Are you considering a move to Northwest Arkansas and wonder what it’s like to live here? In this episode of Naturally NWA, I want to tell you nine things you need to know about living in Fayetteville. I’ll detail everything from jobs to housing prices to give you a good idea of everything this city has to offer.
#1: One Of The Best NWA Cities
Fayetteville is one of the best places to live in Northwest Arkansas. It’s my personal favorite and also ranks #4 of the best places in the country to live by US News and World Report in 2021. This ranking is based on the job market, net migration, and the relatively low cost of living.
#2: University Of Arkansas
Fayetteville is home to the University of Arkansas and the beloved Razorbacks—so get used to hearing the hog call a lot. The state of Arkansas doesn’t have any professional sports teams, so the Razorbacks are the biggest thing in the state. Sorry, Red Wolves.
#3: Population
There are about 28,000 Students enrolled at the U of A, and a lot of them come from places like Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Little Rock, and Kansas City because Fayetteville is just a few hours from all of those places. With that being said, the population of Fayetteville decreases by about 15,000 to 20,000 people in the summer and in December, when a lot of those students travel home to see mom and dad for the holidays between semesters.
#4: Dog-Friendly
Fayetteville is a very dog-friendly city. Several bars and restaurants will allow you to bring your dogs inside, and there are plenty of parks and walking trails to take them out for some exercise.
#5: Hilly Terrain
Most of Fayetteville is pretty hilly, so if you drive a vehicle with a manual transmission, it might not be a fun place to drive. Driving in the winter with icy conditions is also very sketchy in Fayetteville, and it’s also not a fun place to walk if you’re out of shape.
#6: Fayetteville Farmer’s Market
The Fayetteville Farmer’s Market is a local staple. The Farmer’s Market has offered the finest and locally sourced vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants, meats, baked goods, honey, eggs, jams, and arts and crafts. Additionally, all products at the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market are sourced within 60 miles of Fayetteville.
Operating year-round, the Farmer’s Market takes place most of the year on the historic Downtown Fayetteville Square on Saturday mornings. You can also visit their website to place online orders during the winter months.
#7: Bikes, Blues, & BBQ
Number seven is a little bit of a new development here in Northwest Arkansas. It’s called Bikes, Blues, & BBQ and is a huge event in the fall. It’s the third-largest motorcycle rally in the country and brings over 400,000 people to the area for almost a week—most of them on motorcycles.
This event features some of the best barbecue vendors in the state, and lots of blues and rock bands come to play here. Despite what you may assume, this is a very family-friendly event. I will say that many locals opt to take a trip out of town while Bikes, Blues & BBQ is happening because the traffic can get pretty ridiculous.
The recent development is that this event has been held in Fayetteville for quite a long time since its inception over 10 years ago, but because it was canceled last year last minute, this event is going to be moved up to Rogers. While there’s still going to be a ton of motorcycle traffic in Fayetteville, most of the main events for Bikes, Blues & BBQ will be taking place in Rogers from now on.
#8: Supporting Local Businesses
One of the awesome things about Fayetteville is that residents support local businesses. I’ve said it in a lot of other videos, but it’s worth mentioning again: the sense of community in Fayetteville is stronger than any other place I’ve ever lived. The people here are extremely friendly.
Additionally, there aren’t a lot of chain restaurants in Fayetteville. Although there are some, the local bar and restaurant scene is one of the things that makes Fayetteville such a cool place to live.
#9: Cost Of Living
Coming in at number nine, Fayetteville is one of the more expensive cities to live in from a housing perspective. The value of an average three bed, two bath, 1,700 square foot house in Fayetteville has increased quite a bit from 2020 to 2021. There’s been around a 20% increase in the housing values just in that year.
Additionally, the rental prices have also increased, despite the addition of many student apartment complexes being built in the last few years. The demand for housing is just pretty crazy—and a lot of it has to do with a lot of the publications saying that Fayetteville is one of the best places to live in the country.
Experience Fayetteville Living
I hope this video gave you some good insight into things you need to know about living in Fayetteville. Naturally, there are plenty of other things that I didn’t cover in this video. If you have any other questions or would like additional information about the Northwest Arkansas area, please reach out to me via phone, email, or on social media and I’d be happy to connect with you.
Make sure you also subscribe to my channel so you never miss an episode of Naturally NWA, my show all about Northwest Arkansas. I can’t wait to show you more of our beautiful area on the next episode, so be sure to stay tuned to what I feature next!