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Most towns in Arkansas have their own subdivision regulations. The more progressive towns (LR, Conway, Fayetteville, Maumelle, etc.) are going to have stricter sidewalk requirements. Towns with backwards planning tend to not require sidewalks in subdivisions.
Of course, even in the progressive towns, if you look at older subdivisions that were built before the sidewalk requirements were instituted, you'll likely find either no sidewalks or substandard sidewalks.
I am not talking about sidewalks that connect the subdivision to the nearest store. I am talking about sidewalks inside the subdivision. I don't see how love of cars would make any difference unless what you are saying is that a person would rather drive two blocks to their neighbors house than walk. If that is the case, it would explain why so many people in Arkansas are overweight.I think it may be because of cost and priorities. I guess developers here believe that people in Arkansas would prefer to have a bigger house or more of a front yard instead of a sidewalk. It does cost money to put them in and they take up space, but it makes a neighborhood have a better community feel. I see people in some of the nicer neighborhoods walking, running, and even pushing a baby carriage in the road...just not safe.I was just hoping that Fort Smith was some how unique, unfortunately, I guess not.
OMG, developers don't put sidewalks in out of the goodness of their hearts, they put sidewalks in because city zoning laws require them. Most new developments have sidewalks because as areas grow, traffic becomes more of an issue. Older neighborhoods don't because most of the towns didn't have traffic issues when they were built. Walking down the street to visit with a neighbor wasn't a life-risking venture. If you were going further, you did hop into your car to go. And Arkansas isn't especially unique about this. City-zoning ordinances develop to meet needs that become apparent over time. There are neighborhoods without sidewalks throughout the Midwest where population density has traditionally been low and traffic issues were not problematic.
I am not talking about sidewalks that connect the subdivision to the nearest store. I am talking about sidewalks inside the subdivision. I don't see how love of cars would make any difference unless what you are saying is that a person would rather drive two blocks to their neighbors house than walk. If that is the case, it would explain why so many people in Arkansas are overweight.I think it may be because of cost and priorities. I guess developers here believe that people in Arkansas would prefer to have a bigger house or more of a front yard instead of a sidewalk. It does cost money to put them in and they take up space, but it makes a neighborhood have a better community feel. I see people in some of the nicer neighborhoods walking, running, and even pushing a baby carriage in the road...just not safe.I was just hoping that Fort Smith was some how unique, unfortunately, I guess not.
I loved it when family and friends came to see me when I lived in Rural Northern Arkansas. They went on and on about all the good things I was living near by. But the started "bit......" about the old farmer trying to get down the road/trail. Seems they had come the area to get a bit of peace and quiet, a taste of the good life. Then just could not understand why they could not FLY down those paved roads!
It takes a while to understand why some people don't want the city-like atmosphere, paved yards, etc.....at least you have slowed down enough to see those baby carriages in the happy little streets! Things will get better. Lordy, I would not want to be one of the new-comers who happens to bump into one of those babies because I could not leave the house sooner. I bet the whole neighborhood would be out the door quickly. Probably barefooted, too.
Pavement gets hot in the summertime. The earth is cooler. Grass is green. Green is a prettier color than gray. More natural, too, which Arkansas is, of course. The "Natural State". Some people are catching up on what that means. Seems Arkansas is ahead of their time?
Progress is good. Be sure it's progress.
Ever known a child who has never see the milky way?
DC at the Ridge, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Certainly Developers don't do anything out of the goodness of their own heart. They either have to be made to do it, which does not seem to be the case in Most of Arkansas or homebuyers demand it, which they don't seem to do in Arkansas. Arkansas IS unique. I have lived in Georgia, California, Colorado, and North Carolina and this is the first time that I have ever been to place where this problem exists. Most new developments do NOT have sidewalks, in fact here in Fort Smith the homes in the 1950's are more likely to have sidewalks than a new development so DC at the Ridge's premiss is misguided. I think the reason that we don't have more neighborhoods with these ammenities is because people just don't care about it. It comes down to priorities. A lot of people here would rather have a bigger back yard than a sidewalk. They are really not that active, which is why we have such a fat, unhealthy state.
I think Little Rock is making great strides in this area, especially with the bike path. I think that is great, but the rest of the state is just backwards when it comes to sidewalks and bike paths.
DC at the Ridge, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Certainly Developers don't do anything out of the goodness of their own heart. They either have to be made to do it, which does not seem to be the case in Most of Arkansas or homebuyers demand it, which they don't seem to do in Arkansas. Arkansas IS unique. I have lived in Georgia, California, Colorado, and North Carolina and this is the first time that I have ever been to place where this problem exists. Most new developments do NOT have sidewalks, in fact here in Fort Smith the homes in the 1950's are more likely to have sidewalks than a new development so DC at the Ridge's premiss is misguided. I think the reason that we don't have more neighborhoods with these ammenities is because people just don't care about it. It comes down to priorities. A lot of people here would rather have a bigger back yard than a sidewalk. They are really not that active, which is why we have such a fat, unhealthy state.
I think Little Rock is making great strides in this area, especially with the bike path. I think that is great, but the rest of the state is just backwards when it comes to sidewalks and bike paths.
You're just getting insulting. ("The rest of the state is just backwards...", "fat, unhealthy state", is INSULTING.) And Arkansas is not unique. I've lived in several states as well, in both urban and rural areas. It's not unusual for rural towns to not have sidewalks in residential areas, and that includes Georgia. As to your comment about the 1950's neighborhoods, you don't know when those sidewalks were built or why. It may have been an upscale neighborhood where a park-like setting was part of the developer's vision, and sidewalks were installed to keep the sightseers off the grass. Or it may have been that the county wanted to put its jail inmates to work and decided to install sidewalks in some of the established neighborhoods. As to new developments having sidewalks, just come up to Northwest Arkansas sometime. Sidewalks are pretty much de rigeur.
