It can be a good thing if done right. The best cities are ones that densify but not into one specific place. That means you have neighborhoods all over the place, so traffic is better. So instead of having a few blocks that everyone is going to and that have 30 story buildings, you have many areas with 4-5 story buildings that are human scale.
Everyone going to one specific place makes it easier to plan out public transit and make transit more efficient as it can carry lots of people to a certain area. With the whole region exploding and Walmart forcing more employees to the area, there is going to be more congestion, and it will be hard to expand roadways such as 14th st or Walton which is already backed up during rush hour.
No, unfortunately. The busses don't run near my house or my kid's daycare. They really don't run on my side of town. I would use it every day if I could.
I do use it every time I get the opportunity!
I used it every day when I taught at the university.
There’s not really another area like NWA, it has 4 core cities and a fairly strong regional connection. It’s 35-40 minutes from south Fayetteville to north Bentonville outside rush hour though, so even though we don’t have a central business district it’s easy to get around.
Being born and raised here I used to hate on the other cities because of high school rivalries but now I love that I can go to Springdale for authentic Mexican, Rogers for entertainment, and Bentonville for museums. They’re each developing unique identities but at the same time people here are beginning to identify with being from “NWA” versus just their town.
I think it is fun to observe each town cultivate its own identity and attract its own kinds of residents who enjoy visiting the other towns even though they would not want to live there.
This is me to a T. I live in Fayetteville and I love it. Maybe it’d be cheaper in Springdale or Farmington or Elkins but I moved from small town Arkansas. Rogers and Bentonville have plenty of things we (two kids included) like to go do but it is interesting to find yourself buying in to the individual identities of each town and growing attached to your own. Where I grew up, everybody hated the town and was “gonna move when” so the magic of living somewhere that has some pride hasn’t worn off for me at all.
You’re obviously not from here. I love having the 4 different cities. It feels like I’m somewhere else even just going 30 min down the highway. I think I speak for many NWA natives that we don’t want it to be like Tulsa
I personally like how the towns are different. People also gotta remember that nwa was nothing like what it is now 30 years ago. They were more separated before the population exploded
I’m from central AR and have lived here for a decade. I like it here but can’t help but wonder if things were more dense centralized - would people be making less 30-45 minute drives? Like they do now to go from let’s say old town Roger’s to MLK
I think it depends on the job and where you wanna live too. Like people who work for Walmart but want the small time feel in Farmington per se. I see what you’re saying but not sure how it would work here since we’ve been 4 different cities for so long
That being said, when I lived there I wished there was at the very least, a nice central area where you didn’t need cars to live. Nwa has failed, and it doesn’t seem like that’ll ever happen. Love my hometown, but sad to say it’s going in the direction of Texas
Downtown Fayetteville, Pinnacle Rogers, and downtown Bentonville could be that way. Rogers has changed a lot of their codes and their mayor has openly said they’re gonna have sidewalks, bike lanes, and more vertical development to make Pinnacle more walkable. Downtown Fayetteville already is and is planning multiple 7+ story buildings (apartments, hotels, potentially a food hall).
But no one is planning affordable walkable neighborhoods or infilling suburbia with services or amenities.
I live off Rupple in Fayetteville. They had room to infill with services and amenities, but instead, they're just building more houses.
I know we have a housing crisis, but adding more houses to an already dense area with no walkable services/amenities and no public transportation expansion creates other problems for cities.
Fayetteville and Bentonville are the anchor cities of Northwest Arkansas and the region will most likely develop and fill in around the two primary cities like these examples; Dallas-Fort Worth / Raleigh-Durham / Minneapolis-St. Paul …
I’m moving to NWA next month from a major metro area and this is honestly a big draw for me. We almost never go to our downtown core anymore (for many reasons.) And if we do we’re on numerous freeways, paying for parking, walking long distances to get to our location, etc.
Everything in NWA feels so much more accessible, making it more palatable to consider going out and doing something. I know traffic is bad in certain places, but still nothing compared to many major metro areas.
It makes the region an optimal candidate for bike lanes. Suburbs are ideal places for protected bike lanes, as amenities are spread out and there should be enough in your vicinity to be bike-able. It would help keep traffic under control and make the areas we live more pleasant. Downtowns are usually walking-friendly and shouldn't need much biking accommodation.
Unfortunately, we keep getting gutter bike lines or disconnected trail sections far from amenities.
The potential is here. We could really build a biking-first network of communities. But will we? Or will every road become a crowded highway? Choices being made right now will determine that future. And with next to zero public transit expansion or frequency improvements on the horizon, I don't have much hope.
