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Some days I couldn't do anything but dream of escaping and other days I want to just grit my teeth and fight the attitudes of those who oppose me. At the end of the day, screw those who disagree with me.
P.S. I can hardly see Arkansas staying natural if everyone drives cars that gets 10 miles to the gallon or if we get this polluting coal fired plant......
Wow.......so much for "Live and let live".
When you've paid rising utlity bills for 5 years, let's see how you feel about coal for electricity.
Of course everyone has different expectations, but maybe you need to realize some of us have the expectations of AR staying just what it is with some improvements. Maybe you didn't get what I was saying. Progress is a must, the amount is a different story. I am not saying you don't have a right to want changes, I am saying I have the right to want to see AR stay AR. Everyplace needs to have a personality, not every state will become another CA (thank God) or NY or whatever, nor should it. What would our country be like if it fit into a little mold?
As for "love it or leave it" I disagree, many leave for that reason, which is fine. Why would you say this is hypocritical? In fact we did leave NM for that very reason, well it was one reason. If you think change is hard to come by here, move to a few other states.
Knowing your neighbors, who ever said only in AR can you know your neighbors? I made the comment, this is one thing I love about AR. We have lived other places where we have known our neighbors and yes, had block parties monthly, but it isn't as common in big cities. You are talking about a condo building which is totally different than a neighborhood of individual lots.
Have I been to Atlanta? Except for flying in and out, no, not sinice I was a little girl but I am not sure this has anything to do with what we are talking about.
I love my adopted state, we love being in the country so to speak, but 15 minutes from the city life (or sorta city) we are accostom to having. We feel like we are living in the country more here than we did in NM but are much closer to civiliazation than we were there. And by the way, we knew everyone on our block and had parties quite often. Just thought I would throw that in.
Nita
I completely realize that there some people such as yourself that want Arkansas to stay the same. I am fine with that. I for one think the majority of Arkansas looks like most of the small towns you travel through in Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. There is some pretty scenery, but it looks a lot of the same to me.
I certainly respect your right to want a more of rural city. As I said, there are always going to be rural areas in Arkansas so I don't think you have much to worry about.
I brought up Georgia to emphasize that you can have a large city in a state and still have rural cities in the rest of the state with a different feel. Most people in Georgia know that there are two different Georgias. There is Atlanta and then there is the rest of the state. There is no reason that we can't have the same thing here.
I never said change was hard to come by here. In fact, that is one of the things that I like about Arkansas. Change is not that hard to come by here. This is the only state that I have ever lived in where you can change laws in quick order. Fortunately for me, I have met a lot of people who want the same things that I want and we are working on constuctive change.
I worked on the committee to get the Olympics to come to Atlanta and the lottery committee. Those two things made a huge difference in Georgia. We just got the lottery here in Arkansas. We are going in the right direction. What we are working on now is trying to improve the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. We want to expand the University to give it more of a presence in Little Rock. This will create more pedestrian traffic in the city, which is a good thing.
Not all large cities are the same. Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta are bad examples of how a city should evolve. They are too dependent on vehicles and suburbs, which creates too much traffic and sprawl. Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and New York are better models. Little Rock has a lot of potential but it needs to evolve with a plan so it does not end up like Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Also having an educated workforce is the foundation for good growth. We are trying to improve the technology programs at the universities to give technology based corporations a reason to relocate here. These, in my opinion, are good changes to Arkansas and will have little affect on you, other than to give you another reason to be proud of your adopted state.
I completely realize that there some people such as yourself that want Arkansas to stay the same. I am fine with that. I for one think the majority of Arkansas looks like most of the small towns you travel through in Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. There is some pretty scenery, but it looks a lot of the same to me.
I certainly respect your right to want a more of rural city. As I said, there are always going to be rural areas in Arkansas so I don't think you have much to worry about.
I brought up Georgia to emphasize that you can have a large city in a state and still have rural cities in the rest of the state with a different feel. Most people in Georgia know that there are two different Georgias. There is Atlanta and then there is the rest of the state. There is no reason that we can't have the same thing here.
I never said change was hard to come by here. In fact, that is one of the things that I like about Arkansas. Change is not that hard to come by here. This is the only state that I have ever lived in where you can change laws in quick order. Fortunately for me, I have met a lot of people who want the same things that I want and we are working on constuctive change.
I worked on the committee to get the Olympics to come to Atlanta and the lottery committee. Those two things made a huge difference in Georgia. We just got the lottery here in Arkansas. We are going in the right direction. What we are working on now is trying to improve the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. We want to expand the University to give it more of a presence in Little Rock. This will create more pedestrian traffic in the city, which is a good thing.
