Book, Article or Discussion Recommendation (Needed)
For those of us who live in one of the United States fastest growing areas, Northwest Arkansas, we are both suffering and benefiting from tremendous, fast-paced economic growth. NW Arkansas is the six fastest growing areas, in fact. One of the nation’s “high priority” corridors, Highway 412, sets Northwest Arkansas at the crossroads between Oklahoma City and Tulsa in the west, and the Tennessee border in the east – providing access to Nashville.
And even more, a few statistics clipped from NWArk.org:
- Population: 312,000
- The sixth fastest-growing region in America
- 47% population increase in the 90s
- 60% employment growth in the last decade
- Unemployment rate among the lowest in the U.S.
- 36th safest metropolitian area in the U.S.
- $3.5 billion annual retail sales
- $4.8 billion effective buying income
Northwest Arkansas Council © 2003
These are amazing figures and I’ve also heared that approximately 1,000 people move into the area every month. In the ten years between 1990 and 2000 there was a 802% increase in the hispanic population bringing it to 6% of the total population. In 2000 the total black population made up a mear 2% of NW Arkansas’ population. In addition, according to the 2000 census, in Fayetteville 19.9% of the population and 11.4% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 19.7% of those under the age of 18 and 9.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
So, I’m trying to make sense as soon as is reasonable of any and all of this scattered information. What are the “moral consequences” of the growth in our part of the state? Who reaps the majority of the benefits, and the least? Who is leading, following, economically and morally? If one part of the city, county or state discovers, and flexes, new fiscal muscles, which muscles atrophy? Okay, bad metaphor.
Point being, I’m now on the lookout for thoughts on the moral consequences of economic growth in my community. Are there people, rather, which people in NW Arkansas not reaping the benefit of economic growth, whose livelyhood are adversely affected?
Anybody?
[tag]Arkansas, economics, growth, gentrification, Wal-Mart, Tyson, JB Hunt, Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville, Benjamin Friedman, capitalism[/tag]
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You bring up some interesting facts about the area, and I’m sure most people living there have all sorts of varied opinions. Personally, I liked Fayetteville better when it was small & full of hippies. I loved walking down Dickson Street with it’s variety of business. It seems like each year there’s less of that variety. I think that would be key to a growing town. Get a music store, a tattoo shop, a coffee shop, movie theater, etc. Not just bars & condos.
With all that said, I know how hard it can be to own a small business. Plus, I can’t hide the fact that I like knowing that the home I own there is increasing in value because of all the influx of wealth raising my property value.
I’d love to return to the area again and have everything that I loved be right there waiting for me, but I understand that things must change. I guess it’s just how/if we choose to change with it that matters most.
I think the influx of Hispanics is an example of an issue that should be addressed more than as a “rising population, source of good food, cheap labor, etc.” I still think they’re being marginalized and we are not addressing the changing needs of a multicultured community. NWAR couldn’t happen without this migrant-permanent labor force and it wasn’t built originally without a marginalized labor force either. I think it’s time for more recognition of these groups of people– they need a stronger voice. So does the African-American community (and the Marshalese community in Springdale). Generally speaking, those people still do NOT benefit from the buildings they create or the companies they sustain (Tyson for one). For example, look at all the people working at Wal-Mart and you see the masses left behind in our population boom (and look at the businesses replaced by the likes of Wal-Mart). Those people need more voice. I think the academics at the University ought to speak out a little more locally (governmentally) on these issues (I’m thinking of local anthropologists and historians especially). A citizen-academic-student based watch group that goes to city meetings and keeps up with local politics would be welcome. Also more bi- or multi-lingual facilities (especially in the City and Public levels) would be wonderful. Bring these people into the fore and I bet you’ll get a wealth of talent, interest, and ability to create a vibrant downtown that has more substance than what is there now. But then again, my parents– hippies and graduates of the UA in the 60s and 70s assure me things will go back to what they used to be in a few years. We’ll see. I miss ROTC, too. On a more individual level, I think that finding and supporting the local businesses is a great thing. Spreading the greatness of those businesses can be more effective than one realizes.
