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The results are in and it’s good news for Northwest Arkansas.
Fayetteville now has 73,580 people, a growth of 26.8% since the 2000 Census.
Springdale grew to 69,797 residents, an increase of 52.4%.
Bentonville’s growth of 78.9% topped all the cities in Arkansas. Its population is now 35,301.
Rogers experienced a 44.1% increase to bring its population to 55,964.
Little Bella Vista isn’t so little any more. It now boasts 26,461 people, an increase of 59.6%.
These are huge increases in a short ten-year span. To put them in perspective, total population in all of Arkansas increased by 9.1%. Little Rock, the state capitol located in Pulaski County, increased 5.7 percent, from 183,133 in 2000 to 193,524 in 2010.
Pulaski County itself grew 5.9%.
Benton County, which includes Bentonville and Rogers, is now home to 221,339 people. That’s a 44.3% increase.
Washington County, which includes Fayetteville and Springdale, now has 203,065 people, a growth rate of 28.8%.
It would appear Benton and Washington Counties are the driving force for growth in Arkansas.
As required by law, legislative districts must be redrawn after each ten-year census. The state must ensure that population in each of the districts is equal within 1% variation.
The result is that the geographical area of Congressional District #3 will shrink. It now includes Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Newton, Pope, Sebastian, and Washington Counties.
Arkansas has usually kept counties intact when drawing districts. Looks like that practice will have to be replaced with some counties being split for the first time.
So, change happens. All in all, the growth is good news for NW Arkansas. As our population grows, so does our influence and clout.
Let’s face it. No one wants to move to a declining area.
For more information: Census Bureau Website
Showing posts with label population growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label population growth. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, April 29, 2006
What is Infrastructure Anyhow? Effects of Growth on NW Arkansas
Hardly a day goes by that a new sign doesn’t appear somewhere in Washington or Benton County proclaiming that a new subdivision will soon appear on former agricultural land. Land costs have escalated so much that most new subdivisions will automatically be high density.
What does that mean to you and me? It means further stretching of the infrastructure in an area that until a few years ago was rural. Everyone agrees the population of Washington and Benton counties is growing so fast the infrastructure can’t keep up.
What do you think of when you hear the word infrastructure? Most people say traffic or transportation, and public schools. The daily commute to work and back home keeps traffic congestion on everyone’s mind but the list of needs is much longer and more complicated than that.
High-density subdivisions generally have small yards. Where will the children and adults play and exercise? Parks, recreation and open space will be needed.
More schools will have to be built and staffed. More school buses will be on the roads, not to mention the amazing number of parents who drive their children to school in the morning and reverse the procedure in the afternoon. It’s not unusual now to see streets and even highways blocked by vehicles waiting in line to drive onto the school grounds to pick up their child.
Water must be available. Beaver Water District currently has authority to use up to 120 million gallons of water a day from Beaver Lake. At what point does that amount become insufficient?
Increased population equals more sewage. Rural areas are generally not connected to a municipal sewer. When homes were being built on an acre or more of land, septic tanks were a viable solution. High-density subdivisions in rural areas have to take a different approach. Decentralized systems are replacing the traditional septic tank, serving hundreds of homes with one on-site system rather than one septic tank per home. My concern is the future. Who will maintain these systems when the developer has moved on and the homeowner hasn’t even thought about where his sewage goes?
We all want adequate police protection. As the population increases, more officers must be hired and trained. Increased staff will be required back at the station. Overcrowded courts and jails will have to be expanded.
Unincorporated areas usually have volunteer fire departments. Personnel have been trained to fight brush and grass fires and may be called upon occasionally to fight a structure fire.
A high-density subdivision alters the scenario. Consider this: a home is on fire and a call goes out to 911. The volunteers must first rush to the station to get the equipment before they can get to the fire. When they arrive, they are faced with a structure burning that has other homes close by on two sides. Depending on the wind factor, they may even have to protect homes across or down the road. Is there an adequate water supply available to fight the fire? Does the subdivision have hydrants? Does the fire department have the training and equipment to combat such a situation?
