City Plan 2025 - Fayetteville, Arkansas

Location: Fayetteville, AR. College town in scenic Arkansas experiencing significant growth and sprawl

Nestled in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville is a rapidly growing city of about 70,000. Home to University of Arkansas, Fayetteville has been cited as one of the most livable cities in America due to its job growth, arts scene, vibrant downtown, and over 3,000 acres of community parks and lakes. Fayetteville's population has been growing at a rate of more than 3.2 percent annually, over twice as fast as the state as a whole, and is part of the sixth fastest growing MSA in the nation. This rapid growth has led to suburban sprawl, environmental concerns, and increased traffic congestion.

Realizing the challenges of uncontrolled growth, the City Council initiated a 20-year plan to focus on preserving community character and livability while accommodating balanced growth and development. To better understand the community's vision for the future of their city, city staff conducted focus group meetings in the fall of 2005 and in Febuary 2006 the Project Team and city staff hosted a 10-day design charrette, including property owners, neighbors, business people, developers, elected officials, city staff, students, and community leaders.

The goals established by the community as guiding principles for the Plan included the following: 1) We will make appropriate infill and revitalization our highest priorities, 2) We will discourage suburban sprawl, 3) We will make traditional town form the standard, 4) We will grow a livable transportation network, 5) We will assemble an enduring green network, and 6) We will create attainable housing. The goals were further articulated through the identification of specific objectives, action steps, and policy recommendations to implement the plan.

Transect Zone(s): T1 preserve, T2 reserve, T3 sub-urban, T4 general, T5 center.
Status: Groundbreaking
Project or Plan's Scale: Region
Features: Affordable/subsidized housing, Bus transit, Civic buildings & parks, Green buildings, Live/work, Mixed uses, Sustainable infrastructure, Transit oriented development.
Land area (in acres): 61440
Total built area (in sq. ft.):
Total project cost (in local currency):
Retail area (in sq. ft.):
Office area (in sq. ft.):
Industrial area (in sq. ft.):
Number of hotel units:
Number of residential units (include live/work):
Parks & green space (in acres):
Project team designers: Dover, Kohl and Partners
Project team developers: City of Fayetteville, AR (client)

Previous site status: Undeveloped infill

Starting/Ending date of construction/implementation: 2006 - 2025