Figures indicate region’s growth
Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008
Northwest Arkansas remains among the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country even though its national ranking slipped eight spots in 2007, according to U. S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday.
The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area, which covers Benton, Washington, Madison and Carroll counties and Mc-Donald County, Mo., ranked as the 27 th overall fastest growing community, with a 2. 9-percent increase in the population. As of July 1, 2007, 435, 714 people lived in the metropolitan statistical area, according to the estimates.
The area’s July 1, 2006, population ranked as the 19 th fastest-growing area last year.
Cities in Florida, Utah, North Carolina, Georgia and Texas ranked in the study’s top five.
The drop in the region’s national ranking isn’t something to be overly concerned about, said Viktoria Riiman, a researcher at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
“The thing is, the growth declined,” she said. “It’s not abnormal.” Any growth is positive, especially with a sagging national economy and a widespread housing market crisis, she said.
“We’re doing better than the rest of the state,” she said, pointing to the Little Rock-North Little Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area’s 1. 4 percent growth between 2006 and 2007. The area, with an estimated 666, 401 on July 1, 2006, ranked No. 125.
Gregory Hamilton, director of research at the Census State Data Center in Little Rock, said the area’s growth is still “remarkable.” The growth slowdown is a natural ebb in a city’s development process, he said.
“As the community fills up with people, it puts infrastructure demands on the community,” he said, which affects the cost of living.
Northwest Arkansas is getting crowded, he said.
A migration of people from California and the Northeast can account for some growth in cities that are passing Northwest Arkansas in the rankings, he said.
People are moving to the South for opportunities, Hamilton said.
Annie Dowling moved to Fayetteville from Lexington, Ky., three weeks ago. She and her husband, Ashley, plan to close on their house in north Fayetteville today.
Charmed by the city’s smalltown feel and big-city amenities, they moved to the area after Ashley Dowling took a job as an assistant professor of entomology at UA. He has lived here since December.
Annie Dowling said she’ll spend the next couple of months looking for a job.
The prices of homes are comparable between Northwest Arkansas and Lexington, Annie Dowling said. She’s finding that services cost less here.
For example, day care for Scarlett, their Scottish terrier, costs about $ 15 dollars in Fayetteville. It costs about $ 18 in Kentucky.
Inspection costs on their previous home were more expensive than on their new home, too, she said. “I grew up in Arizona and experienced the growth there,” she said. “It’s kind of neat to be in this pocket of growth.” To contact this reporter: aotoole@arkansasonline. com
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