I live in Blytheville and I want to add that the city government has been active of removing the blight in certain parts of town by tearing down dilapidated homes due to population losses the town suffered because of the closure of the Eaker air force base and the economic downturn that came afterwards . So far over 100 homes have been torn down and the town has been working with our state representatives to get federal funding to demolished the dilapidated homes at the airbase and build new housing.
Tariffs are controversial, but the goal is to bring steel and manufacturing plants back from overseas to places like Blytheville. I drove through there probably 20 years ago and it was really a mess. I'm glad to see the improvement. My grandparents lived there briefly around 1920.
But when people start moving in it is no longer a small town. I live in an area that was just 10 years ago considered small town and rural area, but today it is a mess with more crime, car accidents, emergency services overwhelmed, health care providers are refusing patients and people are dying. It is terrifying
The Trump Administration needs to make Nick Johnson a community liaison, demographics czar .. to keep the administration informed about the pulse of communities around the U.S. 👍🇺🇸👍
Mainstream Journalist - Left leaning, been to 2 cities, only know their gated community friends Independent Journalist (Nick) - Right leaning, been everywhere in the United States, met all kinds of people from all walks of life.
Nice to see America changing and flourishing again in places such as Blytheville. Your prosperity means peace and prosperity in many countries and places all over the World. Greetings from Poland.
That's right...totally forgot Arkansas is where Sarah has been governor NICE ! xD :>) You can also tell they are not woke...chickasaws mascot...way cool :>)
I agree. They have all been saying the first woman president would be a conservative. I always liked her. I would vote for her. She seems happy there, though, and probably would not want to get into the federal swamp. I don't know if she would want to deal with DC again.
Great to see Blytheville coming back. Spent my Junior High years at Blytheville AFB in the early 70's. Loved it. The base closed in 1998. Took the town twenty years to recover from its closing. Also, great job pronouncing the name right, Nic.
I've been a builder/carpenter for almost 30 years and I'd think about moving there if they didn't have draconian licensing for contractors. I live in NY, we don't have trade licensing, and I'm too old to go through all the crap to get one in another state. Licenses don't make a builder a good one, it just makes them more expensive through gatekeeping competition.
Agreed. I'm originally from Florida and it's going in a similar direction. Running a lot of quality trades folk off. Good carpenter builders are like gold! They should be respected and incentivized. I'm going to check out the area too, I like a town on the upswing.
This video is a great palette cleanser from the usual dumps that are showcased. Good on you Blytheville! The rest of the country needs to take notes of this stimulation model. Everyone loves a good comeback story!
at 22:39 - the city council lady - saying it takes everyone working together to make things better. Says a lot about that area. This whole thing was so chill - no Karen's, a main street coming back to life filled with shops owned by local residents - no chain store crap, the local guy buying up some stores and making them habitable for new local small businesses. New houses not squished 5 feet apart and all look-a-like, AND reasonably affordable. An American industry thriving there, blue collar work, chance for a local higher education that actually produces results. A breath of fresh air for sure. Wish more people were chill and followed this example in more areas - I think this lifestyle is a happier lifestyle that a lot of people want as opposed to the cut throat non-caring greedy world this country is seemingly becoming in a lot of areas.
Blytheville used to host a gigantic Strategic Air Command B-52 bomber base. That closed in 1992 and a lot of the population and economic life went out of the area.
@raymond_sycamore yep! But a corrupt government gives America and Americans then a bad rap! Our future is in danger then, too! Wars and immigration invasions could ruin our home. Since you and others really do love America, it may be a good idea to rediscover what our founders who made America believed in. And they, as long ago as it was, were very intelligent, coming from the 'age of enlightenment' and who rejected 'God', being freethinking deists believing in nature as our 'creator' instead. As religions take away freethinking and demand submission, saying it's for others 'own good'! But, that's for societies built on utilitarian values like insects, not fit for humans, which is why they have 'sins of the flesh' they condemn, and some better than others (the queen most important and needed for survival of the hive). So our founders built our society on individual rights, which is fit for humans instead! That's why the 1st Amendment and making no laws based on religion, requardless of what people may believe about the unknows involving the afterlife, if there is even one, but then needs to be kept to the individual and not in government. That's why people today who love America fear our government too, since 1954, President Eisenhower poisoned the pledge of allegiance with 'under God' (meaning Yehwey, 'of war' today)! And all Gods were made by kings, being mythology based and used primarily for either war or peace and have passages supporting both! Religion, therefore, isn't truth, nor benign, and therefore not American either. Truth, freedom, prosperity in a bountiful land, with justice for all America, worthy of our love. Thanks.
Same here. I immigrated here in 2012, LEGALLY. And worked my way up to my current position. I am a citizen now, and this is the only country I recognize as mine.
Small towns are making a comeback in the country. It is a wonderful sight to see. Metropolitan areas have been siphoning wealth and talent from small towns for several generations but now that trend has stalled and even reversed a bit.
