Are you considering moving to Rogers, Arkansas, and wonder what it’s like to live here? In this episode of Naturally NWA, I’m going to give you an update on the pros and cons of living in Rogers. We’ll take another look at this city to see what’s the same and what’s changed in the past few years.
An Ideal Location
So much has happened since I did the original “Pros and Cons of Living in Rogers” video a couple of years ago that I decided it was time to do an updated version. Let’s see what makes the list this year—starting with the pros.
The first pro of living in Rogers is that it is centrally located within northwest Arkansas. Rogers is located right next to Bentonville, so many of the people who work for Walmart or one of their suppliers live in Rogers. Everything you would ever need is in Rogers, including grocery stores, restaurants, shopping, hospitals, entertainment, and plentiful outdoor activities.
If you did feel the need to get out and explore more of Northwest Arkansas, Bella Vista is only about 15-20 minutes north and Fayetteville is about 25 minutes south of Rogers—so it’s not too far to go out and check other places out.
Plenty Of Activities
The next pro of living in Rogers is that there are a lot of things to do here. Let me ask you something: do you like to eat? Of course you do, and we’ve got several popular chain restaurants near Interstate 49. There are even more locally-owned restaurants all throughout town that I’d put up against any of those chains every day of the week.
If you like to shop, The Pinnacle Hills Promenade has all of your favorite retail stores. Additionally, the downtown area has even more local artisan shops, and in between those two areas is a plethora of shopping options both locally owned and national chains. There are also plenty of options for entertainment, from events to outdoorsy activities.
The Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion brings in some awesome concerts and comedy shows every year. You can also find Top Golf, Dave & Buster’s, Fast Lanes, and a couple of movie theaters in Rogers as well. The Bikes, Blues, & BBQ motorcycle rally, which is traditionally held in Fayetteville in late September every year, has now moved up to Rogers. There are also endless outdoor activities out towards Beaver Lake such as hiking, boating, and fishing.
Downtown Revitalization
The next pro of living in Rogers is the revitalization of the downtown area that has taken place since my last pros and cons video. There are a lot of cool local bars, restaurants, and shops in the downtown area, with more coming soon. The Railyard Park is a really cool addition to the downtown area, a great spot for families to come hang out with an awesome playground for the kids.
Railyard Live starts up this year as well, which is northwest Arkansas’ newest outdoor venue in downtown Rogers. It’s going to feature some /
\;really cool shows every Friday and Saturday night. Don’t forget that the Railyard Bike Park is also right down the street, a world-class bike park with various elements that riders of all ages and skill levels can enjoy.
Affordable Housing
The last pro I’ll mention is the affordability of housing in Rogers. As of the filming of this video, you can still buy a nice three-bed, two-bath 1,700 square foot house on about a quarter of an acre lot for around $275,000. That’s a huge difference from my previous pros and cons video in 2019, where that same house would have cost you about $210,000.
While the current residents of Northwest Arkansas are feeling a little bit of sticker shock when they go shopping for houses, people from the larger metro areas that are moving here are amazed at what their money can buy.
Public Transportation
Now that we know about the great things Rogers has to offer, let’s talk about the cons of living here. In my last video, the first con that I mentioned was that everybody who lives in Rogers thinks that there’s nothing wrong with living in Rogers. To them, there are no cons at all—and that’s definitely still the case of the people who live here.
However, I wanted to try for some actual cons in this video. A lot of these are going to seem trivial to the current residents of Rogers—and maybe even people who don’t live here—but I’m going to throw them out there anyway. The first con is that Rogers, like most of Northwest Arkansas, does not have much of a public transportation system. So if you are moving here from a large city where you can walk, ride a bike, or rely on public transit to get where you’re going, you’re probably going to be a little upset.
You’re going to have to buy a car when you move to Northwest Arkansas. There are just not many buses and very limited bus routes—and that’s about it for public transportation here in Northwest Arkansas. No trains, no subways, or anything like that. You’re going to need a car.
A City Spread Out
Another con of living in Rogers is that while it’s probably the most spread out city in Northwest Arkansas, it doesn’t have a bypass or one road that goes conveniently through it without going through a million intersections. This means it can take you a little while to get from one side of town to the other, depending on the time of day.
One thing that the city has done to help with the flow of traffic is that they’re building traffic circles. Traffic circles can be good if the people going through the traffic circle can drive. But if you watch my video on the updated pros and cons of Bentonville, you know that we just don’t have great drivers here.
For the most part, traffic circles can be a little dangerous when people aren’t paying attention to signs, so watch yourself in the traffic circles.
Alcohol On Sundays
The last con about living in Rogers is the same as last time: there are no retail alcohol sales in the city limits on Sundays.
Of course, you can always go to a bar or restaurant to get a drink. But if you’re looking to drink elsewhere, you’re going to have to go up to the Missouri border (which is about 25 minutes away) or down to Springdale (which is about 20 minutes south) to pick up your beer, wine, or liquor at a store.
Make Rogers Your Home
I hope this gave you some insight into whether moving to Rogers is a good option for you or not. If you have any questions about the area or our local real estate market, please reach out and ask and I’d be happy to help.
If you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to subscribe to my channel so you never miss an episode of Naturally NWA, my show all about living in Rogers or any other city in Northwest Arkansas. Stay tuned to see what I feature next!