Rogers, Ark., listed among top places to live by CNN

Rogers, Ark., is listed at No. 10 on the CNNMoney.com top 100 best places to live in the United States list released yesterday.

The city, about two hours drive southwest of Springfield, has a population of 57,000 and a 5.8 percent unemployment rate, according to the report.

The CNN report listed the pluses of living in the city as low cost of living and diversity and said strip malls are the down point.

Rogers, just east of Wal-Mart's headquarters at Bentonville, is home to the megaretailer's CEO Mike Duke. The first Wal-Mart store was opened in Rogers in 1962, according to Wal-Mart company history.

Since the city is close to Bentonville, many Fortune 500 firms that sell wares to Wal-Mart have attracted executives, many of whom settle in Rogers, according the the report.

The No. 1 place to live, according to the report, is Eden Prairie, Minn.

Three Missouri cities made it into the 26 to 50 bracket: O'Fallon, Lee's Summit and Blue Springs at number 26, 27 and 49 respectively.

CNNMoney.com chooses cities based on job opportunities, fiscal strength, education, crime, health care and entertainment. This year's list focused on cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000, the report said.

Some local Springfield businesses have had a presence in Rogers over the years.

John Q. Hammons helped to form a satellite office for Killian Construction Co., back in May of 2003, according to former SBJ reporting. At the time, Hammons referred to Rogers as the 51st state.

Embassy Suites Northwest Arkansas, with a John Q. Hammons Convention Center, currently resides in Pinnacle Hills of Rogers.

Springfield-based accounting firm BKD LLP merged with the Mark Lundy of Lundy, Allard & Co. PLLC in Rogers on  Jan. 1, 2009, according to SBJ reporting.

Recently, Springfield-based Great Southern Bank opened a Rogers location in June.[[In-content Ad]]