What will happen when it is no longer a small town? Small towns are great for one reason. More people equals large city, more crime, more car accidents, emergency services get overwhelmed, water, sewer, and garbage get overwhelmed, health care gets overwhelmed. I live in an area in SE NC that was considered very small town and rural area just 10 years ago, now all our services are so overwhelmed it is a horrible mess. Our hospitals are turning people away and they are dying, primary care doctors are refusing patients, people who lived here all their lives are beingnforced to move away to get competent medical care, I am one of thise people and at 63 retired and disabled it is terrifying for many of us.
Cities have long reached maximum capacity. The original people in the cities have seen their wealth increase tremendously throughout the past few decades and they want to keep it. So they make laws to keep other people out. It's not a bad idea, because more people will just make the area into slums. If all the cities are full, people have to go elsewhere. And companies will see the same thing, they just need to invest in infrastructure and they will be fine. I've seen colleges in rural CA be built into the side of mountains in the middle of nowhere. It's truly amazing to see a campus have a bridge over a gorge you have to cross to get into it. Amazing view, perfect opportunity. UC Merced has like five miles of farmland you have to drive through to even get on the campus. And a local lake 1 mile away from the dorms you can camp around or swim in or boat in. It's god damn cool. And it was still growing when I went almost a decade ago. With the internet, stuff can happen a lot easier. Towns can be built easier with new technology. People just have to take the risk.
NICK, mention that the town is part of the tornado alley. As always, a great job highlighting a location for its bad side and good side. You had me wanting to move there, from the houses, businesses, and community, but especially because of the good people. Thank you
Like December 10 tornado outbreak. I don't even have to say the year. Also the big factory, Denso in Osceola next town over shut down. There's some very important details missing. I love Nick and his channel, only pointing out a few of other important things to point out. I haven't been to Blytheville in a few decades because of the horrible crime rate. I do hope and pray they turn all of it around. But I also hope people do a thorough research before impulsively moving to anywhere. Most of the steel mill jobs are HOT. On top of our 100° extremely high humidity and overabundant mosquitoes all summer long. Which could be 5 months sometimes. The farming fields around the towns around here cause mosquitoes to be impossible to sit outside at night and even the daytime if you have a lot of trees. Most everyone are related so that makes up a lot of the "friendliness" So now that's the WHOLE story of NE Arkansas.
Neat. I was driving by while this was filmed! The death of Blytheville was because of shutting down the airbase. That never helps anybody. The housing on the airbase is a morbid thing to see. The Steele mills in Mississippi county will continue to grow for a decade.
Thanks again Nick! It sure was nice to see an uplifting video of a small town in the IS. Lately I have been losing hope for our country but this video shows we can do it but we have to do it together. Now we need to motivate people to get moving. Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country! JFK
Don’t lose hope- mostly not in yourself. Mainstream news sucks but and divides. Lots of great articles, videos, books and people out there. Dig a bit and look past the smoke screens. Find the “why”
It's refreshing to see a community revitalizing itself. More deindustrialized, post-agricultural, and dying towns should adopt these policies and programs. Kudos to the city council; if I were younger, I would consider moving there.
That is wonderful that their High School graduates can receive a free 2-year Community College degree. This is a treasure of a town. It looks like they have great leadership/planning and they sound like they help one another.
Nice to see Blytheville is improving. A decade ago, it was referred to as north Memphis. The major downfall was the closure of the SAC Air Force Base almost 30 years ago. I worked in Hickman and lived 20 minutes west of Blytheville to be safe. I'm happy for them.
Hey Nick, NE Arkansan here, our region is referred to as the mid south. Still technically southern though. Growing up in this part of the state we knew this town was rough, it wasnt a place you wanted to be. Really cool to see that changes are being made.
We lived in AR back in the 80/90’s it’s a beautiful state with wonderful, friendly down home people. Wonderful to hear that Blytheville is an excellent example for other small cities and states to emulate themselves after. Highly recommend if anybody reading this check it out for a next, or forever move. MAGA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 exactly what America needs right now, good paying jobs, quality of life, AND booming economy 🌟Winning 🎉
Great video and nterview showcasing real people that have a great community going! Kudos to you and Blytheville. Really excited to hear that the U.S. Steel Industry is getting some life back.
Well you tube censoring again. If only people could say what they really want to say. Ill try again with a small portion of my comment. Thanks to Sarah Huckabee Sanders the great governor of Arkansas.
All about policies. Local government is way more important than we think! This city is a perfect example of that. Can you imagine local officials working for you!? This was a great video Nick!
I like the woman with the ' Silent Security ' sign in her front yard after her saying how nice people are and everybody helps each other out, but not to help themselves to my stuff.
Great video Nick. It's great to bring out and expose these kind of opportunities. I never knew about places like this. I bet there's a lot of people that don't.
Nick, wow, thanks for sharing great inspiring story about Blytheville Arkansas, The lady correct come together like the old bealte song and work in grace and harmony having same goals and patience things get done and improve I notice that being born into family with 12 children we all had stop fighting stop fault finding and work and grow and help out each other any place can improve just DO IT in Love.