Libraries are often taken for granted but contribute greatly to our way of life. Free libraries are as American as apple pie and I, for one, would not want to think about a lack of excellent libraries. More people means more resources will be needed to meet demand. Buildings, employees, books, computers, audio/visual materials – all will need to expand.
The list of infrastructure requirements is almost endless. People are drawn to Northwest Arkansas for the quality of life here but the crush of people is threatening that very quality. The equation is simple: more residents = increased need for infrastructure = additional funding needed. Where is it coming from?
For more information:
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/39618/
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/152416/
What does that mean to you and me? It means further stretching of the infrastructure in an area that until a few years ago was rural. Everyone agrees the population of Washington and Benton counties is growing so fast the infrastructure can’t keep up.
What do you think of when you hear the word infrastructure? Most people say traffic or transportation, and public schools. The daily commute to work and back home keeps traffic congestion on everyone’s mind but the list of needs is much longer and more complicated than that.
High-density subdivisions generally have small yards. Where will the children and adults play and exercise? Parks, recreation and open space will be needed.
More schools will have to be built and staffed. More school buses will be on the roads, not to mention the amazing number of parents who drive their children to school in the morning and reverse the procedure in the afternoon. It’s not unusual now to see streets and even highways blocked by vehicles waiting in line to drive onto the school grounds to pick up their child.
Water must be available. Beaver Water District currently has authority to use up to 120 million gallons of water a day from Beaver Lake. At what point does that amount become insufficient?
Increased population equals more sewage. Rural areas are generally not connected to a municipal sewer. When homes were being built on an acre or more of land, septic tanks were a viable solution. High-density subdivisions in rural areas have to take a different approach. Decentralized systems are replacing the traditional septic tank, serving hundreds of homes with one on-site system rather than one septic tank per home. My concern is the future. Who will maintain these systems when the developer has moved on and the homeowner hasn’t even thought about where his sewage goes?
We all want adequate police protection. As the population increases, more officers must be hired and trained. Increased staff will be required back at the station. Overcrowded courts and jails will have to be expanded.
Unincorporated areas usually have volunteer fire departments. Personnel have been trained to fight brush and grass fires and may be called upon occasionally to fight a structure fire.
A high-density subdivision alters the scenario. Consider this: a home is on fire and a call goes out to 911. The volunteers must first rush to the station to get the equipment before they can get to the fire. When they arrive, they are faced with a structure burning that has other homes close by on two sides. Depending on the wind factor, they may even have to protect homes across or down the road. Is there an adequate water supply available to fight the fire? Does the subdivision have hydrants? Does the fire department have the training and equipment to combat such a situation?
Libraries are often taken for granted but contribute greatly to our way of life. Free libraries are as American as apple pie and I, for one, would not want to think about a lack of excellent libraries. More people means more resources will be needed to meet demand. Buildings, employees, books, computers, audio/visual materials – all will need to expand.
The list of infrastructure requirements is almost endless. People are drawn to Northwest Arkansas for the quality of life here but the crush of people is threatening that very quality. The equation is simple: more residents = increased need for infrastructure = additional funding needed. Where is it coming from?
For more information:
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/39618/
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/152416/
Monday, March 06, 2006
GROWTH - Outward or Upward?
OUTWARD GROWTH is the current norm along the Interstate 540 corridor in Benton and Washington counties, and this worries some city planners and elected officials. They want to see developers build upward, filling in existing city space with denser developments such as multistory apartments.
Dense, upward development leads to more people living per square mile, less cost to the cities to provide water, roads and other services, and less need for outward development of rural land, said Steve Luoni, director of the Community Design Center in the School of Architecture of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
But people have been slow to embrace UPWARD GROWTH according to Fayetteville’s Senior Planner Jeremy Pate, “It’s going to take a while to slow down outward development. People want to live at the end of a cul-de-sac.”
Developers say they are building houses outward from the cities instead of upward with denser apartments and condominiums because that’s what people want and that’s where they can make a profit. They built 36,201 new housing units in the four major cities from 1990 to 2004. About 63 percent of those were single-family dwellings, according to statistics from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.
