Northwest Arkansas doubled in population between 1990 and 2010. Growth has been driven by the three Fortune 500 companies based in NWA: Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. as well as over 1,700 suppliers and vendors drawn to the region by these large businesses and NWA's business climate. There are also several large private employers like Simmons Foods in Siloam Springs. The region has also seen significant investment in amenities, including the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Walmart AMP, and the NWA Razorback Regional Greenway.
Etymology
"We’re like five siblings, if you will, fighting for crumbs that fall off the table instead of joining together with a common voice and say the same thing that this is the No. 1 highway project in Northwest Arkansas."
The term "Northwest Arkansas" is commonly used to refer to the rapidly growing cities of Benton and Washington counties in the geographic corner of the state. Northwest Arkansas, often abbreviated NWA, has become known as a cohesive region due to the efforts of the Northwest Arkansas Council, an association of community and business leaders formally organized in 1990 to promote regionalization and cooperation among area stakeholders. The first two chairs of the NWA Council were Alice Walton and John Paul Hammerschmidt. One of the first prominent uses of the region's name came on July 8, 1937, when the newspaper known as the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (The Democrat pre 1893) was renamed the Northwest Arkansas Times.[5] Another major initiative using the region's name was the Northwest Arkansas National Airport (often referred to by its IATA airport code, XNA), which opened in 1998.[6] Other regional priorities advocated for by the NWA Council include Interstate 49 (initially built at I-540), the Northwest Arkansas Community College (NWACC), the Northwest Arkansas Naturals minor-league baseball team, and the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway 36 miles (58 km) hard-surface trail.
The region is also sometimes known as "the 479" after the telephone area code that serves the region, though the Fort Smith metro also uses the 479 area code.[7] Occasionally, the Fort Smith metro is included in "Northwest Arkansas", though it is within the geographically distinct Arkansas River Valley region and separated from the subject region by the sparsely populated Boston Mountains.
Northwest Arkansas is located in the Southern United States. It is within the Upper South, characterized by the Ozarks. The southern part of NWA is a high and deeply dissected plateau, full of sparsely populated oak-hickory forest, separating the region from the Arkansas River Valley to the south.
Settlements were initially founded in the 19th century and early 20th century as individual communities, with Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville serving as historic population centers in the area. Growth began during the mid-20th century, a period of suburbanization largely rooted in automobile dependency. Thus the Northwest Arkansas cities expanded toward one another along major transportation corridors, in some cases becoming seamlessly connected urban areas such as Prairie Grove and Farmington along US 62 now connected to Fayetteville's southwest side.[8] The transition from individual communities separated by rural or agricultural lands accelerated rapidly in the 1990s and early 2000s, as the population of the region doubled.[6] Cities began rapidly annexing unincorporated lands, especially near the four-largest focal cities, adding an additional 45.5 square miles (118 km2) or 16% of incorporated size between 2000 and 2004.[9] The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission (NWARPC, the region's metropolitan planning organization) expanded its planning area to include all of Benton and Washington counties in 2003.[10] Annexations along transportation corridors spurred the need for expanding roadways, including along US 62 southwest of Fayetteville and northeast of Rogers, and Highway 59 north from Siloam Springs.[10]
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, home to the University of Arkansas, and the principal city of Northwest Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 93,949.[11] The city is the second most populous in Arkansas and serves as the county seat of Washington County. It's also known for Dickson Street, perhaps the most prominent entertainment district in the state of Arkansas, which itself contains the Walton Arts Center. Blocks from Dickson Street is the Fayetteville Historic Square, which hosts the nation's number one ranked Fayetteville's Farmer's Market.[12] Fayetteville was also ranked 8th on Forbes Magazine's Top 10 Best Places in America for Business and Careers in 2007.[13] Business insider named Fayetteville the 2nd best place to live in the South in 2016.[citation needed]
Springdale is a city in Washington and Benton Counties. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is 87,315. Springdale is currently Arkansas's fourth-largest city, behind Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Fayetteville. Springdale is the location of the headquarters of Tyson Foods Inc., the largest meat producing company in the world, and has been dubbed the "Chicken Capital of the World" by several publications. In 2008, the Wichita Wranglers of AA minor league baseball's Texas League moved to Springdale and play in Arvest Ballpark as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
Rogers is a city in Benton County. As of the 2020 census, the city is the sixth most populous in the state, with a total population of 69,913. In June 2007, BusinessWeek magazine ranked Rogers 18th in the 25 best affordable suburbs in the South. In 2010, CNN Money magazine ranked Rogers as the 10th Best Place to Live in the United States. Two of the city's biggest attractions are the outdoor concert venue the Walmart AMP and the open air shopping mall the Pinnacle Hills Promenade. The city is the home town of American country music singer-songwriter Joe Nichols, and Marty Perry, as well as David Noland. It is also where comedian Will Rogers married Betty Blake.
