Meet Little Rock, Arkansas

[Mith242]

Yeah it would really be to their advantage if Little Rock and North Little Rock would work together. One thing that hurt northwest Arkansas is that you have 4 cities and they tend to try to compete with each other rather than work together. This is a little off subject, I've heard that Little Rock has considered a smoking ban, but they're also worried that everyone will end up going to North Little Rock instead. I noticed even Pine Bluff has even gotten on board with this. When Fayetteville did this last year everyone thought it was really going to hurt restaurants quite a bit. Because then everyone would just go one of the other cities. They did a study a year after it had been in place and it doesn't appear to have made that big of a difference. But anyway back on the main topic, at least you only have to get 2 cities to try to work together. Having 4 is more problematic and with the growth up here. You might eventually have other places like Siloam Springs, or maybe a place like Lowell that isn't too big but growing a lot and has a prime location because it's in the center of the metro area. I could see them eventually trying to compete with the other 4 up here.

[johnnydr87]

How much longer until the four cities form one continous city? Or would you say it already looks like that? :-)

[Mith242]

How much longer until the four cities form one continous city? Or would you say it already looks like that?  :-)

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Fayetteville and Springdale have grown together. Bentonville and Rogers have grown together. So now all you have is a little bit of a gap between Bentonville-Rogers and Fayetteville-Springdale. But there is the town of Lowell in that gap, with it being the center of the main metro area it has also been experiancing a lot of growth and some companies have started establishing a presence there to stay in the 'middle' of the metro. But you also have Bella Vista not too far north of the Bentonville-Rogers area. It started as a retirement community but with the growth going on they are trying to decide whether to incorporate itself. It would then not be too far behind Bentonville as far as size. Of course it doesn't have the Wal-mart hq to help it out. But I imagine it's only a matter of time before it's all grown together. I believe McDonald County in southwest Missouri was recently added to our metro area. I'm curious that if the growth keeps up if one day in the future if Joplin-Neosho Missouri area will also merge into the area.

So how far does the Little Rock metro extend out? I get the impression Benton and Conway might be included. Pine Bluff isn't, although I wonder if it could be a possibility sometime in the future.

[johnnydr87]

Well, according to the Metro Little Rock Alliance, this is the metro area:

That includes Pine Bluff. Even Hot Springs, where I'm from (an hour away), is incorporated. I have to travel through forests and some farmland before getting to Little Rock!

More conventionally, the Little Rock metro area consists of Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Perry, Pulaski, and Saline counties. Basically every county that surrounds Pulaski:

Every county, that is, except for Jefferson, which is where Pine Bluff is located. Benton, in Saline, and Conway, in Faulkner, are included.

Pretty interesting about NW Arkansas. How far off is a skyscraper lane? 20-30 years...? Never?

[krazeeboi]

Let me make sure I'm reading the map correctly. There's the city of Hot Springs, and a county named Hot Spring. Hot Springs, the city, is not located in Hot Spring county, but the county in which the city of Hot Springs is located (Garland) is adjacent to the county of Hot Spring?

It's also interesting to see how many counties in Arkansas share the names of other counties and cities/towns elsewhere. For example, SC also has Calhoun, Union, and Lee counties and cities named Conway, Columbia, Marion, and Union. I know that NC has Clay, Cleveland, Franklin, Lee, Lincoln, Polk, and Randolph counties and cities named Boone, Dallas, Monroe (which is in Union county), and Newton.

[johnnydr87]

Yeppers. :-p I always thought that was pretty weird too.

Interestingly, we have a Manila, Arkansas....which has special meaning to me because I'm half Filipino.

I forgot the name of the German named city that my Germand dad likes to remind me of.

[Arkansawyer]

I forgot the name of the German named city that my Germand dad likes to remind me of.

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He probably reminds you of Stuttgart, or maybe Hamburg (which happens to be Scottie Pippen's hometown).

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

[Mith242]

Well, according to the Metro Little Rock Alliance, this is the metro area:

That includes Pine Bluff.  Even Hot Springs, where I'm from (an hour away), is incorporated.  I have to travel through forests and some farmland before getting to Little Rock!

More conventionally, the Little Rock metro area consists of Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Perry, Pulaski, and Saline counties.  Basically every county that surrounds Pulaski:

Every county, that is, except for Jefferson, which is where Pine Bluff is located.  Benton, in Saline, and Conway, in Faulkner, are included.

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I know that Pine Bluff itself is considered a metro area. I'm wondering if it's being included in the extended metro (ugh, the name escapes me).

[Mith242]

Let me make sure I'm reading the map correctly. There's the city of Hot Springs, and a county named Hot Spring. Hot Springs, the city, is not located in Hot Spring county, but the county in which the city of Hot Springs is located (Garland) is adjacent to the county of Hot Spring?

