BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Richard Florida spoke to the Northwest Arkansas Council on Thursday warning of a "crisis of success" in the region.
Data presented at the Northwest Arkansas Council's annual meeting shows that home prices in the past five years have increased 43% in Benton County and 47% in Washington County.
Florida explained that other major cities had undergone an urban crisis as essential workers (teachers, EMTs, police, and supporters of the region's structure) moved away because of factors like cost of living and availability.
"People think this could never happen in Northwest Arkansas... 'This is an affordable place, we have plenty of houses, it will never get it,'" said Florida.
"Well wake up. After the COVID pandemic in the year 2022, when you look at the statistics... [Northwest Arkansas has the] second largest increase in median housing prices of every single 350 metro areas."
Florida helped put together the council's strategic plan for the next five years. He explained that the plan isn't to stop growing but to have a smart and intentional strategy for continued growth.
"I talk to drivers, I talk to wait-staff, I talk to young people, [who say] 'we can't afford to buy a house, how do we buy a house? We go to buy a house and there are people coming here from San Francisco, New York, LA, and they have cash because they sold their house and they have more money and there's an investor group wanting the house and I can't get a house,'" said Florida.
"This is threatening... It's not only an affordability problem, but it's also threatening a core power of this affordable quality of life that has underpinned [NWA's] successful economic growth."
Andrea Evette said she moved out of Fayetteville, but it wasn't her first choice.
"I find myself commuting quite a bit from Siloam Springs to Fayetteville just to live my life, and with the cost of gas it makes it even harder," said Evette.
Evette explains that the cost of living and availability has pushed her out of the city she still calls home.
"My job hasn't necessarily increased I haven't started making more profit, but you know as a self-employed person I have to figure that gap out," said Evette. "For people that are working a regular job, they're not getting the increases in their pay to coincide with the cost of living."
According to the report, the NWA council is developing a five-year plan. They say some action items could take only a few weeks, while others may take the entire 5 years.
DOWNLOAD THE 5NEWS APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE 5NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KFSM in the Channel Store.
For Fire TV, search for "KFSM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.