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Will NWA ever be largest metro in state?

bigboyz05

By bigboyz05
in Northwest Arkansas

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hogwash Whistle-Stop

hogwash

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In talking with a couple of the guys, I think its more of an annoyance that people believe NWA is and will be somehow immune to the problems that LR has now. Also, I hope nobody from NWARPC reads this but those guys are doing a terrible job, terrible. Why is it we have a population of over 400K and only one decent 4 lane corridor? For them to support statements that our growth is going to continue unabated and surpass Central Arkansas is shocking. It seems folks on this thread are aware enough to know that probably won't be the case, but not our regional planners. Maybe I'm not giving them a fair shake I don't know. I just know the people at Metroplan are very competent and educated.

So yeah I don't think it jealously so much as people protraying NWA as a wonderland that makes LRockers and like annoyed.

It went that way for me as well. I remember being so excited about moving to NWA for college and being in Fayetteville. When I moved in it was the third time I'd ever visited. It didn't take for me to start getting annoyed with native NWA people. I don't know how many times I met folks that didn't like Little Rock who had only been to War Memorial, the Capitol, or hadn't even been there. They talked about how dirty it was, how terrible crime was. You'd think Little Rock was the worst place on Earth.

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vbfl85 Whistle-Stop

vbfl85

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I don't know how many times I met folks that didn't like Little Rock who had only been to War Memorial, the Capitol, or hadn't even been there. They talked about how dirty it was, how terrible crime was. You'd think Little Rock was the worst place on Earth.
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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I admit it is a bit weird how it seems that many people here in NWA don't care much about the rest of the state. Or at least the rest of the state outside the Ozarks. I think maybe people have been spoiled a bit with such low crime rates. So they end up seeing the rest of the state as 'crime infested'. I'm not sure if it pertains to all NWA natives. But it does seem to be somewhat common at least. I hate to admit it but to be honest I have to say I do tend to feel more safe. Some of my camera equipment is a bit pricey, at least to me, and I have felt a bit odd taking pics in other areas of the state. Maybe it's also because I'm now more familiar with this area. But I think I could go anywhere in NWA and not worry about taking pics. I don't think I could say that about most other Arkansas metros. But that also doesn't mean I don't appreciate the other Arkansas metros.

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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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As affordability was the biggest draw for NWA I predict in around 10 years there will be a dash in front of those growth figures. NWA isn't the utopian land of opportunity that many people moving here have been misinformed about. Sure the wealthy will still flock here so long as there's a profit to be made thanks to Wal-Mart. But even many of them will realize there's not much of a profit here for entrepeneurs that can't be found anywhere else.

So long as I can afford to live here I'll live here, but the tighter my wallet get squeezed the sooner I'll be moving to greener pasture.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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As affordability was the biggest draw for NWA I predict in around 10 years there will be a dash in front of those growth figures. NWA isn't the utopian land of opportunity that many people moving here have been misinformed about. Sure the wealthy will still flock here so long as there's a profit to be made thanks to Wal-Mart. But even many of them will realize there's not much of a profit here for entrepeneurs that can't be found anywhere else.

So long as I can afford to live here I'll live here, but the tighter my wallet get squeezed the sooner I'll be moving to greener pasture.

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Arkansas Student Whistle-Stop

Arkansas Student

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In talking with a couple of the guys, I think its more of an annoyance that people believe NWA is and will be somehow immune to the problems that LR has now. It went that way for me as well.

I remember being so excited about moving to NWA for college and being in Fayetteville. When I moved in it was the third time I'd ever visited. It didn't take for me to start getting annoyed with native NWA people. I don't know how many times I met folks that didn't like Little Rock who had only been to War Memorial, the Capitol, or hadn't even been there. They talked about how dirty it was, how terrible crime was. You'd think Little Rock was the worst place on Earth.

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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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I'm in total agreement here. There are parts of Rogers that are rundown, and the easy thing to do is blame immigration problems. Working in the planning office, I think it has as much (or more) to do with people who want to build to take advantages of the Hispanic (and often poorer) population, as well as the contrast between folks who want to build shiny pristine development and those who have owned land with junk on it for 40 years and are happy to keep it that way. When this are was still a bunch of small towns, no one complained about how people kept up their property. Therefore, those "junkie" people are not inclined to do anything about it now.
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Arkansas Student Whistle-Stop

Arkansas Student

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I don't think Rogers has any real slummy areas, but I did witness a Hispanic woman in her back yard cleaning stuff inside a bucket. Whatever it was she was washing into the Rogers canal facing her backyard. It just seemed weird because she kept eyeing me nervously and seemed anxious about cleaning whatever was in the bucket (fish, chicken or something else). It might be nothing but I don't like people dumping any kind of waste in to the Rogers water system.
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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I know I've said this before but I'm still a bit surprised to see east Rogers in the shape it's in. I would think with that nice historical district and being that close to Beaver Lake would make that area a prime location. I wonder if Rogers isn't quite big enough to support all this growth and so it's all being focused just on the west side. The east side unfortunately might have to wait till things slow down a bit on the west side or land becomes a bit more scarce.

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mcheiss Metropolitan Area

mcheiss

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I know I've said this before but I'm still a bit surprised to see east Rogers in the shape it's in. I would think with that nice historical district and being that close to Beaver Lake would make that area a prime location. I wonder if Rogers isn't quite big enough to support all this growth and so it's all being focused just on the west side. The east side unfortunately might have to wait till things slow down a bit on the west side or land becomes a bit more scarce.
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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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I know I've said this before but I'm still a bit surprised to see east Rogers in the shape it's in. I would think with that nice historical district and being that close to Beaver Lake would make that area a prime location. I wonder if Rogers isn't quite big enough to support all this growth and so it's all being focused just on the west side. The east side unfortunately might have to wait till things slow down a bit on the west side or land becomes a bit more scarce.
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mcheiss Metropolitan Area

mcheiss

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I think hilly terrain is a plus and if you get the right developers can be used for some interesting developments. Whether they be mixed-use or just residential. But it's hard to get things going if there's nothing else going on over on that side of the city. I'm trying to imagine something like Ruskin Heights over there.
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Edge30 Crossroads

Edge30

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Yes, but OKC is the capitol and Tulsa is the other big city in Oklahoma. OKC's metro is around 1,053,000 and Tulsa's is about 793,000. LR's is about 600,000 while NWA's is about 400,000. So in a way, when you break it down percetage wise they are acurate representations. One could even make the analogy between Lawton and Ft. Smith.
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Thia Whistle-Stop

Thia

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I know I've said this before but I'm still a bit surprised to see east Rogers in the shape it's in. I would think with that nice historical district and being that close to Beaver Lake would make that area a prime location. I wonder if Rogers isn't quite big enough to support all this growth and so it's all being focused just on the west side. The east side unfortunately might have to wait till things slow down a bit on the west side or land becomes a bit more scarce.
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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I wonder if a similar discussion took place in Fayetteville in the 70s?

"Downtown Fayetteville has been the heart of Fayetteville and has character and history and it's so close to the UA. It seems like a prime location to live and work (it's even walkable.) I wonder how the growth at the new Northwest Arkansas Mall is going to impact downtown, Dickson Street, and the UA area? We'll have to wait until the growth and building on North College and the mall area slows down to get more growth in the core of Fayetteville."

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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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I just read a couple interesting articles in the Fayetteville Free Weekly. They both have to do with growth in NWA.

First, Fayetteville Downtown Partners are being criticized for trying to turn Fayetteville into a city that cares only for the richest percent of the population, while new downtown business flop and older business close their doors.

Here's that article:

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