It's also interesting to see how many counties in Arkansas share the names of other counties and cities/towns elsewhere. For example, SC also has Calhoun, Union, and Lee counties and cities named Conway, Columbia, Marion, and Union. I know that NC has Clay, Cleveland, Franklin, Lee, Lincoln, Polk, and Randolph counties and cities named Boone, Dallas, Monroe (which is in Union county), and Newton.

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Almost all cities in Arkansas that share their name with a county are not located in that county. Seems like maybe there was only one that did, but I can't think of what it was. Conway is in Faulkner County not Conway County. Benton is in Saline County not Bneton County and so on. I noticed that a while back, never quite understood why that was. I never got the impression it was intentional or anything.

[skirby]

Almost all cities in Arkansas that share their name with a county are not located in that county.  Seems like maybe there was only one that did, but I can't think of what it was.  Conway is in Faulkner County not Conway County.  Benton is in Saline County not Bneton County and so on.  I noticed that a while back, never quite understood why that was.  I never got the impression it was intentional or anything.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The reason for some of this is that at one time there were fewer counties in Arkansas. Conway was in Conway County before it was divided and Faulker County was formed. I believe Conway County retained its name because it contained the county seat. Some counties in Arkansas even had two county seats if a river divided the county. If one looks at the history instead of today's map then things are not as strange as they appear.

[Mith242]

The reason for some of this is that at one time there were fewer counties in Arkansas. Conway was in Conway County before it was divided and Faulker County was formed. I believe Conway County retained its name because it contained the county seat. Some counties in Arkansas even had two county seats if a river divided the county. If one looks at the history instead of today's map then things are not as strange as they appear.

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You'd still think they maybe they would have left city with the same name with that county and let the other area have the new county name. Just seems odd that with all the examples almost every one ended up in another county.

[Mith242]

I know that Pine Bluff itself is considered a metro area.  I'm wondering if it's being included in the extended metro (ugh, the name escapes me).

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Okay I'm still trying to figure this out. I am pretty sure Pine Bluff is considered it's own metro. I also have never heard Hot Springs included either. I asked someone I know from Hot Springs about it and she said she'd never heard of them being included in Little Rock's metro area. I would think most people in that are would go to Little Rock on a somewhat regular basis. Could it perhaps be derived from an economic standpoint? I'm sure there's a term for it but I can't think of it. It would seem if you could extend the metro that far out then we could included Ft Smith into ours. It's only an hour or less of a drive away. Anyone have any ideas on this?

[Mith242]

Yeppers.  :-p  I always thought that was pretty weird too.

Interestingly, we have a Manila, Arkansas....which has special meaning to me because I'm half Filipino. 

I forgot the name of the German named city that my Germand dad likes to remind me of.

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You wouldn't happen to have any German ties to Stuttgart would you?

[johnnydr87]

No. No ties to Stuttgart.

[Mith242]

No. No ties to Stuttgart.

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Just checking. Speaking of Stuttgart, has anyone ever heard the story of some German guy visiting the area and wanted to stop by Stuttgart because of the name. Thinking of his homeland, when he was coming upon Stuttgart he saw what he thought was a nice cathedral. Of course if anyone has ever driven through you know it was silos of rice. It is sorta funny. I've heard of people not familiar with the area driving and seeing the silos from a distance thinking they were coming onto a decent sized city. Especially with the area so flat and there being so much farmland you can sometimes see them from quite a distance.

[Arkansawyer]

Okay I'm still trying to figure this out.  I am pretty sure Pine Bluff is considered it's own metro.  I also have never heard Hot Springs included either.  I asked someone I know from Hot Springs about it and she said she'd never heard of them being included in Little Rock's metro area.  I would think most people in that are would go to Little Rock on a somewhat regular basis.  Could it perhaps be derived from an economic standpoint?  I'm sure there's a term for it but I can't think of it.  It would seem if you could extend the metro that far out then we could included Ft Smith into ours.  It's only an hour or less of a drive away.  Anyone have any ideas on this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

To answer your question regarding Pine Bluff and Hot Springs, they are both independent metros. I believe that Hot Springs was just classified as its own MSA in the last period that new figures were collected. The factor in determining what city belongs to what metro area is based on the city to which most residents in an area commute for work.

