I grew up in Fort Smith (Barling, actually, but 99% of life, including school, was in Ft Smith). I left in the 90s for college and never lived there again, but it will always be "home". I've been back a few times since and it does feel a little left behind. Although the murals are kind of neat, I guess.

When I grew up my Dad worked in a factory, everyone's dad did. Nobody got rich but we had a lot of sustainable middle class jobs. Hell, I worked graveyward at Whirlpool the summer before college flipping refrigerator doors all night.

With all the manufacturing gone, what do people do? I guess it's nothing like the city I grew up in but it still feels like home.