DickSonstreetDFW

That sucks. I hate powerlines. But I love electricity. There could not be a worse place for them to run these high lines through Fayetteville unless they chose to run them directly across the top of Mt. Sequoyah. I wonder if there is any way the power company could camouflage the lines, like painting them green, or something.

There's been one in the NWA mall for at least 6-7 years. I bought, by request, several gifts for neices and nephews there. Its kind of a toddlers up to 7 yr olds version of Gap. Mid-priced, "cool" clothes for kids.

Definitely and advantage Bentonville has is that they are growing so quickly and didn't start with a rather large town in which to enact planning guidelines ex post facto. A lot of Fayetteville's issues are remedying past mistakes.

Again, the powerlines are a separate issue. I don't think they are a part of any master plan, but rather will get through due to a loophole allowing utilities to upgrade. I don't think Fayetteville could veto it if they wanted to.

You make some very good points about Bentonville and their step up in better community planning. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is "better" than Fayetteville's because they seem to have similar visions for their cities. Fayetteville has been setting aside green space and nature areas for decades. Bentonville, as far as I know, is a newcomer to the masterplanning concept. As far as the powerlines, I am not sure if ANY city could control a utility's plan for upgrading services, short of funding the asthetic improvements which would soften the impact. Fayetteville may simply not be able to afford to share the costs with the power company. I don't think any planning could have prevented this from happening.

Perhaps the city can use some of the turnback funds from the new census to share the costs of burying the cable with the company, at least the portion that runs through downtown/Dickson. It would be a shame for the views of Old Main to be marred by 120 ft tall high tension powerlines. I guess we could all boycott the electric company. Honda has generators..... Of course gas is outrageous.... Who am I kidding...we are powerless.

I agree with the idea of burying all powerlines. The area I currently live in has no overhead powerlines and its great. I think this issue is something that may not be under the control of the city as it deals with a primary "main" powerline to and from the substation on Powerhouse Ave rather than a secondary line. I'm not sure how it works in Fayetteville but I know sometimes utilities get to pretty much do whatever suits their needs to provide their services. And since it looks like this will be an upgrade of already existing lines, they might not even need city approval. I hope it doesn't happen.

Has anyone heard anything about the plans by a power company to convert the powerlines which intersect Dickson Street into "high tension" lines, with poles 120 feet tall? I attended a baseball game up there a few weekends ago and I remember thinking that something seemed different about the view east of the stadium. Turns out they have already converted the powerlines to the southside of town to these monstrous metal poles. It really screwed up the scenery down there. I can't imagine the city allowing this to happen in the middle of town. Anyone know anything about this?

Good post. If left solely to the market forces, Fayetteville would look very similar to Springdale. If the city ever hopes to achieve any of the lofty goals set by Dover Kohl, then ordinances of many types will be needed to direct the growth. It will pay off many times over as property values increase and Fayetteville becomes even more of a destination for newcomers to NWA. The cheapest, most profitable way for developers is to develop whatever they please, wherever they choose. That means no limits on land uses. Ordinances haven't stopped or slowed growth in Fayetteville. Cracker Barrell and Springdale go together like socks and shoes. Fayetteville will be much better off in the future by not compromising its vision for short term sales tax gains. The protections on quality of life will simply create more demand for housing in Fayetteville as other, less well-planned cities in the region deteriorate.

Thats one I hadn't thought of. One of those million dollar ideas. There's advertising in the restroom stalls, on the seat-back tray tables of airplanes, now on grocery checkout conveyor belts. It makes me think of that Tom Cruise movie Minority Report where everything, down to cereal boxes, have video hologram advertisements on them.

I just hope they aren't Lindsey "garden style" apartments.

Wish I could have been there. I will likely be one of the 40k new residents as I just got the full time job offer up there I was seeking, so there's only 39,999 slots left to fill. Its just fantastic that a city the size of Fayetteville has so many concerned residents who will show up to meetings about how to make the city better in the future. An old bumper sticker my granpda used to have on his car says it all: "Fayetteville is Fantastic!" Keep us up to date on any inside info your gather at these meetings.

Yesterday I was doing a COL comparison between Plano, TX and Fayetteville, AR and the source I used listed Fayetteville as having a higher average home price than Plano. Overall the COL was slightly higher in Plano (the largest city in Collin County, the wealthiest county in Texas according to DMN), but the average home price was higher in Fayetteville. The rub is that average incomes in Plano are probably at least double what they are in Fayetteville. Even when you factor in the income level dips from college students and retirees, its still low compared to the COL.

Springdale's saving grace could be the 412 bypass. It will spur more commercial development (hopefully high quality development) at the new interchanges, increasing the tax base, and allow the city to relcaim 412 B through the heart of town, which may further spur quality development and gentrification. I hope their attention to quality of life issues isn't too late in coming. I can't believe they have special "high visibility zones" allowing the incredible heights of pole signs. Most cities try to discourage those eyesores, whereas Springdale has over the years, encouraged them. Maybe when I move back up there (soon) I can spearhead a Springdale renaissance.

Exactly. TIFs are used to create and maintain momentum in re-development. They should never be used in areas that already have it. Downtown LR isn't quite there yet and could benefit greatly. Property values are terribly low in areas not too far from the Clinton Center to the south and still low to the south of downtown although improved over the past few years. A vibrant downtown core extending from the Capitol to the Clinton Center, helped along by a TIF, would help those areas to appreciate quickly and make up for losses to the LRSD due to a TIF. The time to institute one was ten years ago. Imagine all of the revenue that would be available for your free parking garages today.