Bentonville is the county seat of Benton County. At the 2020 census, the population was 54,210, up from 38,284 in 2010 ranking it as the state's 9th largest city. It is home to the headquarters of Walmart, which is the largest retailer in the world, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Crystal Bridges, founded by Sam Walton's daughter Alice Walton and designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, is home to some of America's finest works of art as well as Frank Lloyd Wright's Bachman-Wilson House.[14] Southern Living magazine recently cited Bentonville as "the South's next cultural mecca."[15]
NWA is located within the Ozark Mountains, a deeply dissected plateau within the U.S. Interior Highlands, the largest mountainous region between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains. Although the topography varies widely within the region, the Ozark geology is present throughout. Roughly at Fayetteville, the geology splits between the Boston Mountains to the south and the Springfield Plateau to the north. The Ouachita orogeny exposed the older limestones of the Springfield Plateau, resulting in a softer terrain, while the Boston Mountains retained steep, sharp grade changes. The Ozarks are covered by an oak-hickory-pine forest, with large portions of protected forestland remaining NWA. Approximately 25% of this forest has been cleared for development and agricultural uses.[16]
Hydrology
White River at Spider Creek
Most of NWA is within the White River watershed, with the western portions being contained within the Illinois River watershed.
Within NWA, the White River is impounded at several locations, the most important of which is at Beaver Dam, forming the 13,700 acres (5,500 ha) Beaver Lake. This reservoir was created in the 1960s for flood control, recreational, and energy production uses. It also serves as the water supply for most of NWA, with Beaver Water District treating potable water and selling it directly to the four largest NWA municipalities.
The Illinois River watershed is a sensitive watershed that has been the subject of controversy within the area for many years. The phosphorus load of the Illinois has been subject of controversy, eventually resulting in litigation between Oklahoma and Arkansas reaching the United States Supreme Court in 1992. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified the Illinois as Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, listing it as an "impaired and threatened water" due to the high phosphorus loads.[17]
Parks
The Northwest Arkansas region is known for its natural environment, and outdoor recreation.[citation needed] When selecting a name for the new minor league baseball team in the early 2000s, Northwest Arkansas Naturals was selected in honor of the region's natural resources, including a waterfall in the initial logo to symbolize the region's over 130 naturally occurring waterfalls.[18] The region offers thousands of acres of public land under various agencies, ecoregion type, and function. Despite rapid suburbanization, over half of Washington and 40% of Benton county remained forested in 2015.[19] The region has maintained an open space plan since 2015, and has considered a sales tax to fund purchases of open lands by the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust.[20]
An expansive trail network has been built across Northwest Arkansas, centered on the Northwest Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway, a 38-mile (61 km) primarily off-road shared-use paved trail connecting the region's major cities, employer headquarters, schools, parks and cultural amenities. Upon completion in 2015, the Greenway connected to 68 miles (109 km) of other hard-surfaced trails and over 100 miles (160 km) of soft-surface nature trails throughout the region.[21] Northwest Arkansas has drawn endorsement from the mountain biking community, earning a 'Regional Ride Center' designation from the International Mountain Bicycling Association in 2015, the first granted to a region rather than a city.[22] Mountain biking trail development has continued, adding mileage in the state parks along natural features.[23]
The most popular[citation needed] water destination is Beaver Lake. Beaver Lake has approximately 449 miles (723 km) of natural shoreline, with limestone bluffs, natural caves, and a variety of trees and flowering shrubs. Paved access roads wind through twelve developed parks, all of which have campsites offering electricity, fire rings, drinking water, showers, and restrooms. Other facilities, such as picnic sites, swimming beaches, hiking trails, boat launch ramps, and sanitary dump stations are also available.[24] Nine rivers can be canoed, paddled, or floated seasonally when stream flows permit, including the nearby Buffalo National River and nearby Illinois River, King's River, and Elk River.[25]
The University of Arkansas offers equipment rental and outdoor excursions into the Ozarks for students.[26]
The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks opened in 2007, and includes seasonal plantings in a small area, a wildflower meadow, a lakeside hiking trail, and a self-guided tree identification tour.
