Will NWA ever be largest metro in state?

[hartford]

Diversity is what makes a city great. Little Rock is a great city because of its diversity. Atlanta, San Francisco, San Antonio, Seattle, etc are great because of their unique diversities. NYC is considered the greatest city in the world in part because it is one of the most diverse places on the planet. I consider the NWA metro one big suburban area and not a city because it does lack diversity for the most part. I graduated from UA and would consider Fayetteville unique but the rest of the area is just like any suburb in any city in the US. NWA's advantage is that with the metro being so young everything is still very new and clean. Everyone in NWA is so happy to get the latest chain, but the last place I want to eat when I travel across the country for business or leisure is the local Olive Garden or Red Lobster.

[KJW]

Diversity is what makes a city great. Little Rock is a great city because of its diversity. Atlanta, San Francisco, San Antonio, Seattle, etc are great because of their unique diversities. NYC is considered the greatest city in the world in part because it is one of the most diverse places on the planet. I consider the NWA metro one big suburban area and not a city because it does lack diversity for the most part. I graduated from UA and would consider Fayetteville unique but the rest of the area is just like any suburb in any city in the US. NWA's advantage is that with the metro being so young everything is still very new and clean. Everyone in NWA is so happy to get the latest chain, but the last place I want to eat when I travel across the country for business or leisure is the local Olive Garden or Red Lobster.

[slyder1]

I just wanted to cut in here and say that I saw an article in the April 5 edition of USA Today about the Nations Metro areas population increases and decreases. It showed NWA at 420,000 with an increase of more than 21% since 2000. Thats some fast growth, but I also noticed that arkansas had some of the highest rates of decreases in population for metro areas (Pine Bluff -3.5%) and micro MSA's(West Helena -11.8% and Blytheville -8.6%). It seems like alot of the rural population in Arkansas if shifting to the Metro areas. Obviously NWA can't pull that much pop. from that state, but it seems like a large number of the population if shifting. Little Rock also had a good amount of people move in to the area in 2006 with just over 10,000. Up here as well, Springfield had 10,000 (now at 408,000) poeple move into the area in 2006 with Green county taking more than 5,000 of that. It seems like other metros in the Region are starting to have more and more people move in. I really don't want to see a HUGE surge but it seems like everyone, for the most part, is growing at a healthy rate.

[masons_dad1]

the largest hispanic growth in the U.S.A. in recent years that NWA is well on its way to becoming diverse...and I don't think we've peaked in that part yet.

[cowbreath]

note 2: No offense to your family, but this attitude toward Little Rock is indicative of a lot of misconceptions and frankly, small-mindedness of a lot of Arkansans. Its naive to think that a statistic or news report is somehow indicative of day-to-day life in a city. I've lived here 38 years and have not once experienced or witnessed a single crime...and I've lived downtown and currently in mid-town. Furthermore, I would argue that not only are most of Little Rock's neighborhoods (exceptions of course!) typical of what you would find in any other of the state's larger cities, but the finest ones are unparalleled.

[mcheiss]

I don't believe "the largest hispanic growth in the U.S.A." is something to brag about. If those are recorded Hispanics being reported just imagine how my undocumented Hispanics are calling NWA home. "I don't think we've peaked in that part yet" is unsettling to say the least. It's already bad enough that whenever I take my family to an annual event or festival that we are surrounded by people that don't understand English. I'm actually shocked when I say hello to someone they say "hello" back.

[astrife]

For all those on the forum calling people from NWA small minded in thinking LR is a more dangerous area:

I honestly think you guys are simply too attached to your area of the state. It is more dangerous to live in LR, that is a fact. You can debate whether or not the crimes committed are likely to affect the average non-crime oriented person who moves there, but the fact of the matter is that per 100,000 people LR has a major crime incident rate of of 1771.8 (this includes murder, rape, robbery, burglarly, and auto-theft). This is enough to catapult LR to the 10th most dangerous city in the United States, and it is far far above the crime rate in NWA. Your anecdotal evidence serves no purpose because I can just as easily cite all my friends at Hendrix from LR who can vouche for it being a dangerous place (for example my friend whose father was mugged in broad daylight outside the grocery store). Calling someone naive and small minded for not wanting to live in a city like LR because of its comparatively high crime rate is rather narrow minded on your part. LR is not just getting bad press, it is statiscally more dangerous than most places.

