Area most affordable in country, study says
Posted on Friday, August 10, 2007
Northwest Arkansas was named by Sperling’s Best Places as the top affordable place to live and work in the United States.
The Fayetteville / Springdale / Rogers metropolitan statistical area beat out such cities as Idaho Falls, Idaho, Logan, Utah, and Fargo, N. D.
Low unemployment, affordable housing, University of Arkansas sports, natural beauty and cultural amenities such as the Walton Arts Center pushed Northwest Arkansas to the top of the list.
Sperling announced the results of its study Wednesday.
Fayetteville was a major force behind the region’s rise; Springdale and Rogers also loomed large in Sperling’s study. That came as no surprise to Perry Webb, executive director of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.
“The study points to what we’ve known for a long time: This is a great place to be,” Webb said. “I hope we don’t take it for granted.”
Webb is confident the region won’t rest on its laurels.
He referenced ongoing roadwork around the region, the 2008 debut of minor league baseball in Springdale and the 2009 opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art in Bentonville as strong hints the region will continue to grow and prosper.
“It’s a classic case for the argument that regionalization is the right way to go,” Webb said.
Large employers like Tyson Foods Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. helped bolster the region’s salaries, while the median home price of $ 212, 300 remains below the national average, according to Sperling’s data.
Job growth of 4. 22 percent annually is well above the national rate of 1. 66 percent, Sperling’s said, while the cost of living here is 93 percent of the U. S. average.
The region in 2003 was ranked the nation’s No. 1 performing metropolitan area by the Milken Institute, an economic think tank based in Santa Monica, Calif. Growth in the area has dipped from more than 5 percent in 2005 to less than 3 percent in 2006.
Bert Sperling, founder of Sperling’s Best Places, has analyzed and rated data about people and places for more than 16 years. Best Places uses population, crime, education, employment and real estate statistics to reach its conclusions.
A 2006 Census estimate had the population of Northwest Arkansas at 420, 000. Benton, Washington and Carroll counties in Arkansas and McDonald County in Missouri comprise the MSA.
Northwest Arkansas has plenty of options for high school graduates, who can attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Webster University in Fayetteville, John Brown University in Siloam Springs or North Arkansas College in Harrison.
Devil’s Den State Park, Beaver Lake and the Buffalo River anchor the region’s outdoor entertainment, while Eureka Springs, Pea Ridge National Military Park and Historic Downtown Rogers are some of the area’s top tourist attractions.
Sperling described Fayetteville as “one of the country’s best kept secrets,” while Springdale “feels a bit old South.” Sperling called Rogers “a sleepy little town that has boomed as a major residential area.”
Raymond Burns, president of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, took the news of Sperling’s list in stride.
“Why should anyone be surprised ?” he said. “We’re on top of a lot of lists.” Information for this article was contributed by David Irvin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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