Not all large cities are the same. Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta are bad examples of how a city should evolve. They are too dependent on vehicles and suburbs, which creates too much traffic and sprawl. Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and New York are better models. Little Rock has a lot of potential but it needs to evolve with a plan so it does not end up like Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Also having an educated workforce is the foundation for good growth. We are trying to improve the technology programs at the universities to give technology based corporations a reason to relocate here. These, in my opinion, are good changes to Arkansas and will have little affect on you, other than to give you another reason to be proud of your adopted state.
I see what Arkansas can be.
I don't think Nita wants the state to stay the same, and that certainly wasn't what I was saying, either. Even if we did, we'd not prevail, because it's the nature of things to evolve.
It's not change that is bad. But we don't need to change to be more like other states. Quite often, people move here and they miss things about the places they lived before. We ought to do this, we ought to do that. And people who've lived here there whole lives, say why? It's an honest question. And it's an opening to a dialogue. Because there may be reasons that things are the way they are. There were choices made previously that were made because of various circumstances, and newcomers often don't know the history behind certain policies. Maybe that history is less relevant now, and the policies need to be changed. But there should be communication, going BOTH ways, to make sure that the changes are good for everyone involved.
We shouldn't change things because someone from another state is used to things being done a different way, nor should we refuse to change just because we are used to the ways things are done. We should change because we've learned a better way, and the change will benefit us.
And the U of A in Little Rock may need to be developed more, but remember, it's a satellite campus, the University home campus is in Fayetteville.
We shouldn't change things because someone from another state is used to things being done a different way, nor should we refuse to change just because we are used to the ways things are done. We should change because we've learned a better way, and the change will benefit us.
And the U of A in Little Rock may need to be developed more, but remember, it's a satellite campus, the University home campus is in Fayetteville.[/quote]
I agree with the first part. The second part brings up a very important point, which is a growth problem in Arkansas. I love Fayetteville and it has experienced the most growth here in Arkansas, but the growth is unsustainable because of the way the city and surrounding cities are set up. The infrastructure and the highway system is just not condusive for a lot of expansion without a tremendous amount of traffic and sprawl. I was very sad to see the old mayor leave. I think he was going in the right direction.
The state is going to have to put more money in UALR to encourage growth there. To me it seems that people are hung up on UA. It seems that there whole identity is wrapped up in razorback sports. They seem more concerned about sports teams than growth and education. It is not unique to Arkansas. Oklahoma is equally fanatical about their college sports teams.
The funniest thing to me since coming to Arkansas is that people will accept outsiders more quickly if they will accept and be a fan of the razorbacks. It is almost like trying to convert people. I can't count the amount of times that people have said "you have to go to a Razorback game." I am not a big college sports fan, but I don't mind going to sporting events. The problem is that you can't put all of your education money into one University at the exclusion of others. Maybe with the lottery they will have more money to put into Little Rock.
I agree with the first part. The second part brings up a very important point, which is a growth problem in Arkansas. I love Fayetteville and it has experienced the most growth here in Arkansas, but the growth is unsustainable because of the way the city and surrounding cities are set up. The infrastructure and the highway system is just not condusive for a lot of expansion without a tremendous amount of traffic and sprawl. I was very sad to see the old mayor leave. I think he was going in the right direction.
The state is going to have to put more money in UALR to encourage growth there. To me it seems that people are hung up on UA. It seems that there whole identity is wrapped up in razorback sports. They seem more concerned about sports teams than growth and education. It is not unique to Arkansas. Oklahoma is equally fanatical about their college sports teams.
The funniest thing to me since coming to Arkansas is that people will accept outsiders more quickly if they will accept and be a fan of the razorbacks. It is almost like trying to convert people. I can't count the amount of times that people have said "you have to go to a Razorback game." I am not a big college sports fan, but I don't mind going to sporting events. The problem is that you can't put all of your education money into one University at the exclusion of others. Maybe with the lottery they will have more money to put into Little Rock.
The University of Arkansas is one University. Whether you attend classes in Fayetteville, Little Rock or Pine Bluff. It's one university. With its home campus in Fayetteville and satellite campuses scattered around the state. And there is a certain amount of pride that people in Northwest Arkansas have that they built the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. It's a pride that goes beyond the sports aspects. When the bids came up for the U of A, people just assumed that the University would go to Little Rock. But the people in Fayetteville and the surrounding areas worked together to put together a superior bid, and at a time when the Northwest corner didn't have much wealth, and was mostly small farms and orchards. It's like I said, there are reasons why certain things are the way they are, a history to the choices, and it makes a difference, sometimes.
When you've paid rising utlity bills for 5 years, let's see how you feel about coal for electricity.
The rates will go up with or without the coal plant.
Would it not be better to try to get some alternative energy in the state rather than pollute our air, rivers, etc. all so OTHER states will have cheaper energy. You are aware that the coal plant would NOT be providing power to Arkansas?
Why pollute OUR air so other states can have cheap electricity??
Quote:
Originally Posted by nmnita
AR isn't perfect, no place is. Yes, there are things I would like to see change, I am hoping in my life this will happen, but I also want to keep the state from becoming just another over-populated, traffic back up, over regulated place on earth.
