NWA 15th fastest growing region in U.S.

The urbanized area of Northwest Arkansas was the 15th fastest growing region in the nation and is now qualified as a “Transportation Management Area,” according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report.

Urban areas — defined as densely developed residential, commercial and other nonresidential areas — now account for 80.7% of the U.S. population, up from 79.0 percent in 2000. Although the rural population — the population in any areas outside of those classified as “urban” — grew by a modest amount from 2000 to 2010, it continued to decline as a percentage of the national population.

The population within the nation's 486 urbanized areas grew by 14.3% from 2000 to 2010. For any given urbanized area, population increase may be attributed to a combination of internal growth, outward expansion to include new growth, and outward expansion encompassing existing communities that previously were outside the urbanized area.

The nation’s fastest growing urbanized area was McKinney, Texas. The urbanized area of McKinney, which is 30 miles north of Dallas, grew from 54,525 to 170,030 residents.

Little Rock grew 19.7% from 360,331 to 431,388, ranking as the nation’s 186th fastest growing urbanized area. The Fort Smith region ranked 229th, increasing in size from 106,470 to 122,947 — a 15.5% gain.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS GROWTH
The Census Bureau says 295,083 people lived in the urbanized area of the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metropolitan statistical area in 2010. The urbanized area population in 2000 was 172,585 people, a 71% increase.

If only the areas with more than 100,000 residents in 2000 were to be evaluated based on their 2010 population, Northwest Arkansas was the 5th fastest growing area, according to a statement from the Northwest Arkansas Council.

The Northwest Arkansas area will now be a “Transportation Management Area” because the urbanized area population exceeds 200,000 people. With that designation, Northwest Arkansas becomes eligible for million of dollars more in annual Federal Highway Administration funding, said Jeff Hawkins, director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.

The region’s urbanized area had long included all or parts of Bentonville, Fayetteville, Lowell, Rogers and Springdale, but the 2010 analysis has the area including parts of six more cities: Bella Vista, Cave Springs, Centerton, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and Tontitown.

The land area of the urbanized area in Northwest Arkansas increased from about 109 square miles in 2000 to about 188 square miles in 2010 — a 72.5% increase. Only 17 areas in the nation saw a faster growth rate in terms of land area.