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NWA, Ft. Smith metro?

bigboyz05

By bigboyz05
in Northwest Arkansas

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Yeah, there's a lot of non developed land between the two. That and I think Ft Smith would have to have a lot stronger growth to try to pull something like that off. Even in NWA it's the northern part of the metro that's showing the most growth. I could almost see NWA developing something more towards Joplin than Ft Smith.

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Rice Brewer Crossroads

Rice Brewer

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Yeah, there's a lot of non developed land between the two. That and I think Ft Smith would have to have a lot stronger growth to try to pull something like that off. Even in NWA it's the northern part of the metro that's showing the most growth. I could almost see NWA developing something more towards Joplin than Ft Smith.
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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Perhaps, but the real factor that is used in determining the boundaries of a MSA is the 25% rule, i.e., if 25% or more of a population generally travel to a MSA for basic services (employment, shopping, education, etc..), then that area is determined to be part of the larger MSA.

By that measure, I would not be surprised if Crawford County is taken from the FSM MSA and added to the NWA MSA after the 2010 Census data has been analyzed.

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bchris02 Hamlet

bchris02

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I live in the Ft. Smith region. I see a merger with NWA very unlikely. For one, there is the National Forest between Ft. Smith and Fayetteville, and I dont think it can legally be developed. Even if it could, imagine the outcry!

Second, Ft. Smith is in a state of decline for nearly everybody but senior citizens. Young professionals are being pulled to other metros for college and employment, and all thats left are senior citizens and blue-collar workers. With Whirlpool closing and Rheem rumored to be soon to follow, it wont be long until its manufacturing base is gone as well. Its rapidly becomming more of a retirement community. The city government is very anti-growth as well.

If there was to be a boom in Ft. Smith, it would probably happen to the south and east rather than north. I am hoping NWA fills in rather than continues to sprawl farther north.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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The reason I really can't envision this is that NWA has gone through a tremendous growth spurt, the most it has ever seen or will ever see, with very little southward development. If WM was based in Fayetteville I'm sure towns like West Fork and Greenland would be full of upscale housing additions but that area in Southern Washington Co is still very sleepy. With NWA's job base so far north it just makes commuting from Sebastian and Crawford Cos impractical.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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The reason I really can't envision this is that NWA has gone through a tremendous growth spurt, the most it has ever seen or will ever see, with very little southward development. If WM was based in Fayetteville I'm sure towns like West Fork and Greenland would be full of upscale housing additions but that area in Southern Washington Co is still very sleepy. With NWA's job base so far north it just makes commuting from Sebastian and Crawford Cos impractical.
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edensfall Whistle-Stop

edensfall

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I don't think I'd put it that way. I'm pretty sure it's better than many other Arkansas cities. But once again I think it's been higher in general than NWA. But I think NWA's has just been pretty low for quite a while. Although as NWA gets larger there does seem to be some increases. But I think that's just the way things tend to work. Some group just released a ranking of most dangerous metros. Memphis, Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Litte Rock were all on the most dangerous list. I know NWA and Ft Smith were also included but I didn't see them listed in either the top dangerous or safest metros in the country. Guess they were somewhere closer to the middle.
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