[TexasRoadkill]

I happen to be driving through north-west Arkansas a couple of days ago and was saddened by all the quaint small towns where nearly every store front in their oldtown was boarded up.


This is not only in Arkansas, Texas has the same problem. It is such a shame to see beautiful old city centers turning into ghost towns.


Is there any state-wide movement to bring life back into these old towns? They may never be the hub of everyday shopping but I have seen some small towns convert their oldtowns into community gather places with restaurants, clubs, galleries, etc.


I am a giant supporter of "buy local" and supporting small businesses, what can we all do to help bring these old towns back?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill

I happen to be driving through north-west Arkansas a couple of days ago and was saddened by all the quaint small towns where nearly every store front in their oldtown was boarded up.


This is not only in Arkansas, Texas has the same problem. It is such a shame to see beautiful old city centers turning into ghost towns.


Is there any state-wide movement to bring life back into these old towns? They may never be the hub of everyday shopping but I have seen some small towns convert their oldtowns into community gather places with restaurants, clubs, galleries, etc.


I am a giant supporter of "buy local" and supporting small businesses, what can we all do to help bring these old towns back?

do you think you can remember any of those small towns? Most of the small towns around NWA are similar to what they were years ago. Yes, there are some boarded up store fronts, but for the most part, life is good in this area, small towns or urban areas. You can always see business lacking in any small town anywhere, as people often move to areas where there are jobs.

[Hollynla]

Where were you? I live in a small town and am surrounded by small towns and have not seen this.

[sub]

Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill

I happen to be driving through north-west Arkansas a couple of days ago and was saddened by all the quaint small towns where nearly every store front in their oldtown was boarded up.


This is not only in Arkansas, Texas has the same problem. It is such a shame to see beautiful old city centers turning into ghost towns.


Is there any state-wide movement to bring life back into these old towns? They may never be the hub of everyday shopping but I have seen some small towns convert their oldtowns into community gather places with restaurants, clubs, galleries, etc.


I am a giant supporter of "buy local" and supporting small businesses, what can we all do to help bring these old towns back?

For Arkansas, this has been going on for 30-40 years. Especially since around the early 90's.
Everything went Walmart/national chains, and downtowns have slowly been emptying. Some places have recovered some of the damage by going touristy or having some nightlife type of places, but none of it is like it was when I was a kid.

When people on this forum talk about northwest Arkansas, they're primarily thinking of the faster growing and heavily populated places from around Fayetteville on up to Bella Vista. That's a whole different world from much of the rest of Arkansas, save for places like Little Rock or whatever.
Perhaps you were in more rural areas or places outside that corridor.

[DougStark]

Like someone else said, it's a nationwide issue/problem. It's happening all over small-town America, especially in the middle of the country, far from the big population centers.

The US has a declining birth rate (it's less than 2 per couple now--like western Europe.) This is one of the reasons the business community is in no hurry to build Trump's wall on the southern border. Some small towns have had their entire make-up and culture changed very quickly by the immigrant community (often illegal immigrants.)

I was recently going through Trinidad Colorado (far southern CO on the border with NM.) Their downtown was partially vibrant, but with a substantial portion of the unique, old brick store front buildings unoccupied--sad... It appears that town has benefited from Colorado's legalization of MJ. I saw numerous new stores and growing operations based on the MJ industry. (I have no opinion on the pros/cons of that issue...I don't use the stuff.)

[explorearkansas]

The only small towns I have seen not in downtown decline are those where the town govt takes action to motivate businesses to invest. TIFF districts are one method used. I have seen this in action in Illinois, Wisc, AR, KY and TN. From our 1st trip to AR I spoke of this very issue as related to the town of Bull Shoals. I found it difficult to understand the run down nature of that prime vacation destination.

[Boompa]

SLAVE MART happened. They drove every single store out of business. Drug Stores, Groceries, Butcher Stores, Hardware, you name it. To save 26 cents they took out the owner operators and replaced them with disgruntled, underpaid employees. Imagine the day when the WALMART is gone. Some cities raise minimum wages or require health care in order to keep them out. It works

[Hollynla]

I think my definition of a 'small town" is not the same as some of the other posters. A small town does not have a wal mart or a big box store.

[Sarahsez]

I consider northwest Arkansas to be from Fort Smith to Little Rock and up to the Missouri state line.

Wal-Mart probably took out some of the businesses, but I don't think they took all of them. The towns have been drying up with the loss of the factories and some of the farming too. As much as I enjoy restaurants, clubs and galleries, I don't think the locals would support them at the higher price points they need to survive.

The western part of Arkansas is beautiful. I remember it used to be advertised as more of a tourist destination. I don't see that much anymore. It's more of a pass through on the way to some place else.

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by Boompa

SLAVE MART happened. They drove every single store out of business. Drug Stores, Groceries, Butcher Stores, Hardware, you name it. To save 26 cents they took out the owner operators and replaced them with disgruntled, underpaid employees. Imagine the day when the WALMART is gone. Some cities raise minimum wages or require health care in order to keep them out. It works

OK. Walmart has been demonized for decades now. I think it's time to switch gears and start picking on the behemoth called Amazon. At least Walmart employs local citizens and pays property/business taxes on their brick and mortar stores---Amazon does not.