Ft. Smith compared to Fayetteville/Springdale (Fort Smith, Rogers: 2013, new home, transfer)

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by Teddy52

I believe the Passion Play went broke and is closed.

I haven't been to NWA since 1990 so I can only give out info of NWA from back in the Day.....

So Dog Patch USA and the Passion Play are closed what about the Cave that they had ?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Teddy52

I believe the Passion Play went broke and is closed.

I think they got enough funding last year to keep it going, but I could be wrong. I know there was a push in that direction.

[Teddy52]

they got the funding re-opened and then closed again.

[Teddy52]

I was wrong !!!!!!!!!!!

They are selling tickets for 2014

[ArkansasTgirl]

Originally Posted by nmnita

OK, here is my take on this: I see a bit difference in the two areas, we researched Ft Smith and the Wash and Benton counties before we decided where to call home almost 6 years ago. Ft Smith leaned more toward, what I think of as Bible Belt than NWA. For us that wasn't what we wanted, but for some it is a good match. The town isn't growing and just didn't offer enough of what we wanted. Maybe a good word would be lack of energy, I don't know how else to word it.

I will say, when talking about true conservative (voting records that is) I don't think NWA is more liberal. Benton county is solid Republican and pretty darn conservative, but Fayetteville is influenced by the university and like most university towns does lean slightly more liberal.

Yes, ES would be considered the hippy center of AR.

Certainly whether liberal or conservative, the Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville area is more diverse than Ft Smith and has more to offer those who want to stay busy...

Nita

But Fort Smith has grown, when I was out on Chaffee Crossing a couple of months ago and I was surprised at how much has been built already. I thought the metal place would just be a small shop since it was only supposed to employ about 40 but it is actually a fairly large warehouse. They also built the road all the way out to 71 which should save a lot of people time and I was also surprised there were some apartments going in as well as houses. They have also been putting sidewalks in all over the place in the older neigborhoods lately. I don't understand how Fort Smith is not growing.

I can't wait till the mall gets finished in Barling, to me the idea of a mall in Barling is a little bit surreal. I could see Barling growing at a much faster rate than Fort Smith in the future though.

Eureka Springs is OK, I didn't see any sterotypical hippys but I did see a couple of redneck looking guys holding hands. I still vote for Wakarusa (Mullberry Mountain?) as the hippy capital in terms of people dropping acid and walking around barefoot, ES might be the gay capital.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFeller

But Fort Smith has grown, when I was out on Chaffee Crossing a couple of months ago and I was surprised at how much has been built already. I thought the metal place would just be a small shop since it was only supposed to employ about 40 but it is actually a fairly large warehouse. They also built the road all the way out to 71 which should save a lot of people time and I was also surprised there were some apartments going in as well as houses. They have also been putting sidewalks in all over the place in the older neigborhoods lately. I don't understand how Fort Smith is not growing.

I can't wait till the mall gets finished in Barling, to me the idea of a mall in Barling is a little bit surreal. I could see Barling growing at a much faster rate than Fort Smith in the future though.

Eureka Springs is OK, I didn't see any sterotypical hippys but I did see a couple of redneck looking guys holding hands. I still vote for Wakarusa (Mullberry Mountain?) as the hippy capital in terms of people dropping acid and walking around barefoot, ES might be the gay capital.

I refer to or agree with some who think ES is the hippy capitol, mainly because it is the most liberal part of NWA, maybe all of AR. At least the towns and cities people have heard about. Yes, it certainly is the most gay friendly town. I guess you really can't pin point the "most" anyplace, this is just my opinion, not fact.

As for growth, FT Smith might be growing some, but again, compared to NWA from Fayetteville north it is pretty dead. This is not a put down, just the way it is. Heck what do either of us know about the future? Nothing!!! I guess Ft Smith has grown some, less than 1% per year in the past 14 years, not very much, compared to the rest of the area.

[ArkansasTgirl]

Originally Posted by nmnita

As for growth, FT Smith might be growing some, but again, compared to NWA from Fayetteville north it is pretty dead. This is not a put down, just the way it is. Heck what do either of us know about the future? Nothing!!! I guess Ft Smith has grown some, less than 1% per year in the past 14 years, not very much, compared to the rest of the area.

It went from 80 to 86 thousand according to the census, I don't feel like checking your math. I've heard projections it will hit 100,000 in 2035.
I can see Barling growing a lot more than Fort Smith, supposedly the mall will increase tax revenue by 300-400% (there isn't currently much in Barling in terms of businesses right now), I'm eager to see how that turns out. So far I've only seen a lot of dumptrucks going back and forth which isn't very exiting but I take it as a good sign.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFeller

It went from 80 to 86 thousand according to the census, I don't feel like checking your math. I've heard projections it will hit 100,000 in 2035.
I can see Barling growing a lot more than Fort Smith, supposedly the mall will increase tax revenue by 300-400% (there isn't currently much in Barling in terms of businesses right now), I'm eager to see how that turns out. So far I've only seen a lot of dumptrucks going back and forth which isn't very exiting but I take it as a good sign.

you are right, I was looking at the growth from 2010 to 2012, not 2000 to 2012.