DC at the Ridge said, " You're just getting insulting. ("The rest of the state is just backwards...", "fat, unhealthy state", is INSULTING.) And Arkansas is not unique. I've lived in several states as well, in both urban and rural areas. It's not unusual for rural towns to not have sidewalks in residential areas, and that includes Georgia."
I am sorry that you feel insulted by the fact that Arkansas is listed as one of the fattest states in the country. Not my opinion, it is well documented, but that fact has as probably as much to do with socioeconomic conditions as well as activity levels.
Back to my original post. The purpose was not to INSULT anyone or to start a topic, but more as fact finding as I would really like a neighborhood with street lamps and sidewalks. If "Sidewalks are pretty much de rigeur", in NW Arkansas that is great, which neighborhoods are you talking about so I can take a look at them. Understand that I am talking about neighborhoods here, certainly if the houses are spaced a great distance apart no one would expect there to be sidewalks in front of the house. I am talking about subdivisions here. Is Fort Smith considered a rural town in Arkansas? It is considered to be the second largest. I would not call Fort Smith a rural town. Certainly I would not expect to find sidewalks in a rural town with no real neighborhoods...Talking apples to apples here.
DC at the Ridge said, " You're just getting insulting. ("The rest of the state is just backwards...", "fat, unhealthy state", is INSULTING.) And Arkansas is not unique. I've lived in several states as well, in both urban and rural areas. It's not unusual for rural towns to not have sidewalks in residential areas, and that includes Georgia."
I am sorry that you feel insulted by the fact that Arkansas is listed as one of the fattest states in the country. Not my opinion, it is well documented, but that fact has as probably as much to do with socioeconomic conditions as well as activity levels.
Back to my original post. The purpose was not to INSULT anyone or to start a topic, but more as fact finding as I would really like a neighborhood with street lamps and sidewalks. If "Sidewalks are pretty much de rigeur", in NW Arkansas that is great, which neighborhoods are you talking about so I can take a look at them. Understand that I am talking about neighborhoods here, certainly if the houses are spaced a great distance apart no one would expect there to be sidewalks in front of the house. I am talking about subdivisions here. Is Fort Smith considered a rural town in Arkansas? It is considered to be the second largest. I would not call Fort Smith a rural town. Certainly I would not expect to find sidewalks in a rural town with no real neighborhoods...Talking apples to apples here.
Well, I just did a google map of Athens, GA. Totally picked at random. A little bigger than Fort Smith. And did the street view. Amazing! Numerous residential streets without sidewalks.
And Fort Smith may be a big town in Arkansas, that goes to the rural nature of Arkansas. Because the many Americans living in NYC or Chicago or even in Houston or Dallas would consider Fort Smith to be pretty rural. It's certainly not metropolitan.
I stand by my original post. City codes and their enforcement determine where and when sidewalks are built. Developers don't gratuitously add to to their expenses when designing and constructing neighborhoods. Anywhere. Some of the new neighborhoods don't have sidewalks? Ask the developer how much the land cost him, how much the infrastructure cost him, and how much sidewalks would have have added to it, and how much more expensive each house would have been as a result. If this is such an important issue to you, why not attend some city planning meetings and ask them about it? Instead of using this as another way of being critical of the place you live, why not take it as an opportunity to learn about the issues and concerns of the community you live in.
DC at the Ridge said: "Instead of using this as another way of being critical of the place you live, why not take it as an opportunity to learn about the issues and concerns of the community you live in."
That is what I thought I was doing when I put the post up here, but most of the people here say that they just do not have them. I never argued that sidewalks cost money. DC at the Ridge stated in "NW Arkansas Sidewalks are pretty much de rigeur" but instead of telling me where they are he looks up Athens, Georgia. I have been to Athens it is similar to Fayetteville except much older, and it, in fact, does have sidewalks and streetlaimps, but I don't want to live in Athens. I am looking for something around here. If you don't know, just say I don't know where they are instead of pointing out the obvious.
DC at the Ridge said: "Instead of using this as another way of being critical of the place you live, why not take it as an opportunity to learn about the issues and concerns of the community you live in."
That is what I thought I was doing when I put the post up here, but most of the people here say that they just do not have them. I never argued that sidewalks cost money. DC at the Ridge stated in "NW Arkansas Sidewalks are pretty much de rigeur" but instead of telling me where they are he looks up Athens, Georgia. I have been to Athens it is similar to Fayetteville except much older, and it, in fact, does have sidewalks and streetlaimps, but I don't want to live in Athens. I am looking for something around here. If you don't know, just say I don't know where they are instead of pointing out the obvious.
Here's the deal, Gdaddy, there are neighborhoods with sidewalks and neighborhoods without sidewalks in most every city. Athens is similar in size to Ft Smith, and a quick look with google revealed that they have neighborhoods without sidewalks, just as Ft Smith has neighborhoods without sidewalks. What's the difference? Many neighborhoods in Northwest Arkansas have sidewalks. I'm not going to do an ad nauseum list of every neighborhood that has them, frankly, I don't have the time. If you are looking, then ask your realtor. I'm sure he or she can help you.
I can't think of anywhere in Fayetteville that doesnt have a sidewalk. Fayetteville also has an extensive bike trail system throughout the entire city. Sections of that trail are even lighted at night. Most neighborhoods have street lights too. The streets that seem to be missing good street lights are the main streets like College, Wedington, and Gregg although it does seem the city is adding some here and there. 540 not having lights is the main issue I have.
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Slow Down!