[Arkansawyer]

Just checking.  Speaking of Stuttgart, has anyone ever heard the story of some German guy visiting the area and wanted to stop by Stuttgart because of the name.  Thinking of his homeland, when he was coming upon Stuttgart he saw what he thought was a nice cathedral.  Of course if anyone has ever driven through you know it was silos of rice.  It is sorta funny.  I've heard of people not familiar with the area driving and seeing the silos from a distance thinking they were coming onto a decent sized city.  Especially with the area so flat and there being so much farmland you can sometimes see them from quite a distance.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do know that Stuttgart was founded by a group of German Lutherans looking to start a colony of sorts. This link provides quite a bit of information on this interesting town. Information on Stuttgart.

I occasionaly visit, and I must say it is quite an impressive group of rice silos that can be seen for a few miles before entering the city. It really does appear from enough distance to be a good skyline.

[Mith242]

To answer your question regarding Pine Bluff and Hot Springs, they are both independent metros. I believe that Hot Springs was just classified as its own MSA in the last period that new figures were collected. The factor in determining what city belongs to what metro area is based on the city to which most residents in an area commute for work.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info. Now I am sure there are some people who do commute from Pine Bluff to Little Rock. But I think Pine Bluff was already established so it remains to itself. I know there may be some people who know Pine Bluff wondering why would you live there and then go to Little Rock. Three words, cheap real estate. With so many people leaving the area there's plenty of real estate to choose from. I think I've heard Pine Bluff has some of the cheapest real estate in the nation.

[Mith242]

I think I have heard people mention Little Rock as a smaller version of Indianapolis. Anyone have any comments to that? I can't say I know much about Indianapolis so I'm not sure is the comment is accurate or not.

[Rock2uf]

If land and a house were given to me for free, I still would not move to Pine Bluff. I've traveled to many places in this great country of ours, and Pine Bluff is the worst city of any size I've visited.

Little Rock is looking up! I'm glad to see it.

[Mith242]

If land and a house were given to me for free, I still would not move to Pine Bluff.  I've traveled to many places in this great country of ours, and Pine Bluff is the worst city of any size I've visited.

Little Rock is looking up!  I'm glad to see it.

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Yeah Pine Bluff is pretty bad, but to be honest I think it's actually gotten better than what it used to be. I still have family that live in that area. It's weird because back in the 60's Pine Bluff was going through a little bit of what northwest Arkansas is going through now. People really thought Pine Bluff was going to be a big deal.

[Mith242]

I have a question about Little Rock. How is the condo market going there? That's one thing that Fayetteville is going through right now. I'm sure it will slow down eventually but everyone is building condos around here. They're now building them on top on some of our pre-existing buildings around the downtown area. I am extremely happy to hear news like this. I really would prefer to try to keep some of the sprawl down. That and a more compact center would be nice. Let people stay where there are things to do and keep them from having to travel everywhere in their vehicles.

[johnnydr87]

Yeah Pine Bluff is pretty bad, but to be honest I think it's actually gotten better than what it used to be.  I still have family that live in that area.  It's weird because back in the 60's Pine Bluff was going through a little bit of what northwest Arkansas is going through now.  People really thought Pine Bluff was going to be a big deal.

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But NW arkansas has wal-mart . And well, Walmart is just a friggin unstoppable powerhouse (we mustn't forget Tyson and JB Hunt and U of A). The GDP of Wal-Mart is bigger than that of Switzerland, and it's just a company based in Arkansas!

[Mith242]

Another question. How is the growth of hispanics in Little Rock? I have heard some people talk of the possibility of Little Rock becoming a nice hispanic city for the south. I'm pretty sure we've had a little more hispanic growth up here in northwest Arkansas but of course no 'real' cities up here either. So we don't tend to get some of the attention that say the hispanic growth in Little Rock would. Has it slowed down any there?

[johnnydr87]

I have a question about Little Rock.  How is the condo market going there?  That's one thing that Fayetteville is going through right now.  I'm sure it will slow down eventually but everyone is building condos around here.  They're now building them on top on some of our pre-existing buildings around the downtown area.  I am extremely happy to hear news like this.  I really would prefer to try to keep some of the sprawl down.  That and a more compact center would be nice.  Let people stay where there are things to do and keep them from having to travel everywhere in their vehicles.

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Someone in Little Rock could probably better answer this than me, but here's an article about the condo movement here. It's actually 2-3 years old.

The new uptown is downtown

People really are moving to those lofts downtown.

Josh Davis had his name on a waiting list for two months before he finally landed in the Tuf- Nut lofts at 421 E. Third St. in June. Most of his friends live downtown and he wanted to join the action. "It's a lucky break that I got in this early," Davis said.

Moving from Conway, where he works at Acxiom Corp., Davis is thrilled to be in the new lofts. "It's really accessible to everything. I don't have to drive if I want to go downtown - I can just walk two blocks to the River Market," Davis said. "It's very safe and very clean.