johnnydr87

Last time I specifically passed by that part of Little Rock I saw a skeleton of the building. And that was a 1-3 months ago. It's probably much further along.

Fayetteville's also fairly close to Fort Smith, no? That's why the 50 mile radius population is so big. According to google, Springfield is 45 miles away from Branson. Fort Smith 57 from Fayetteville.

I just posted this website in xanga blog. But I seriously doubt any of my friends will be interested in a discussion about the economics of the state...especially since they're itching to get out of here. (I had to warn them that the "following entry" was a nerdy topic ). I could probably post this in some Arkansan messageboards I'm active in too, pick up a few members.

That's awsome. Springfield statistics: Executive Summary

I wonder how we might attract new forumers for our state, aside from the search engines. I would really like to see our forum grow!

Wow, that website's really nice. Lots of interesting stuff to read. The MSA will grow by over 200,000 over the next 15 years! that's crazy :s

I was going to mention the same thing. The quality is pretty awsome from everyone. We all seem to know our stuff about the state pretty well, so it's perfect that we basically steer the infantile stages of the forum.

I never had my location in my profile. I just added recently. But I changed it again to "Little Rock and Hot Springs" since I visit LR pretty often and keep up with the projects (EDIT// oh, and by "projects," i mean new developments). I'm curious about the other votes. I only know of 4 total active Arkies here, so what's up with the other votes ? Back when I first came to urbanplanet in February, seeking a home, I remember 1-2 other people from the state. Where have they gone? I'm sure that will change. I'm officially addicted to our little page, so I no doubt account for a large percentage of the page views here (then again, with only 4 active Arkies, we all account for a large percentage). Back at my old home (http://skyscrapercity.com, a hectic, badly organized forum) I remember 5-6 Arkansans. I actually sent a few of them a message, but they're not active anymore, so they'll probably never get it. They probably got discouraged, because whenever one would mention NW Arkansas, any of the AR metros, and sometimes even Little Rock...hardly anyone would know info about the metro to get a discussion going. It was always something like "Meet Little Rock, Arkansas" was here. A lot of "ooo's" and "ahh's" and "that's a wonderful little community." Basically any thread about Arkansas was "Meet <insert state or metro>." Here at least, we know our stuff about our state and can go in depth. And the fact that there are only a few websites that discuss urban Arkansas, and even few that have active forums (uhh, I think this is the only place)....this place will definitely surge up the google rankings. I was surprised a week or so ago when I came back to check the discussion out here (ya know, to inject my "Little Rock" here or there into the Carolina-biased discussion ), and saw other Arkansans here, all in a relatively short period of time...and all arrived at the same time. It made that "critical mass" needed to get our own forum going, and probably just happened by lucky coincidence.

The Old Junction Bridge (former railroad) by the riverfront might be getting a nice facelift and converted to a pedestrian bridge/multiuse thingy. I would much prefer that it be turned into a nicer landmark as in my previous posts. I remember one of my first trips to Little Rock, when I was a little kid....thinking the bridges were hideous. They are rusting and in shabby condition from their unuse. Since the bridges are basically permanent, I'm glad they're making it useful. Here is a UALR report and photos: Junction Bridge Conceptual Design report February 11, 2004 Executive Summary: Junction Bridge Conceptual Design report Presented to the Pulaski County Bridge Facilities Board Presented by the professional team The Bridge Design

That's awsome.

Cool. According to the satellite image, it's right beside the tallest building in Arkansas, the Metropolitan National Bank Tower. Pics: Some Buildings in Lafayette Square:

Whoa, that's really neat and different. Definitely has that that real, "inner city," urban feel... not the flashy, glamorous, shiny, plastic look of most developments.

Fayetteville is a nice city. I think it represents the state very well, and is definitely up with Little Rock in terms of progressiveness . As mentioned before, the U of A system really helps. It causes quite a bit of a ripple effect on other areas: like education, thereby business, thereby infrastructure. Because of the college campus, it seems to have many qualities of a bigger city: lots of college degrees, lots of diversity, good education, fairly good infrastructure, name brand businesses, music scene, and, yes, progressive population. Like I said before, it seems to redeem the fundamentalism of NW Arkansas to a good degree. The notion of a Midwest influence wouldn't surprise me. Then again, to me at least, any parts of the south with sizable populations (basically the metro areas) seem to have large influence from the North. In Little Rock, I would say close to half or more don't even have a southern accent (or at the most a slight southern accent). I know I don't. I'm not sure yet if I agree with TIF, but we'll see. Is Fayetteville the fastest growing of the NW cities? Also, how many years away do you think the NW metro is from forming a continous city (I asked a similar question)? And once it forms a continous city, is it possible that Lowell would be used to build a skyscraper lane for the metro? The NW Arkansas metro is such a strange beast. It needs a cool nick name, like NC's Triangle. Maybe the "Quad Cities." Or even "Quin Cities," if Lowell is truly growing that fast. As I've said too many times, this place is expected to outgrow Little Rock's metro, but it has yet to develop a true Urban center---a crucial part of a good metro. Right now it's four very independent cities, but I wonder how far off it is before it becomes one entity---probably a good 20-30 years. But once that happens, the possibilities are astounding. In fact, it will probably be similar to Oklahoma's Tulsa and OK City dominating the OK culture and economy. Damn, this is a thread in itself!

