The Fayetteville area offers scenic beauty and attractions, a thriving university scene, competitive housing prices, a bustling downtown district alive with nightlife and plenty of opportunties for outdoor exercise and recreation.
Now it gets real.
You can’t live in Arkansas, as I have for more than 25 years, and not know something of Fayetteville, no matter what part of the Natural State you call home.
Having spent most of my days in the central region, the University of Arkansas and — most prominently its athletic teams — nonetheless always had a way of announcing itself, and the entire northwest area, to those of us scattered elsewhere.
To me the northwest was always an almost mythic place of natural beauty, knowledge, business and commerce, rapid growth and heroic athletic achievements.
It still is. But now I am personally invested thanks to my son, a sophomore at the university.
He is now skateboarding on the hills of Fayetteville, camping in the scenic, nearby parks, enjoying (on a limited and heavily moderated scale I hope) what the night life has to offer, taking in the local music scene and generally reveling in an area I had only known as an infrequent visitor.
Naturally, with my son in school, I have visited a little more often recently, and each return visit seems to reveal something new.
I have prowled the local bookstores whose shelves seem to totter under the weight of the merchandise; I have toured the Tyson Foods Inc. headquarters, one of several of the country’s top corporations that make their home in the northwest; I have watched some of the best young professional ballplayers in the nation take part in the Texas League All-Star Game in Springdale’s airy and comfortable Arvest Ballpark.
And I am only scratching the surface. When it comes to business, pleasure and natural beauty Bella Vista, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Lowell, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Springdale and other nearby communities offer a wealth of attractions, shopping and dining destinations, a thriving and growing arts and music scene, outdoor and recreational activities, historical points of interest and opportunity after opportunity for those who visit and those who make their homes in the area.
As I said, the region has a way of announcing itself, and people from all over have listened and felt Northwest Arkansas’ irresistible pull. They have come here to work and raise families, to take advantage of the quality of the schools, the hospitals, the affordable housing, the climate and the quality of life.
The numbers don’t lie — projections were for a half million residents by the end of summer with Benton and Washington Counties gaining 23 people a day.
More than anyone, our second Metro Guide to Northwest Arkansas is for those who are newly arrived and those who are on their way. We’ll explore all the things that make the area unique, talk to some of the people who know it best and introduce you to a region full of diversity, beauty, fun and promise.
Say hi to my son while you look around.
Welcome,
Todd Traub
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