Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Ryall
There's been some advances on the Arkansas side (see the link for the Marion article above for example). Also, the Interstate Highway infrastructure is coming along including the 40/55 junction, bolstered I-555 route and the state of Arkansas' largest economic development ever with the Big River Steel Mill. The opposite bank from downtown will always be a river flood plain, premium farmland. You can't build anything significant until you get to higher ground.
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Yeah, I know that the fields across from Memphis can't be built on. I was saying that out of towners would probably be surprised by that because they don't know the area.
I live in West Memphis and work in Marion. I will say that the WM/Marion area may be making progress on paper, but most citizens in Crittenden County aren't seeing that progress. Our population has been dropping, we have very little retail, and renting prices are too high for the area. We have been successful in building new hotels, but we only build them so that visitors can stay here for a cheaper price and spend money in Memphis. Now, Memphis is a great asset to WM/Marion, but it's still in another state. Spending nearly ALL of our money in Memphis doesn't really help Arkansas. We're so far behind, it's ridiculous. Just 37 years ago, Southaven didn't exist as we know it today, but in that time frame, look what they were able to accomplish. However, I know that the delta is one of the poorest regions in Arkansas, and that makes economic growth difficult.
I'm proud of any progress that the Memphis Metro makes, but I don't think most people know how WM/Marion really is because we're not mentioned as much as Cordova and Germantown. But, like I said, I know that growth is difficult for this part of Arkansas.