Jump to content

Branson/Springfield


Recommended Posts


  • Replies 442
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Opp's. I almost forgot to tell ya'll about what is probablly the bigest project in the four state area!

$1.6 billion development under way

The project, called Indian Ridge, is being developed near Branson West on Missouri 76 by Springfield developers Jim and Virginia Shirato.

More than 100 people showed up at the 1,000-acre site Monday afternoon for its officials groundbreaking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll finally get around to asking another question. How is the diversity in that area? I know that it shares the same roots with both of our metros being a part of the Ozarks. It wasn't too long ago that the NWA area was predominately white. Although this is slowly beginning to change. The first big change was the hispanic influx, particularly in the 90's. I think the 2000 census estimated that there are around 100,000 hispanics in Arkansas. And I know many people would say that number is way too low. But a large percentage of those are in the NWA metro. I also think that Wal-mart is helping change the Benton County area. I think you're starting to see more and more people of multple ethnicities moving into the area to work for Wal-mart. How are things there in the Springfield/Branson area?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll finally get around to asking another question. How is the diversity in that area? I know that it shares the same roots with both of our metros being a part of the Ozarks. It wasn't too long ago that the NWA area was predominately white. Although this is slowly beginning to change. The first big change was the hispanic influx, particularly in the 90's. I think the 2000 census estimated that there are around 100,000 hispanics in Arkansas. And I know many people would say that number is way too low. But a large percentage of those are in the NWA metro. I also think that Wal-mart is helping change the Benton County area. I think you're starting to see more and more people of multple ethnicities moving into the area to work for Wal-mart. How are things there in the Springfield/Branson area?

Springfield is actually a very diverse place to live. Although this has not always been the case. If you've ever visited Springfield you would know that we are like little china. There are so many, ver very wealthy, chineese people in our city. Along with the people it seems like there are thousands of chineese restuarants. I guess this is why Springfields sister city is somewhere in china. The African American commu ity has had a growth spurt as well. In 2004 the Black community grew more than 60%. Of course the Hispanic Community has grown over the years as well. I hate to say this but every year the Springfield Highway Patrol troop D is always busting illegle aliens on I-44 and US 65, along with the many large drug busts. With that siad Sprignfield is a diverse place to live and is always improving.

I wanted to ask a ques. about how urbans Fayetteville and the area is. I actually have a friend that goes to the university and have visited there 4 times. From what I saw Fayetteville was only urban for about 3 miles or so. Springfield is urban for 15 mi. to the south and 10mi. to the west if you go south on US 65. I could be wrong about Fayetteville but I was just wanting to know how urban the area is?

istockphoto_908069_hammons_tower_springfield_mo.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Springfield is actually a very diverse place to live. Although this has not always been the case. If you've ever visited Springfield you would know that we are like little china. There are so many, ver very wealthy, chineese people in our city. Along with the people it seems like there are thousands of chineese restuarants. I guess this is why Springfields sister city is somewhere in china. The African American commu ity has had a growth spurt as well. In 2004 the Black community grew more than 60%. Of course the Hispanic Community has grown over the years as well. I hate to say this but every year the Springfield Highway Patrol troop D is always busting illegle aliens on I-44 and US 65, along with the many large drug busts. With that siad Sprignfield is a diverse place to live and is always improving.

I wanted to ask a ques. about how urbans Fayetteville and the area is. I actually have a friend that goes to the university and have visited there 4 times. From what I saw Fayetteville was only urban for about 3 miles or so. Springfield is urban for 15 mi. to the south and 10mi. to the west if you go south on US 65. I could be wrong about Fayetteville but I was just wanting to know how urban the area is?

istockphoto_908069_hammons_tower_springfield_mo.jpg

It's been a very long time since I was around the Springfield area so I wasn't sure about the population there. As far as how far is Fayetteville urban, well I guess that really depends on what you consider urban. We've had this discussion before in another topic. One person's 'urban' is another person's rural. But no I wouldn't say Fayetteville is particularly urban. For one thing I think Fayetteville tried not to be too particularly urban. The city has rather strict building codes and such. Fayetteville recently introduced building height restrictions for the downtown area and might possibly introduce them to the other areas of the city as well. But much of northwest Arkansas' population has occured recently. When I first moved to Fayetteville the population signs had around 36,000 I believe. Estimates now tend to be at around 70,000. Not sure if any of that helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some statistics regarding ethnic diversity according to the 2000 Census.

Races in Springfield:

White Non-Hispanic (90.5%)

Black (3.3%)

Hispanic (2.3%)

Two or more races (2.0%)

American Indian (1.7%)

Other race (0.9%)

2.4% Foreign born (0.9% Asia, 0.6% Europe, 0.5% Latin America).

