tim2462

I was in Hot Springs yesterday and noticed that the Applebee's appears to be out of business. Does anyone know why they closed? I doubt it was because lack of business. I know a lot of restaurants have opened in the area in the last few years, but the area can more than support of all of them.

Well, there's no need to debate something that no one knows for sure. Str8 people like to think that gay people are freaks of nature and there aren't many of us. They like to think that we only make up 5-10% of the population...that makes them feel better to think we are such a small minority. Whatever makes ya feel good, I guess. Too many people are just oblivious and have no idea. Eureaka Springs has around 2,800 residents. 10% would be 280...I promise you, it's atleast 3 or 4 times that. The city has more Bed & Breakfasts than any other city in the world. Most of them are owned by gay people. Most churches in the area perform gay commitment ceremonies. The city actually advertises it's gayness on it's website. Anyway, back to our regulary scheduled topic, already in progress.

HAHA! No offense, but there are far more gay people around than you even realize. The problem is, you think that only the ones you can spot that are of the feminine sort, are gay. There are several different types of gay people. You have the ones that you can obviously tell are gay. You have the ones that are like myself, don't know I'm gay unless I tell you. You have the ones that live their lives in the closet. You have the ones that are married as a cover, but sleep with men on the side. This is far more wide-spread than you would even believe. I know more married gay men, than out gay men. Picking gay people out of a crowd is not like skin color or hair color...you have no idea how many gay people are all around you. This idea that it's only 5-10% makes me laugh so hard. There's no true way to pin down a percentage, because most gay people won't admit to being gay, if asked. However, more and more people are "coming out." They are coming out at early ages. Friday nights at Backstreet, you can barely walk. The number of 18 y/o gay people running around has exploded. In the past, people would still be in the closet at that age. No offense, but if you think gay people are few & far between at 5-10%, you are naive, and have a gaydar in need of repair! LOL. Oh, and I never said Hillcrest was anything like the Castro...I said, "It's a gay district, BY LITTLE ROCK STANDARDS." Check out gay tourism websites...it's listed as a gayborhood. Also, the New York Times named Eureka Springs in the top 4 up & coming gay tourism destinations in the country. I guess you guys won't believe that around half of that town is homo, would you? San Francisco is said to be over 50% gay...it's a lot easier to determine there, because most gay people there are out and will admit to being gay. San Francisco has 15 openly gay city officials. Why would Fort Smith or Jonesboro have less of a percent? Because they're smaller? Because they're in Arkansas? C'mon. Gay people are born everywhere. Some of the gayest people I know came from places like Augusta, and Lepanto LOL. I mean, geez, I came from Fordyce...aka redneckville. Out of the 92 people in my graduating class, I know 18 of them that are gay or lesbian...and that's just the ones that I know of or will admit to it. 5-10% is about the percentage that would admit to being gay...but even that percentage is growing.

The times I've been to Afterthought, it was gay people sitting around at the tables together...usually a few huge groups. Hillcrest is a lot more than 5-10% gay...haha...that's like people thinking the gay population of the US is only 5-10% gay. Hillcrest is a widely known "Gayborhood." On all gay websites, it is listed. They even refer to the Kroger there as "The Gay Kroger." There are more than just gay people that live there, but it is a gay district, by Little Rock standards. Anyway, not going to make it a huge issue, or stray too far off topic. As a gay man, I know a little about where my people live & hang out. :-)

I've been to afterthought a few times...it is actually quite a mixed crowd, as far as age goes. However, it is basically a gay bar. The few times I've been there, atleast 80% of the crowd was gay. It's a nice, relaxed environment. This shouldn't be too surprising, since Hillcrest is a gay district, or gayborhood, if you will.

The mayor of Conway recently gave the state of the city address. He talked about all of the new development in 2006, with a big emphasis on downtown. Conway's downtown is becoming quite a place to be. He also talked about the huge success of the Conway Commons shopping center. He went on to say that in 2007, another huge shopping center would be announced. He said Conway is drawing shoppers from all directions, and even from the Little Rock area. He also promised that 2007 will bring more restaurants, with private club status, so they can serve alcohol. I haven't seen the entire address, but those are some key things from it.

A lot of people keep wanting a Macy's in Little Rock & NWA. My question is....Why??? There is absolutely nothing special about a Macy's. It's just the name that people like. I was in the one in Memphis yesterday...and it is so plain. Same brands as dillard's, belk, and every other similar retailer.

Thanks for the info. Their site plan showed a lot that hasn't been confirmed...like Cracker Barrel...it's about time LR gets one. Also, JC Penney may not be confirming a location there, but their application to the health department does.

