Northwest wants and needs (Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Friday, May 22, 1998)
FAYETTEVILLE -- This has been a major decade for Northwest Arkansas. Drivers on U.S. 71 through the Boston Mountains can see construction workers putting the final touches on the new four-lane U.S. 71 that will make it much easier to get to and from Interstate 40 in Alma. A larger regional airport should be completed by the end of this year.
We have our beloved University of Arkansas and the Razorbacks. The Walton Arts Center has brought in quality Broadway plays and nationally known musical acts.
We've got Barnes & Noble Booksellers and a large shopping mall with a Gap, Disney Store and Victoria's Secret. We're getting Circuit City and Stein Mart.
Why? Because this place is the fastest-growing region of Arkansas.
You'll hear few complaints about the nightlife here, given that Fayetteville has a thriving entertainment district on and around Dickson Street, with businesses offering food, alcohol and lots of live music. Springdale has a large community center with an ice skating rink, pool, computer center and more that's free to the public. The area also has a commercial modern rock/alternative radio station.
If you love authentic Mexican food, this is the place. More unusual eateries offer vegetarian, Japanese, Thai, Guatemalan/Salvadoran and Greek cuisine.
Fayetteville, in the past few years, allowed for a liquor-by-the-drink ordinance enabling restaurants to serve beverages stronger than beer and wine without a private club membership, and there's a local brew pub that serves its own various house beers.
And, for what it's worth, we've got something that disappeared from Little Rock: a Hooter's restaurant.
By Arkansas standards, we've got it pretty darned good, right?
OK. Let's be spoiled brats for a moment. Let's wish for more. Lots more. If some of it comes true, it might save us a two-hour drive to Tulsa.
Here are our suggestions:
FOOD
We have no complaints about the abundance of authentic Mexican cuisine and other restaurants that offer dishes found south of the border. But here's what could add to the variety: a real Jewish deli, a Chinese dim sum, Indian restaurants and a place that offers Vietnamese cuisine (although you can find some in Fort Smith).
A good sandwich shop that isn't a chain (not that there's anything wrong with Blimpie Subs & Salads and Subway) that serves a decent po' boy.
More seafood restaurants. Besides chain restaurants, you can count on one hand the eateries in Washington and Benton counties that specialize in nothing but seafood.
A Macaroni Grill, TGI Fridays, an Olive Garden and a Taco Bueno restaurant.
There are a few good doughnut shops in the area, but we'd still like to have a Dunkin' Donuts, where the soft, sweet doughnuts are made specifically for dunking in a cup of java on a cold dark morning.
Better yet, wouldn't it be fantastic to buy a doughnut at Dunkin' Donuts and dunk it in a cup of coffee from a real Starbucks that isn't attached to a Barnes & Noble?
More natural food stores.
Jose's Restaurant and Club in Fayetteville offers not only a Mexican restaurant, but a separate patio for drinking beer and eating wraps, and an Italian restaurant, Bordino's, under its roof. Now, if it would have a drive-through window, it would really kick.
TRANSPORTATION
Although the new U.S. 71 from Alma to Fayetteville is almost completed, there still hasn't been a solution to finding a quick way to get to and from Washington and Benton counties. Sure, the U.S. 71/62 bypass helps, but you still have to go through a kajillion stoplights just to get to that.
It would be really cool if Amtrak stopped here but we realize it's very, very unlikely.
Here's an idea: an Ozark Area Rapid Transit, or OART for short, connecting Benton and Washington counties. The buzz phrase could be "Are you taking the 'O' to (insert destination here)?"
Southwest Airlines would be a welcome addition to the area for its low air fares.
SERVICES
A municipal curbside recycling program that includes magazines.
A return to the 10-cent pay telephone call.
Telephone calls to and from Benton and Washington counties that aren't long distance.
A telephone book -- with Yellow Pages -- that tells you in what town a business is located. This place is growing so fast, and new telephone prefixes are added so often, that it's sometimes hard to tell what is where.
A Catholic high school.
A public library that is open Sundays.
SPORTS
A minor league baseball team.
Speaking of baseball, it's kind of a bummer that Razorback baseball ends with the school year. It would be nice if it kept a schedule similar to the professional and minor league baseball associations.
A skateboard park near Dickson Street where kids could hang out, watch each other and not get ticketed. A nice touch would be a big concrete wall just for graffiti. You'd be surprised how talented some of these young artists are.
Now that we have a topnotch ice skating rink, how about attracting a regional pro hockey team?
Black light bowling with the pins and balls in Day-Glo.
A decent public golf course. Fayetteville's one municipal course -- Razorback -- doesn't quite measure up to the private ones, and Springdale doesn't even have one.
MEDIA
A radio station programmed and operated by University of Arkansas students that makes alternative music alternative again.
