Pine Bluff, Arkansas

[kcexpress69]

Pine Bluff, Arkansas: Stop # 5 on my trip.


It was getting to be late in the afternoon, and I felt that I had just enough energy to do one more city. So I left Little Rock and within a half an hour, arrived in Pine Bluff which is about 30 miles to the southeast. Pine Bluff is a city of about 52,000. It has been in steady decline since the 80s'. When I arrived to the downtown area, it was 5 PM, and workers were leaving the county courthouse. There wasn't very much traffic, and by the time I started taking pictures, the place became a ghost town. In fact, it wasn't long before I realized that it was probably not a good idea to hang around for more than an hour. Lets find out why...............



Pine Bluff Lake; on the highway facing the courthouse.




The courthouse



The other side of the courthouse






The main drag through downtown




Pine Bluff has quite a few paintings on the side of their buildings











The Community Center














Pine Bluff's tallest






[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2737761150_5123047772_b.jpg
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The public library



The hotel and convention center (sorry, lousy shots)





Like I said, I wasn't here for very long. I wanted to go to the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, but it was getting late and I wanted to get going to find a place to sleep for the night before I started the last leg of my journey. I was tired!!

[Rocket1964]

Wow! Are any of their businesses still open? Lotsa space for rent there. Nice pics of everything else.

[Evergrey]

apparently Pine Bluff is a major site for the demolition of chemical weapons

[LMich]

I've only ever driven through Pine Bluff, but I was surprised by the seeming emptiness. Hot Springs makes it look tiny despite Hot Springs being smaller.

[NYC4Life]

A ghost town indeed, even during the daylight hours.

[Ex-Ithacan]

I had a feeling Pine Bluff was a struggling community. Though the murals and several of the newer buildings look nice, most of the commercial district confirms my suspicions. Good tour kcex, thanks for showing us this city.

[CapitalCity]

I like all the murals, but man, there's nobody there!

[10101000]

Nice

[urbanactivist]

Wow kc... way to represent!!!

Pine Bluff/Jefferson County is the only county in Arkansas with a majority population of African-Americans (unless the Hispanic pop. has caught up... either way, it's not white). The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is the state's largest HBCU-- Historically Black College/University. This town reminds me of the issues that are going on in the midwest-- it was built up entirely on manufacturing/ heavy industry. And now everyone is moving to Little Rock for the growth in tech jobs or the business sector. Thanks to UAPB and a few agribusinesses, Pine Bluff will hopefully keep tipping along, but it's definitely a GHOST TOWN.

[SLO]

Looks clean. Good potential

[newboldphilly]

Wow. That's really sad. That place has a ton of potential in that great commercial stock.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by urbanactivistTX

Wow kc... way to represent!!!

Pine Bluff/Jefferson County is the only county in Arkansas with a majority population of African-Americans (unless the Hispanic pop. has caught up... either way, it's not white). The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is the state's largest HBCU-- Historically Black College/University. This town reminds me of the issues that are going on in the midwest-- it was built up entirely on manufacturing/ heavy industry. And now everyone is moving to Little Rock for the growth in tech jobs or the business sector. Thanks to UAPB and a few agribusinesses, Pine Bluff will hopefully keep tipping along, but it's definitely a GHOST TOWN.

I was always under the impression that Pine Bluff was an agricultural center and inland port (Port of Pine Bluff). It didn't look very industrial, to me, but I really don't know much about it.

My dad's side of the family is from western (north and south) Arkansas, the state starts to feel entirely different once you get into cotton country on the Delta side of Arkansas, like a totally different state.

[chevy064]

The community center is beautiful......

[JackStraw]

So this is what Walmart does to those nice little Arkansas towns?

Nice thread

[slymjym]

So I was sitting here thinking to myself....
How long would nice building murals like these last in a place like Atlanta before getting made over with a can of RustOleum? Any guesses?

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by JackStraw

So this is what Walmart does to those nice little Arkansas towns?

Nice thread

You betta be careful what you say... Wal-Mart is like Oprah... they watch you through the computer screen

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by LMich

I was always under the impression that Pine Bluff was an agricultural center and inland port (Port of Pine Bluff). It didn't look very industrial, to me, but I really don't know much about it.

My dad's side of the family is from western (north and south) Arkansas, the state starts to feel entirely different once you get into cotton country on the Delta side of Arkansas, like a totally different state.

Yeah, eastern Arkansas really is a completely different "state", but hugely important for Arkansas economically (esp. with food prices on the rise). The Delta region is also one of the poorest areas of the United States, in terms of both economy and education levels.

[flar]

Wow, you're on a photo rampage across Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas.

[Thundertubs]

Wow, not expecting to see this one. Another solid thread of a unique place!

[Shantytown Architect]

Pine Bluff is a rough city. It had the highest murder rate in the United States for a long time. The city was devastated by Reaganomics. The fallout from economic downturn led to one of the bloodiest Crip-Blood feuds outside of California. And with all the cash flow out of the central Arkansas into Northwest Arkansas the prospects are bleak without some economic reenvisioning.