[Architect]

For all those on the forum calling people from NWA small minded in thinking LR is a more dangerous area:

I honestly think you guys are simply too attached to your area of the state. It is more dangerous to live in LR, that is a fact. You can debate whether or not the crimes committed are likely to affect the average non-crime oriented person who moves there, but the fact of the matter is that per 100,000 people LR has a major crime incident rate of of 1771.8 (this includes murder, rape, robbery, burglarly, and auto-theft). This is enough to catapult LR to the 10th most dangerous city in the United States, and it is far far above the crime rate in NWA. Your anecdotal evidence serves no purpose because I can just as easily cite all my friends at Hendrix from LR who can vouche for it being a dangerous place (for example my friend whose father was mugged in broad daylight outside the grocery store). Calling someone naive and small minded for not wanting to live in a city like LR because of its comparatively high crime rate is rather narrow minded on your part. LR is not just getting bad press, it is statiscally more dangerous than most places.

[astrife]

I don't think anyone here was trying to make the case that Little Rock has no more crime that NWA. That is a fact. But just b/c statistics play out in such a way do not necessarily mean that it is altogether unsafe. Its just a list. For example, would your mother be concerned about you visiting Orlando? It's 8th on the list.

[masons_dad1]

I don't think anyone here was trying to make the case that Little Rock has no more crime that NWA. That is a fact. But just b/c statistics play out in such a way do not necessarily mean that it is altogether unsafe. Its just a list. For example, would your mother be concerned about you visiting Orlando? It's 8th on the list.

[cowbreath]

She might, but she doesn't hear about the crime in Orlando as much as she does about the crime in LR. I am sure if we lived in a suburb of Orlando she'd be just as concerned about me going into the city there as she is about me going into LR.

[astrife]

An old friend of mine was carjacked and shot in both her legs in broad daylight in Orlando, FL.

A couple years ago a driver was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Bentonville, AR.

Crime isn't the city it's the circumstance.

[cocothief]

I don't believe "the largest hispanic growth in the U.S.A." is something to brag about. If those are recorded Hispanics being reported just imagine how my undocumented Hispanics are calling NWA home. "I don't think we've peaked in that part yet" is unsettling to say the least. It's already bad enough that whenever I take my family to an annual event or festival that we are surrounded by people that don't understand English. I'm actually shocked when I say hello to someone they say "hello" back.

[masons_dad1]

The Bentonville drive-by was a really big deal when it occured in NWA. Would it have been as big of a deal had it occured in LR?

Crime is the city because it is the city that helps shape how many and what type of circumstances there are for crime. (Honestly, that last play on words added nothing of substance to the discussion)

[johnnydr87]

If you think violent crimes only happen in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods you are sadly mistaken.

[astrife]

If you think violent crimes only happen in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods you are sadly mistaken. Viloent crimes can happen in any city, in any neighborhood, to anybody. Not everyone who lives in "da Hood" is a criminal, the same way that not everyone who lives in a safe, predominantly white neighborhood is a law-abiding citizen.

[Aporkalypse]

For all those on the forum calling people from NWA small minded in thinking LR is a more dangerous area:

I honestly think you guys are simply too attached to your area of the state. It is more dangerous to live in LR, that is a fact. You can debate whether or not the crimes committed are likely to affect the average non-crime oriented person who moves there, but the fact of the matter is that per 100,000 people LR has a major crime incident rate of of 1771.8 (this includes murder, rape, robbery, burglarly, and auto-theft). This is enough to catapult LR to the 10th most dangerous city in the United States, and it is far far above the crime rate in NWA. Your anecdotal evidence serves no purpose because I can just as easily cite all my friends at Hendrix from LR who can vouche for it being a dangerous place (for example my friend whose father was mugged in broad daylight outside the grocery store). Calling someone naive and small minded for not wanting to live in a city like LR because of its comparatively high crime rate is rather narrow minded on your part. LR is not just getting bad press, it is statiscally more dangerous than most places.

