little Rock. With restaurants that serve alcohol, there would be even less of a reason to drive back into Little Rock.

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Of the people coming out of Little Rock, there must be a lot of conservatives because Saline County is decidely republican and that hasn't really changed. I'm not saying Republicans don't drink, but what I'm saying those people seem to be more in line ideologically with the old blood. I could be wrong especially about those in Bryant, but thats my anedoctal opinion from living there until 2000 and visiting fairly often since - so its mostly speculative.

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Of the people coming out of Little Rock, there must be a lot of conservatives because Saline County is decidely republican and that hasn't really changed. I'm not saying Republicans don't drink, but what I'm saying those people seem to be more in line ideologically with the old blood. I could be wrong especially about those in Bryant, but thats my anedoctal opinion from living there until 2000 and visiting fairly often since - so its mostly speculative.

I know what you're saying but people said the same about Benton Co not long ago and it's still the most Republican county in Arkansas.

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Again this is just a "feeling" but BC has a different air about it than Saline. I'm not sure how to describe it, maybe its Wal-mart. I could be off base but maybe they're simply a different brand of conservatives.

I think they are both conservative, but its a broad brush. It was a bad analogy to use. I may just not have a pulse for Saline county anymore. I can tell you this, if "old saline county" has any influence on "new saline county" or if perhaps there is a high similarity between the two, things won't be changing much for a while.

Or here is another aspect, the "privelged" controlling class (way out on a limb calling it that) very much are embeded in all that is old saline. They goto the same churches and all that good stuff. Unless the new saliners become politically active, I don't think there is a lot of change brewing. Also, people don't usually run with party affliations there and if they do its meaningless. Coach Fite was elected as a state rep not because he was a dem, but because he's Coach Fite by God. "Its a great day to be a fighting panther!" Benton has an alderman that doesn't have a clue what is going most of the time, but he tells funny stories and is respected in the community.

Its just really hard for me to see a lot changing outside growth in Saline. Again I could be completely missing the boat though.

Edited by hogwash
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Again this is just a "feeling" but BC has a different air about it than Saline. I'm not sure how to describe it, maybe its Wal-mart. I could be off base but maybe they're simply a different brand of conservatives.

I think they are both conservative, but its a broad brush. It was a bad analogy to use. I may just not have a pulse for Saline county anymore. I can tell you this, if "old saline county" has any influence on "new saline county" or if perhaps there is a high similarity between the two, things won't be changing much for a while.

Or here is another aspect, the "privelged" controlling class (way out on a limb calling it that) very much are embeded in all that is old saline. They goto the same churches and all that good stuff. Unless the new saliners become politically active, I don't think there is a lot of change brewing. Also, people don't usually run with party affliations there and if they do its meaningless. Coach Fite was elected as a state rep not because he was a dem, but because he's Coach Fite by God. "Its a great day to be a fighting panther!" Benton has an alderman that doesn't have a clue what is going most of the time, but he tells funny stories and is respected in the community.

Its just really hard for me to see a lot changing outside growth in Saline. Again I could be completely missing the boat though.

Saline County is a county of 100,000 residents, and growing. The demographics are changing as people move in from other parts of the country, and Little Rock. Just like any other surburan county in the US, the conservative hold will loosen and people will be able to drink and live their lives as they choose.

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Saline County is a county of 100,000 residents, and growing. The demographics are changing as people move in from other parts of the country, and Little Rock. Just like any other surburan county in the US, the conservative hold will loosen and people will be able to drink and live their lives as they choose.

I agree but it will take time. Just like Faulkner Co and Conway everyone's waiting for the old guard to die off. Part of the difference in Saline is that Bryant is almost purely traditional suburban and is a different entity than Benton. Regardless, eventually everyone in Saline is going to want a Red Lobster and Outback and be angry they don't have them just because some churches want the county bone dry, which will institute change.

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  • 4 months later...

It should also be noted that Benton handed out Saline County's first liquor license to Dizzy's Grill, a local favorite.

Hopefully this will continue and Benton will begin to draw a few better restaurants.

It will probably be a dry county forever, but this is a start.

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Saline County is a county of 100,000 residents, and growing. The demographics are changing as people move in from other parts of the country, and Little Rock. Just like any other surburan county in the US, the conservative hold will loosen and people will be able to drink and live their lives as they choose.

You realize that true conservatives are the ultimate "live your life as you choose" crowd, right?

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You realize that true conservatives are the ultimate "live your life as you choose" crowd, right?

There are two main branches. The Pat Robertson branch and the Barry Goldwater branch. The new age conservative and the traditional conservative (obviously there are conservatives who don't fall into either camp cleanly).

And honestly, we all know which one is in control (see Bush). Especially in Arkansas. That's why most people make that connection between conservatives/the republican party/Christian right.

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There are two main branches. The Pat Robertson branch and the Barry Goldwater branch. The new age conservative and the traditional conservative (obviously there are conservatives who don't fall into either camp cleanly).

And honestly, we all know which one is in control (see Bush). Especially in Arkansas. That's why most people make that connection between conservatives/the republican party/Christian right.

Bush and the current "conservatives" aren't conservatives at all - that was my whole point, but you do provide some interesting background information. If I built a ten story parking deck next to george's on Dickson St. and called it the best thing to happen to fayetteville in fifteen years, that wouldn't make it so. And calling the current Bush/etc. "conservatives" don't make it so, either.

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Bush and the current "conservatives" aren't conservatives at all - that was my whole point, but you do provide some interesting background information. If I built a ten story parking deck next to george's on Dickson St. and called it the best thing to happen to fayetteville in fifteen years, that wouldn't make it so. And calling the current Bush/etc. "conservatives" don't make it so, either.