Hey Nick.. I moved here to Western Arkansas from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia two years ago. It’s beautiful here in the Ouachita and Ozarks. Lots of freedom, not much regulation, great fishing, hiking, mountain biking. Folks are laid back. Nobody is trying to put on a show. Humble folks. I have lived all over the US, and I wish I had been born here. Enjoy our stay Nick!
@ beautiful state. I know growth means money, but I worry. I’ve seen the growth in north Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington State, Northern Virginia. Sometimes the money growth brings isn’t worth what happens to the area. Fingers are 🤞
@ yes. Winchester, my home town has changed so much. Most of the battlefields and Apple orchards have been bulldozed to make way for plastic sided houses for as far as you can see. The old country stores with salted hams hanging outside have been replaced by Sheets, QuickMarts and other chains. Traffic is rough, and any of the cool old farm houses that survived have been turned into Bed & Breakfast nooks. I retreated to Arkansas. It’s still stuck in the 80’s here, in a very good way
Woah… just saw the section from about 15 minutes into the video, with the aerial shot - IT’S SO FLAT! Here in W. Pennsylvania, it’s endless hills and valleys. Believe me, that gets old after 50 years or so. It would be nice to look out across your lawn and actually see something that isn’t a hillside for a change, and to be able to go for a walk without worrying about the climb back up the mountain.
(Hey, off the bat, my mother grew up north of Pittsburgh and she went to graduate school in Illinois where she met my dad. She said it felt so freeing to be outside all those hills/mts and to be able to see the horizon in the distance when she lived in Illinois. My parents moved to coastal Southern California in the mid-60s and my mom said when she looked out over the Pacific to the horizon, she wept. I lived in Pittsburgh for a year in the early 90s - very beautiful landscape but those hills do get to you after awhile!) This part of Arkansas is flat because it's only 8 miles from the Mississippi River. It also used to be forested but was clear cut after Chicago's Great Fire of 1871 - all that lumber was used to rebuild in Chicago. The late 19th century deforestation created a lot of farming opportunity (cotton was one big crop) but over the years family farms have been replaced by factory farming. I would think that means that the land around there has been heavily affected for the worse by all the chemical use. Blytheville is 60 miles north of the very notorious West Memphis. I wouldn't want to live in eastern Arkansas because of all the drug trafficking; however, Arkansas is finally attempting to fight back against the Mexican cartels' rip roaring business in that state in general.
Losing the airbase in the early 90s was hard on this town. The steel industry has helped revamp things. Of course any town is going to have older neighborhoods that may be run down close to the railroad and new development closer to the interstate. There is nothing better than living in the south, especially Arkansas.
Just loved this episode! As a native Southern Californian, I do HOPE the state and the cities WILL be mindful of planning! As everyone knows, SCal is just too oppressively over built. I was born before the 5 fwy. Disney was just getting started. Rode my horse ALL over Orange County, no freeways, no fences. No ONE at the Orange County beaches! Literally. Huntington Beach didn't develope till after 2000. Now it's crowded, Blvds off concrete business boxes w too many junky stores. To me it all looks like the dregs of L.A. What a beautiful beginning. Clean green fields of song birds and grazing dairy cows. Hobos followed the RR tracks, friends to children and communities. Kids walked safely to school. Joni Mitchel sanfpg it correctly, They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. If it weren't for tornados I might consider the South/Midwest. Take care Arkansas ❤
My dad was from CA and CO (back and forth). Moved us to AR 20 years ago, but occasionally has to visit his mom in CA. He loves his mom, but he's never happy about dealing with CA. Many similar complaints go to CO. He's even ready to dump NW AR for north central or NE just to avoid traffic.
This little city will be doing even better once Trump gets in. Since he is so big in keeping steele here. Looks like a peaceful area. What a great idea! Good for them. Thanks for going down and highlighting this. I have always heard this is a nice state to live in. I have a friend who has plans to move here when her daughter graduates next year. I would love to live there. Peaceful and quiet with good people. We are in Texas, and our area was in a small town, but with all of the people moving from out of state, we have gained 20,000 people. I miss the small town community.
I really like the looks of their neighborhood streets, specifically no sidewalks and few curbs. No street parking either because the lots are huge. I imagine the city saves a good chunk of cash not having to pay for this ' improvement '.
Small communities are so tight knit and genuine because large city influences don't exist. These communities want businesses and people to move in, which will effectively ruin what is good in the long run.
Heck man. I’m a 53 year old recent widower that is looking to make a change. I left THE steel town , Pittsburgh back in 99 after most of the steel mills shut down. All my family member elders were steel workers as well as my Wife’s Dad and several uncles. I was hoping to be a steel worker when i got older but the closer I got to working age the mills had mostly shut down. I’d love to do that type of work as long as I had some deer hunting property nearby I’d be livin the dream. Just wonder if that place is tornado prone being so flat.