[astrife]

NWA has lower crime than just about any place in the country. LR is relatively unsafe. That said, if you're white and aren't involved with drugs your chances of anything happening to you (i.e. violent crimes) are actually quite low, nearly as low as in NWA.

I've spent a lot of time in Miami and Atlanta and similar large cities and currently live in Dallas and can you tell you that everyday crimes affecting the middle and upper class in LR are much less than these areas. When you look at only crime statistics you are including the black on black crime that is so rampant in LR and other urban cores which doesn't extrapolate to your risk.

I would say you are a bit naive and that by traveling around you could gain signficant insight into the subject.

[Aporkalypse]

I do understand your point, but what I'm trying to say is that a city without this black on black crime is preferable to a city with it.

[masons_dad1]

I don't think anyone made that point.

Crime tends to be higher, however, in poor, black neighborhoods than non-poor, black neighborhoods, or non-poor, non-black neighborhoods (etc etc). That's the fact; the question is why. (But not necessarily for this thread...)

That said, I think excellent points have been made on all aspects of the arguments by Apork, Astrife, Architect, and many others...

[astrife]

Here's the answer to your question. Poor, black neighborhoods have the majority of your unemployed. Unemployed for many reasons including racial discrimination, lack of quality education, but most importantly, unemployed because selling drugs and robbing people tends to offer better monetary compensation than flipping burgers at McDonald's. And who wouldn't want to be their own boss and even have neighbors working for you? The negative to selling drugs and robbing people is that someone tends to get killed in the process. That explanation doesn't quite fit in with "non-poor, black neighborhoods, or non-poor, non-black neighborhoods (etc etc)."

I agree, excellent points are being made even as I type.

No, I just elaborated since you made the assumption that the Bentonville drive-by shooting was a bigger deal than a similar crime in LR. The fact is the majority of these kinds of crimes in LR happen in areas with a high concentration of guns and drugs and not quite as randomly committed as they are in NWA.

Posting statistics is trivial since your entry: "but the fact of the matter is that per 100,000 people LR has a major crime incident rate of of 1771.8 (this includes murder, rape, robbery, burglarly, and auto-theft)" leaves a lot of questions asked. Like out of those "1771.8" crimes how many were murders and how many of those murders were non-drug related and how many of those non-drug related murders were not in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods??? If you're going to paste statistics to make a point at least elabroate a little more.

Wanna know why there's more crime in poor, black neighborhoods? Here's some wise words from a lyrical master:

It's boyz in the hood, it's toys in the hood

Y'all wanna know why there's noise in the hood

Cause there's drugs in the hood, thugs in the hood

N!@@a killed a crip and a blood in the hood (For real)

Cause when n!@@az get tribal

It's all about survival, nobody liable

I got caught by five-oh

Grandmama came to court with her Bible

But when the judge hit the gavel

Now I'm too far from my family to travel (F#@k)

I just came unraveled

Socked the D.A. before I got gaffled

Owned by C.A, State Property

Just like the year fifteen fifty three

Looking for me, a one-way ticket out

Don't understand, what's so hard to figure out?

-Ice Cube, Why We Thugs, 2006

[masons_dad1]

Not helping my arguments in the least with this data, but hopefully it will help shut down this discussion

[astrife]

Not helping my arguments in the least with this data, but hopefully it will help shut down this discussion

[masons_dad1]

Fayetteville is a little different because of the UA though. There's a big population in the city of unemployed poor college students which contributes to the rates you are seeing there. I know this isn't exactly helping my point, but I had to point this out.

[Aporkalypse]

I was kinda thinking that when I was pasting that data in there, even though UA Little Rock has a little over half as many students as UA Fayetteville it doesn't account for the high percentage of blacks living in poverty, although students in Little Rock are probably more responsible for the high rate of unemployment.

My only theory left is that the city of Little Rock is more conducive to gangbangers and drug dealers than many similarly sized cities. It's like my man Ice Cube said, "when something happens in South Central Los Angeles, nothing happens... it's just another ***** dead." - N.W.A., Staight Outta Compton, 1988. I guess that phrase applies to every hood in the world.