Do Most Rural Arkansans Envy Little Rock? (Conway, Searcy: crime, house)

[magrack]

Do Most Rural Arkansans Envy Little Rock?

Bwwwwaaahhhaaaaa!

I can't speak for all rural Arkansans, in fact, I can speak for only one.

No.

What's to envy?

Too many people, living too close together.

The question just as easily could have been "Do people living in Little Rock wish they could move out of the city and embrace a more rural lifestyle"? or "Do most people living in LR envy New York City"?

The obvious answer is that each person has certain likes/dislikes and that there is no way to simply classify dislike of living in a large city as "envy"; wasted emotion, simply because anyone can move there if they wish.

In keeping with the childlike nature of the question, it's kind of like the relationship one might have with a distant cousin. You know, the one who smells bad and has some odd quirks. It's OK to visit because he has some neat toys, but you wouldn't want to live there.

I go to LR once a month, maybe twice, if there is a compelling reason to do so and take advantage of the amenities (the toys), but am always glad to leave and get back to my rural lifestyle.

[Stormcrow73]

It's all a matter of perspective. Growing up in Boone county I had much the same perception of LR as some of the folks here: just this crime ridden city far away (relative to my small perspective) that meant practically nothing to my life. Now I'm trying my darnedest to move there so I can get out of a REAL crime ridden, violent, detestable city on the east coast.

[jufrbo]

I don't live in Little Rock, or ever been to the south for that matter so maybe I have no business saying this, but i ran across this thread, The crime chart for LR show that the crime rate is twice that of Los Angeles, and three times that New York City,

[Sam I Am]

Again, again, again.....it is all in HOW the crimes are reported. Little Rock is very, very literal in their interpretation of the law and they show their stats as how the crime was reported rather than how it was adjudicated. A "kidnapping" may not be at all.....lets say Guy A and Girl A were fighting, in a bar. He "forces" her to leave with him. When it all comes out in the wash, he DID force her to leave with him but she doesn't want to press charges. The prosecuting attorney plea bargains it down. It goes on the books as a battery - but it was reported as a kidnapping, which is how LR reports it.

It's kind of hard to sort some of it out, but a murder is a murder no matter how you cut it, but many jurisdictions will put in for statistical purposes how it ended up in court. Maybe it ended up as an involuntary manslaughter in one jurisdiction, but Little Rock would report it as a homicide. It's a very thin line, but it makes all the difference in the world in how the stats come out.

Little Rock has consistently won some national and international awards for bringing their department into compliance with national standards. I won't tell you crime doesn't exist - it most certainly does - but let's also account for the fact that Little Rock/North Little Rock is the only large metropolis this state has to offer at this time. Although NWA will be huge in 10 years, right now the 250K or so people that the greater LR area has is the only large collection of people in the state. Regardless of demographics, for whatever reason there is a crime problem in Little Rock. I have a feeling it will get better with time, but the police departments have been notoriously lagging due to lack of funds for the last 30 years. Lots of municipalities have had that problem. But until the people of Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pulaski County are willing to put their money where their mouth is and vote in some new taxes or millage, it is what it is - you can only do what you can do with what you are given. And again, like every other city, Little Rock is having difficulty finding qualified candidates who want to work for what an officer makes and deal with what an officer has to deal with.

You may see some improvement if the mayor becomes more than a figurehead, which he has been for many years. You know what they say about it rolling downhill....but since the beginning of time, all the mayor has really done is hug babies - he's had no real authority. Although the current mayor of Little Rock is not one of my favorite people, it will be interesting to see how he handles his newfound authority should they get it all sorted out. Even though this may be a stepping stone to bigger and better things for him, he will have to at least talk a good game to get reelected. Should be interesting.

[rackensack]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

I won't tell you crime doesn't exist - it most certainly does - but let's also account for the fact that Little Rock/North Little Rock is the only large metropolis this state has to offer at this time. Although NWA will be huge in 10 years, right now the 250K or so people that the greater LR area has is the only large collection of people in the state.

Don't disagree with your main points, but would point out that by most definitions the greater LR area is definitely bigger than 250K (combined population of Pulaski, Saline, and Lonoke counties is 524,245 according to 2006 census estimates, while the Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA -- which includes Faulkner and Perry counties -- has 652,834). 260K is pretty close if you just combine the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, however.