What a place & the price of new homes!!!!! Unheard of! The people are friendly it’s got a real happy vibe, it’s clean it’s got awesome food & bar stops , it’s got jobs, everything & cheap you can always afford holidays! Amazing place..
Sadly most of the time this ends badly due to people with not so good intentions and this will end up justice other huge cities. Sadly more people equals more crime, more vehicle accidents, emergency services get overwhelmed, water and sewer get overwhelmed. Small towns are good place to live for a reason, so when it isn't a small town anymore it won't be a good place to live anymore unless there is a limit put on the number of new residents.
Wonderful Nick ; you're doing a great service and uplifting Americans hearts. A good story is a great thing , made my cold Puget Sound , Wa. morning warmer too. 🙏🏻🇺🇸💪🏻
Arkansans are hardy, resilient, decent people. High water table, lots of woods, but not much sophistication for those who love the symphony, art, etc. But you couldnt find better people.
I get that we have to watch out for ourselves, our local communities But it's unacceptable that we still have to pay so much in taxes to the federal government 😭
I've always wanted to go to Arkansas, but my husband won't consider it because he had a friend 10 years ago move there and move back who said he hated it.
Haha, you definitely otta do an AirBnB for a month or three to try the area on before committing long term. I'm from Arkansas, and it's a hit or miss state. I've since lived in Florida, Michigan, Maryland, and Virginia and still will suggest to proceed with caution. But that goes for everywhere!
Dana Austin is my Mom! She loves helping bring people to the community by helping with the work here live here program!
You have an awesome caring mom ❤
❤
@@bluewave7120 haha. Blue Wave
I live in Blytheville and I want to add that the city government has been active of removing the blight in certain parts of town by tearing down dilapidated homes due to population losses the town suffered because of the closure of the Eaker air force base and the economic downturn that came afterwards . So far over 100 homes have been torn down and the town has been working with our state representatives to get federal funding to demolished the dilapidated homes at the airbase and build new housing.
That's great to hear!
Tariffs are controversial, but the goal is to bring steel and manufacturing plants back from overseas to places like Blytheville. I drove through there probably 20 years ago and it was really a mess. I'm glad to see the improvement. My grandparents lived there briefly around 1920.
But when people start moving in it is no longer a small town. I live in an area that was just 10 years ago considered small town and rural area, but today it is a mess with more crime, car accidents, emergency services overwhelmed, health care providers are refusing patients and people are dying. It is terrifying
The tariffs would do no such thing, however.
@@debradale6305 What town are you refering to?
Tariffs are only controversial in the eyes of those that believe the MSM, over and over and over. Mass psychosis from fear based mind control.
The Trump Administration needs to make Nick Johnson a community liaison, demographics czar .. to keep the administration informed about the pulse of communities around the U.S. 👍🇺🇸👍
Mainstream Journalist - Left leaning, been to 2 cities, only know their gated community friends
Independent Journalist (Nick) - Right leaning, been everywhere in the United States, met all kinds of people from all walks of life.
Not happening but a Great Idea!!!!
@ bingo
No way! That’s exactly what I said the other day.
True
Nice to see America changing and flourishing again in places such as Blytheville. Your prosperity means peace and prosperity in many countries and places all over the World. Greetings from Poland.
Sarah Huckabee is an awesome governor!!!! She would make a great President one day. They don't have deficit unlike our country!!! Go Sarah
That's right...totally forgot Arkansas is where Sarah has been governor NICE ! xD :>) You can also tell they are not woke...chickasaws mascot...way cool :>)
I agree. They have all been saying the first woman president would be a conservative. I always liked her. I would vote for her. She seems happy there, though, and probably would not want to get into the federal swamp. I don't know if she would want to deal with DC again.
I'm a blytheville Chickasaw. Love Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Great to see Blytheville coming back. Spent my Junior High years at Blytheville AFB in the early 70's. Loved it. The base closed in 1998. Took the town twenty years to recover from its closing. Also, great job pronouncing the name right, Nic.
I've been a builder/carpenter for almost 30 years and I'd think about moving there if they didn't have draconian licensing for contractors. I live in NY, we don't have trade licensing, and I'm too old to go through all the crap to get one in another state. Licenses don't make a builder a good one, it just makes them more expensive through gatekeeping competition.
This is a good story! Thank you.
Agreed. I'm originally from Florida and it's going in a similar direction. Running a lot of quality trades folk off. Good carpenter builders are like gold! They should be respected and incentivized. I'm going to check out the area too, I like a town on the upswing.
This video is a great palette cleanser from the usual dumps that are showcased. Good on you Blytheville! The rest of the country needs to take notes of this stimulation model. Everyone loves a good comeback story!
at 22:39 - the city council lady - saying it takes everyone working together to make things better. Says a lot about that area. This whole thing was so chill - no Karen's, a main street coming back to life filled with shops owned by local residents - no chain store crap, the local guy buying up some stores and making them habitable for new local small businesses. New houses not squished 5 feet apart and all look-a-like, AND reasonably affordable. An American industry thriving there, blue collar work, chance for a local higher education that actually produces results. A breath of fresh air for sure. Wish more people were chill and followed this example in more areas - I think this lifestyle is a happier lifestyle that a lot of people want as opposed to the cut throat non-caring greedy world this country is seemingly becoming in a lot of areas.
