HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Bella Vista is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 30,102 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 32,368 in 2023. The community has taken advantage of the natural setting within the Springfield Plateau of the
Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...
since first established in 1917 as a summer resort destination. The oak/hickory forests, valleys, creeks, and steep rises that characterize the city's topography have slowly given way to a series of reservoirs, golf courses, and other amenities. A largely residential city, early settlement was predominantly summer cabins, later giving way to single-family housing of a
retirement community A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves. Assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socialization op ...
developed by Cooper Communities with services and amenities provided by a strong property owners' association (POA). Located within the
Northwest Arkansas Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is a metropolitan area and region in Arkansas within the Ozarks. It includes four of the ten largest cities in the state: Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers, ...
region, the city has been experiencing a population and building boom in recent years, as indicated by an 82% growth in population between the 2000 and 2020 censuses, largely as a
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for nearby Bentonville and Rogers. Residents voted to incorporate in 2006, supplanting the POA with municipal government for most essential services.


History

The area now encompassed by Bella Vista was used by roving bands of Osage and
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
who used the area for seasonal hunting grounds. A prominent
rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long or wide, rock shelters are alm ...
known as Hay Bluff along US 71 was used by various groups in the area and remains an important archaeological site, before later being used by early settlers to store hay. The area was established as a primitive summer resort in 1909 by a Bentonville minister who envisioned golf, tennis, and inexpensive lots for summer cabins. In 1915, Lake Bella Vista was created by damming Little Sugar Creek. By 1916, the resort was sold to the Linebarger Brothers Realty Company, who further developed the resort to include more amenities, including the Sunset Hotel and Wonderland Cave nightclub. Early cabins recognized on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
include Blackwell-Paisley Cabin, Bogan Cabin, Hagler-Cole Cabin, Lamberton Cabin, Pharr Cabin, Princedom Cabin, and Sutherlin Cabin. The resort began catering to city dwellers with automobiles and came to include "colonies" of residents from
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Texas and
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
. Bella Vista became a retirement community in 1965, and, after much contention and a 2006 vote of its property owners, became an incorporated city. Following its official incorporation on January 1, 2007, the new city government took over the police department, fire department, streets, trash removal and other city functions, while the Property Owners Association (POA) retained control of the many amenities available to members (property owners) and their guests.


Geography

Bella Vista is located in northern Benton County. Its northern border is the
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
state line. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (3.35%) is water, consisting mainly of the several lakes within the city.


Demographics

As of the 2023
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, there are 12,894 estimated households in Bella Vista with an average of 2.39 persons per household. The city has a median household income of $85,932. Approximately 3.5% of the city's population lives at or below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
. Bella Vista has an estimated 52.5% employment rate, with 37.8% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 96.1% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (97.7%), Spanish (1.6%), Indo-European (0.3%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.4%), and Other (0.0%). The median age in the city was 51.5 years.


2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 30,104 people, 12,986 households, and 9,373 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 14,062 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.65%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.71%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.04% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.09%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.28% from some other races and 7.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.50% of the population.


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 26,461 people, 12,986 households, and _ families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 13,241 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.85%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.66%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.03% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.66% from some other races and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.60% of the population.


2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 16,582 people, 7,818 households, and 6,004 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 8,854 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.87%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.18%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.69% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.20% from some other races and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.01% of the population. There were 7,818 households out of which 13.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.4% are
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.2% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.38. In the CDP the population was spread out with 12.3% under the age of 18, 3.0% from 18 to 24, 16.4% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 41.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 61 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $44,090, and the median income for a family was $48,233. Males had a median income of $34,547 versus $24,690 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $25,406. About 1.5% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 3.7% of those under the age of 18 and 1.0% of those 65 and older.


