cocothief

Square renovations 2.9.08:

EJ Ball Plaza renovation 2.9.08:

Is there another company in town we can buy our electricity from? I think we should start a drive to hit SWEPCO's pocketbook because of this.

Those powerline poles SUCK. Well, I guess so far they aren't as bad as I imagined them to be. That has a lot to do with the Underwoods Lofts building keeping them from being overwhelming. Still, SWEPCO didn't even try. Maybe painting them dark green or something would have helped. My true feelings about this are that so many people spend so much time and effort to make that part of town attractive, which influences the quality of life in Fayetteville. That in turn creates more business for a company like SWEPCO. Instead of being a good neighbor, they're opportunists. Its just not good. Makes me think of the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg. Thats probably melodramatic, but its in the same ballpark.

I agree with MasonsDad. I don't believe there is anything special about Fayetteville as far as it having a more tolerant population. Perhaps more tolerant than average, but that can be attributed to Fayetteville being a college town. But then again, so are Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Oxford, Mississippi. Integration was largely a non-issue here because, as the OP stated, there are and were so few blacks. Integration was a bigger issue where larger populations of blacks lived. One of my parents grew up in Fayetteville. The other did not. For a short time, they lived near Pine Bluff, Arkansas. After that experience, the parent who grew up in Fayetteville became less tolerant because of the racial problems they encountered. Detroit had few race problems until blacks became 30% or more of the population in the 1960s. My travels and life experience have shown me that when a city has more racial diversity, it ususally has more racial tension and conflict. Los Angeles, for example, in my opinion, is one of the most racist places in the nation. Watch the movie Crash for a Hollywood interpretation of racial realities there. I spent time riding in cars with Asians who talked about Orange County's positive attributes being that it has so few blacks. I've ridden with Jews through South Central L.A. and heard them grumble about the blacks and how many Jewish property owners sold out to Koreans after the Rodney King race riots. I believe the intent of many of the leaders of Fayetteville is good with regards to race relations. The reality is that outside of Fayetteville, in areas with TRUE racial integration, racial tensions are predictably more pronounced. Another observation (if I may be candid), as a white person, I believe that the whiter the area, the more politically liberal the population tends to be. You'll generally find a white person in Boulder, Colorado to be decidedly more liberal and positive about racial harmony than a white person living in the Detroit suburbs or metro Atlanta. Boulder, obviously, is about as white as a city gets. I expect that as real racial and cultural diversity increases in Fayetteville, so will ethnic and cultural tension. I've seen it too many other places to believe otherwise.

The harsh reality is that for most people from larger metros, MLK will make them think they are in the ghetto. Walk down to the corner of Malcom X Boulevard and MLK in south Dallas then tell me: Do you find yourself thinking "Wow what a progressive and diverse forward-thinking community" or "Get me the hell out of here before I get shot and robbed!" A Silas Hunt Boulevard could be more symbolic for the local community, and doesn't come with the unfortunate negative connotations that MLK Boulevard holds for most people from outside of NWA. Of course, I get the feeling most of the Fayetteville City Council hasn't spent much time outside of NWA. This, to me, is like naming College Avenue "Harry Hines Blvd" (the notorious hooker/drug strip in Dallas) or 8-Mile Rd. Regardless of the intent, which I believe is good, I think we could have done a lot better.

This renaming is completely idiotic in my opinion. Its a few people who think "Oh, we'll look SO progressive if we do this, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER CITY IN THE USA. If they wanted to name it for someone, I wish they would have chosen someone local. If they want to name it for an African American, why not Silas Hunt Boulevard? At least then it wouldn't seem so cravenly PC and like the city council was trying too hard. Although I still wouldn't be in favor of renaming a street for those purposes, I could get behind a Silas Hunt Boulevard. I opposed the renaming because I see no point other than the pretentions of a few "progressive liberals". If the point is to honor someone who made a difference, I'd prefer it be someone who made a difference in our community. Fayetteville schools and the UA were integrated long before King. If the point is to seem more multicultural, rename it for a local African American civil rights pioneer. The closest we have is Silas Hunt. This decision is absurd. So much for Keeping Fayetteville Funky. Lets just hope the MLK Boulevard doesn't turn into the worst ghetto like just about every single other MLK in the nation.

I don't remember if there is a thread for it or not, but work continues on the EJ Ball Plaza. I was driving downtown this morning and I noticed that most of the windows on the north side have been switched from brown to blue glass. It really helps the looks of that building and make it look cleaner and more modern.

I don't remember if there is a thread for it or not, but work continues on the EJ Ball Plaza. I was driving downtown this morning and I noticed that most of the windows on the north side have been switched from brown to blue glass. It really helps the looks of that building and make it look cleaner and more modern.

Here's a thing I have been thinking about lately: The University needs to work with the city to beautify 6th street. I think it would be in the best interests of the University if some of the improvements that are slated around town that involve sidewalks, beautification, landscaping, tree planting, etc were directed to 6th. Its the entryway to the University for so many people, and a just the stretch from Razorback Road to I-540 would make so much difference in the perception of the city, and the University because so many first time visitors take that exit. Just a thought.

I think its the peeps pimpin their Low Riderz that get most annoyed by speed tables. Low riding is so 1998 anyway. Jack it up, get some dubs, and thank the city of Fayetteville Transportation Division for saving you from urban-auto-fashion embarrassment. Actually, I think the speed tables serve multipurpose function. The damage they do to low riders has to be repaired locally, which in turn helps city sales tax revenues.

I drive Rolling Hills daily. The speed table is already installed there. I personally don't mind it at all. I guess I am getting older, but I don't mind speed tables and traffic calming measures. Better that than people driving like mad. I am curious what problems you think speed tables create. I know I haven't avoided Rolling Hills once since the speed table was installed a couple of weeks back. I have avoided Joyce, though, but mainly due to holiday traffic.

