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NWA Skyline


Sammy00

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Many of you guys know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I think I found a good example of what the NWA skyline (or city itself for that matter) would resemble if it consisted of one major, thriving city.

Winston-Salem, NC:

WinSalSkyline12.jpg

- The city population was about 185,000 in 2000, then annexed an additional 17,000 in 2004.

- The MSA was about 455,000 in 2006.

- The city is home to a major university (Wake Forest).

- Tallest building is 34 stories (built by since relocated Wachovia), which I suppose, would have to be built by Wal-Mart or Tyson in this area.

- There major airport serves about 20 US cities.

- While they're home to a nice variety of corporations (Krispy Kreme, HanesBrand, RJ Reynolds Tobacco), no very large corporation stands out.

Thoughts...am I way off on this one?

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Many of you guys know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I think I found a good example of what the NWA skyline (or city itself for that matter) would resemble if it consisted of one major, thriving city.

Winston-Salem, NC:

WinSalSkyline12.jpg

- The city population was about 185,000 in 2000, then annexed an additional 17,000 in 2004.

- The MSA was about 455,000 in 2006.

- The city of home to a major university (Wake Forest).

- Tallest building is 34 stories (built by since relocated Wachovia), which I suppose, would have to be built by Wal-Mart or Tyson in this area.

- There major airport serves about 20 US cities.

- While they're home to a nice variety of corporations (Krispy Kreme, HanesBrand, RJ Reynolds Tobacco), no very large corporation stands out.

Thoughts...am I way off on this one?

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I realize those things STR, and it's ashame it is that way.

My post is just meant hypothetically, I'm not trying to make a point or prediction.

I believe we would resemble Winston-Salem if NWA was focused around one main city, and not four or more like it is today.

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I realize those things STR, and it's ashame it is that way.

My post is just meant hypothetically, I'm not trying to make a point or prediction.

I believe we would resemble Winston-Salem if NWA was focused around one main city, and not four or more like it is today.

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I noticed while "Wikipediaing" Winston Salem that they put together an inncentive package worth up to 38 million bucks to attract Dell to the city.

Dell accepted and built a computer plant that is expected to draw 7,500 direct and indirect jobs to the city by 2010.

I wish a couple cities in NWA, and maybe the state of Arkansas would get together and put together something similar.

It would be nice to keep the economy booming up here as long as possible, and something like that would certainly help.

It would also help bring something other than the Wal-Mart empire to NWA.

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The Pinnacle Hills area has got to have the best shot. With a close to twenty story hotel going up, plus Pinnacle thinking about putting up a twenty story office building somewhere up there...I think close to the newest part of the embassy suites. Maybe Wal-Mart will build some brand new hq's there :)

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The Pinnacle Hills area has got to have the best shot. With a close to twenty story hotel going up, plus Pinnacle thinking about putting up a twenty story office building somewhere up there...I think close to the newest part of the embassy suites. Maybe Wal-Mart will build some brand new hq's there :)
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I don't see NWA having a skyline anytime soon. The most obvious location is downtown Fayetteville but there are reasons that's not happening. As many have pointed out there's massive opposition to high rises there becaue of feelings it doesn't fit the town or for environmental reasons. In addition there's little business development in downtown Fayetteville per se to push things up, most of that is up in Benton Co. Fayetteville's best approach is to push for hotels and condos but that demand is limited as well with Benton Co having greater need.

In the rest of NWA there's no single location for a skyline to develop around. I expect to see some scattered mid-rises in Rogersalong I-540 but I doubt they'll be clustered together close enough to create a skyline. That's not uncommon when a development boom occurs far away from a downtown core. There's nothing pushing property values sky-high, no lack of space.

I think the more the business emphasis shifts Northward the less likely it is that NWA will develop a meaningful skyline.

Winston-Salem is a lot like LR, with a historic downtown to develop around that has been growing up for decades.

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None of the NWA cities will really have a spectacular skyline like many of the cities that have been mentioned on this forum for many years. All of us will be dead or pretty darn close to it before that happens. Fayetteville does and will continue to have the closest to a real skyline than any other NWA city. It really won't have a real skyline because of all the hill and you really need to be able to see "sky" behind tall buildings for it to be a "skyline" and that view really isn't there in Fayetteville or any NWA city.

Rogers/Bentonville will most likely look more like Plano, TX with vast lowrise (4-6 story) office parks, town centers and shopping centers. Plano doesn't have a noticeable skyline with highrises, but both Rogers and Plano do have incredible office parks and unique historic downtowns. Also, Rogers has several midrise commercial buildings under construction or planned. Bentonville's vast number of lowrise office parks only adds to the Plano type of professional environment found in Rogers/Bentonville. Upscale also seems to be the driving force in Rogers, which further familiarizes it with Plano, TX. I could make further comparisons between Rogers and Plano, but I'll stop with just the buildings and lack of noticeable skylines.

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Personally, I'm hoping nothing in NWA ever looks like downtown Dallas. There are some good features, but a LOT of bad ones too. Now downtown KC isn't bad except for they roll up the sidewalks at dark, nearly 100% commercial district...

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The Westin will be 7 stories, 264 rooms, just shy of 185,000 square feet. To be located on the North side of Perry Road on the West side of I-540.

I just pulled the plans and took a look :P

NWA is too centered around the automobile to have a meaningful skyline. One cannot realisticly walk anywhere around here; at some point you're going to have to cross at least 4-5 lanes of traffic. The Pinnacle Hills area is intended to be a "lifestyle/financial" center, but I don't think that translates in to soaring skylines.

Wal-Mart will never build a building taller than 3 stories. Everyone knows it's chepaer to build out than up. And there's still all that available room in West Benton County.

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I'm not as enamored with "skylines" as many on this board. I'm pretty ok with the Fayetteville skyline as it is, although it could stand more density.

I'm much more concerned with street level quality of life than some big shiny pretty buildings.

When I need to feel small, I'm content to look south at the green hilltops of the Ozarks stretching off into the horizon.

But I'm party hippie, I guess.

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I'm not as enamored with "skylines" as many on this board. I'm pretty ok with the Fayetteville skyline as it is, although it could stand more density.

I'm much more concerned with street level quality of life than some big shiny pretty buildings.

When I need to feel small, I'm content to look south at the green hilltops of the Ozarks stretching off into the horizon.

But I'm party hippie, I guess.

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Same here.

I'd rather have a cool streetscale like Austin or Ft Worth than a big skyline like Dallas.

Extrapolate that to a smaller area and I'd rather have all of downtown Fayetteville redeveloped and walkable than a cluster of impersonal tall buildings.

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I'm not as enamored with "skylines" as many on this board. I'm pretty ok with the Fayetteville skyline as it is, although it could stand more density.

I'm much more concerned with street level quality of life than some big shiny pretty buildings.

When I need to feel small, I'm content to look south at the green hilltops of the Ozarks stretching off into the horizon.

But I'm party hippie, I guess.

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