Government

Bella Vista's Declarations and Protective Covenants is the "rule book" that governs the POA. The Property Owners Association must follow this "rule book" composed of various articles. There are Class A and Class B members of the POA. Class B refers to Cooper Communities, the land developer, who gets 10 votes per lot owned and Class A refers to lot private lot purchasers who receive one vote per lot owned. Cooper Communities now owns too few lots to sway the vote. Both Class A and class B members must approve a vote before it is binding. The POA is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors who serve three-year terms. They set the direction and long-term objectives for the POA guided by Bella Vista's declarations and protective covenants. The day-to-day activity of the POA is directed by its general manager, with division heads and site managers responsible for the various departments and facilities. The residents voted in 2006 to incorporate as an official city effective January 1, 2007. The POA still remains intact to service the recreational amenities and provide water, but the City of Bella Vista now has responsibility for police, fire, streets, library, community development, and other services.


Parks and recreation


Lakes

Bella Vista has seven lakes. These lakes are not "public" in that only members of the community or their guests are permitted to use them. Lake Ann, Lake Windsor, and Lake Loch Lomond are the largest all-sports lakes in the town. Lake Avalon, Lake Norwood, and Lake Rayburn are primarily
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
lakes with "no-wake" restrictions. Current POA boat permits are required, as are Arkansas fishing licenses, when fishing Bella Vista lakes. No personal water crafts (AKA: Jet Skis) are allowed on any of the Bella Vista lakes, however, only 20 miles east of Bella Vista is Beaver Lake, a 31,700 acre
US Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...
Lake, and Jet Skis are welcome there. *Lake Ann (, el. ) is a small man-made
water sport Water sports or aquatic sports are sport, sports activities conducted on waterbodies and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * ...
reservoir with of surface area. The lake was created by damming a small west flowing stream in Pinion Hollow that is a tributary to Little Sugar Creek.''Bentonville North, Arkansas,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1970 (1982 rev.)''Arkansas Atlas & Gazetteer,'' DeLorme, 2004, 2nd edition, p. 22, Because it is deep with no power limit,
water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...
is allowed on Lake Ann. * Lake Windsor (, el. ) is the second largest of the lakes, covering with a maximum depth of . The lake is on Tanyard Creek just upstream from its confluence with Little Sugar Creek. Lake Windsor is also an unlimited power lake, and water skiing is allowed. *Loch Lomond is the largest of all the lakes in the city. It is deep and covers . There is no power limit, skiing is allowed, and boat rental is offered. *Lake Avalon is a limited-power lake that features an enclosed, heated fishing dock located off Tamworth Circle. This lake covers and is deep. * Lake Brittany (, el. ) is deep, has a surface area and is a limited-power lake. It is located on a small north flowing tributary to Pinion Hollow and lies upstream of Lake Ann off Trafalgar Road. *Lake Norwood, located just north of Bella Vista's Town Center, has of surface area and is deep. The Lake Norwood launching ramp is located north of Harp's Food Store in Town Center. This is a limited-power lake. *Lake Rayburn is deep and has a surface area. This lake has limited-power regulations. It also features a designated swimming area and a launching ramp that is accessible from Lakeside Drive.


Trails

Lake Bella Vista, formerly part of Bella Vista, and the 1.8 mile walking/biking trail that goes around the lake is now part of the City of Bentonville Parks system. In the center of Bella Vista is the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail below the Lake Windsor dam. It has a footbridge and some waterfalls except during dry times. In October 2016 the City of Bella Vista, with the cooperation of the Property Owners Association, opened of hiking and mountain bike trails entitled 'The Back 40' which is located on the east side of the city. The Little Sugar trail system, which was designed and built for mountain biking and opened in 2019, is located in the central part of the city and features approximately 50 mi (80 km) of trails. In July 2023, the Bella Vista Property Owners Association approved by a 7-1 vote the construction of 7 new trails. The trail Master Plan developed in 2015 shows of trails to be built by 2025.