In comparison

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, thanks Masons Dad!!

You can definately tell that Springfield has much more density than Fayetteville and NWA for the matter.

Yeah I can't say I know it's past population figures but I'm pretty sure it's been the largest city in the Ozarks for a long time. That of course has helped it have an established core unlike the NWA cities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some statistics regarding ethnic diversity according to the 2000 Census.

Races in Springfield:

White Non-Hispanic (90.5%)

Black (3.3%)

Hispanic (2.3%)

Two or more races (2.0%)

American Indian (1.7%)

Other race (0.9%)

2.4% Foreign born (0.9% Asia, 0.6% Europe, 0.5% Latin America).

In comparison

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice pics, I still miss the Travelers not being affiliated with the Cardinals. Although I can understand them wanting to have a closer city like Springfield as an minor league team.

The Travelers switched to the Angels organization because they weren't so pushy about us getting a new facility. They also send better prospects to Class AA than the Cardinals. Basically, Bill Valentine (Travelers General Manager) was annoyed with the organization. I'm not a Cardinals fan, so I don't mind them going elsewhere.

After the Travelers left the Cardinals for the Angels, the Cardinals moved their Double-A franchise to the Tennessee Smokies (near Knoxville). They were happy having both their Class AA and Class AAA teams in Tennessee, and weren't looking to move. At this point there was no opening for a Double-A franchise in Springfield, and it didn't look likely that there would be one. What Hammons did was convince the Cardinals to purchase the Class AA team in El Paso, end their relationship with the Smokies, and move the franchise to Springfield.

I had to post some more Hammons Field pics because they are so cool! :D

night-shot.jpg

Seeing how excited y'all are about Hammons Field makes me even more eager for the opening of Dickey-Stephens Field in 2007 in North Little Rock.

Here's the first rendering of the ballpark.

nlr_ballpark_102004.jpg

This is the newer plan that incorporates a railroad theme.

dickey5ig.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Travelers switched to the Angels organization because they weren't so pushy about us getting a new facility. They also send better prospects to Class AA than the Cardinals. Basically, Bill Valentine (Travelers General Manager) was annoyed with the organization. I'm not a Cardinals fan, so I don't mind them going elsewhere.

After the Travelers left the Cardinals for the Angels, the Cardinals moved their Double-A franchise to the Tennessee Smokies (near Knoxville). They were happy having both their Class AA and Class AAA teams in Tennessee, and weren't looking to move. At this point there was no opening for a Double-A franchise in Springfield, and it didn't look likely that there would be one. What Hammons did was convince the Cardinals to purchase the Class AA team in El Paso, end their relationship with the Smokies, and move the franchise to Springfield.

I guess I didn't realize how complex the whole thing ended up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just wanted to clarify the Fayetteville Density Map to show where Springdale starts on the map. Just so noone thinks Fayetteville is as large as Springfield going north-west. Springdale may seem to have a much larger urban density than Fayetteville but that's mainly due to Springdale being much flatter than Fayetteville and not having to deal with as much hilly terrain.

99140206_02c580b283.jpg

99569965_16863a8129.jpg

One thing I was amazed at is how much more infrastructure (roads) Springfield has than Fayetteville and Springdale combined. In fact, Springfield has much more infrastructure per capita than all of Northwest Arkansas. It's no wonder Springfield isn't facing the problems with development that NWA is facing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just wanted to clarify the Fayetteville Density Map to show where Springdale starts on the map. Just so noone thinks Fayetteville is as large as Springfield going north-west. Springdale may seem to have a much larger urban density than Fayetteville but that's mainly due to Springdale being much flatter than Fayetteville and not having to deal with as much hilly terrain.

99140206_02c580b283.jpg

99569965_16863a8129.jpg

One thing I was amazed at is how much more infrastructure (roads) Springfield has than Fayetteville and Springdale combined. In fact, Springfield has much more infrastructure per capita than all of Northwest Arkansas. It's no wonder Springfield isn't facing the problems with development that NWA is facing.