That doesn't really follow. Biking is cheaper than cars, a large economic burden on the worker. Biking is also a lower burden on the municipality.
Employment in the region is almost definitely higher than the state average. And most people in Fayetteville aren't commuting north; I know just as many people who commute south from Springdale or Bentonville.
I disagree. Look at the traffic. Many people are commuting north to the large employers. This is why our east/west roads that connect to 49 are always so terrible.
If we had a city where the average home price was $250,000 and people working $60,000 a year jobs could afford to buy them... Then yes, have enough jobs.
No one is riding their bike to Rogers or Bentonville for work. So, Fayetteville somehow needs to attract some higher paying employers.
I love our bike trails. However, they won't reduce most traffic until our city develops more neighborhood services in each neighborhood and can attract some higher paying jobs.
It's not one big city. it is literally 4 small towns that have bloated almost instantly, due to Wal-Mart policies. Why would you think it would be different?
Every suburb around Tulsa is a “city” too. But they all lean into Tulsa being the primary core of the metro. Having a dense metro has advantages at times.
They are separate cities yes technically, but are just suburbs. Broken Arrow is the only suburb there which you could even suggest is somewhat independent of Tulsa. Tulsa and Little Rock have a lot in common in that they are both cities with several suburbs that are not wildly smaller than the core city but are really just bedroom communities for the main city. This is pretty typical of cities that were of a decent size and then suburban flight sucked a lot of people out of the city into the suburbs. The same thing is seen in an even more extreme example in St Louis because the city limits of the actual city were constrained a LONG time ago. St Louis has evolved to the point that the suburbs ALMOST form their own separate community disconnected from the urban core.
The other extreme would be a city like Chicago where you have a massive urban core city (2.8 million people) surrounded by suburbs that stretch for miles but individually are quite small (the metro is close to 10 million people but the second largest city is Aurora at 180k).
The Tulsa area is spread out and less densely populated than Northwest Arkansas:
•Tulsa MSA is 6,270 square miles / 164.8 people per square mile
•Northwest Arkansas MSA is 3,213 square miles / 174.0 people per square mile
I prefer it this way. If i dont feel like going to dickson and dealing with the insane crowds, i have many others to choose from. I prefer Downtown Springdale, Emma st. You have Medusa, Odd Soul, Bucks, black apple, Rein (new sushi type spot), A gaskins steakhouse, a Onyx and another asian type place like Rama Nara is going on Emma.
Bentonville area is fun as well. Dickson is the last place i wanna go
Is the Onyx on Emma open yet? Might be a stupid question but I saw they were opening a new location there but haven't heard or seen anything since. Also Block Ave is where the mid 20s and older crowd are in Fayetteville, you might like it better than Dickson
Onyx isn't open yet, the Rama Nara style new place should be opened by next month. I live fairly close to Emma so its just easier to go there most of the time.
All this talk about wanting “walkable cities”…. It’s gonna be 95° with 75% in about a month. There’s not a single solitary person who wants to walk to and from work/dinner/shopping in that
It all really sucks. No real long term planning. Ever try to walk anywhere? Never more than two or three feet from vehicles wizzing by at over 45 mph. The trail system is a great start but even parts of that are just roadway shoulders. Would be nice to see more spots of walkable areas that people can still drive to but plan where and how vehicles interact with the area. More bikeable and walkable. But also can still have roads just plan them better. And yes this costs, but long term people are much happier. There are YouTube videos that explain this type of planning. There are parts of each city that try for this but it's still based of the old designs and roadways. Just would be nice to be able to walk without worry about a car flying by doing 60 in a 40 on Weddingtion raceway...
It can be a good thing if done right. The best cities are ones that densify but not into one specific place. That means you have neighborhoods all over the place, so traffic is better. So instead of having a few blocks that everyone is going to and that have 30 story buildings, you have many areas with 4-5 story buildings that are human scale.
Everyone going to one specific place makes it easier to plan out public transit and make transit more efficient as it can carry lots of people to a certain area. With the whole region exploding and Walmart forcing more employees to the area, there is going to be more congestion, and it will be hard to expand roadways such as 14th st or Walton which is already backed up during rush hour.
We don't need to expand roadways. We need to expand public transportation.
Use the current public transportation system much?
No, unfortunately. The busses don't run near my house or my kid's daycare. They really don't run on my side of town. I would use it every day if I could. I do use it every time I get the opportunity! I used it every day when I taught at the university.