You both bring up some great points. Specifically, that it is true that in many cases the people who built the buildings or the companies that call those buildings home, do not benefit from them. For example, I can barely afford to go see a show at the Walton Arts Center, myself. Do I think the folks who built the place can? And I don’t mean the people who own the construction company, I mean the bulk of the people who make the construction company possible.
And as for education, as a university employee, I am lucky enough to be able to take classes at a very discounted rate, if I choose to. But do you think I’d have the time if I had a child? Even without a child, working for a second income as I do and must, disallows me the opportunity to take advantage of that benefit. The same must be ten fold for those who make even less than I do (ei. 19.9% of the population in NWArk.) So it’s probably safe to say that approximately 20% of this portion of the state find it terribly difficult, if not impossible, to take advantage of much of this economic growth. That is a lot of people who have almost nothing immediate to gain from any so called economic boom, save for higher taxes, increased congestion, greater commutes, and the likelyhood that they will never be able to purchase land or a house.
Of course, this growth, specifically in Fayetteville, is a double edged sword. I can not say that I am not happy about some of it and have taken advantage of that growth. I am conflicted by the growth of south Fayetteville. I wonder what it will do for many of the neighborhoods and businesses down here (I live in south Fayetteville). I love shopping at Nightbird Books and buying a good coffee at La Maison des Tartes. (Not to mention BSB has done work for both of those companies! What does that mean?) But I was convicted to buy a bag of dog food at the American Milling Co. only after they announced that they were closing due to, well, no one shopping there. When will the battery place across the street be forced to close down? Or when will they be priced (taxed) off of that prime real estate? What will it do for people who wanted to eventually buy a house down this way? It’s the cheapest in town now, but not for long.
I have a new neighbor who bought a house just around the corner. When it went on the market, he said, it was priced too high, but only slightly above market value. He waited and waited for the price to drop, and when it did, he bought it. This man is a holistic chiropractor of some kind and his wife, if I remember, is also a professional in the health business. Suffice to say, they aren’t a lower income family and they didn’t just buy a house in any of the fancy new parts of town or the pricey historic part of town. I’ve worked with minimum wage landscapers who turned their noses up at this part of town. See what I’m getting at? Things are changing everywhere around here. And I don’t like what it implies about the future of lower income individuals and families in northwest Arkansas.
A friend of mine just moved back to the area after graduating from the University of Missouri with a masters in English. He’s a tremendously intelligent mind and a gifted poet. Yet he, along with his two daughters and wife and, granted, an empty slate of opportunities that comes with graduation, he could not afford to move back to Fayetteville and has had trouble finding employment, even as a waiter.
I’m interested, Emily, in what your parents have to say about Fayetteville returning to its roots as a more culturally diverse town (if that’s what they mean by things going back to “what they used to be.”) I haven’t lived here but about six years, so I can’t long for those days but things have gone fast enough that I can long for what was here even three years ago. Have they seen that sort of wax and wane before or do you think their predictions more eidetic hopes than anything? As for me, I hope they’re right, but even then, I hope the switchover comes with a levelling and stabilization of incomes.
And I totally agree that there is a great need, as always, for greater, louder voices (our own included!) in these matters. Lets hear it for places like the Northwest Arkansas Worker’s Center and HUD and all of the places that make living in places of “economic growth” easier.
[...] If you’ll recall, I recently wrote requesting thoughts and conversation on the moral consequences of economic growth in one’s own region or city or town. Well, I’ve been carrying that torch and have found another book that doesn’t really address the issue directly but has some of the greatest thoughts on corporate social responsibility that I’ve read yet. The book is called What Matters Most by Jeffrey Hollender, the CEO of Seventh Generation (makers of the papertowels and toiletpaper you’ve seen at your local grocier.) A fantastic book that probably write more extensively about at a later date. But don’t hold me to it. [...]
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