Prices are inflated. I believe it started downtown, so it makes sense it will start to decline downtown. The properties being for sale aren't necessarily a reflection of a declining street, but of an overpriced one. People still flock to Dickson Street in droves. Liquor is being sold, food is being eaten. There is room for businesses to succeed. In fact, on a demand basis, businesses have a better chance of thriving on Dickson Street now than at any time in the past 40 years. The imbalance in the market is not on the consumer side. It is on the Cost of Doing Business side. Maybe we have FINALLY reached the threshold for rents on Dickson, and via extension, the capacity for carrying financing costs of ownership. Hopefully these properties for sale indicate just that. Downward pressure on downtown commercial property prices is a good thing IMO. It will allow more opportunities for common sense redevelopment to take place. A developer cannot construct a feasible pro forma for an infill project if land prices are outrageously out of balance with what they could recapture via rents and or sales over a reasonable period of time. Divinity and Legacy, IMO, drove a lot of this frenzied, land-rush buying mentality which drove prices far above actual appraisals. Downward pressure on prices is needed and in some ways, inevitable. I don't think it is a reflection of decreased demand, but of common sense once again beginning to rear its beautiful head in our fair city. May these properties linger on the market until the sellers are forced to accept appraised value...

I think these downtown properties being for sale is a good thing for Fayetteville in the long run. Some of the moves made the last five years on Dickson (Barber, Divinity comes to mind) inflated property prices far beyond what they should have been. This inflation has filtered out through Fayetteville. "Hey, if they're getting 3 million for .25 acres downtown, how much can we get for 2.5 acres midtown?" Before prices readjust to reasonable levels, there are going to have to be a few people who sell and sell for a loss. Hopefully then they can lower some of the rents on Dickson and downtown and businesses can start making money down there again. If you're interested in longterm redevelopment of the inner city, a saturated market in the near term is a good thing. I don't see demand for residential and commercial space decreasing in Fayetteville anytime soon. More of these properties hitting the market now will only allow for a market correction that is badly needed in this town. That will free up some properties for redevelopment that are for the time being just being held for speculatory appreciation. I don't see this as being a bad thing.

Thats very interesting to say the least. Crossover road is overpriced by the state for some odd reason. It doesn't make sense. I would think that Oaklawn would be even more expensive per mile than Crossover because sections of it are basically being made from scratch, whereas Crossover is already an existing road with existing ROWs. Perhaps traffic flow and detours have something to do with Crossover's bigger price tag.

If it is moved, WAC could just turn the existing building over to the U of A to use exclusively. Fine Arts at UA doesn't really have spectacular facilities as it is.

I read the article and I agree with Jeremy Pate. He said that it exceeded all requirements and it wasn't a CUP, but a development by right. I don't see how they could turn it down. They are opening themselves up to get sued. I drive Township almost daily. I hardly see it as being congested east of College, at least compared to some other similar streets. We are only talking about 24 homes here. I think you are right that the CC will approve it. I hope so.

Wow, anybody got a link to info on Forest Hills? Also, Walgreens is the 7-11 of the new millenium.

While we're discussing economics here, I thought I'd pose this: While pricing is largely driven by demand, it is also driven by COGS. In this case, construction and land costs. I keep hearing a lot about China's development driving up costs of building materials. I wonder if that will prevent pricing from being as responsive to decreased demand as in the past.

That development has been exactly like that for at least a year I'd say. As far as I know, the plat passed the planning commission. I guess the demand didn't keep up with the plan, though. Its a little out of town, if you ask me, and there are other undeveloped subdivisions in much more desireable areas. Apparently their lots aren't selling there.

Haven't seen anything about this, but a few more condos downtown: The Cravens Building http://amaregi.com/projects16.html

If they start planting trees in Springdale, how will we see all the big tall signs??????????

For the sake of arguement, Fayetteville does do some things which make development more expensive. These are mainly quality of life things, like trees, parkland ordinance, fees, etc etc. Those can un-naturally impact development costs on the front end. On the back end, those are all demand-increasing items. They make QOL higher, which in turn creates higher demand for housing in Fayetteville. I don't know if its because there is a lack of demand for lower income housing, or if its the above stated drivers which are hurting more moderately priced developments on the front end. What I am inclined to believe, at least in the short term, is that a lot of developers got caught up in the land rush about five years ago and land prices escalated too rapidly. The market is slow to react to this overpricing of land which translates into higher home prices. It is going to take some more people bailing out of the game for things to get back to a more natural level around here. When that happens, prices should respond accordingly. They haven't yet to a large degree. I hope, for various reasons, that property prices (and values) stay high in Fayetteville. Its by no means exclusive at this point. When a person can go just south of downtown and purchase a fixer-upper for $50k, its not an exlusionary market, and therefore, not a problem at this point. I think we were spoiled in NWA for a long time by affordable housing options and now that things have begun to pick up around here, we just aren't used to looking at home purchases like most of the rest of the country does. Affordable may mean that you have to buy in a less desireable part of town. Its not the end of the world. Almost all areas of NWA still have great school districts. Try buying something affordable in a large city in a safe area which has a decent school district, and then compare that to what we have in NWA and Fayetteville. We still have it pretty darned good. Some of these Fayetteville city idealists need a reality check, badly. We could use some higher paying jobs, though.

It sounds like its something more like Fayetteville's which is pretty indepth. Fayetteville's specifies tree coverage, tree preservation, the types of trees required, their width, etc. It prevents entire areas from becoming "Bradford Pear" forests.

Rogers to consider tree ordinance. We love our tree ordinance in Fayetteville. Hope y'all get one too. http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/10/...00307rzplan.txt