I've just spoken to the Political Animals Club of Northwest Arkansas at Mermaid's, a restaurant on College Avenue in Fayetteville, and am taking my time before beginning the drive back to Little Rock on a rainy day.
Most of those who want to visit with me grew up in other parts of Arkansas and later migrated to northwest Arkansas for career reasons or to retire. Some of those who retired here came because their children saw this as a land of economic opportunity. They want to be near those children and grandchildren.
These residents remain hungry for news from the Delta, the pine woods of south Arkansas, the Ouachita Mountains and other parts of the state.
I sometimes find myself speaking to groups (usually in Benton County) filled with people who were raised and educated in other states. Their jobs brought them to northwest Arkansas. They have little interest in what's going on in the rest of the state, much less the history and culture of those regions. Little Rock may as well be Des Moines. They only come to the capital city when work requires it or if a child happens to be playing there in a sports event.
There's one thing the Arkansas natives and the transplants have in common: They love living in northwest Arkansas. As the year 2020 approaches, northwest Arkansas powers on. If it weren't for Razorback football, there wouldn't be much to complain about this fall.
A survey commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation, the results of which were released in September, found that 95 percent of residents contacted in Washington and Benton counties listed themselves as being "very happy" or "fairly happy" with life here.
For one thing, they're taking full advantage of the area's growing number of amenities. There was an eight percent increase from 2015 (63 percent to 71 percent) in the number of those who had visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art at Bentonville during the previous 12 months. Almost 53 percent had been to Arkansas Music Pavilion at Rogers, 44 percent had been to the Jones Center at Springdale, and 36 percent had been to the Amazeum at Bentonville during that 12-month period.
Trails were the third-most used quality-of-life amenity behind parks and Crystal Bridges. Eighty-one percent of residents used the area's parks, while trail use ranged from 74 percent in Bentonville to 66 percent in Springdale.
Thirty-six percent of respondents reported visiting the region's downtown areas more frequently during the previous year, while 49 percent reported no change. Residents were most likely to go to downtowns to dine, shop or visit farmers' markets. They didn't view crime as a problem.
Asked about education, 76 percent perceived elementary schools up through the higher education options to be "good" or "very good."
Shortly after my visit to the Political Animals Club, the Walton Family Foundation unveiled plans for an adventure-based outdoor destination in Bentonville that will be known as Osage Park. About 58 percent of Bentonville residents live south of Walton Boulevard, and Osage Park will help meet the demand for recreational space in that part of town. Visitors will be able to explore wetlands, fish, and listen to music.
The park will be on 55 acres on I Street near Thaden Field, which is the Bentonville airport. A lake there will be expanded for kayaking, canoeing and paddleboarding. There will be piers and platforms for fishing. There also will be a music venue, an aviation-themed play zone, pickleball courts, trails and floating boardwalks through a 12-acre wetland.
"Osage Park will deliver a unique outdoor experience for visitors by creating a gathering place near Thaden Field and Lake Bentonville Park," says Steuart Walton, grandson of Sam Walton. "Our community's environment also stands to benefit as the park will preserve additional green space and improve water quality in the Illinois River watershed."
At nearby Lake Bentonville Park, a renovation project will result in an expanded lake, a state-of-the-art playground, and a pavilion with boardwalks and fishing piers.
More excitement will come in Bentonville on Feb. 22 with the opening of The Momentary, a Walton family-financed venue, announced in 2016 as a sister institution to Crystal Bridges, that will focus on visual, performance and culinary art.
It will be in a 63,000-square-foot facility that once housed a Kraft Foods cheese factory and will feature open studios for artists, a concert venue, a theater, a cafe and a bar. The opening exhibit will focus on emerging artists.
"While Crystal Bridges provides that deep historical context in a museum setting, The Momentary will have a much more experimental feel," says Crystal Bridges executive director Rod Bigelow. "It will encourage visitors to interact and get engaged in different ways, to have those conversations about the art-making process, all toward the goal of extending the story of American art through today, in our moment."
One of the most exciting things for the future of northwest Arkansas is the fact that the younger Waltons--particularly Steuart and his brother Tom--have concentrated on improving quality of life in the region even though they could pursue their passions anywhere in the world. They seem determined, for instance, to make Arkansas the mountain biking capital of the country while also making Bentonville a regional culinary attraction.
Looming over everything in northwest Arkansas will be the construction through 2024 of Walmart's 300-acre corporate campus in Bentonville. It will be unlike anything this state has ever seen. With low unemployment rates nationwide, there's a war for talent. Walmart officials are determined to win that war. They took ideas from other corporate campuses ranging from Apple to McDonald's and also from college campuses such as Stanford University.
"It's a very competitive talent war," says Dan Bartlett, Walmart's executive vice president of corporate affairs. "And as we're striving to attract and retain the best talent in order for us to win the future of retail, a key component of that is the work environment."
More than 14,000 corporate employees work in more than 20 buildings, some of which are former warehouses.
"Having your leadership in over 21 buildings, you build up physical silos," Bartlett says. "Our technology teams, our merchants, our logistics, our supply chain--all the different pieces of the puzzle--physically getting us onto one campus . . . is something that we felt was really important. . . . We view this more like a college campus versus a walled-off-from-the-community corporate headquarters. We want it to feel--and it will be--accessible to the community."
In fact, the campus will include a large park open to the public.
Unlike the windowless buildings Walmart once was known for, there will be natural light streaming into the new buildings, which will have tall ceilings. Employees will have numerous food options. They'll be able to use everything from dry cleaners to child-care facilities to fitness centers without having to leave the campus. Landscaped trails will connect the various parts of the campus, and employees will be encouraged to walk and ride bicycles.
Solar panels will rest atop parking decks on a campus that also will feature energy-efficient lighting and the use of timber from Arkansas.
No doubt, these are the good ol' days in northwest Arkansas. The survey of current residents tells the tale.
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Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Editorial on 11/10/2019