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Fayetteville - Springdale - Rogers Northwest Arkansas
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Old 05-26-2010, 11:15 AM
 
13 posts, read 31,875 times
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We are moving to NWA for my wife's job. She works for a company that sells items to Walmart. One of our concerns is that she will feel like she is always working, even out of the office, because of all the Walmart people living in such a small area. For instance, you go to your kids soccer game and you are surrounded by Walmart execs so you need to have your work face on. So my questions are:

1. Would it be better for our young family (We have 3 daughters ages 7, 5, and 3) to live in a town such as Fayetteville to avoid some of this, or does it not really matter. (we want good schools and close proximity to our kid's activities, so that's why we chose Bentonville or Fayetteville) We were looking at only Bentonville but got somewhat concerned that we'd be surrounded by work people.

2. To all those out there that are vendors, do you find this to be an issue for you or do you not really notice it?

With the above said, we are really excited about the move and this really is a small concern for us, but since this board has been so helpful in so many other ways I thought I'd ask the questions and see what everyone thinks. TIA!

 
Old 05-26-2010, 12:04 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
697 posts, read 1,769,061 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nwamover View Post
We are moving to NWA for my wife's job. She works for a company that sells items to Walmart. One of our concerns is that she will feel like she is always working, even out of the office, because of all the Walmart people living in such a small area. For instance, you go to your kids soccer game and you are surrounded by Walmart execs so you need to have your work face on. So my questions are:

1. Would it be better for our young family (We have 3 daughters ages 7, 5, and 3) to live in a town such as Fayetteville to avoid some of this, or does it not really matter. (we want good schools and close proximity to our kid's activities, so that's why we chose Bentonville or Fayetteville) We were looking at only Bentonville but got somewhat concerned that we'd be surrounded by work people.

2. To all those out there that are vendors, do you find this to be an issue for you or do you not really notice it?

With the above said, we are really excited about the move and this really is a small concern for us, but since this board has been so helpful in so many other ways I thought I'd ask the questions and see what everyone thinks. TIA!
I have a good friend that's a director or VP (can't remember her new title) for a section of Wal-Mart, and she's always meeting new people from work despite having worked there for over a decade. I don't think you would have a significant problem of constantly recognizing people from work, Wal-Mart (and it's vendors) employ a lot of people and odds are good that you won't actually have more than a few dozen people you actually interact with on a normal basis at work anyway. Another thing to consider is the rapid growth of the Rogers/Bentonville area (the towns run into each other with no gap in between anymore, so feel a bit like one town when driving around). Bentonville has gone from under 20,000 residents in 2000 to around 34,000 in 2007. Rogers went from just under 39,000 people in 2000 to 56,726 in 2008. So the population of the city area is around 92,000 people. That should be plenty to not have to see people from work all the time, and both Rogers and Bentonville have very nice neighborhoods (particularly the western edge of Rogers) and great school districts.

If you decide you'd like to live just a few miles south though, we'd love to have you in Fayetteville! We're proud of our school district, parks and trails, the Dickson street and downtown areas, and of course, the Walton Arts Center and the University of Arkansas, and I'm sure you'd enjoy them too.
 
Old 05-26-2010, 08:02 PM
 
99 posts, read 300,815 times
Reputation: 37
I'd refer to some of the other blogs to check out good places to live. You can really just tell from driving around which neighborhoods are the best.

There are TONS of Walmart employees and those who sells products to Walmart in the area - that is why this area exists. I'm from Rogers and attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and have lived in the area since it was basically just chicken farms so I can share a thing or two about the whole who knows who mentality.

1. The area is quite large now compared to its early years but word spreads quickly like a small town
2. Everyone and their mom seems to work for WalMart or a vendor but this seems to be a positive thing rather than a negative thing. People tend to enjoy networking and easily pick up dozens of friends right away. The Arkansas mentality still holds true in NWA despite all of the new transfers - it's a laid back type of lifestyle and unless you break the law in front of your boss you won't need to be too concerned. It's more of an old boy system outside the office. Golf with the boss, go out on the town with the co-workers, hold get-togethers on the back deck, etc.
3. Fayetteville is home to many new transfers without children but it's much much more rare to run into anybody you know from work in Fayetteville. If you want to be even more distant from work check out Springdale - that is the Tyson Chicken and Beef crowd for obvious reasons (well maybe not - it's the company HQ)
4. The area is as small or big as you want it to be. Some travel the cities and network by going to many events - others enjoy the hills and staying aloof
5. All the public schools are very good for public school standards. I think it may be due to the demand for them to perform coupled with the steady influx of funds they get. Also, there is only one major private school in the area (Shiloh Christian) which isn't that large - it's K-12 - so there isn't that opportunity to suck the public schools dry of the more well-to-do kids that tend (TEND) to do better in school. I realize this is a gross generalization but it at least true in NWA so I feel comfortable making it.

Plan B - you could always rent a house in either city to try it out for 6 months or so to get a feel for it. Well...maybe just for the summer so you don't have to mess with switching the kids from school to school.