“Primarily, that’s what the market demands. People don’t want ‘up’ — not around here,” said Gary Brandon, who is building several subdivisions on the western edge of the I-540 corridor, including one of 117 acres between Lowell and Cave Springs and another of 54 acres on the outskirts of Tontitown. “They’re not that keen on condos yet.”
Kathy Deck, associate director of the UA Center for Business and Economic Research, said the growing population will continue to demand homes on the outskirts of town. Condos will not appeal to families until the price of gasoline becomes too high or traffic becomes too congested to commute from outlying communities, she said.
Richard Alexander, a developer of condominiums and mixed-use buildings in central Fayetteville, would agree. He said his market is based on the downtown location of the projects and will appeal to people because they won’t have to drive to go shopping or to the university. “There is that niche looking for a lack of a commute,” said Alexander.
Even though cities are spreading, some officials say the finite supply of land and market forces eventually will make upward growth the norm in Northwest Arkansas. “Our land space is dwindling,” said Rogers Alderman Mark Kruger. “At some point we will run out of space, and up will be the only way to go.”
For more information: http://nwanews.com/adg/News/147079/
Dense, upward development leads to more people living per square mile, less cost to the cities to provide water, roads and other services, and less need for outward development of rural land, said Steve Luoni, director of the Community Design Center in the School of Architecture of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
But people have been slow to embrace UPWARD GROWTH according to Fayetteville’s Senior Planner Jeremy Pate, “It’s going to take a while to slow down outward development. People want to live at the end of a cul-de-sac.”
Developers say they are building houses outward from the cities instead of upward with denser apartments and condominiums because that’s what people want and that’s where they can make a profit. They built 36,201 new housing units in the four major cities from 1990 to 2004. About 63 percent of those were single-family dwellings, according to statistics from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.
“Primarily, that’s what the market demands. People don’t want ‘up’ — not around here,” said Gary Brandon, who is building several subdivisions on the western edge of the I-540 corridor, including one of 117 acres between Lowell and Cave Springs and another of 54 acres on the outskirts of Tontitown. “They’re not that keen on condos yet.”
Kathy Deck, associate director of the UA Center for Business and Economic Research, said the growing population will continue to demand homes on the outskirts of town. Condos will not appeal to families until the price of gasoline becomes too high or traffic becomes too congested to commute from outlying communities, she said.
Richard Alexander, a developer of condominiums and mixed-use buildings in central Fayetteville, would agree. He said his market is based on the downtown location of the projects and will appeal to people because they won’t have to drive to go shopping or to the university. “There is that niche looking for a lack of a commute,” said Alexander.
Even though cities are spreading, some officials say the finite supply of land and market forces eventually will make upward growth the norm in Northwest Arkansas. “Our land space is dwindling,” said Rogers Alderman Mark Kruger. “At some point we will run out of space, and up will be the only way to go.”
For more information: http://nwanews.com/adg/News/147079/
Monday, January 30, 2006
Fayetteville's New Sewage Treatment Plant--Finally!
According to today's NW Arkansas Times, construction will finally begin on Fayetteville's new sewage treatment plant, roughly four months after its originally scheduled completion date. "Its about damn time," said Ward 2 Alderman Kyle Cook, chairman of the water and sewer committee. And I say, "Amen."
The Times quoted Cook as being "glad that construction will soon begin, but (he) remains wary of future problems and cost increases that could develop during construction. 'Just getting the thing out of the ground is the first hurdle,' Cook said. 'Getting it standing and operational is another thing.' "
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Friday, a visible sign of progress for the $180 million project, which is being financed with a voter-approved 3/4% added to the sales tax to pay up to $125 million of the final cost.
With the continuing explosive growth in NW Arkansas, infrastructure projects like the sewage treatment plant are important. The area must have the capacity to serve the 1000 people per month who are moving here. And this just doesn't apply to Fayetteville's new plant. We need more and better roads too--rush hour traffic (and even non-rush hour traffic) in the Rogers/Bentonville area, as well as on Hwy 265 between Springdale and Fayetteville or Hwy 412 through Springdale, has become burdensome and does not contribute positively to the "quality of life" reasons that many people are relocating here.