[ArkansasTgirl]

Saw this in the Fort Smith paper today looks like they had some kind of a gay rally in Van Buren. Maybe they do have a pride rally in Fort Smith I dunno.
Monday Matters: Fort Smith Equality Group Offers Support, Awareness | The Times Record

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by cy_flembeck

I am curious about the discernible differences between the Ft. Smith area and the Fayetteville/Springdale area.

I am aware that the WalMart influence is in the Northern part of that corridor.

Since I have never been to either, feel free to discuss anything.

Which area has more services, better quality of life, access to outdoors activities, affordable housing, etc.

My girlfriend may be moving to the area in late Spring so safety is a bit of a concern as well.

Thanks

There is a huge difference between Fort Smith and the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville area. They are different types of places.

Fort Smith is a very old, historic city, and has historically grown because of industry and is still a very industrial and blue collar. The place really does have a very strong blue culture. It has a historic and sizable urban core compared to even Fayetteville, which is the largest city on the north end of the corridor you're asking about. There's definitely going to be more crime because, well, it's an old industrial city. I'm not sure if there's really a ghetto, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's a ghetto area. Fort Smith also has a large black population, which none of the other cities do. Fort Smith is 65% white and 19% of its residents over 25 are college graduates or higher. That's low and typical of the sort of place Fort Smith is. Fort Smith does, however, have all of your typical suburban retail and restaurants, and I would imagine they have a lot of great local restaurants as well.

Fayetteville may be relatively diverse, as it is a college town and also sort of plays the role of "the city" for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville area, but it's still 80% white. Over 42% of Fayetteville' residents over 25 are college graduates or higher. That's higher than average. Fayetteville, like I said, is a college town. The University of Arkansas has something like 25,000 students. But because it's in a metro area without a major city, Fayetteville also sort of serves as "the city" for the area. A lot of black people/families and homosexuals are pointed toward Fayetteville when inquiring about moving to the area because it's considered the more liberal town in the area, and socially is absolutely more liberal than Fort Smith. I'm not sure Fayetteville's restaurants are all that much better quality than what you can find in Fort Smith, but Fayetteville certainly has the edge on the type of places you would typically find in college towns and trendy urban areas of larger cities. Fort Smith may have an edge on dive-y and comfort food type places.

Spread amongst all of the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville, especially along 540, you'll find all of the typical suburban chains. Some of the more upscale are around Pinnacle Hills Promenade shopping center in Rogers. Pinnacle Hills is basically the second mall of the area, but is not a traditional indoor mall.

Before I go on, I want to say that Fort is a typical large town/small city in that it is by far the largest city in its metro area and has a traditional urban core. The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville area is not a typical metro area and has 4 small-town downtowns with Fayetteville's being the most significant due to the nearby university. Other than the small town cores, most of each of these cities is suburban just like the suburbs of major metro areas. Bentonville or Rogers would be the next best small town, and Bentonville probably has the edge because its the county seat and because of the Crystal Bridges art museum. Springdale's downtown is physically there and decent sized, but I would imagine it lag quite behind the others because of Springdale's demographics and the fact it's not a county seat. Country singer Joe Nichols said it best when he described where he was from, and that was that the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville area is like the suburbs without a central city.

Springdale is the most blue-collar and working-class of all of the towns in that area, and the second largest after Fayetteville, but only by a population difference of a few thousand. Still, Springdale is quite suburban and there are new home developments. Springdale is 35% Hispanic.

Rogers is significantly smaller than Springdale, at just under 60,000 and is 30% Hispanic. Bentonville is smaller yet, at just under 40,000 and is 9% Hispanic and 6% Asian. Rogers and Bentonville are the more middle-class family-oriented area, kind of the suburbs of the suburbs if you will. Again, the Pinnacle Hills Promenade, the other major shopping center of the area is in Rogers, and I do believe it's more upscale than the NWA Mall, which is in Fayetteville and always has been as far as I know.

All that said, this is coming from somebody who has had a strong interest in the area for a long time but isn't from the area. I believe everything I've said is very accurate, but if I got anything wrong hopefully somebody will correct me. If not, maybe somebody will expand on some of what I've said. I haven't been to Fort Smith, Fayetteville, or Springdale in many years, but was recently in Bentonville, Rogers, and nearby Eureka Springs.

-MOKAN