NWA is rapidly closing the gap, though. Washington and Benton counties combined already have 382,566 according to the 2006 census estimates; if you limit it to the actual cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Rogers, that's still 216,038 -- not much short of the 260K in LR-NLR. Adding Bryant, Sherwood, Cabot, etc. would push LR up to close to 300K, which is still a significant lead over NWA, but I don't think it's really accurate to say that LR represents "the only large collection of people in the state".

There are plenty of economic and demographic challenges that LR has NWA doesn't, of course. And we have the same issue in the Atlanta area with the perception of the city as a violent place to live, when in fact most of the violence is concentrated in particular parts of the city; I've been here over 20 years now and have rarely been in a situation where I felt at all unsafe, despite working downtown for years and living inside the city limits for many more.

[Sam I Am]

Rack -

I guess where our figures differed was that I was simply including LR/NLR - not any or all of the outlying cities which are being sucked up. LR/NLR is about 260K or so, more or less. I surely wasn't combining the four major cities in NWA since F'ville and Bentonville are about 30 miles apart. I think your computations are more accurate, though, since sometimes it's hard in central Arkansas to see where one city boundary ends and another begins...you can't really distinguish Sherwood from North Little Rock or Bryant from Little Rock on a quick drive through. I was just being very literal about the combined population of LR/NLR within the actual city limits.

NWA is projected to be the most populated area of the state within the next 10 years. Are other people in the state envious of Little Rock? I'd say no offhand...I truly love being away from LR. The growth and spread is staggering for a lot of us. Are other people in the state envious of NWA? Oh, you betcha! I don't think those of us who have lived here all our lives ever anticipated seeing the F'ville area just go wild like it has in the past 10 years or so. Once agin, I missed the boat....surely do wish I had invested the peanuts into an old building in downtown F'ville years ago like my then know-it-all college student tried to encourage me. I'd be a happy camper - and a retired one, too!

BTW, rack, I can't rep you again for a while, but great post!

[rackensack]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

I surely wasn't combining the four major cities in NWA since F'ville and Bentonville are about 30 miles apart. I think your computations are more accurate, though, since sometimes it's hard in central Arkansas to see where one city boundary ends and another begins...you can't really distinguish Sherwood from North Little Rock or Bryant from Little Rock on a quick drive through.

Yeah, and the same is true for NWA -- it's really all one "city" from Greenland north to Bella Vista -- particularly if you drive it on US 71 instead of I-540. And it's about the same distance from Jacksonville to Bryant as from Fayetteville to Bentonville (if anything, it's slightly longer).

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

BTW, rack, I can't rep you again for a while, but great post!

Thanks for the positive feedback -- back atcha.

[cspradley]

Having grown up in the LR area, then living in Fayetteville and currently living in NYC. I see many sides. I like LR and have never had a problem there, I do have friends that have never been there (and they lived 20 minutes away!) because they think they will be shot. I like Fayetteville better just because it is soo pretty and has more of a laid back atmosphere. oh and in regard to Little rock being "nasty and ugly and smelly and violent" that is just how you look at it, maybe compared to a town like Hope it is, but compared to NYC Little rock is the cleanest place on earth and less stinky.

[JohnN]

I lived in Little Rock for 15 years, now I live in Searcy.
Little Rock is just too damned dangerous, full of crime.
I much prefer it here. It's that simple

[matto]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Rack -

I guess where our figures differed was that I was simply including LR/NLR - not any or all of the outlying cities which are being sucked up. LR/NLR is about 260K or so, more or less. I surely wasn't combining the four major cities in NWA since F'ville and Bentonville are about 30 miles apart. I think your computations are more accurate, though, since sometimes it's hard in central Arkansas to see where one city boundary ends and another begins...you can't really distinguish Sherwood from North Little Rock or Bryant from Little Rock on a quick drive through. I was just being very literal about the combined population of LR/NLR within the actual city limits.

NWA is projected to be the most populated area of the state within the next 10 years. Are other people in the state envious of Little Rock? I'd say no offhand...I truly love being away from LR. The growth and spread is staggering for a lot of us. Are other people in the state envious of NWA? Oh, you betcha! I don't think those of us who have lived here all our lives ever anticipated seeing the F'ville area just go wild like it has in the past 10 years or so. Once agin, I missed the boat....surely do wish I had invested the peanuts into an old building in downtown F'ville years ago like my then know-it-all college student tried to encourage me. I'd be a happy camper - and a retired one, too!

BTW, rack, I can't rep you again for a while, but great post!

Try 20 miles apart.