Nita
Nita
I think it's possible to have population growth without a lot of traffic.
I personally don't want to live in a HUGE city but I'd love to see the Little Rock/NLR area grow to around 300-400 thousand with some nice public transit, bike lanes, etc but that's all a pipe dream.
I can just keep filling up my tank and fouling up the air.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotair2
Not all large cities are the same. Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta are bad examples of how a city should evolve. They are too dependent on vehicles and suburbs, which creates too much traffic and sprawl. Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and New York are better models. Little Rock has a lot of potential but it needs to evolve with a plan so it does not end up like Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Also having an educated workforce is the foundation for good growth. We are trying to improve the technology programs at the universities to give technology based corporations a reason to relocate here. These, in my opinion, are good changes to Arkansas and will have little affect on you, other than to give you another reason to be proud of your adopted state.
The University of Arkansas is one University. Whether you attend classes in Fayetteville, Little Rock or Pine Bluff. It's one university. With its home campus in Fayetteville and satellite campuses scattered around the state. And there is a certain amount of pride that people in Northwest Arkansas have that they built the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. It's a pride that goes beyond the sports aspects. When the bids came up for the U of A, people just assumed that the University would go to Little Rock. But the people in Fayetteville and the surrounding areas worked together to put together a superior bid, and at a time when the Northwest corner didn't have much wealth, and was mostly small farms and orchards. It's like I said, there are reasons why certain things are the way they are, a history to the choices, and it makes a difference, sometimes.
I think Fayetteville is a great place for U of A. I am not advocating changing the location. What I am saying is that in terms of growth, Fayetteville will hit a wall with sprawl and traffic. Most southern states have their largest universities located outside of their capital. It is not unusual. I would be surprised if it were different here; however, that does not mean that you can't improve upon UALR. I know they are doing more with the medical school program there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotair2 Not all large cities are the same. Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta are bad examples of how a city should evolve. They are too dependent on vehicles and suburbs, which creates too much traffic and sprawl. Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and New York are better models. Little Rock has a lot of potential but it needs to evolve with a plan so it does not end up like Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Also having an educated workforce is the foundation for good growth. We are trying to improve the technology programs at the universities to give technology based corporations a reason to relocate here. These, in my opinion, are good changes to Arkansas and will have little affect on you, other than to give you another reason to be proud of your adopted state.
We shouldn't change things because someone from another state is used to things being done a different way, nor should we refuse to change just because we are used to the ways things are done. We should change because we've learned a better way, and the change will benefit us.
And the U of A in Little Rock may need to be developed more, but remember, it's a satellite campus, the University home campus is in Fayetteville.
I agree with the first part. The second part brings up a very important point, which is a growth problem in Arkansas. I love Fayetteville and it has experienced the most growth here in Arkansas, but the growth is unsustainable because of the way the city and surrounding cities are set up. The infrastructure and the highway system is just not condusive for a lot of expansion without a tremendous amount of traffic and sprawl. I was very sad to see the old mayor leave. I think he was going in the right direction.
The state is going to have to put more money in UALR to encourage growth there. To me it seems that people are hung up on UA. It seems that there whole identity is wrapped up in razorback sports. They seem more concerned about sports teams than growth and education. It is not unique to Arkansas. Oklahoma is equally fanatical about their college sports teams.
The funniest thing to me since coming to Arkansas is that people will accept outsiders more quickly if they will accept and be a fan of the razorbacks. It is almost like trying to convert people. I can't count the amount of times that people have said "you have to go to a Razorback game." I am not a big college sports fan, but I don't mind going to sporting events. The problem is that you can't put all of your education money into one University at the exclusion of others. Maybe with the lottery they will have more money to put into Little Rock.[/quote]
you may not be a sports fan, not everyone is, and yes, you are right, if you are a razorback supporter you are embraced but this is true in any state, not just OK or AR or Texas. Go to Ca and let people their know you are a Trojan, UCLA or UC fan or tell them you support the Dodgers or Lakers all they way. they will love you. As for the universities, football brings in money. I don't think a chess tournament would do much to help the finances at any university.
As for change, I think most of us agree, change is good if we have learned the "OLD WAY" doesn't work, but take it slowly and don't come from somewhere else, I don't care where and decide you will be the one to make these changes.
"don't come from somewhere else, I don't care where and decide you will be the one to make these changes."
Nita[/quote]
So now you are telling me what to do. I am sure you are nice lady, but I think I will decide what I can and can't do.
Believe it or not. People have paid me a lot of money to do that very thing! This state is a fairly poor state. It has been poor for a very long time. Obviously, "the old ways" are not working.
There is no need to be defensive. I have not even made any real suggestions, but you have already tried to limit the possibilities. Be a little more open minded. First hear the suggestion before you say we can't do it.
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