Speaking of radio, where's the morning news program with a personality that everyone pays attention to? Little Rock carries Don Imus, who gets everyone talking. What we need here is left-wing and right-wing personalities. If nobody local can stir up enough dust, maybe one of the local stations up here would be daring enough to pick up Howard Stern, who would -- no doubt -- be popular with the college students.
Many college towns the size of Fayetteville have a thick freebie alternative weekly newspaper that's heavy on the arts and local news stories like those found in The Village Voice or even like the Little Rock Free Press. The ones currently in circulation are so thin they can be read in about 5 minutes.
SHOPPING
There's little competition among the few CD stores in the area. Unless you find it at Wal-Mart, be prepared to spend as much as $16.99 for a new release. Best Buy, however, would put the heat on, given that many of its new releases are priced around $12.99.
Yes, we're in Wal-Mart Country, and some may find this unpatriotic, but a Target Store would sure be nice. It has somehow captured the hip, trendy styles that still haven't caught on at Wal-Mart, and the prices are comparable.
Springdale has an outlet mall, and some decent shops, but it could be a little more upscale by offering a J. Crew outlet store or a number of normally pricey clothing stores that are looking for venues to get rid of their overstocked stuff.
Other places have The Body Shop, which feature a lot of groovy, natural, cruelty-free personal care products. Something like that would be welcome here.
A Kohl's Department Store.
BOOZE
One day, maybe we can drink liquor in a restaurant on Sunday without having to buy a private club membership.
Or, perhaps, we'll be able to buy a six-pack of beer at the local Harp's or IGA grocery store, instead of going to a liquor store.
People attending Arkansas Traveler baseball games at Ray Winder Field in Little Rock can buy beer. Why can't we do the same at Arkansas Razorback games here?
We're grateful that we have Rogers Recreation Hall and Tavern, Maxine's Tap Room and Art's Place. Yet trying to find a traditional pool hall that features just one pool table, a long wooden bar and a honky-tonk juke box is a bit of a challenge.
The Ozark Brewing Co. in Fayetteville is a decent brew pub that pours several house ales and beers, but it doesn't offer the funkier flavors found in places like Austin, the San Francisco Bay area and other cities. We'd love to see more unusual brews, like a coffee stout or a fruit ale.
Since we're proposing total revamping of the liquor laws here, we may as well throw in a drive-through daiquiri shop like those in the New Orleans area. Well, we can wish ...
The area no longer has a wine bar now that Grip of the Grape in Fayetteville has closed. Perhaps one located near the square or Dickson Street would suffice given that Grip of the Grape was in out-of-the-way Colt Square.
You'd think there would be more sports bars, but there aren't. Right now, ever since Cuckoo's Sports Grill in Fayetteville closed, we need a replacement somewhere near the university that offers good food, good service and reasonable prices.
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
When a highly acclaimed but obscure movie comes out, Northwest Arkansas may get it six months after the fact -- or not at all. Right now, there isn't a screen -- not even at the Fiesta Square 16 Cinemas in Fayetteville -- that is devoted to alternative, art, classic and foreign movies. C'mon!
Retro bands are big here, and people do come out to see them. Yet, we'd be happy to see more bands like Son Volt and Robert Cray as well as Vanilla Ice, A Flock of Seagulls and a plethora of tribute bands from KISS to AC/DC.
An open mike night for musicians at one of the city parks.
Fayetteville has a growing number of male-oriented businesses featuring scantily clad women. Where are the female-oriented businesses featuring scantily clad men?
A big amusement park like Worlds of Fun.
A video arcade that stays open until the wee, wee hours (or doesn't close at all) that features the latest games with new multiplayer setups.
A water park with water slides and pools with waves.
AESTHETICS
Large hog's head at each entrance to the Bobby Hopper Tunnel near Winslow on yet unfinished U.S. 71. Motorists would enter through the gaping mouths of the heads. The question remains of how to decorate the end of the tunnels where vehicles emerge.
New subdivisions that leave trees standing.
A big city park that has ball fields, duck pond, city pool and maybe an old train engine to climb on with jogging trails that are more than a mile around one lap.
A beach, although it might take the New Madrid earthquake to get us one.
Maybe there's been enough growth already. A great wall that surrounds the boundaries of Northwest Arkansas, and keeps outsiders from moving in, would probably suit a lot of folks just fine.
Compiled by Sandra Cox, with contributions by Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette members Jesse Berry, Michelle Bradford, Scott Cain, Miguel Casas, Nancy Caver, Lois Flowers, David Gottschalk, Greg Harton, Bob Holt, Laura Kellams, Cyd King, Jennifer Pinkerton, Diane Schoenbaum, Sheri Venema, Michael Whiteley and Jeff Wood. .
This article was published on Friday, May 22, 1998