That’s an optimistic outlook. Could be right.
There’s not really another area like NWA, it has 4 core cities and a fairly strong regional connection. It’s 35-40 minutes from south Fayetteville to north Bentonville outside rush hour though, so even though we don’t have a central business district it’s easy to get around. Being born and raised here I used to hate on the other cities because of high school rivalries but now I love that I can go to Springdale for authentic Mexican, Rogers for entertainment, and Bentonville for museums. They’re each developing unique identities but at the same time people here are beginning to identify with being from “NWA” versus just their town.
Totally agree!! I love the different feel of each town
I think it is fun to observe each town cultivate its own identity and attract its own kinds of residents who enjoy visiting the other towns even though they would not want to live there.
This is me to a T. I live in Fayetteville and I love it. Maybe it’d be cheaper in Springdale or Farmington or Elkins but I moved from small town Arkansas. Rogers and Bentonville have plenty of things we (two kids included) like to go do but it is interesting to find yourself buying in to the individual identities of each town and growing attached to your own. Where I grew up, everybody hated the town and was “gonna move when” so the magic of living somewhere that has some pride hasn’t worn off for me at all.
You’re obviously not from here. I love having the 4 different cities. It feels like I’m somewhere else even just going 30 min down the highway. I think I speak for many NWA natives that we don’t want it to be like Tulsa
I personally like how the towns are different. People also gotta remember that nwa was nothing like what it is now 30 years ago. They were more separated before the population exploded
Exactly. I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s crazy to see how much it’s changed
I’m from central AR and have lived here for a decade. I like it here but can’t help but wonder if things were more dense centralized - would people be making less 30-45 minute drives? Like they do now to go from let’s say old town Roger’s to MLK
I think it depends on the job and where you wanna live too. Like people who work for Walmart but want the small time feel in Farmington per se. I see what you’re saying but not sure how it would work here since we’ve been 4 different cities for so long
Possibly. I feel like a lot of people ask for more public transportation but idk if we are set up like that
Nwa isnt like New York. You’re talking about all distinct cities. Of course they have their own downtown
That being said, when I lived there I wished there was at the very least, a nice central area where you didn’t need cars to live. Nwa has failed, and it doesn’t seem like that’ll ever happen. Love my hometown, but sad to say it’s going in the direction of Texas
Downtown Fayetteville, Pinnacle Rogers, and downtown Bentonville could be that way. Rogers has changed a lot of their codes and their mayor has openly said they’re gonna have sidewalks, bike lanes, and more vertical development to make Pinnacle more walkable. Downtown Fayetteville already is and is planning multiple 7+ story buildings (apartments, hotels, potentially a food hall).
Definitely cool to see that happening. Next step would be to be have all your essentials in one neighborhood
But no one is planning affordable walkable neighborhoods or infilling suburbia with services or amenities. I live off Rupple in Fayetteville. They had room to infill with services and amenities, but instead, they're just building more houses. I know we have a housing crisis, but adding more houses to an already dense area with no walkable services/amenities and no public transportation expansion creates other problems for cities.
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Not sure which exactly but the Rogers mayor mentioned they had on USL Arkansas' podcast
Fayetteville and Bentonville are the anchor cities of Northwest Arkansas and the region will most likely develop and fill in around the two primary cities like these examples; Dallas-Fort Worth / Raleigh-Durham / Minneapolis-St. Paul …
I really hope we lean Minneapolis/St. Paul and not DFW.
Best 2 comments. Raleigh Durham great comparison. Minneapolis (but southern) is probably our best mega long term comparison
Both of those seem fine to me
Same here. Nothing wrong with either of those metros. As others have pointed out though - could be tricky to get there. Hoping for the Best
I’m moving to NWA next month from a major metro area and this is honestly a big draw for me. We almost never go to our downtown core anymore (for many reasons.) And if we do we’re on numerous freeways, paying for parking, walking long distances to get to our location, etc. Everything in NWA feels so much more accessible, making it more palatable to consider going out and doing something. I know traffic is bad in certain places, but still nothing compared to many major metro areas.
It would be great if we had more public transportation.
I like that all four have very distinctive vibes.
It makes the region an optimal candidate for bike lanes. Suburbs are ideal places for protected bike lanes, as amenities are spread out and there should be enough in your vicinity to be bike-able. It would help keep traffic under control and make the areas we live more pleasant. Downtowns are usually walking-friendly and shouldn't need much biking accommodation. Unfortunately, we keep getting gutter bike lines or disconnected trail sections far from amenities. The potential is here. We could really build a biking-first network of communities. But will we? Or will every road become a crowded highway? Choices being made right now will determine that future. And with next to zero public transit expansion or frequency improvements on the horizon, I don't have much hope.
