Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Each city has developed it's own flavor so-to-speak in the nearly 18 years I've been here. I don't see anyone giving that up.
Where we could see benefits potentially would be creating Metropolitan agencies for emergency services and bringing all police and fire under a unified structure with no jurisdictional issues.
While yes it would wield a lot more clout as a single entity, your population figure is way off. Per the US Census website the following is the 2007 population estimates:
The 2006 estimate for the MSA was 420,876. Your rough 500,000 number would be a rounding of the 2007 estimate for the entire MSA.
Splitting hairs a bit I guess but the details are important. The value, in my mind, isn't so much the population figure (it's an advantage certainly but not the root) but the ability to consolidate efforts at courting major employers as a single entity and not 4.
NWA MSA: 576,403 - Northwest Arkansas became the 100th largest metro in the United States this year
LR/NLR/Conway MSA: 749,673 #81 largest in the US
Fort Smith MSA: 279,974 #165 largest in the US
Texarkana MSA: 146,408 #289 "
Jonesboro MSA: 135,512 #135" Adding Texarkana even though the Texas side is bigger.
Hot Springs MSA: 100,089 #358 " Glad to see Hot Springs crack the 100K mark
Pine Bluff MSA: 84,629 #372 Pine Bluff is starting to turn things around, including revitalizing the downtown area. If this comes to fruition, I think they could hit 100,000 by 2030
As far as fighting, I came here to see what that was all about. I think the competition the quad cities have is pretty cool, it's not quite fighting though, moreso each trying to outdo each other and maybe flip each other in population total. Also, being in NWA, the area as a whole now, as of March 2023, the last time I was in NWA, feels bigger than the immediate LR/NLR/SW/JV area.
I can see NWA flipping the Little Rock metro in population by 2035. Would like for there to be some sort of core downtown area to at rival downtown LR, so that we have two "big" cities in Arkansas. If one were to develop, I don't think it'd get bigger than or cover more area than Little Rock's 22x10 square block area, counting everything between Clinton Library to the Capitol from E to W, then Markham/PC to I-630 N to S. But, anything could happen, especially if a merger were to occur. I would then see the final city wanting to completely outdo LR including making a bigger downtown.
Last edited by Calesacult; 07-27-2023 at 09:43 PM..
Also, being in NWA, the area as a whole now, as of March 2023, the last time I was in NWA, feels bigger than the immediate LR/NLR/SW/JV area.
I can see NWA flipping the Little Rock metro in population by 2035.
The NWA metro is only 3 counties, with most of the population being in the northern half of Washington County and the southern 2/3 of Benton county. The Little Rock metro area includes 6 counties.
The "urban core" of NWA is larger than any contiguous urban core in Little Rock.
Fayetteville/Springdale/Johnson/Farmington are about as big as Little Rock.
Bentonville/Rogers, Centerton is a "city" of around 150k itself, disregarding Bella Vista or Lowell.
Some of Little Rock's suburbs are spread out away from the city, like Conway. It is as far from Little Rock as Fayetteville is to Bentonville.
I could see the NWA metro area passing Little Rock soon. If McDonald County, Missouri was added back in, NWA metro would already be above 600k people. At the current growth rate, adding around 13-14k people per year, NWA would be as big as Little Rock in 10 years, assuming current rates of growth continue. If Delaware County, Oklahoma and Carroll County Arkansas were added in, go ahead and throw in 70k additional metro area residents. And NWA would still comprise fewer counties than Little Rock.
If we’re adding counties, Little Rock can claim its CSA with a population of 913k.
Besides, it’s still growing at a decent rate.
Might take longer than you think but I could be wrong.
As a city planning/infrastructure geek, NWA messes with my sensibilities.
I don’t like it at all. Some cooperation might go a long way… maybe, if they don’t mess it up further.
Little Rock isn’t great in that area either but it’s got a lot more to work with.
If we’re adding counties, Little Rock can claim its CSA with a population of 913k.
Besides, it’s still growing at a decent rate.
Might take longer than you think but I could be wrong.
CSAs are a different animal and probably reflect more similarly with DMAs (if those are still a thing). The Little Rock CSA (which includes the Pine Bluff MSA and Searcy, to name a few) would be similar to if there was a Fayetteville CSA which included Crawford and Sebastian Counties to the south, since they do share local TV markets.
If you created a Northwest Arkansas CSA and included the entire Fort Smith metro, it would be well north of 800k today and be three fewer counties and less land area than the Little Rock CSA.
McDonald County, Missouri was until a few years ago, part of the Northwest Arkansas MSA. It was removed a few years back, but not added into any other metro. With the Bella Vista bypass now complete, I expect more McDonald County commuters and shoppers and subdivision residents near the Benton County line, which will eventually add it back into the MSA. If it was included in the metro again today, the 2022 NWA metro population estimate would be 600,000.
The population densities between the metros aren't that different right now. Per the other poster's statement that NWA "feels larger", it is probably because there's a two-county area that totals over 560,000 people right now, with most of that urban area clustered in the center, near the county line, with lower population areas to the far north and far south.
In the Little Rock metro, the two largest counties combined total around 525,000. Not a huge difference.
