population of NW Ark.

[GetmeoutofAR]

I agree, the Washington-Baltimore Beltway is similiar

[magellan]

This is a good site for population growth and migration patterns, showing NW Arkansas at about 420,000 in 2006. Probably waiting on census data for 2007.

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area (CBSA) Population and Components of Change

Is there a "big city" that this area is centered around? Or any cities with 200,000+ people? Or is it one big suburb with multiple exurbs? When I look up population data for the three cities, Fayatteville shows 60,000, Springdale is 45,000, and Rogers is 38,000. Those are barely "cities".

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by UNT_Eagle

So true. I'm from Dallas originally and now live outside Nashville, TN in the city of Murfreesboro. This city is growing at a rapid rate, and the road system here in general is a mess. It wasn't designed to handle 90-95,000 people.
So many two lane roads leading to several subdivisions with only one way in/out. It's really POOR planning on the part of the city leaders.

Hearing alot of the responses here, it sounds like the Fayetteville area is in the same position as middle Tennessee. NWA is so pretty, and I hope it continues to keep it's charm.

In Arkansas you can have charm or superhighways - you can't have both....and we ARE talking about the Arkansas Highway Department here - Land of the Orange Barrel...anything that starts construction today will be obsolete by the time they finish it in 2020, not to mention the exits that go nowhere. Gotta have a couple of those just to keep things interesting and in character with the other highway systems in the state

It may be poor planning all the way around, but this isn't a problem that was even remotely anticipated 30 years ago - and who would have thought NWA would suddenly become a mecca for folks after all the years that no one even knew where we were? There hasn't really been just a slow steady upsurge of population - it's been massive, and in a really short period of time. It wasn't that terribly long ago - in my lifetime, anyway - that there was one back country road that took you from Little Rock to Fayetteville. Super fun on game days and in bad weather...ugh...

I seriously doubt you could find a dozen cities in the U.S. where people would say "our interstate system is TERRIFIC"....that's just not the way of the world.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by magellan

This is a good site for population growth and migration patterns, showing NW Arkansas at about 420,000 in 2006. Probably waiting on census data for 2007.

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area (CBSA) Population and Components of Change

Is there a "big city" that this area is centered around? Or any cities with 200,000+ people? Or is it one big suburb with multiple exurbs? When I look up population data for the three cities, Fayatteville shows 60,000, Springdale is 45,000, and Rogers is 38,000.

It really is one big suburb with multiple exburbs. That is one of the major things NWA has going against it. There is no central city to help the area establish an identity or a skyline. Its just one big mess of sprawl and suburbia. It would have been smarter and more sustainable to center the growth around one paricular city instead of sprawling from Fayetteville to the Missouri border.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by bchris02

It really is one big suburb with multiple exburbs. That is one of the major things NWA has going against it. There is no central city to help the area establish an identity or a skyline. Its just one big mess of sprawl and suburbia. It would have been smarter and more sustainable to center the growth around one paricular city instead of sprawling from Fayetteville to the Missouri border.

15 years ago, Fayetteville WAS the heart of it all. Bentonville and Rogers weren't even a part of the picture. They were little towns just stuck off by themselves. Then Wal-Mart began insisting vendors locate offices in the area and they all wanted to be close to the momma hen in Bentonville. Left to its own devices, Fayetteville would STILL be the center but the area would be probably 30% smaller in size possibly even much smaller than that!). The growth pattern is unsustainable in the long run but I'm confident that when it does start to hit the fan, the area's leaders will do what need to be done and consolidate into a single entity: Walmartopolis...

[boulder]

I could certainly see Bentonville / Rogers and all the small bedroom communities in Benton county (Centerton, Lowell) consolidating in the future.

Fayetteville for the most part is self sustaining with or without the three major employers (Wal-Mart, Tyson, JB Hunt). Many in Fayetteville don't give a darn what's going on in Bentonville.

The latest census of Fayetteville pegged us at 78,000 residents.

[UNT_Eagle]

Originally Posted by boulder

I could certainly see Bentonville / Rogers and all the small bedroom communities in Benton county (Centerton, Lowell) consolidating in the future.

Fayetteville for the most part is self sustaining with or without the three major employers (Wal-Mart, Tyson, JB Hunt). Many in Fayetteville don't give a darn what's going on in Bentonville.

The latest census of Fayetteville pegged us at 78,000 residents.

That's good to hear!