Totally agree. And, the high school mascot is the Chickasaws...can tell they are immune to wokeness xD :>) Plus they have Sarah Huckabee as governor.
This gives lots of hope for better times. Very nice to see.
Moved to Arkansas from Minneapolis 41 years ago.
Married a Southern girl, raised 2 kids, and 5 grandkids down here.
Best decision I ever made!
You really made a good decision considering the city is a mess. 😂
Blytheville used to host a gigantic Strategic Air Command B-52 bomber base. That closed in 1992 and a lot of the population and economic life went out of the area.
I love America. I don't care what anybody says. It is my homeland.
Ofc🎉🎉🎉
Same. I love America. I have no plans to live anywhere else.
@raymond_sycamore yep! But a corrupt government gives America and Americans then a bad rap!
Our future is in danger then, too!
Wars and immigration invasions could ruin our home.
Since you and others really do love America, it may be a good idea to rediscover what our founders who made America believed in.
And they, as long ago as it was, were very intelligent, coming from the 'age of enlightenment' and who rejected 'God', being freethinking deists believing in nature as our 'creator' instead.
As religions take away freethinking and demand submission, saying it's for others 'own good'!
But, that's for societies built on utilitarian values like insects, not fit for humans, which is why they have 'sins of the flesh' they condemn, and some better than others (the queen most important and needed for survival of the hive).
So our founders built our society on individual rights, which is fit for humans instead!
That's why the 1st Amendment and making no laws based on religion, requardless of what people may believe about the unknows involving the afterlife, if there is even one, but then needs to be kept to the individual and not in government.
That's why people today who love America fear our government too, since 1954, President Eisenhower poisoned the pledge of allegiance with 'under God' (meaning Yehwey, 'of war' today)!
And all Gods were made by kings, being mythology based and used primarily for either war or peace and have passages supporting both!
Religion, therefore, isn't truth, nor benign, and therefore not American either.
Truth, freedom, prosperity in a bountiful land, with justice for all America, worthy of our love.
Thanks.
Same here. I immigrated here in 2012, LEGALLY. And worked my way up to my current position. I am a citizen now, and this is the only country I recognize as mine.
MOVE HERE AND GO BALD HEADED
Pine Bluff needs to follow Blytheville’s lead ♥️ So cool to see towns rejuvenate and come to life again! 🇺🇸
It's rare!
Small towns are making a comeback in the country. It is a wonderful sight to see. Metropolitan areas have been siphoning wealth and talent from small towns for several generations but now that trend has stalled and even reversed a bit.
❤
What will happen when it is no longer a small town? Small towns are great for one reason. More people equals large city, more crime, more car accidents, emergency services get overwhelmed, water, sewer, and garbage get overwhelmed, health care gets overwhelmed. I live in an area in SE NC that was considered very small town and rural area just 10 years ago, now all our services are so overwhelmed it is a horrible mess. Our hospitals are turning people away and they are dying, primary care doctors are refusing patients, people who lived here all their lives are beingnforced to move away to get competent medical care, I am one of thise people and at 63 retired and disabled it is terrifying for many of us.
Cities have long reached maximum capacity. The original people in the cities have seen their wealth increase tremendously throughout the past few decades and they want to keep it. So they make laws to keep other people out. It's not a bad idea, because more people will just make the area into slums. If all the cities are full, people have to go elsewhere. And companies will see the same thing, they just need to invest in infrastructure and they will be fine. I've seen colleges in rural CA be built into the side of mountains in the middle of nowhere. It's truly amazing to see a campus have a bridge over a gorge you have to cross to get into it. Amazing view, perfect opportunity. UC Merced has like five miles of farmland you have to drive through to even get on the campus. And a local lake 1 mile away from the dorms you can camp around or swim in or boat in. It's god damn cool. And it was still growing when I went almost a decade ago. With the internet, stuff can happen a lot easier. Towns can be built easier with new technology. People just have to take the risk.
NICK, mention that the town is part of the tornado alley. As always, a great job highlighting a location for its bad side and good side. You had me wanting to move there, from the houses, businesses, and community, but especially because of the good people. Thank you
Like December 10 tornado outbreak. I don't even have to say the year. Also the big factory, Denso in Osceola next town over shut down. There's some very important details missing. I love Nick and his channel, only pointing out a few of other important things to point out. I haven't been to Blytheville in a few decades because of the horrible crime rate. I do hope and pray they turn all of it around. But I also hope people do a thorough research before impulsively moving to anywhere. Most of the steel mill jobs are HOT. On top of our 100° extremely high humidity and overabundant mosquitoes all summer long. Which could be 5 months sometimes. The farming fields around the towns around here cause mosquitoes to be impossible to sit outside at night and even the daytime if you have a lot of trees. Most everyone are related so that makes up a lot of the "friendliness" So now that's the WHOLE story of NE Arkansas.