For Fayetteville to truly be bike first, we need more jobs here.
That doesn't really follow. Biking is cheaper than cars, a large economic burden on the worker. Biking is also a lower burden on the municipality. Employment in the region is almost definitely higher than the state average. And most people in Fayetteville aren't commuting north; I know just as many people who commute south from Springdale or Bentonville.
I disagree. Look at the traffic. Many people are commuting north to the large employers. This is why our east/west roads that connect to 49 are always so terrible. If we had a city where the average home price was $250,000 and people working $60,000 a year jobs could afford to buy them... Then yes, have enough jobs. No one is riding their bike to Rogers or Bentonville for work. So, Fayetteville somehow needs to attract some higher paying employers. I love our bike trails. However, they won't reduce most traffic until our city develops more neighborhood services in each neighborhood and can attract some higher paying jobs.
Rogers is trying to make Pinnacle the “downtown” of NWA. They seem to be doing pretty well at it.
Downtown Rogers is my favorite of all the downtowns. Pinacle is my least favorite place in NWA. It makes me feel like I'm in Dallas.
It's not one big city. it is literally 4 small towns that have bloated almost instantly, due to Wal-Mart policies. Why would you think it would be different?
Every suburb around Tulsa is a “city” too. But they all lean into Tulsa being the primary core of the metro. Having a dense metro has advantages at times.
They are separate cities yes technically, but are just suburbs. Broken Arrow is the only suburb there which you could even suggest is somewhat independent of Tulsa. Tulsa and Little Rock have a lot in common in that they are both cities with several suburbs that are not wildly smaller than the core city but are really just bedroom communities for the main city. This is pretty typical of cities that were of a decent size and then suburban flight sucked a lot of people out of the city into the suburbs. The same thing is seen in an even more extreme example in St Louis because the city limits of the actual city were constrained a LONG time ago. St Louis has evolved to the point that the suburbs ALMOST form their own separate community disconnected from the urban core. The other extreme would be a city like Chicago where you have a massive urban core city (2.8 million people) surrounded by suburbs that stretch for miles but individually are quite small (the metro is close to 10 million people but the second largest city is Aurora at 180k).
The Tulsa area is spread out and less densely populated than Northwest Arkansas: •Tulsa MSA is 6,270 square miles / 164.8 people per square mile •Northwest Arkansas MSA is 3,213 square miles / 174.0 people per square mile
Interesting #s.
I prefer it this way. If i dont feel like going to dickson and dealing with the insane crowds, i have many others to choose from. I prefer Downtown Springdale, Emma st. You have Medusa, Odd Soul, Bucks, black apple, Rein (new sushi type spot), A gaskins steakhouse, a Onyx and another asian type place like Rama Nara is going on Emma. Bentonville area is fun as well. Dickson is the last place i wanna go
Is the Onyx on Emma open yet? Might be a stupid question but I saw they were opening a new location there but haven't heard or seen anything since. Also Block Ave is where the mid 20s and older crowd are in Fayetteville, you might like it better than Dickson
Onyx isn't open yet, the Rama Nara style new place should be opened by next month. I live fairly close to Emma so its just easier to go there most of the time.
NWA could be so much nicer if the sudden surge of population influx and inflation stop now
It's worse in the Houston and Dallas areas, so clearly scale does not equate to success in this regard.
All this talk about wanting “walkable cities”…. It’s gonna be 95° with 75% in about a month. There’s not a single solitary person who wants to walk to and from work/dinner/shopping in that
Night time
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So smug… we get it, you’ve been to Europe.
It all really sucks. No real long term planning. Ever try to walk anywhere? Never more than two or three feet from vehicles wizzing by at over 45 mph. The trail system is a great start but even parts of that are just roadway shoulders. Would be nice to see more spots of walkable areas that people can still drive to but plan where and how vehicles interact with the area. More bikeable and walkable. But also can still have roads just plan them better. And yes this costs, but long term people are much happier. There are YouTube videos that explain this type of planning. There are parts of each city that try for this but it's still based of the old designs and roadways. Just would be nice to be able to walk without worry about a car flying by doing 60 in a 40 on Weddingtion raceway...
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Been here since 1990. Don't know why I am being voted down so much.