Little Rock, a review. (Mountain Home, Fargo: apartments, hotel, income)

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by strumpeace

No, they're not. Louisville's population is inflated because of city-county consolidation. The population of Louisville proper was 256,231 at the 2000 Census. The population of Memphis proper was 650,100 at that same time. (In fact, the population of Louisville proper is really not all that much bigger than Little Rock. And Louisville proper has shrunk dramatically over the last few decades; that, in part, necessitated the city-county consolidation.)

If you want to use the consolidated city-county population for Louisville-Jefferson Co., then you have to do the same for Memphis-Shelby Co. That's what we commonfolk call 'apples to apples'. The 2000 population for all of Jefferson Co. was 693,604, while the 2000 population for all of Shelby Co. was 897,472.

There's a reason why Louisville's population always has an * beside it whenever it's listed.

Get your facts straight.

Oh, and gosh, I've surprised myself by looking at the numbers. If Louisville proper only has 256k, and the county total is 693k, that would mean that only 37 percent of the county's residents reside in the city proper. That would make Louisville one of the most sprawling cities in the US. Yuck. Memphis and LR are much, much more compact.

Facts will get you everytime.

WRONG again my friend. Shelby County is TWICE as big in SQUARE MILEAGE, so comparing it to Jefferson County is NOT apples to apples.

You can't look at Louisville's old city population as it was only 68 square miles, about the geographic area of one small fraction of memphis.

"Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the most populous county in Kentucky and is more than twice as populous as the second most populous, Fayette. It was formed in 1780. As of 2008, the population estimate recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 713,460"

Shelby County, TN (2005)Population 909,035

Shelby County, Tennessee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jefferson County, Kentucky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shelby County, TN 784 square miles

Jefferson County, KY 399 square miles

So what we have is the fact that Louisville fits almost the same population as memphis in HALF the area. Who is sprawling now?



And as of TODAY, Memphis is 50,000 people larger than Louisville in its MSA, which is the BEST comparison of cities. For all practical purposes, these cities are virtually identical in size. Little Rock is so much smaller, it is not comprable.


40 Jacksonville, FL MSA First Coast FL 01,300,823
41 Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA The Mid-South TN-MS-AR 01,280,533
42 Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN MSA Kentuckiana KY-IN 01,233,735
43 Richmond, VA MSA Richmond-Petersburg VA 01,212,977
44 Oklahoma City, OK MSA OKC Metro, Greater OKC OK 01,192,989



78 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR MSA 666,401

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_o...tistical_Areas

(I am sourcing Wikipedia but their source is ultimately the US Census; Wiki just presents the data in an easier to read format.

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

I think my only comments on this review is that it helps to understand some context around Little Rock. Just 10-15 years ago, the area between the Capital and what is now the Clinton Presidential Library was dicey at best, downright dangerous at worst. It's likely if stx had done this same review 10-15 years ago, he would not have made it out of what is now the RiverMarket with his wallet. 10-15 years ago, Argenta was still called Dogtown (the nickname it earned years earlier by being the dumping ground for stray dogs from the southside of the river!) The point being that the turn around this city has experienced is tremendous.

We DO have professional sports: the Arkansas Travelers (TX league baseball champs) who of course stx would not have seen because it's winter. If you want to count them there are also the Twisters of AFL2 but again, their season is over. Alltel usually averages at least 1 event per week (I know because they won't stop spamming me about every single stupid little event they have). I'm not sure why stx made it a point to say we don't have professional sports teams when Dickey Stephens Park is pretty obvious and easy to find for someone who drove all over the area. Guess he missed that one...

Wrong. I saw them. Would anyone really consider those "professional sports?" You are using a technicallity here. LR lacks REAL pro sports...but so do many other cities that are cool like Austin, Las Vegas, and Louisville.

[stx12499]

Originally Posted by bchris02

I wasn't actually comparing Little Rock traffic to Houston traffic. There is no comparison. There is a comparison however in terms of actual mileage from the farthest suburbs to downtown. My point is the sprawl that Little Rock has is appalling for a city its size. For example, its 25 miles from Benton to downtown Little Rock. Its only 31 miles, not much farther at all, from the Woodlands to downtown Houston. The difference is Houston's sprawl is very dense, while Little Rock's is very low density, exurban development.



Be careful what you wish for. In doing this, they would probably build McMansion cul-de-sac subdivisions similar to those out in West Little Rock. What needs to be built is more affordable urban style living. The condos downtown are nice, but you have to be rich to live in them. Downtown needs some mid-range apartment options.

EXACTLY. Your posts are the most well researched and well thought out. Other people are posting based on technicalities that stretch the truth.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by stx12499

Wrong. I saw them. Would anyone really consider those "professional sports?" You are using a technicallity here. LR lacks REAL pro sports...but so do many other cities that are cool like Austin, Las Vegas, and Louisville.

It's a technicality. The Travelers are professional, just not major league. Same is true of the Bats.

[iColt1]

hey i live in AR how can you not find the capitol fascinating? it's exactly 1/4 of the White House. my opinion of LR: very rude drivers. but i love their Krispy Kreme!!!

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by iColt1

hey i live in AR how can you not find the capitol fascinating? it's exactly 1/4 of the White House. my opinion of LR: very rude drivers. but i love their Krispy Kreme!!!

This says more about Little Rock than a hundred analytical posts could. In real urban areas people don't get that excited about run of the mill chains like Krispy Kreme, the Starbucks of donuts.

[ridicter]

Originally Posted by bchris02

This says more about Little Rock than a hundred analytical posts could. In real urban areas people don't get that excited about run of the mill chains like Krispy Kreme, the Starbucks of donuts.

Hahaha.

I know. I have a love/hate relationship with this state.

[strumpeace]

The person who wrote about Krispy Kreme lives in Mountain Home, not Little Rock. Thus, it says absolutely nothing about Little Rock. It might say something about Mountain Home. Most definitely, it says something about the poster -- mainly that he/she likes Krispy Kreme.

If you lived in Mountain Home, you might get excited about Krispy Kreme, too.

BTW, Krispy Kreme has a cult-like following all over the country. Their openings in cities much larger than Little Rock have drawn massive crowds.

Why are people so willing to insult their own home? I just don't get it. I'm not a homer by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, I'm not even from Arkansas. But I can't imagine being so down on the place I live. LR has some great things going for it. A person wouldn't know it by reading some of your posts, though. Fix it if there's something wrong with it. Don't whine on the internet. That makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution.

ETA -- I just did a quick Google image search and found photos of masses of people at Krispy Kreme openings in Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, and Sydney. What does that say about those places? The Boston location closed a couple of years ago, and the local newspapers lamented its closing.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by bchris02

This says more about Little Rock than a hundred analytical posts could. In real urban areas people don't get that excited about run of the mill chains like Krispy Kreme, the Starbucks of donuts.

Then why is there seemingly a Dunkin' Donuts on every corner in NYC?

[ridicter]

Strum, no ill intent meant here. I agree that critique can go overboard, but I'm more wary of those who are afraid of it, and those who have an uninquisitive zealotry of the state (I'm not suggesting anyone here).

That said, I think most of us here have an affinity for Arkansas, even if we lament certain aspects of it.