The three-county region also contains two natural areas, Garrett Hollow Natural Area, Sweden Creek Natural Area, and four wildlife management areas (Beaver Lake WMA, McIlroy Madison County WMA, Wedington WMA, White Rock WMA).
Culture and contemporary life
Art and entertainment
Partial view of Fayetteville's Dickson Street.Crystal Bridges art Museum looking northwest.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville opened in 2011.[28] The museum, funded by Sam Walton's daughter, Alice Walton, and designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, is home to a permanent collection of works, as well as rotating exhibits throughout the year.
The Walton Arts Center is Arkansas' largest performing arts center. It is located in Fayetteville near the campus of the University of Arkansas and serves as a cultural center for the Northwest Arkansas area. The theater was opened in 1992 and was funded largely by the Walton family (of Wal-Mart). The center is host to many musicals, plays, and other artistic and educational events throughout the year. The Walton Arts Center is also home to the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, currently under the direction of Paul Haas.[29]
TheatreSquared is Northwest Arkansas's regional professional theatre. Its four-play season and annual Arkansas New Play Fest are attended by an audience of 22,000, including educational outreach program to approximately 10,000 students and their teachers. The company was recognized by the American Theatre Wing in 2011 as one of the nation's ten most promising emerging theatres.
The Arts Center of the Ozarks is the region's oldest community theatre. Since its inception in 1967, the ACO has grown from a small arts organization into a cultural center of regional significance. Located in downtown Springdale, the ACO offers a full season of mainstage plays and musicals, children's programs, visual arts exhibits, and classes in a variety of creative outlets.
The Bentonville square features the Wal-Mart Visitors Center. Located in Sam Walton's original Bentonville variety store, the Wal-Mart Visitors Center traces the origin and growth of Wal-Mart. The center was created as an educational and informative facility as well as a museum.
Bikes, Blues, & BBQ motorcycle rally formerly on Dickson Street in Fayetteville but now in Rogers with over 400,000 people attending over four days[30]
Since 2015, the Bentonville Film Festival has taken place in the first week of May. Over 85,000 attendees take part in this week-long event.[31]
Since 1974, the Dogwood Festival has brought around 30,000 people to Siloam Springs and its parks for a 3-day event. Food, crafts, entertainment, flea market items, and KidZone activities make for a fun day for all ages. Held the weekend of the last Sunday in April each year.[32]
In 2009, the City of Fayetteville began assisting in the sponsorship of All Out June, Northwest Arkansas' pride festival for the LGBT community. The event is considered Arkansas' largest, and is organized by the NWA Center for Equality and the NWA Pride Parade Organization.
Format Festival, a festival combining music, art, and technology, was started in 2022 and runs for a weekend in September in Bentonville. Format is produced by C3 Presents, who also started well-known festivals like Austin City Limits Music Festival and Lollapalooza.
The sporting scene is large in Northwest Arkansas, primarily due to the presence of the University of ArkansasRazorbacks, Arkansas’ most successful, followed, and loved sports teams. The Razorbacks have a huge economic impact on the area, drawing fans from every corner of the state during football, basketball, and baseball seasons.
The Razorbacks currently field 19 total men's and women's varsity teams (8 men's and 11 women's) in 13 sports. The men's varsity teams are baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field; the 11 women's varsity teams are basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, indoor and outdoor track, tennis, softball and volleyball. The Razorbacks compete in NCAA Division I (Division I FBS in football) and are currently members of the Southeastern Conference (Western Division).
