Collaboration is Key: NWA Council addressing regional growth challenges with ‘Growing Home’ initiative

Northwest Arkansas is growing fast—with roughly 38 new residents every day. That kind of growth brings energy and opportunity, but it’s starting to strain the things people rely on.

Roads are more crowded. Housing costs are rising, Access to health care is failing to keep up.

It’s easy to feel like everything’s changing too fast, and that can be frustrating. Maybe it’s even a little scary.

But here’s the truth: Change is inevitable. What matters now is whether we shape Northwest Arkansas into a great place that works for all of us—or let it happen in ways that compromise the things we care most about.

Presenting ‘Growing Home’

More than 100 business and community leaders came together on April 16 at a meeting hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Council to hear about efforts to better manage growth in the region. The goal is to make sure everyday people—people like you who love their lives here—don’t get stuck with longer commutes, rising home prices, loss of our natural landscapes, and health care resources stretched to their limits.

In response, and together with the people of the region, the Council, its Groundwork team, and a group of experts led by planning and design firm DPZ CoDesign will be developing ‘Growing Home,’ a regional strategy tailored to the needs of all people who live and work in Northwest Arkansas. It’s not just to accommodate the inevitable influx of new people, but to protect what makes our cities and towns worth living in — whether it’s open space, local businesses, or just the sense that you and your neighbors still look out for each other.

The resulting strategy will reflect perspectives gathered from across the region. “There’ll be a lot of community engagement, public input into how we want to grow, and the people’s thoughts about this,” said Nelson Peacock, the NWA Council’s president and CEO.

A Strategy for All

Despite the bigger Northwest Arkansas cities’ higher profiles, ‘Growing Home’ will give significant attention to both the big and small cities of Northwest Arkansas. That’s especially important because the rates of growth across Northwest Arkansas are actually the highest in the smallest cities. Yes, just about every city is growing, but it’s Cave Springs, Pea Ridge, Centerton, and other smaller places that are leading the way.

That’s why every city must remain part of the growth conversation. The Council is offering strategies and tools to help all regional communities make smart choices, not just quick ones.

One example of a regional issue affecting everyone is housing. As the year-long process begins, the project team is conducting a regional housing market analysis to better understand the dynamics influencing the availability and cost of housing. Are builders producing enough? Are they creating a variety of options to suit different needs? When buyers can't find housing that fits their preferences, they often settle for options that aren't ideal for them. This creates market imbalances and restricts opportunities for people to live in ways that best suit their lifestyles.

Get Involved

Throughout 2025, you’ll have a chance to weigh in. The Council has launched a website (growinghomenwa.org) where the full story of the ‘Growing Home’ process will be documented and, in the coming months, will be hosting online and local input opportunities where everyone will have an opportunity to weigh in about what’s most important to them. Even if you don’t love change, you should at least have a say in how it occurs and what it looks like.

“A lot of people may see [accelerated growth] as a bad thing, but it doesn’t have to be,” said DPZ CoDesign’s Matt Lambert. “A lot of what we’ll be talking about is how to shape growth to achieve outcomes that benefit the community broadly.”

In short, growth is inevitable. But how we grow — that’s up to us.