Fayetteville, AR

Fayetteville, AR, originally uploaded by peteg.

Farmland near Fayetteville, AR, just south of Bentonville.

Because of the rapid growth in the Bentonville "metropolitan" area, in 3 years, this will be a subdivision of McMansions. Enjoy the view while it lasts.

Bentonville, of course, is home to the world's largest retailer, Walmart. Walmart encourages it's vendors to open offices in Bentonville, and by "encourage," I mean tacitly forces. Located in the very northwest corner of Arkansas, Bentonville is known by many as "Vendorville."

This has caused a massive influx of new residents into the rural area. In 1990, the population of the area was 211,000; by 2000, the population was around 312,000. Today it has swelled to nearly 380,000. Townies love it because their land values have gone from have surged, while transplants enjoy the cheap country livin'.

We drove by the Walmart world headquarters on Sam Walton Drive. It's a giant warehouse that's been converted to offices. Spartan is a word that comes to mind. My pictures of WM HQ didn't turn out. Next time.