Northwest Arkansas is the second-largest population center in the state, behind Central Arkansas. The two regions rank as 105th and 80th nationally by population, respectively. The region is the fastest-growing in the state, and the 12th fastest-growing in the United States, with a 24.22% growth rate between 2010 and 2020.[45] Rather than a central city with suburbs model, Northwest Arkansas emerged as a unified region of disconnected cities that grew and amalgamated over time. Thus, the official Census Bureau name Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area is simply a listing of the three largest cities in the region at the time of naming.[46]
Northwest Arkansas residents and visitors at the Fayetteville Farmer's Market
Over half of Northwest Arkansas's population resides within the largest four cities, Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville, with each having demographic characteristics congruent with its largest employer. Fayetteville, home to the University of Arkansas, contains the highest proportion of adults over 25 with a bachelor's degree or higher, at 44.8%, significantly above the other communities, and in line with major metropolitan areas. Bentonville, home to white-collar workers at the Walmart Home Office and the ancillary vendor community, has the highest per-capita income in the region.[46] Springdale and Rogers contain significant manufacturing and construction industries, and a corresponding high percentage of blue-collar workers and major foreign-born populations.[47] Over 10% of businesses in Springdale and Rogers are Hispanic-owned.[46]
Approximately half of Northwest Arkansas residents are transplants from a different state or country.[citation needed]
Population, land area & population density (2016 Census Bureau estimates)
The region is less diverse than Arkansas and United States averages, with a 1.9% black population accounting for much of the proportional difference. The national trends of an increasing non-white proportion of the population and migration from rural areas to urban areas has also been seen in Northwest Arkansas and statewide since the 1990s, though the non-white population growth has lagged national averages.[51] Historically, the northwestern half of the state was predominantly settled by whites in small farms for subsistence agriculture due to the hilly terrain and rocky soils, rather than the slave-intensive labor of plantation agriculture typical in the fertile and flat Arkansas Delta.[52]
Northwest Arkansas institutions have placed different priority on diversity within the region. University of Arkansas ChancellorJohn A. White designated diversity the top institutional goal in 2010, seeking to create a campus community in line with state and national averages.[53] The Northwest Arkansas Council listed "Promote racial, cultural, and ethnic diversity in Northwest Arkansas" last among priority placemaking objectives within the 2015 strategic plan.[54]
A 2016 study of blacks and Hispanics in Arkansas cities found median incomes rising for blacks and declining for Hispanics in Bentonville.[57]
Sexual orientation and gender identity
2018 NWA Pride Festival on Dickson Street in Fayetteville
The Northwest Arkansas Center for Equality has sponsored the Northwest Arkansas Pride parade since 2006. The parade runs from the Fayetteville Historic Square down Dickson Street in Fayetteville.[58] A state poll in 2017 showed 84% of Arkansans believe LGBT residents should have equal employment rights, and 78% believing equal rights to housing should be afforded. Arkansan support for equal treatment in adoptions (43%), and gay marriage (35%), were significantly below national averages, 61% and 64%, respectively.[59] Arkansas is one of three states which does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.[60] Fayetteville and Eureka Springs have recently worked to provide legal protections for LGBT residents. Fayetteville has worked legislatively and through the court system since 2014 to establish protections for LGBT residents in the city.
The Fayetteville City Council passed Ordinance 119 in August 2014 by a 6–2 vote at 3:20 am, after an extended public comment period, which included testimony from LGBT residents who had encountered discrimination.[61] Ordinance 119 extended protections, including against termination and eviction, and created a Civil Rights Commission to investigate violations. An opposition group gathered enough signatures to put repealing the ordinance to the voters of Fayetteville, who repealed the ordinance by a 52–48% margin.[62] The City Council put a similar measure, the Uniform Civil Rights Protection Ordinance 5781, to a public vote in September 2015, which passed 53–47%.[63] In the interim, RepublicanState SenatorBart Hester, who represents northwestern Benton County in Northwest Arkansas, proposed the Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act in response to the Fayetteville Ordinance, which prohibited municipalities in Arkansas from creating new protected classes in Arkansas.[64] The Arkansas General Assembly passed the act, known as Act 137.[65] In February 2017, the Arkansas Supreme Court declared Ordinance 5781 unconstitutional for violating Act 137, but did not rule on the act's constitutionality, which has been questioned.[63] The ruling drew national attention to Arkansas, and comparisons to HB 2 in North Carolina.[60]
Northwest Arkansas' All Out June, a pride festival for its LGBT community, is considered Arkansas' largest, and is organized by the NWA Center for Equality and the NWA Pride Parade Organization.
2000
As of the census[66] of 2000, there were 347,045 people, 131,939 households, and 92,888 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 89.70% White, 1.22% African American, 1.53% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 4.03% from other races, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.32% of the population. Over the past decade or more, Northwest Arkansas has been one of the fastest growing regions in the South.
