[The NWA/Fort Smith media market - movin' up]

On 4/27/2023 at 8:11 AM, Wayward Memphian said:

It was given orthodoxy around these parts that Benton County would out pace Washington Co in growth. And... that is now true. It was also a given that Springdale would eventually catch up with and pass Fayetteville. It was non more appear than with the 2010 census numbers. Some things changed with that between 2010 and 2022. U OF A aggressively recruited Texas kids with in state tuition offers that led to an explosion of off campus apts. Go look at the new housing subs along 15th/Ark 16 between School and Happy Hollow. Nearly all college kids, lots of Texas plates. The enrollment growth nearly mirrors the widened gap between Springdale and Fayetteville from 2010 to 2020. That will eventually subside when the Uof A enrollment reaches equilibrium within the next 5 years and Springdale will do what was expected more than a decade ago and pass Fayetteville.

Fayetteville expected to surpass 100k in new population counts due this spring. You are so wrong again. Ft. Smith should be a separate market.

[The NWA/Fort Smith media market - movin' up]

13 hours ago, Wayward Memphian said:

Really? Have you driven down Ark 265 through Hogeye and the back roada to Prairie Grove from there? Still plenty of pastures that can be developed along old US71 to Brentwood. I have coworkers here in Fayetteville that live in Alma, plenty of land between there and Mountainburg to build on. 

 

This is a fine example  of endless possibilities 

That land is in the NWA metro.

Way to not answer my other questions.

[The NWA/Fort Smith media market - movin' up]

On 4/19/2023 at 3:39 PM, Wayward Memphian said:

Projections show Fayetteville losing the biggest of the 4 title soon enough. No need to usher it to the Top. Generic NWA works best here or cop some other term like The Quad. 

 

And... what the hell are you talking about not much room for growth between Fayetteville and Alma? 

Where is your evidence that Fayetteville is about to lose the biggest of the 4 title? What 4 are you talking about?  The big 4 in the NWA metro?

Yeah a more inclusive generic term would be acceptable, but they aren’t using that either and they should.

In case you didn’t know, the area between Fayetteville and Alma is very mountainous. There are few cities down that way, They had to build a tunnel to get the new interstate through. 

[The NWA/Fort Smith media market - movin' up]

On 3/30/2023 at 7:19 AM, Wayward Memphian said:

Appreciate the effort to inject life in to this board but it is in a vegetative coma in the message board intensive care unit.

 

No, Don't separate  asgrowth will start filling in the gap and I-49 is the main lifeline.  Ft. Smith no longer warrants being a standalone. These stations already have trouble attracting and keeping decent talent.

Then Fayetteville’s name should come first in the market name then. It should be 29/40, not 40/29. When the TV market was started Ft. Smith was the larger metro and city. That is no longer the case. NWA metro population is over half a million, Ft. Smith’s is about 250,000. Fayetteville is the second largest city in the state. Springdale is not too far behind Ft. Smith either. In fact, the other two main NWA cities Rogers and Bentonville  are not too far behind Ft. Smith in population. NWA is only behind Little Rock in everything now but the TV market. NWA has the only other professional baseball team in the state, the only other Children’s Hospital campus, the only other National Airport. Why do the call letters of Channel 5 still say KFSM, when it has no presence in Ft. Smith anymore?  There’s really not much room for growth between Fayetteville and Alma anyway.  The I-49 section between Alma and Ft. Smith isn’t supposed to be complete until the end of the decade.

[The NWA/Fort Smith media market - movin' up]

I know this is an older post, but does anyone else think the FT Smith/NWA market should be split in two? The NWA metro has over half a million people now and Fayetteville has overtaken Ft. Smith as the second largest city in the state.