Metroplan on Thursday released its 2017 Demographic Review & Outlook, noting demographic trends for the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The report focuses on commuting, finding that about 96 percent of those who work in the central Arkansas region also live inside the region.
Of those, 84.4 percent drove to and from work alone. Another 9.6 percent carpooled on their commute, while 0.7 percent used transit, 1.4 percent walked, 2.6 percent worked from home and 1.4 percent used another form of transformation.
The average commute in central Arkansas is 23.4 minutes, compared to the national average of 26.4 minutes. But daily vehicle miles traveled in 2014 was 43.5 for the MSA. The U.S. average was 26.2 miles.
The report theorizes that automated vehicles and the rise of car-sharing could change the landscape and alter commuting patterns beyond modern-day recognition.
More: Get the full Metroplan report.
The report also notes that the MSA generates about $38.6 billion each year in a diverse array of local jobs, with the number and share of jobs in suburban areas like west Little Rock, Conway and outlying cities growing to match a national trend of more jobs in the suburbs that are often closer to workers’ homes.
Jobs also remain more concentrated in central Arkansas than is average for urban areas nationwide.
Another highlight was that multi-family construction, though it saw a slowdown in 2016, has picked up in early 2017. Single-family housing was up slightly in 2016.
Central Arkansas is also seeing its slowest rate of overall population growth since 1980-90. There are pockets of faster growth though, with Austin and Ward being among the region’s fastest-growing communities.
U.S. life expectancy has risen gradually, but mortality rates have also risen in recent years, the report notes. This is especially true for the 45-54 age group, partly because of drug overdoses, obesity, alcoholism and suicides.
The report also notes that the traditional brick-and-mortar retail sector is entering a crisis at the national level as it competes against internet sales.
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