The median income for a household in the MSA was $32,469, and the median income for a family was $38,118. Males had a median income of $27,025 versus $20,295 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $16,159.
Economy
Booming prosperity accompanying a tremendous increase in the area's population has made Northwest Arkansas a recognized economic success. Many migrants come from Northeast Arkansas and Central Arkansas to work in this booming area. The state's population grew 13.7 percent between 1990 and 2000, but the two-county metropolitan statistical area accounted for one-third of that growth. Benton and Washington counties grew 47 percent between 1990 and 2000. Almost all of the people who moved to those counties then were from California, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas and other parts of Arkansas.[67] Estimates put the two-county population at roughly 373,055 by December 2004. Even during national economic turmoil, Northwest Arkansas has experienced 8.2 percent job growth. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in February 2008 the Northwest Arkansas region as a whole had an unemployment rate of 4.1%.[68] This unemployment rate gave Northwest Arkansas a rank of 41 out of 369 metropolitan areas in the United States. Per capita income in Northwest Arkansas is $31,191, according to the most recent figures from the United States Census Bureau.[69] This is approximately $7,000 below the average per capita income.[69]
Bentonville is world-renowned as a retail capital of the world, as it is headquarters to Walmart. Springdale is home to Fortune 75 company Tyson Foods, the world's leading producer of poultry and beef, and second-largest producer of pork. J.B. Hunt Transport Services in Lowell, is the nation's largest publicly owned truckload carrier, with international networks in Canada and Mexico.
The region has been noted for its transplants. The area has seen a number of transplants moving to the area from larger metropolitan areas in pursuit of jobs and amenities at a lower cost of living.[70] Wealthy enclaves such as Pinnacle in Rogers and amenities built to cater to transplants to the area have transformed the economies and cultures of Northwest Arkansas's formerly small, quiet towns.[71] Transplants from states like Texas, California, and Colorado have flooded into the area in recent years, leaving cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, and Denver in pursuit of NWA's low cost of living, laidback lifestyle, and natural amenities.
Northwest Arkansas has a strong tradition of education. Cane Hill College was founded in western Washington County in 1834; the first college in Arkansas, and Arkansas College was founded in Fayetteville in 1850.[a] Though both colleges are now defunct, these institutions laid the groundwork for establishing the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1871, today the largest and best-known university in the state. Seven of the top ten school districts in Arkansas are within Benton or Washington counties, including Haas Hall Academy, a top 100 high school nationwide.[72]
As of July 2016, 85.3% of Northwest Arkansas residents over age 25 held a high school degree or higher and 30.9% holding a bachelor's degree or higher. The Northwest Arkansas rates are above Arkansas averages of 84.8% and 21.1%, and near national averages of 86.7% and 29.8%, respectively.[b]
The University of Arkansas (UA) is a public co-educational land-grant university. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is noted for its strong architecture, agriculture (particularly poultry science), creative writing, and business programs. Sports are also important to the university, as they are home to the Arkansas Razorbacks.[74]
Entrance of the nationally recognized Fayetteville Public Library.
The Fayetteville Public Library is the largest library in Northwest Arkansas. The other libraries in Washington County have formed the Washington County Library System (WCLS).
Infrastructure
Surface transportation
I-49 runs south from Fayetteville into the Boston Mountains
The region is mainly served by Interstate 49. A widening of I-49 to six lanes and improvements to interchanges, including Arkansas's first single-point urban interchange at Exit 85 [2], are currently in the final stages [3]. Other major highways that serve the area include US 62, US 71, US 71B, and US 412B.
Two public transit agencies serve the area; Ozark Regional Transit is a general transit agency with around a dozen local routes, plus commuter, paratransit, and special purpose routes. Razorback Transit primarily serves University of Arkansas students, is fare-free, and has a service area limited to Fayetteville. It is also open to the general public.
^ abBowden, Bill (August 11, 2010). "Paving the way for 20 years". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Little Rock. p. 7. Retrieved July 5, 2020 – via NewsBank.
^Staff of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (December 2, 2016). "FYI". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock, AR: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Retrieved January 11, 2020 – via NewsBank.
^Robinson II, Charles F.; Williams, Lonnie R. (February 20, 2015). Remembrances in Black: Personal Perspectives of the African American Experience at the University of Arkansas, 1940s–2000s. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 279.
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