Nick just keeps on rollin’. Ain’t no stopping him now!
Never Steve 👍
I’m a transplant to the NW part of the state from the left coast. We love Sarah Sanders!
@ProudUSNAVYVeteran I'm also a transplant to NWA, from NYC. Welcome neighbor! 🙂
Welcome home yall @amg9163
@@amg9163people sure are friendly here!
Don’t vote liberal crap policies that we left to get away from please. Thanks for your service from a fellow San Diegan
Neat. I was driving by while this was filmed! The death of Blytheville was because of shutting down the airbase. That never helps anybody. The housing on the airbase is a morbid thing to see. The Steele mills in Mississippi county will continue to grow for a decade.
Wave next time Pat!
Thanks again Nick! It sure was nice to see an uplifting video of a small town in the IS. Lately I have been losing hope for our country but this video shows we can do it but we have to do it together. Now we need to motivate people to get moving.
Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country! JFK
Don’t lose hope- mostly not in yourself. Mainstream news sucks but and divides. Lots of great articles, videos, books and people out there. Dig a bit and look past the smoke screens. Find the “why”
It's refreshing to see a community revitalizing itself. More deindustrialized, post-agricultural, and dying towns should adopt these policies and programs. Kudos to the city council; if I were younger, I would consider moving there.
"That's why I'm so smart... and manly." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Love Nick's dry sense of humor!! Thanks for always telling the story as is.
That is wonderful that their High School graduates can receive a free 2-year Community College degree. This is a treasure of a town. It looks like they have great leadership/planning and they sound like they help one another.
Nice to see Blytheville is improving. A decade ago, it was referred to as north Memphis. The major downfall was the closure of the SAC Air Force Base almost 30 years ago. I worked in Hickman and lived 20 minutes west of Blytheville to be safe. I'm happy for them.
The AFB left my hometown in CA too Tom
You're the man Nick! Thanks for coming to Arkansas!
Hey Nick, NE Arkansan here, our region is referred to as the mid south. Still technically southern though. Growing up in this part of the state we knew this town was rough, it wasnt a place you wanted to be. Really cool to see that changes are being made.
This is soooo near! A two year degree free if you graduate from their schools….wow - super smart and so productive! Very cool ♥️♥️♥️🌎♥️♥️♥️
Just don't run from Arkansas State Police! If you do, they'll sink your battleship!
They can't catch my black vette
run to new york city. nobody will find you there. lots of subway tunnels to hang out.
🤣🤣 They have a great channel
Let’s turn that around!❤
Yes!👍🏻 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💯
Hi Nate, thank you for going out and exposing the true America
This was great after watching your other video about abandon towns. Much needed spirit lift!
We lived in AR back in the 80/90’s it’s a beautiful state with wonderful, friendly down home people. Wonderful to hear that Blytheville is an excellent example for other small cities and states to emulate themselves after. Highly recommend if anybody reading this check it out for a next, or forever move.
MAGA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 exactly what America needs right now, good paying jobs, quality of life, AND booming economy 🌟Winning 🎉
I’m starting to really like Arkansas. Parents just moved from Dallas to Fort Smith and it’s been a great town that’s turning around quickly
Great video and nterview showcasing real people that have a great community going! Kudos to you and Blytheville. Really excited to hear that the U.S. Steel Industry is getting some life back.
THANKS PRESIDENT BIDEN
It's not Biden...they clearly state it is because of governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders that this is occurring. Biden is worthless.
Well you tube censoring again. If only people could say what they really want to say.
Ill try again with a small portion of my comment. Thanks to Sarah Huckabee Sanders the great governor of Arkansas.
@@user-te9ut7ms4l What did he have to do with it?
Very impressive community
Now this is America ♥️ this 20 year plan is awesome! Trump will bring companies back to America and we are ready for them ♥️♥️♥️
Trump isn't doing anything. You are the ones doing it. And doing it well!
Great boost for Blytheville. Did a little deeper into the history of the City as a major military airbase
Great place to start a new affordable life!..And live the American dream! instead of just dreaming the dream..
A+ video!
LOVE IT! Very unique approach for building an area!
Thanks Nick, I will look into this town.
All about policies. Local government is way more important than we think! This city is a perfect example of that. Can you imagine local officials working for you!? This was a great video Nick!
IT'S A REPUBLICAN LEAD STATE
I like the woman with the ' Silent Security ' sign in her front yard after her saying how nice people are and everybody helps each other out, but not to help themselves to my stuff.
EXACTLY 😂
I’ve been thinking about moving to Arkansas. I love the governor but governors don’t last forever, unfortunately.
I’d consider it. Right now I’m in Northern California and can’t see how I will ever buy a home.
California deserves to fail. Help it by moving out and being free.
Sacramento is pretty affordable actually
MOVE!!
If my roof collapses under the 6 feet of snow in Erie, PA I know where I am headed.
