Report: Life Is Good For Most In Northwest Arkansas

Last updated Thursday, October 30, 2008 11:38 AM CDT in News

By THE MORNING NEWS

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"When I was growing up, each city was an island," Malone said. "You rarely left your own. Now, you might live in one city, work in another and go to a doctor in a third."

Kevin Fitzpatrick is director of the University of Arkansas Community and Family Institute. He has lived in Northwest Arkansas only a couple of years and said he was surprised how many good things are going on in the area.

"I thought, when we dug into the data, it would show things were not as good as people thought," Fitzpatrick said. "But it held up."

Growth didn't come without pitfalls, Fitzpatrick said. The number of families and children living in poverty in Benton and Washington counties has climbed since 2000, much steeper than the overall increase in the state.

"The figures show what might be happening," Fitzpatrick said. "More families are slipping into poverty. The growth is not impacting everyone equally."

More than 1,100 people are believed to be homeless with 50 percent of those younger than age 18, Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said he hopes the report will help create a movement to correct the shortcomings in the area.

"We could use a council, modeled on the (Northwest Arkansas) Business Council, to move forward," Fitzpatrick said. "The groups which led the creation of this report -- the United Way, the Community Foundation and the Jones Center -- are in the right spot to take the lead in using this document."

More Elderly Work

The study showed a "dramatic upturn" in the percentage of Northwest Arkansas residents 65 or older who still work. About 17 percent work in Washington and Benton counties.

Jerry Mitchell, director of the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Arkansas, based in Harrison, said he's not surprised the elderly continue to work.

"They have to have it to supplement their income. The low-income elderly are getting close to the minimum Social Security," Mitchell said. "They just don't have enough income left at the end of the month. They do have to find part-time jobs or full-time jobs in order to pay for the rent, medications or for their spouses' medications."

The average monthly Social Security payment is $1,090, based on the average retired worker on national rolls who is receiving benefits, said Dorothy Clark, Social Security spokeswoman. However, some people who worked fewer years or earned less while employed receive less, while others who worked longer or earned more receive more, Clark said.

A 5.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment, effective in December, will raise the average benefit to $1,153 per month with the first payments sent on benefit checks in January, Clark said.

Increasing food and gasoline costs also affected senior residents' paychecks and benefit checks, Mitchell said. More take advantage of programs like Meals on Wheels or hot meals served daily at senior centers.

"We are seeing more people that are coming in wanting rides, eating the noon meal," Mitchell said. "We are hustling trying to keep up with the demand for services."

Environmental Concern

The report indicates that in 2008 Benton and Washington counties contain more businesses engaging in environmentally harmful activities than Carroll and Madison counties.

Industrial, commercial and agricultural sources in Benton and Washington counties released more than 20 times as many pounds of toxic chemicals as Carroll and Madison counties in 2005, according to the report.

But Benton County's release of 741,259 pounds of toxic chemicals in 2006 was not enough to make it a standout in Arkansas: 11 counties released more, according to an Environmental Protection Agency database.

Washington County released 319,606 pounds of chemicals in 2006.

Findlay Edwards, a civil engineering professor at the University of Arkansas, said toxic release is not as scary as it might sound.

"Every business causes pollution, and the word 'toxic' is scary," he said.

Many of the chemicals released in Northwest Arkansas, such as ammonia, are not dangerous if they are disposed of properly, he said.

Northwest Arkansas does not have the type of heavy industry that causes serious environmental problems, Findlay said.

Power plants, wastewater treatment, food processing plants and manufacturing were responsible for most of the toxic releases in Benton and Washington counties, according to the database.

Still Safe

The report showed crime has increased and the number of officers decreased on a per capita basis since the 1990s. Still, people feel safe.

Rogers Police Chief Steve Helms said he believes people may feel safe because of intangibles like hearing about the police on the news or reading about them in the newspaper.

The fact that the 287(g) program dealing with illegal immigrants is so prominent in the public conscious could lead to people feeling safer because they are constantly hearing about the program, Helms said.

Springdale Police Chief Kathy O'Kelley praised the report. "There's a lot of great information," but she said more detailed information about our cities would have been helpful.

The Morning News' Steve Caraway, Lana Flowers, Caleb Fort and John Henley Jr. contributed to this report.

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