They're not conservatives?

Your word against theirs. You claim you're the real conservative--as do they.

I will give you that your vein has more history and tradition, but times change.

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They're not conservatives?

Your word against theirs. You claim you're the real conservative--as do they.

I will give you that your vein has more history and tradition, but times change.

Like I said, calling a steaming pile of crap "filet mignon" doesn't make it so. They aren't true conservatives - which is why you are seeing a lot of the power of the Republican party erode. People like me have no one to identify with, except Libertarians. And they hold no real power, so our cause is lost out in left field.

It doesn't change who we are, though. We are still conservatives.

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They're not conservatives?

Your word against theirs. You claim you're the real conservative--as do they.

I will give you that your vein has more history and tradition, but times change.

This is why the term "neocon" came into common usage. Bush is socially conservative but financially not at all a conservative. He spends liberally and doesn't believe in balancing the budget. A true conservative believes in limited spending limited government.

I'm a libertarian, a fiscal conservative and social liberal. The Libertarian Party doesn't have any teeth, though, so I'm a crossover. I was a big Clinton supporter and fortunately there are a couple of candidates in this race with Libertarian views - McCain and Giuliani.

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This is why the term "neocon" came into common usage. Bush is socially conservative but financially not at all a conservative. He spends liberally and doesn't believe in balancing the budget. A true conservative believes in limited spending limited government.

I'm a libertarian, a fiscal conservative and social liberal. The Libertarian Party doesn't have any teeth, though, so I'm a crossover. I was a big Clinton supporter and fortunately there are a couple of candidates in this race with Libertarian views - McCain and Giuliani.

McCain? I disagree with your there. Giulani--ok.

McCain may be a fiscal conservative, but he's moving in the direction of social conservativism too (if only to gain votes). After years of being the maverick Republican whom everyone liked, he recently started panding to the social conservatives that he condemned years before. He called Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson agents of intolerance, but this year he gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell's university.

Anyways, the definition of neocon is relative. (The term conservative is even more open-ended, general, and applicable to many different types of people.) The American Heritage Dictionary states that neoconservatism is "[a]n intellectual and political movement in favor of political, economic, and social conservatism that arose in opposition to the perceived liberalism of the 1960s: "The neo-conservatism of the 1980s is a replay of the New Conservatism of the 1950s, which was itself a replay of the New Era philosophy of the 1920s" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)"

Signing off.

Edited by johnnydr87
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McCain? I disagree with your there. Giulani--ok.

McCain may be a fiscal conservative, but he's moving in the direction of social conservativism too (if only to gain votes). After years of being the maverick Republican whom everyone liked, he recently started panding to the social conservatives that he condemned years before. He called Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson agents of intolerance, but this year he gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell's university.

Anyways, the definition of neocon is relative. (The term conservative is even more open-ended, general, and applicable to many different types of people.) The American Heritage Dictionary states that neoconservatism is "[a]n intellectual and political movement in favor of political, economic, and social conservatism that arose in opposition to the perceived liberalism of the 1960s: "The neo-conservatism of the 1980s is a replay of the New Conservatism of the 1950s, which was itself a replay of the New Era philosophy of the 1920s" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)"

Signing off.

I was talking about a deeper level than that in the American Heritage. McCain is a social liberal and has been for years but he is starting to pander to the right a bit in order to try to attone for past sins against the party. Dole, also at heart a libertarian, did the same thing and while it helped him win the nomination it cost him in the general election.

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  • 5 months later...

Wow. Has anyone seen the new "Benton" TV commercials?! Jeez Louise...I think we have a new "snooty" award to give out - it might even top the infamous "Riviera" condominium renovation tagline. It goes:

Welcome to Benton. Welcome to your "comfort zone".

What the @#$*#! Seriously?! So, they're saying that living in the city is somehow uncomfortable, with the crime, minorities and all. Wow. I can't believe they actually used this. Just....wow.

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Wow. Has anyone seen the new "Benton" TV commercials?! Jeez Louise...I think we have a new "snooty" award to give out - it might even top the infamous "Riviera" condominium renovation tagline. It goes:

Welcome to Benton. Welcome to your "comfort zone".

What the @#$*#! Seriously?! So, they're saying that living in the city is somehow uncomfortable, with the crime, minorities and all. Wow. I can't believe they actually used this. Just....wow.

I haven't yet seen them--yay for fast forward and Tivo--but combining the words "Benton" and "comfort zone" seems like a not-too-carefully encoded way of saying "white people here."

There's a difference between a comfortable place to live and a comfort zone. The former implies a quality of life, amenities, and such The latter implies "values," upbringing, a range of tolerance.

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Sounds like they were saying Benton is a comfortable place to live... that "you'll feel great here" etc. Just because someone says "life is great here," doesn't necessitate that life is somehow BAD somewhere else.

That's not how it comes across to me at all. If they'd just said "Comfort" well then cool, but using "zone" sounds like its cordoned off, like a DMZ. Poor choice of words if you ask me, intentional or not.

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That's not how it comes across to me at all. If they'd just said "Comfort" well then cool, but using "zone" sounds like its cordoned off, like a DMZ. Poor choice of words if you ask me, intentional or not.

Comfort zone is used all the time as a description of something that feels right. Not sure there's anything to feel antagonistic about.

Benton has been largely forgotten about while Bryant grew so much. It is now attempting to curb some of this, which makes sense to me. I'm not sure how much these slogans work, but I certainly don't blame Benton for trying to change people's mind about it.

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