❄️
America it is turning, turning America is Nick Johnson, Plain as the nose on your face Nick, A Gem it is I say
Paul 👆👆👆
I have been to Blytheville when I was younger. Lots of great little restaurants and the folks are amazing.
Thank You. I have land in Memphis. I’ll look here. I believe in this part of the country
Great video Nick. It's great to bring out and expose these kind of opportunities. I never knew about places like this. I bet there's a lot of people that don't.
Nick, wow, thanks for sharing great inspiring story about Blytheville Arkansas, The lady correct come together like the old bealte song and work in grace and harmony having same goals and patience things get done and improve I notice that being born into family with 12 children we all had stop fighting stop fault finding and work and grow and help out each other any place can improve just DO IT in Love.
I love Harrison, Arkansas!
Sarah Huckabee is GREAT!
I’m just a Canadian with a dream 💭 Wow, I would absolutely LOVE to move there 😍😍😍 💓💓💓
What's stopping you?
A Nick Johnson video without a ghetto? No way 😂
He is showing the best.
Hey Nick.. I moved here to Western Arkansas from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia two years ago. It’s beautiful here in the Ouachita and Ozarks. Lots of freedom, not much regulation, great fishing, hiking, mountain biking. Folks are laid back. Nobody is trying to put on a show. Humble folks. I have lived all over the US, and I wish I had been born here. Enjoy our stay Nick!
Glad to have you in my home state. It may have its issues but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I live in the DC/MD area. Everybody(retirees) is moving to the Shenandoah Valley. I didn't think people moved away from there.
@ beautiful state. I know growth means money, but I worry. I’ve seen the growth in north Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington State, Northern Virginia. Sometimes the money growth brings isn’t worth what happens to the area. Fingers are 🤞
@ yes. Winchester, my home town has changed so much. Most of the battlefields and Apple orchards have been bulldozed to make way for plastic sided houses for as far as you can see. The old country stores with salted hams hanging outside have been replaced by Sheets, QuickMarts and other chains. Traffic is rough, and any of the cool old farm houses that survived have been turned into Bed & Breakfast nooks. I retreated to Arkansas. It’s still stuck in the 80’s here, in a very good way
Sometimes you hear the strangest stories @@Tonymanero1960
Woah… just saw the section from about 15 minutes into the video, with the aerial shot - IT’S SO FLAT! Here in W. Pennsylvania, it’s endless hills and valleys. Believe me, that gets old after 50 years or so. It would be nice to look out across your lawn and actually see something that isn’t a hillside for a change, and to be able to go for a walk without worrying about the climb back up the mountain.
(Hey, off the bat, my mother grew up north of Pittsburgh and she went to graduate school in Illinois where she met my dad. She said it felt so freeing to be outside all those hills/mts and to be able to see the horizon in the distance when she lived in Illinois. My parents moved to coastal Southern California in the mid-60s and my mom said when she looked out over the Pacific to the horizon, she wept. I lived in Pittsburgh for a year in the early 90s - very beautiful landscape but those hills do get to you after awhile!) This part of Arkansas is flat because it's only 8 miles from the Mississippi River. It also used to be forested but was clear cut after Chicago's Great Fire of 1871 - all that lumber was used to rebuild in Chicago. The late 19th century deforestation created a lot of farming opportunity (cotton was one big crop) but over the years family farms have been replaced by factory farming. I would think that means that the land around there has been heavily affected for the worse by all the chemical use. Blytheville is 60 miles north of the very notorious West Memphis. I wouldn't want to live in eastern Arkansas because of all the drug trafficking; however, Arkansas is finally attempting to fight back against the Mexican cartels' rip roaring business in that state in general.
Casper Wyoming is amazing.
Losing the airbase in the early 90s was hard on this town. The steel industry has helped revamp things. Of course any town is going to have older neighborhoods that may be run down close to the railroad and new development closer to the interstate. There is nothing better than living in the south, especially Arkansas.
Just loved this episode! As a native Southern Californian, I do HOPE the state and the cities WILL be mindful of planning! As everyone knows, SCal is just too oppressively over built. I was born before the 5 fwy. Disney was just getting started. Rode my horse ALL over Orange County, no freeways, no fences. No ONE at the Orange County beaches! Literally. Huntington Beach didn't develope till after 2000. Now it's crowded, Blvds off concrete business boxes w too many junky stores. To me it all looks like the dregs of L.A. What a beautiful beginning. Clean green fields of song birds and grazing dairy cows. Hobos followed the RR tracks, friends to children and communities. Kids walked safely to school. Joni Mitchel sanfpg it correctly, They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. If it weren't for tornados I might consider the South/Midwest. Take care Arkansas ❤
dang people keep procreating
Get a house w a basement if u cld.
I knew since I was about 5 that I wanted to live out of California in the wide open country ♥️ Arkansas was a great move for us ♥️♥️♥️
My dad was from CA and CO (back and forth). Moved us to AR 20 years ago, but occasionally has to visit his mom in CA. He loves his mom, but he's never happy about dealing with CA. Many similar complaints go to CO. He's even ready to dump NW AR for north central or NE just to avoid traffic.