Education

The following
school districts A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary or secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school district and is used to assign stud ...
serve the city. On the east side is the Bentonville School District, and on the west side is Gravette School District. A few blocks in the east are zoned to the Pea Ridge School District. The Bentonville portion is zoned to the following schools: * Cooper Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, and Sugar Creek Elementary School have separate sections. * Most of the section is zoned to Old High Middle while some sections to the southeast are zoned to Ruth Barker Middle School and some to the southwest are zoned to Ardis Ann Middle School. * Washington Junior High School and Lincoln Junior High School have separate sections. * All of that portion of Bella Vista is zoned to
Bentonville High School Bentonville High School (BHS) is a public high school in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States Founded in 1910, the school provides education for students in grades nine through twelve. It is one of two high schools of the Bentonville School Di ...
. Also serving the city is a private
preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...
, Bella Vista Montessori Academy. Cooper Elementary, part of the Bentonville District, is a K-4. The Bentonville School district is planning two new schools for Bella Vista students. Northwest Arkansas Community College is also part of the community, with its main branch in Bentonville near I-49 Exit 86.


Infrastructure


Electricity

Carroll Electric Cooperative provides electricity for Bella Vista residents.


Public safety

The Bella Vista Fire Department is a career fire department with four fully staffed fire stations. There are three shifts with 21 career firefighters on each shift. The fire department also provides
Advanced Life Support Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life-saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing). Components Key aspects of ALS level care ...
paramedic service to the city with six ambulances. In 2010, the department took control over the Bella Vista Ambulance Services.


Transportation

The final segment of
Interstate 49 Interstate 49 (I-49) is a north–south Interstate Highway with multiple segments. The original portion is entirely within Louisiana with an additional signed portion extending from Interstate 220 (Louisiana), I-220 in Shreveport, Louisian ...
(I-49), which runs from
Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...
to
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
, was completed around Bella Vista on October 1, 2021. The new route bypassed Bella Vista to the south and west, removing through traffic from Highway 71, which had seen increasing traffic congestion over the decades. I-49 has four exits providing access to Bella Vista: US 71 (Bella Vista Way), two exits with Highway 72, and Benton County Road 34 (CR 34, Rocky Dell Hollow Road). Bella Vista Way is a four-lane
controlled access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
divided highway that bisects the city from north to south. Two Arkansas state highways cross Bella Vista: Highway 279 (Forest Hills Boulevard) runs north-south from Gravette to
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, and Highway 340 (Lancashire Boulevard) from east to west from Highway 279 to Missouri. Almost all of the remaining street network in Bella Vista is laid out using a
street hierarchy The street hierarchy is an urban planning technique for laying out road networks that exclude automobile through-traffic from developed areas. It is conceived as a hierarchy of roads that embeds the link importance of each road type in the ne ...
typical of large residential subdivisions, with hundreds of cul-de-sac streets.


Solid waste

The City of Bella Vista contracts with Republic Services for trash collection. There also are two semi-annual pick ups of large items.


Stump Dump Fire of 2018

A dump site had begun an underground fire in August 2018. In December 2018, health officials declared the air within a half-mile radius around the property was at unhealthy levels on one occasion. An emergency declaration was made by Gov.
Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...
. The Bella Vista POA took over this project in early May 2019 and had the fire extinguished in less than 30 days.


Water and wastewater

The POA provides water service to Bella Vista residents. Village Waste Water provides sewer service to portions of Bella Vista.


Notable people

* Donna Hutchinson, member of the
Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...
from 2007 to 2013 * Jim Sheets, member of the Arkansas House from 1967 to 1968 in the Winthrop Rockefeller administration, retired resident of Bella Vista *
Garth Smith Garth Smith (born Garth Davies, 10 December 1955), sometimes credited as Garth, is an English musician, known as the original bassist of the Bolton-formed punk rock band Buzzcocks. Smith played with Buzzcocks during their first concert in Apri ...
, award winning pianist, composer and musician noted for his contributions to LDS Gospel Music.


See also

* Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel


References


External links


City of Bella Vista – official website
{{authority control Cities in Benton County, Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Former census-designated places in Arkansas Cities in Arkansas Populated places established in 2006 1917 establishments in Arkansas