All the best
 
Old 05-27-2010, 06:54 AM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,245,648 times
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I think there is enough diversity in Bentonville to escape the constant "we work for Wal-Mart" scene, but if this is really a concern and you don't mind a little bit of a commute, yes, Fayetteville is a great town with lots to do and see. It is more liberal than the rest of the area, this may be just what you want, if not, consider the east side of Bella Vista. More families are moving in daily and it is part of the Bentonville school district which is a plus.

Either town should help you escape the WAl Mart crowd somewhat, you will always have some, just because of the sheer number of WalMart connected people here.

Nita
 
Old 05-27-2010, 07:59 AM
 
165 posts, read 523,232 times
Reputation: 74
NWAmover - if it is even remotely a concern, then yes - live in Fayetteville or somewhere other than Bentonville / Rogers.

Bentonville is a 'one high school town' and you will bump into your buyer, your marketing manager, your competitor and professional colleagues everywhere you go ... school events, soccer games, restaurants, Lowe's, and yes Macadoodles. Some like the opportunity to rub elbows, others want a more defined separation between work and personal life. Also, keep in mind that Walmart is very firm on their fraternization policy.

Your not totally immune in Fayetteville as one of the larger suppliers (Procter & Gamble) is located in Fayetteville along with several tier-3 suppliers, but the chances of bumping into a work relationship while out and about is much less.

I live the life - have been working with Walmart, Sam's Club and the supplier community for 20 years. We chose to live in Fayetteville for everything the community offers our family, but also to avoid these type situations ... plus we prefer the public school system in Fayetteville over any of the others in NWA.
 
Old 05-27-2010, 02:51 PM
 
99 posts, read 300,815 times
Reputation: 37
Quote:
Originally Posted by nmnita View Post
I think there is enough diversity in Bentonville to escape the constant "we work for Wal-Mart" scene, but if this is really a concern and you don't mind a little bit of a commute, yes, Fayetteville is a great town with lots to do and see. It is more liberal than the rest of the area, this may be just what you want, if not, consider the east side of Bella Vista. More families are moving in daily and it is part of the Bentonville school district which is a plus.

Either town should help you escape the WAl Mart crowd somewhat, you will always have some, just because of the sheer number of WalMart connected people here.

Nita
Bella Vista would definitely get you away from the crowd just because many of the houses are somewhat isolated meaning you have at least a few trees between your neighbor since a lot of the houses are set in the forest. The only issue is that like Nita said it's part of the Bentonville school system which also means it somewhat doubles as a "suburb" of Bentonville. Bella Vista is officially a retirement community as that's what it was set up to be but over time it's become somewhat of a city minus the basic essentials of a city...they are slowly gaining the basic essentials but you still have to venture into Bentonville for many things so then you would potentially be running into many people from work.
 
Old 05-27-2010, 04:23 PM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,245,648 times
Reputation: 49247
Quote:
Originally Posted by SwingVote08 View Post
Bella Vista would definitely get you away from the crowd just because many of the houses are somewhat isolated meaning you have at least a few trees between your neighbor since a lot of the houses are set in the forest. The only issue is that like Nita said it's part of the Bentonville school system which also means it somewhat doubles as a "suburb" of Bentonville. Bella Vista is officially a retirement community as that's what it was set up to be but over time it's become somewhat of a city minus the basic essentials of a city...they are slowly gaining the basic essentials but you still have to venture into Bentonville for many things so then you would potentially be running into many people from work.
boy you have BV down just fine. Yes, it was originally a retirement community but is rapidly changing. We were discussing this at bridge today. I get really pissed at the people here who want it to stay "retirement only" I think you either grown or die out. Bella Vista is growning, young families are moving in, and yes, you still have that rural feeling but if you are near 71 (highway 71, not the age) or on the east side you are very close to all the city conveniences.

Nita
 
Old 05-27-2010, 06:08 PM
 
9,803 posts, read 16,124,981 times
Reputation: 8266
I'm guessing thre majority of BV resdudents are retirees.

If not, it would be very strange for a city the size/population of BV not to have their own school district.
 
Old 05-27-2010, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,245,648 times
Reputation: 49247
Quote:
Originally Posted by marmac View Post
I'm guessing thre majority of BV resdudents are retirees.

If not, it would be very strange for a city the size/population of BV not to have their own school district.
Marmac,

Originally it was designed as a retirement community like Cher Village and Hot Springs Village. None of them were even cities which explains not having their own school district. Now, 30 or more years later, all of the three are attrackting younger people, many with families. I really notice it when we shop at our grocery stores, every few months we see more and more kids. This applies to the churches as well. Vacation Bible schools are growning, the Trick for treat Holloween activities are attended by more kids all the time and Bella Vista now has an elementary school on the east side with another to be built in the next 3 to 4 years on the west side. The property is already purchased.

Are the majority of the residence retirees? yes, will this continue in the future, probably not. I would guess the new census will show a very different demograph than 10 years ago. Not knowing the exact breakdown, this is simply a guess, but 2000 probably showed 80% retired, 2010 will show closer to 50 to 60%. This is why so many of the active clubs are having trouble attracting people, the younger residence are too busy working and raising families to be joiners. It also explains the increase in family golfing, family recreation centers and other such things.
Nita
 
Old 05-27-2010, 08:24 PM
 
9,803 posts, read 16,124,981 times
Reputation: 8266
thanks for the info
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