NWA got Top Golf first. NWA is getting the state's pro soccer team in the same league with Las Vegas, Tulsa, Pittsburgh and Birmingham (alabama). NWA is getting its second Whole Foods in Rogers early next year, so it is being treated as a denser and wealthier metro in some ways by national brands already.
CSAs are a different animal and probably reflect more similarly with DMAs (if those are still a thing). The Little Rock CSA (which includes the Pine Bluff MSA and Searcy, to name a few) would be similar to if there was a Fayetteville CSA which included Crawford and Sebastian Counties to the south, since they do share local TV markets.
If you created a Northwest Arkansas CSA and included the entire Fort Smith metro, it would be well north of 800k today and be three fewer counties and less land area than the Little Rock CSA.
McDonald County, Missouri was until a few years ago, part of the Northwest Arkansas MSA. It was removed a few years back, but not added into any other metro. With the Bella Vista bypass now complete, I expect more McDonald County commuters and shoppers and subdivision residents near the Benton County line, which will eventually add it back into the MSA. If it was included in the metro again today, the 2022 NWA metro population estimate would be 600,000.
The population densities between the metros aren't that different right now. Per the other poster's statement that NWA "feels larger", it is probably because there's a two-county area that totals over 560,000 people right now, with most of that urban area clustered in the center, near the county line, with lower population areas to the far north and far south.
In the Little Rock metro, the two largest counties combined total around 525,000. Not a huge difference.
NWA got Top Golf first. NWA is getting the state's pro soccer team in the same league with Las Vegas, Tulsa, Pittsburgh and Birmingham (alabama). NWA is getting its second Whole Foods in Rogers early next year, so it is being treated as a denser and wealthier metro in some ways by national brands already.
CSAs are defined by specific criteria established by the U.S. Census Bureau. Central Arkansas meets that criteria by way of proximity of secondary/regional MSAs, and Northwest Arkansas does not. There are just more people in central Arkansas spread among several population nodes (and the Little Rock CSA doesn’t even include Hot Springs…likely because it’s larger and more independent, much like Fort Smith MSA isn’t likely to be added to NWA as a CSA).
To your point about NWA seeming as “big” as central Arkansas, I presume you mean physical distance, because Pulaski County in general and Little Rock specifically are MUCH more dense and urban than anything in Northwest Arkansas…both empirically and experientially. The reality is that NWA is entirely suburban in its development - partly due to historical conditions (these were small towns until the past 20 years), and partly due to recent and ongoing urban planning, which doesn’t seem to prioritize any sense of centrality or density.
Regarding franchises, it should be pointed out that Little Rock has more than its share of amenities that NWA still doesn’t have, including Apple, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Southwest Airlines, Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc…and Little Rock has had a USL franchise for years, setting attendance records this year of over 7,000 during the playoffs (a record for the Rangers and for the league), with plans to move up to USL Championship tier if they can find the financial backing.
Clearly NWA is growing quickly through a unique combination of circumstances, but let’s not overshadow the fact that Little Rock and central Arkansas continue to grow at a solid clip. In fact, Conway was the fastest growing city in Arkansas in 2022, and Faulkner and Saline County are growing at essentially the same pace as Washington County (Benton County the real outlier). In broader context, Little Rock is also absolutely outpacing its southeast peers such as Memphis, Birmingham, Jackson, etc.
Many cities stretch between several different counties.
Which city boundaries stretch between several different counties? I think you're wrong. I can't think of any besides N.Y.C.... Denver CO used to be in 2 counties, but it consolidated into one county/city.
Texarkana, TX/AR, Bristol TN/VA, Bluefield VA/WV, and Kansas City MO/KS have same-named cities in 2 different states, but in each case, the pair are legally separate cities. The same case with Nogales AZ/Mex and Juarez TX/Mex, :Niagara Falls NY/Canada, and Sault Ste. Marie MI/Canada.
CSAs are a different animal and probably reflect more similarly with DMAs (if those are still a thing). The Little Rock CSA (which includes the Pine Bluff MSA and Searcy, to name a few) would be similar to if there was a Fayetteville CSA which included Crawford and Sebastian Counties to the south, since they do share local TV markets.
If you created a Northwest Arkansas CSA and included the entire Fort Smith metro, it would be well north of 800k today and be three fewer counties and less land area than the Little Rock CSA.
McDonald County, Missouri was until a few years ago, part of the Northwest Arkansas MSA. It was removed a few years back, but not added into any other metro. With the Bella Vista bypass now complete, I expect more McDonald County commuters and shoppers and subdivision residents near the Benton County line, which will eventually add it back into the MSA. If it was included in the metro again today, the 2022 NWA metro population estimate would be 600,000.
The population densities between the metros aren't that different right now. Per the other poster's statement that NWA "feels larger", it is probably because there's a two-county area that totals over 560,000 people right now, with most of that urban area clustered in the center, near the county line, with lower population areas to the far north and far south.
In the Little Rock metro, the two largest counties combined total around 525,000. Not a huge difference.
NWA got Top Golf first. NWA is getting the state's pro soccer team in the same league with Las Vegas, Tulsa, Pittsburgh and Birmingham (alabama). NWA is getting its second Whole Foods in Rogers early next year, so it is being treated as a denser and wealthier metro in some ways by national brands already.
NWA would also have a Costco if the Walton's didn't kill it!!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
