How does Fort Smith compare to Fayetteville/Bentonville? (Van Buren, Siloam Springs: crime rate, houses)

[LynnElm]

I am noticing housing prices seem lower at Fort Smith than the immediate area of Fayetteville and Bentonville. Would Fort Smith be comparable to the above towns for the great amenities they offer?

Siloam Springs?

Thank you.

[Take a History Class]

Originally Posted by LynnElm

I am noticing housing prices seem lower at Fort Smith than the immediate area of Fayetteville and Bentonville. Would Fort Smith be comparable to the above towns for the great amenities they offer?

Siloam Springs?

Thank you.

Ft. Smith is an old town, a river town, and a manufacturing town. The crime rate is higher (my theory is that all classic river towns are a little rough), and it's hotter in the summer. I personally wouldn't want to live there over other choices in NWA, but I've enjoyed visiting in the past and will do so again, I'm sure.

[gypsyjean]

Originally Posted by LynnElm

I am noticing housing prices seem lower at Fort Smith than the immediate area of Fayetteville and Bentonville. Would Fort Smith be comparable to the above towns for the great amenities they offer?

Siloam Springs?

Thank you.

I have been looking at housing both in the NWA and the Fort Smith area, and they are definitely cheaper in Fort Smith. I think if I do decide to buy down in the area, I would go to Van Buren which is a suburb. It seems to be nicer. Siloam Springs is a town I found that I love what they have to offer without being too incredibly big. Lower priced houses are selling so fast. Some on Realtor are posted and pending within hours.

I personally think NWA will offer more things like arts and such but I will be def interested in seeing what others have to say as I am in the same position as you.

[bawac34618]

Originally Posted by LynnElm

I am noticing housing prices seem lower at Fort Smith than the immediate area of Fayetteville and Bentonville. Would Fort Smith be comparable to the above towns for the great amenities they offer?

Siloam Springs?

Thank you.

Ft. Smith is a lot more conservative and is slower paced. It's more of a retirement town while NWA is about making money. Ft. Smith used to be a lot more prominent than it is today. The decline of manufacturing in this country hit the area hard.

[Rock Climber]

The areas are separate, and although not too far apart geographically, very different in a lot of other ways.

NWA has a large number of corporate jobs with big, worldwide companies. Northwest Arkansas cities are newer and so in many ways, better planned. There is much more wealth, more growth, and more forward-thinking people in general.

There is so much more culture in NWA than in Fort Smith that its barely worth comparing the two metros. NWA has the entertainment and culture and arts (including a major university campus) you'd expect to find in a metro nearer to 1 million people. Fort Smith is just a big old southwestern town, much more conservative, and slow-paced.

[sub]

Fort Smith is traditional Arkansas.
Fayetteville/Bentonville is transplant-heavy with a decent dose of traditional Arkansas still mixed in.

A quick check on Realtor suggests the gap in prices isn't necessarily huge, but Fort Smith is a bit better bargain.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Rock Climber

The areas are separate, and although not too far apart geographically, very different in a lot of other ways.

NWA has a large number of corporate jobs with big, worldwide companies. Northwest Arkansas cities are newer and so in many ways, better planned. There is much more wealth, more growth, and more forward-thinking people in general.

There is so much more culture in NWA than in Fort Smith that its barely worth comparing the two metros. NWA has the entertainment and culture and arts (including a major university campus) you'd expect to find in a metro nearer to 1 million people. Fort Smith is just a big old southwestern town, much more conservative, and slow-paced.

Fort Smith has more going on than you would think it would given the population. But it has a significant service area including a few decent sized towns in both Arkansas and Oklahoma. Obviously it now plays second fiddle to NW Arkansas but still does pretty well. And NW Arkansas is readily accessible to Ft. Smith

[LynnElm]

Thank you everyone, your responses have been helpful.

[jasonizhere]

Originally Posted by LynnElm

Thank you everyone, your responses have been helpful.

more negative reviews on sites where there are personal reviews of cities. It's also isolated and far from other major metros.

[locally47wine]

Fort Smith Native Here.

I grew up there and spent all of my formative years there along with about 3 years post-college there.

Pros of FS:

Cost of Living. It is definitely 15-20% cheaper to live in Fort Smith and it is a very good community. Very Conservative in their values so that may or may not be ideal for you. You can get most places in less than 15 minutes. The town also has a surprisingly large number of chain restaurants. Sports with younger kids are a very big deal and very fun to watch Northside/Southside go at it in football/basketball.

If you have a family and prefer the slower pace of life or are just not a social butterfly and don't mind commuting to events; then you'll save a lot of money living here. The Asian food and Hispanic Mexican cuisines here are really good. You'll be hard-pressed to find better Thai/Vietnamese/Lao food anywhere else for the town of its size.

Schools are okay depending on the side of town you're on, but I think the high schools both have their ups and downs. I think Northside is far more diverse and the school is great, but may lack some classes that Southside would have. Southside is less diverse, but I believe is continuing to evolve; they have more higher level courses. I don't think you can go wrong with either schools.

Utilities are fairly cheap EXCEPT Water. The city has not done a very good job of keeping up with EPA standards so water for a single person can/will run probably $50-100/month.

Cons of FS:

The lack of arts, culture, and a variety of things to do. You will likely find yourself in a funk of searching for activities come the weekend. The alternative for me was to always go up to Northwest Arkansas or Tulsa or Branson. You have 4 big towns in NWA including the immediate surroundings so there's always an event or festival; as oppose to in the River Valley, the surrounding towns aren't as active as they are up in NWA. Add to that if you're a fan of college athletics - Razorbacks fan.

The Arkansas Music Pavillion [AMP] (good amount of headliners for Arkansas) and the Walton Arts Center (legit Broadway plays) just adds more to the quality of life. The Civic Center in Fort Smith hardly has any events and they are hit or miss.

My Thoughts:

Nearly spending half of my life at both places, I find that people are more apt to come to NWA for things to do - shop, eat, arts, entertainment than people from NWA going to Fort Smith. XNA is an expensive airport, but direct flights can be had to almost any large desired destination. They are bringing in more Low-Cost-Carriers as corporate travel has generally dominated the flying landscape, which of course caused for the inflated prices that residents have paid. Overall, the 3 tv news outlets are based here now and they used to be in Fort Smith. The money is in NWA and it may shift with I-49 to fruition in the next 10-30 years, but overall quality of life has been better here just because the jobs are here and you'll meet people from all over the country.