The great govenor, Sarah the wall sanders.
I live here and it was really booming when the USAF Base was here. People are really good here.
Would it be easy for a guy that moves there to find a wife or gf?
@@WhiteTrashTennessee 6ft blondes grow on trees in California.
Thanks for covering this...please do more as a lot of us are looking to move to a city that is building and bringing in Industry.
Thanks for another video!
Another outstanding video
Thanks for the good story, Nick. You crack me up.
Take notes Chicago and Nyc 🇺🇸✊
This is O-MAZING!
This little city will be doing even better once Trump gets in. Since he is so big in keeping steele here. Looks like a peaceful area. What a great idea! Good for them. Thanks for going down and highlighting this. I have always heard this is a nice state to live in. I have a friend who has plans to move here when her daughter graduates next year. I would love to live there. Peaceful and quiet with good people. We are in Texas, and our area was in a small town, but with all of the people moving from out of state, we have gained 20,000 people. I miss the small town community.
I really like the looks of their neighborhood streets, specifically no sidewalks and few curbs. No street parking either because the lots are huge. I imagine the city saves a good chunk of cash not having to pay for this
' improvement '.
Beautiful!
Wow! Finally good news! I’m ready to move there. Looks like a great place to raise a family.
thank you for bringing this story to us! i have always liked the south, you are making me see this town as a viable option.
21:37 “that’s why I’m so smart n manly” 😆 that’s right! 😁🙌🏻
I love my Arkansas!
I moved to NE Arkansas from California back in 2008!
Randolph County up in the Ozarks
Small communities are so tight knit and genuine because large city influences don't exist. These communities want businesses and people to move in, which will effectively ruin what is good in the long run.
I have Fallen in Love with Arkansas and I am from the Finger Lakes region of NYS, and Looking for My Arkansas homestead ❤️🙏
Blytheville Arkansas seems like a real nice town to live in kind of wish I could live there
I’m 63, and plan on retiring at 67. Are there smaller houses for sale in this town, as my kids are now adults and do not live with me.
Yes Brad there are
Wow this a good news story that l hope this channel provides more of!
Finally some good news. I love bleak as much as the next guy, but I'm happy to see small parts of America make a comeback..❤❤❤
Looks great! Good place in the heartland. And the homes have LAND!
Heck man.
I’m a 53 year old recent widower that is looking to make a change.
I left THE steel town , Pittsburgh back in 99 after most of the steel mills shut down.
All my family member elders were steel workers as well as my Wife’s Dad and several uncles.
I was hoping to be a steel worker when i got older but the closer I got to working age the mills had mostly shut down.
I’d love to do that type of work as long as I had some deer hunting property nearby I’d be livin the dream.
Just wonder if that place is tornado prone being so flat.
Kinda. But you can't live in fear.
@
Yeah.
True.
What a place & the price of new homes!!!!! Unheard of! The people are friendly it’s got a real happy vibe, it’s clean it’s got awesome food & bar stops , it’s got jobs, everything & cheap you can always afford holidays! Amazing place..
Sadly most of the time this ends badly due to people with not so good intentions and this will end up justice other huge cities. Sadly more people equals more crime, more vehicle accidents, emergency services get overwhelmed, water and sewer get overwhelmed. Small towns are good place to live for a reason, so when it isn't a small town anymore it won't be a good place to live anymore unless there is a limit put on the number of new residents.
Wonderful Nick ; you're doing a great service and uplifting Americans hearts. A good story is a great thing , made my cold Puget Sound , Wa. morning warmer too. 🙏🏻🇺🇸💪🏻
Ha ha nice Chris
Shsss, Arkansas is one of America's best kept secret. 🤫 Sarah Hugabee is an awesome Governor.
That’s wonderful ! 👩🏻✈️🙏🏻💯🇺🇸
Arkansans are hardy, resilient, decent people. High water table, lots of woods, but not much sophistication for those who love the symphony, art, etc. But you couldnt find better people.
I get that we have to watch out for ourselves, our local communities
But it's unacceptable that we still have to pay so much in taxes to the federal government 😭
They're a Mafia
Great Vid Nick...Always love an uplifting story...Way Cool !
We needed good news Nick. Thanks!
Dang, I miss small town life.
Good Stuff as usual, Nick. 👍
Happy belated Thanksgiving!🦃
You too! 🦃
From Blytheville to Blightville and back again!
Such a lovely community in a sweet town 🍀
Awesome 😎 thanks brother!!
✨🙏✨
work here / live here , great idea !
Well, that's good for those who share those values!
Thanks.
I've always wanted to go to Arkansas, but my husband won't consider it because he had a friend 10 years ago move there and move back who said he hated it.
Haha, you definitely otta do an AirBnB for a month or three to try the area on before committing long term. I'm from Arkansas, and it's a hit or miss state. I've since lived in Florida, Michigan, Maryland, and Virginia and still will suggest to proceed with caution. But that goes for everywhere!