There are very few restaurants and retailiers in NWA or Little Rock, that aren't in Fort Smith. Most of what NWA has gotten recently, Fort Smith has had for many years. There may be a lack of a club scene...but that's about all you can say. Notice, apork mentioned dickson st...but that was about it. It's easy to say there's nothing to do, but it's quite hard to start naming things that a city is lacking, compared to other cities. People shop & eat in every city, usa. When it comes to there being "things to do," you have to expand out of the realm of eating and shopping. Once you think outside of that box...Fort Smith has a lot of "things to do." that NWA (and some bigger cities) don't. If you think about it...there is only so much a city can do for you...the rest is up to you!

There will be no empty building left. The plans are to extend Sam's club out, making it much bigger...and using the remaining of the building for a Neighborhood Market.

Park Plaza will be announcing their new "anchor" that will go in the old theater, on Nov. 11th...the day of their grand re-opening.

Exactly. Saline County is getting close to having 100,000 residents. Also, there are close to 1,000 houses going up off of Crystal Valley. There are also new subdivisions going in on the other side of 430 off of Stagecoach. Not to mention, all of the new houses being built along highway 5 in Little Rock, and all the way down into Bryant. The area is sure to keep growing, and putting a shopping center in the area is a great idea. Living in WLR, I would shop there, as well as Shackleford Crossing.

I talked to a guy today that actually builds Apple stores. I asked him if he knew if one could possibly be coming to Little Rock soon. He said that it depends on the type of developments that come along and where they are. He said that Apple only builds stores in areas of a city that have a median income of $100,000+ He said that the Chenal area would be the likely area that Apple would be interested in, based on where he currently builds stores. This has me thinking that The Promenade at Chenal could very well get an Apple Store. They say they are aiming at high-end tenants. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

That's 20% of their TOTAL workforce, not from just the Fort Smith plant. They also announced layoffs at a plant in Indiana...around 500 there.

There's an article in Arkansas Business about this. It also has the site plan. I personally don't think it will happen. It's too big of a project with too many huge anchors (some 2 story) for that area.

Central Avenue is really starting to fill in south of the bypass. A lot of restaurants that should've been in Hot Springs a long time ago are finally arriving. Bennigan's opened a while back and Olive Garden is opening soon. Over on Albert Pike, a new call center has opened up. It will employ over 500 people. That is something Hot Springs needed. Anynthing to diversify the economy there is great for the city. The fairgrounds have been sold and sometime next year, a company from Houston is developing a retail project there, that is rumored to possibly have a Home Depot and a Target. I figure it will be something like Conway Commons and Alcoa Exchange. Also, Magic Springs is expanding every year and is becoming a destination of its own. It's already been recognized as the 3rd best family fun park in the country. They still have a lot of land that hasn't been cleared that they are going to expand in.

The entire area around Hot Springs is Unincorporated. Anything outside of Fort Smith is incorporated into cities, such as Lavaca, Greenwood, Van Buren, and towns in OK. I'm not talking about cities swallowing up cities to increase the population...I'm simply talking about unincorporated land around Hot Springs that is very much part of the city. Again, not talking about cities swallowing up eachother. This is not about cities merging to form a supercity. Same goes for NWA...those are all incorporated cities.

This has been somewhat talked about a few times, but here is some more info on it. There are many commercial and residential areas that are outside of the city limits of Hot Springs, yet very much a part of the city of Hot Springs. There are huge residential areas all over the place outside of the city limits. Much of the new development, especially condo towers going up are not in the city limits. Also, apartment complexes are popping up out there as well. This is primarily south of the current city limits, surrounding Lake Hamilton. The population of Hot Springs proper is estimated to be 37,847 as of 2005. The 2005 estimated population of Garland County is 93,551. Much of Garland County is occupied by the Ouachita National Forest and Lake Ouachita. From my own research, I have estimated that only about 8,000 people live in the county, outside of the immediate Hot Springs area. Hot Springs Village has a population of 8,387, with only 6,656 of those residing in Garland County. The remaining are in Saline County. Only about 1,000 or so more people are scattered throughout the county. The rest of the county is very sparsely populated, due to the terrain and public land. That leaves about 87,000 people residing in the immediate Hot Springs area. For those of you that know the area, you know that where the city limits end is not where the city ends...especially on Hwy. 7 South. The city limits end at the mall, but there is a lot of city left past there. The Census bureau realized this and declared Hot Springs a Metro Area, because of its urbanized area. So, I declare Hot Springs the Unofficial 2nd largest city in Arkansas. Development is starting to really take off there. I wish it were more widely reported. You have to drive there to see most of it. I will start to post info on the city's development in this thread.

Last Monday's Arkansas Business

It's in tomorrow's Arkansas Business

From the sound of it, it's near I-40, because it said it was going to be west of Conway Commons. Not much is known yet. But, they were talking about them a while back locating out in West Conway. So, who knows. We'll know more soon.

Furniture Row and Best Buy are coming to Conway. They will be located near Conway Commons. The Best Buy store will be located next to the soon to be built Hilton Garden Inn.

#15 - tim2462