In the meantime, at least one step has been taken with the decision to begin construction on the long overdue sewage treatment plant. Let's hope that city and regional planners can put their heads together to solve some of the area's other pressing problems.
The Times quoted Cook as being "glad that construction will soon begin, but (he) remains wary of future problems and cost increases that could develop during construction. 'Just getting the thing out of the ground is the first hurdle,' Cook said. 'Getting it standing and operational is another thing.' "
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Friday, a visible sign of progress for the $180 million project, which is being financed with a voter-approved 3/4% added to the sales tax to pay up to $125 million of the final cost.
With the continuing explosive growth in NW Arkansas, infrastructure projects like the sewage treatment plant are important. The area must have the capacity to serve the 1000 people per month who are moving here. And this just doesn't apply to Fayetteville's new plant. We need more and better roads too--rush hour traffic (and even non-rush hour traffic) in the Rogers/Bentonville area, as well as on Hwy 265 between Springdale and Fayetteville or Hwy 412 through Springdale, has become burdensome and does not contribute positively to the "quality of life" reasons that many people are relocating here.
In the meantime, at least one step has been taken with the decision to begin construction on the long overdue sewage treatment plant. Let's hope that city and regional planners can put their heads together to solve some of the area's other pressing problems.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Business Forecast '06
On Friday, January 27, the 12th annual Business Forecast '06 luncheon was held at the Springdale Convention Center. Over 1000 local business people attended. Speakers addressed economic issues affecting not only NW Arkansas, but also the nation and the world.
Sponsored by the Center for Business and Economic Research of the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, the speakers included Dan Worrell, Dean of the Walton College of Business; Thomas "Mack" McLarty (former chief of staff for President Clinton), who introduced the panelists and served as moderator; Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Chief Economist for Ford Motor Company; James Glassman, Managing Director and Senior Policy Strategist for JPMorgan Chase & Company; and Jeff Collins, Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.
The general consensus among the panelists with regard to the economic forecast for the coming year was one of "cautious optimism." Ellen Hughes-Cromwick spoke on international trends, James Glassman on the US economy, and Jeff Collins on the state of Arkansas and the northwest region in particular. In response to a question from the audience on "what worries you?" each responded in turn: Hughes-Cromwick--energy markets and political instability in oil producing areas, Glass--the danger of protectionist policies which might be implemented by the US, and Collins--the eroding commitment to US innovation, research and development, which (in the past) has led to wealth creation.
With regard to the state of Arkansas as a whole, Jeff Collins discussed growth in different areas of the state, most of which is occuring in the Little Rock/Central Arkansas area and in NW Arkansas. However, the state is losing manufacturing jobs, which in the past have provided high pay, due to globalization. Although new jobs are being created at a steady pace, the majority of these are low-paying, low-skill jobs. Collins expressed the need for an educated work force which would allow for the creation of high-wage, high-skill jobs. 80% of the new jobs in the state during the past 10 years have been created in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock--62% in NW Arkansas and 18% in central Arkansas.
Underlying economic trends in NW Arkansas and the central part of the state is increased urbanization, as well as a remarkable rate of population and employment growth. About 1000 people per month are moving to NW Arkansas while about 560 jobs are being created each month. The largest sector for job growth is natural resources, mining and construction.
As a side observation with regard to home construction, he noted that in NW Arkansas in the 2nd quarter of 2005, there were 13,000 lots actively being built upon with 12,000 more platted but not yet active. By the 3rd quarter of the year, there were 16,000 lots being built upon with 15,000 more platted but not yet active. This represents a gain of 5000 lots in only 3 months.
Collins observed that the state economy is dominated by low-wage, low-skill employment, making the current workforce in much of the state ill-equipped to compete in the global marketplace for high-wage, high-skill jobs. The initiative to bring an auto manufacturing plant to Arkansas, which is being discussed in the media, will temporarily forestall the erosion in manufacturing jobs, but he suggested that the auto plant would be like adding a bucket of water to a bathtub with a slow leak.