Fancified Marina, Downtown Little Rock: If this project goes through, it will remind me of the beach-side cities: rows and rows of boats and upscale condos: Central High Museum, Commemorative Coin: "It has been a big day for the Central High National Historic Site. A bill to create a commemorative coin cleared Senate committee. A companion bill has passed the House committee. It could raise $4 million for the historic site. The Senate Appropriations committee has approved $5.1 million to build a permanent visitor center at the site. It still needs Senate and conference approval, but this is an important step in having a new center ready for the 50th anniversary of the school crisis in 2007."

I was just wondering for personal interest. The Arkansas population here is rather low right now, compared to other states subforums. I'm sure that will change. As we get more people from central Arkansas, an active discussion about Little Rock can get going. Same with other metros. Right now, it seems like we're mostly learning interesting things from each other about different parts of the state. Also, be sure to state the metro you're from. Hot Springs, here.

Landmark for Little Rock competition (all speculation): And here's the article: Creating a landmark The work to make an abandoned bridge a symbol This much is certain. Sometime next year the 120-year-old Junction Railroad Bridge will be reopened as a pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River connecting Little Rocks River Market entertainment district to North Little Rocks Alltel Arena. A $1.6 million matching grant from the state Highway and Transportation Department assures that much. What is less certain but very possible is that the bridge will see additional entertainment-oriented private development, either on the bridge itself or at either end. That idea of creating an inhabited bridge with restaurants or other development is being explored by the Junction Bridge Collaborative. This body consists of a county-appointed public facilities board and a group of interested citizens. They are coming up with ideas on what to do with the abandoned but structurally sound bridge that came into the hands of the city earlier this year. In February the Arkansas Times urged local governments to turn the bridge into an icon for the area, using the bridge as a platform for a world-class structure that would both symbolize the city and be a social gathering place. The Times published a series of concept drawings from a number of local architects that depicted ideas of how the bridge might be developed. Proposals included restaurants, office space, a hotel attached to the north end of the bridge and a city park. The bridge presents planners with a number of challenges, even for something as relatively simple as a pedestrian walkway. The southern end of the bridge is permanently raised over the ship channel, forcing pedestrians to climb stairs or stop and wait for an elevator from the main bridge level to the raised bridge portion and then down again. One solution is to build the walkway across the top of the superstructure of the lower bridge, which would put it almost exactly at track level of the raised portion of the bridge. In addition to creating a level walkway, this solution preserves the track level of the lower bridge portion for future development. Millie Ward, president of Stone Ward Advertising and this years president of the Downtown Partnership, has been a strong advocate for exploring private development options. Earlier this fall, Jim Schimmer, executive director of the Downtown Partnership, sent out about 50 packets to developers connected to the Urban Land Institute advising them of the availability of the bridge for redevelopment. Wards agency has also been in contact with CNN, the Wall Street Journal and a variety of trade magazines to get the word out about the interest from local government in seeing the bridge developed. At a public meeting in August, a participant suggested that instead of widening the bridge to build a restaurant or shops, a developer could simply pull refurbished railroad dining cars onto the bridge and create a restaurant. A railroad buff attending the meeting added that a number of the old stainless steel cars were stored in Kansas City and were for sale. The length of the bridge could accommodate seven or eight cars, which could be used for a number of purposes, including the restaurant. That idea is now being championed by a number of committee members as the most practical way to place structures on the bridge. The pedestrian walkway would run above the train cars and would have stairs leading down to track level. In addition, the bridge could be widened with light steel walkways at track level to provide access to the train cars and possibly outdoor seating. Another factor that will eventually play into the bridges future is the potential availability of inexpensive city-owned land adjacent to the north end of the bridge in North Little Rock. Available, that is, for the right idea. The possibility of a hotel or some type of entertainment complex that would tie into the bridge and complement the River Market entertainment district on the opposite end of the bridge has been bandied about. (One prominent developer predicted, however, that a hotel was six years away, due to a raft of new rooms about to come into the downtown market from the new Radisson, Holiday Inn and a refurbished Legacy not to mention developer Jimmy Moses idea for a hotel at Second and Commerce Streets.) At press time the Junction Bridge Collaborative was waiting on a report from McClelland Consulting Engineers that would identify any structural problems preventing construction of the pedestrian walkway above track level. If that hurdle is met, it is likely that the pedestrian walkway will get underway in January while the Downtown Partnership continues to look for the right developer and vision to create a spectacular destination. --- By Alan Leveritt ---

First Security Center (finished) 300 Third Tower (in progress):

I know I'm going to be forgetting about a lot of projects. I'll probably edit more in later. Here are all I know of (quotes from Arkansas Business): 2004/2005 Recap Inland Maritime Musuem, on the banks of Arkansas River (in progress "And, of course, central Arkansas had a banner year. North Little Rock landed the USS Razorback with more boats