Yeah I think in the past Springfield grew at a much more managable rate and was able to do well as far as infrastructure. NWA just stands out because it started off so small when all this massive growth started. Springfield is getting a lot of growth too but it's much more able to handle it well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^

NWA hasn't caught up with the rest of the world. I'm sure Springfield has been much bigger than this area for years and years, not to mention being centralized in one area. I don't think we will ever get up to Springfield's infastructure, taken into account how long road projects take here, or atleast it won't be in my lifetime.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I went to Springfield, I was like, where is Springfield? Is this it? You come up into the city and there's not much in a lot of places...then you have a lot in other places. I was surprised...I always thought Springfield was more urban than it is. NWA has much more of an urban feel to it. If you compare Springfield to Fayetteville and Springdale...they are very similar. This is not counting the rest of NWA or the rest of the Springfield metro. Springdale and Fayetteville are basically one city. Springfield current estimate is 150,704 (-.06%) from 2000. The land area is 73 square miles. Fayetteville current estimate (upcoming census in a few months will be substantially more) is 64,190 (+10.6%) from 2000, with a land area of 45 square miles. Springdale current 2006 census population is 62,000 (+30%) from 2000, with a land area of 34 square miles. So, together, Fayettevilel & Springdale have a combined population of about 125,000, total land area of 79 sq. miles. This makes the two immediate areas comparable to one another. So, NWA isn't much more sprawled than Springfield and in fact in a lot of areas are more dense, especailly when you start adding in the suburbs and other primary cities like Rogers and Bentonville. Springfield has been the largest area in the Ozarks for a long time, but that has changed. Springfield has better infrastructure, but that is changing as well, as NWA grows. NWA has grown past Springfield in population and will continue to grow at a much faster rate than that of the Springfeild metro. Anyone who drives through Springfield, then to NWA will see that NWA has a lot more than Springfield and has a much more urban feel, IMO. Springfield is not much different than NWA...it's not a major city, it's like a big sprawing suburb with no big city. This is not to discount what is going on in the Springfield area, it is growing and I like some of the huge developments I've read about. I just disagree with those who think the Springfeild metro is so much bigger and better than NWA, when they are very much the same...sprawiling suburbs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Slyder, I saw in another post that you said you didn't know if NWA could handle such developments as the condos...but they are building them in Springfield...NWA is going to be more equipped to handle them than Springfield...the population in NWA is growing 20 times that of Springfield and condos they have and are building are being sold before construction begins. Springfield might be the bigger city, but NWA has several key cities that add up to more than that of Springfield. Not counting surburbs...just key cities....Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville... app. pop. - 215,000. Springfield is the only key city in that metro, and it's about 150,000. NWA is growing more than I think you realize.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been to Springfield a couple of times although it's been years ago. I remember expecting something closer to Tulsa and I was surprised it wasn't. Although that isn't a fair comparison but I guess I had thought Springfield was a bigger city than what it is. I do see your points Tim although I think Springfield being more centralized does give it advantages over NWA. It might be spread out but I think there is still a single core which NWA doesn't really have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been to Springfield a couple of times although it's been years ago. I remember expecting something closer to Tulsa and I was surprised it wasn't. Although that isn't a fair comparison but I guess I had thought Springfield was a bigger city than what it is. I do see your points Tim although I think Springfield being more centralized does give it advantages over NWA. It might be spread out but I think there is still a single core which NWA doesn't really have.

Yeah, that's one advantage, it has more of a core area, being only one key city. I think NWA would be better off to atleast form into two key cities since they obviously can't all join. But I think Bentonville and Rogers should merge and Fayetteville and Springdale should merge. They're contiguous, so why not? Then you have two core cities in each county with plenty of suburbs still there to even it out. Then it would be more organized and centralized.

That's one thing I've never liked about NWA is the fact that it's divided into so many cities. Oh well, can't have it all. The area will still boom and establish itself as the center of the ozarks. The business community will ensure that. If they get the it boom going, that wil certainly help. Anybody looking at the growth can't argue that NWA isn't taking Springfield's spot. NWA is the 6th fastest growing area in the country...I don't think Springfield is even on the list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, Springfield does boost a good amount of roads but every year the traffic jams get worse and worse especially on the metro loop (I-44, US 65, and James Rivers Freeway). But the good news is 2 north-south corridors, Kansas Exp. and Glenstone which carry most of the traffic, are in the planning process to be widened to 3 lanes on both sides or six lanes all together. The Metro Loop (I-44, US 65 and James River Free.) are being widened to 6 lanes and 8 in some area's. I will elaborate on the traffic in another post but right now I wanted to post another BIG development, that I forgot about, called Terrell Creek going in on the citys south side. I can't remeber all the large devel. because there are so many.

With Wilson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Springfield could do a few things that could bring it back to the top. First of all, the city should merge with the county. Then you'd have a city population of around 250,000. I don't think they do this much in Missouri...but Springfield would be perfect for it, due to it's centralized location in the county, the generally flat landscape, and development trends around the county. Second, they would need to build some decent-sized skyscrapers. Lastly, they would just need to upgrade some of the roads outside of the city limits to arterial standards, then Springfield would be quite an awesome city. Maybe with people like hammonds around, something like this may happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.