In summary, Collins stated that the challenge to Northwest Arkansas is to provide state leadership commensurate with the economic power held in the area. Increasingly the whole state depends on the economic development here. But there are obstacles to continued growth--in particular, lack of infrastructure (especially roads, water supply and wastewater treatment). The area must respond with cooperation across governmental organizational boundaries and a unified vision for the future of the area.
Sponsored by the Center for Business and Economic Research of the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, the speakers included Dan Worrell, Dean of the Walton College of Business; Thomas "Mack" McLarty (former chief of staff for President Clinton), who introduced the panelists and served as moderator; Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Chief Economist for Ford Motor Company; James Glassman, Managing Director and Senior Policy Strategist for JPMorgan Chase & Company; and Jeff Collins, Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.
The general consensus among the panelists with regard to the economic forecast for the coming year was one of "cautious optimism." Ellen Hughes-Cromwick spoke on international trends, James Glassman on the US economy, and Jeff Collins on the state of Arkansas and the northwest region in particular. In response to a question from the audience on "what worries you?" each responded in turn: Hughes-Cromwick--energy markets and political instability in oil producing areas, Glass--the danger of protectionist policies which might be implemented by the US, and Collins--the eroding commitment to US innovation, research and development, which (in the past) has led to wealth creation.
With regard to the state of Arkansas as a whole, Jeff Collins discussed growth in different areas of the state, most of which is occuring in the Little Rock/Central Arkansas area and in NW Arkansas. However, the state is losing manufacturing jobs, which in the past have provided high pay, due to globalization. Although new jobs are being created at a steady pace, the majority of these are low-paying, low-skill jobs. Collins expressed the need for an educated work force which would allow for the creation of high-wage, high-skill jobs. 80% of the new jobs in the state during the past 10 years have been created in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock--62% in NW Arkansas and 18% in central Arkansas.
Underlying economic trends in NW Arkansas and the central part of the state is increased urbanization, as well as a remarkable rate of population and employment growth. About 1000 people per month are moving to NW Arkansas while about 560 jobs are being created each month. The largest sector for job growth is natural resources, mining and construction.
As a side observation with regard to home construction, he noted that in NW Arkansas in the 2nd quarter of 2005, there were 13,000 lots actively being built upon with 12,000 more platted but not yet active. By the 3rd quarter of the year, there were 16,000 lots being built upon with 15,000 more platted but not yet active. This represents a gain of 5000 lots in only 3 months.
Collins observed that the state economy is dominated by low-wage, low-skill employment, making the current workforce in much of the state ill-equipped to compete in the global marketplace for high-wage, high-skill jobs. The initiative to bring an auto manufacturing plant to Arkansas, which is being discussed in the media, will temporarily forestall the erosion in manufacturing jobs, but he suggested that the auto plant would be like adding a bucket of water to a bathtub with a slow leak.
In summary, Collins stated that the challenge to Northwest Arkansas is to provide state leadership commensurate with the economic power held in the area. Increasingly the whole state depends on the economic development here. But there are obstacles to continued growth--in particular, lack of infrastructure (especially roads, water supply and wastewater treatment). The area must respond with cooperation across governmental organizational boundaries and a unified vision for the future of the area.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
NW Arkansas Population Growth
The Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas has done a series of studies of the economy, not only of Arkansas and the nation, but also specifically measuring economic factors in NW Arkansas. Some of their results are very interesting. In terms of population, using data from the Census Bureau, the Center estimates that the population of NW Arkansas will increase 60% by the year 2025, using 2002 as a baseline year. The 2002 population of the area was 780,541. The estimated population in 2025 (according to the Center) will be 1,253,234, which will be almost 1/3 of the population of the entire state of Arkansas in that year. Other parts of the state will also gain in population but at a lesser rate, and the SE part of Arkansas is actually losing population.
Source: U of A Center for Business and Economic Research
Source: U of A Center for Business and Economic Research
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