the underview.

the underview. an exploration of the shaping of our place.

11/18/2025

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Perla Guerrero, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland and author of Nuevo South, to explore one of the most significant transformations in Northwest Arkansas history: what happens when a place that was overwhelmingly white through most of the 20th century experiences rapid demographic diversification. Dr. Guerrero shares her own journey as an undocumented immigrant who moved from California to Fort Smith at age 16, drawn by her father’s search for work in the poultry industry, and how that experience shaped her understanding of racialization, belonging, and public space in the American South.

Through her research and lived experience, Dr. Guerrero helps us understand how Northwest Arkansas responded to the arrival of Vietnamese refugees, Cuban refugees, and Mexican immigrants from the 1970s forward. We explore concepts like acts of spatial illegality, how immigrant communities were tolerated when hidden in factories but criminalized when they became visible in public spaces, and the plantation bloc, the enduring power structures that have controlled racialized labor from slavery through Jim Crow to contemporary immigration enforcement. This conversation bridges historical patterns to the urgent present, examining how regional legacies of racial violence shape who feels welcomed today and asking what community wholeness might look like in a place still reckoning with its past.

.arkansas .arkansas

Chronic Homelessness 101Among those who are homeless in Northwest Arkansas, roughly a third are chronically homeless. Th...
11/16/2025

Chronic Homelessness 101

Among those who are homeless in Northwest Arkansas, roughly a third are chronically homeless. This term refers to people who have experienced homelessness for at least a year, or repeatedly, and who struggle with a disabling condition of some kind, such as a mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability.

The vast majority of people with chronic patterns of homelessness do not sleep in shelters but instead camp in the woods or sleep in parks or in abandoned buildings. People in these circumstances often struggle to manage in a conventional “congregate shelter” environment. Furthermore, housing and health service providers often struggle to earn trust with chronically homeless people or maintain regular contact with them due to the volatility that comes from living outdoors.

New Beginnings seeks to meet this need by welcoming people to “come as they are” without preconditions to entry, offering accommodations with more privacy and security, and providing a more robust support team and a staff member onsite 24/7. This model allows chronically homeless people to find a measure of safety and stability while they connect with needed healthcare and support services, and ultimately, permanent housing.

Fortunately, there is a proven solution to end chronic homelessness called Permanent Supportive Housing. This model combines affordable housing with case management and supportive services. Studies show that chronically homeless people who move into supportive housing have a 75%-90% rate of success and have increased perceptions of autonomy and self-control in their lives.

New Beginnings advocates for our city, regional, and national leaders to invest in supportive housing as the solution to chronic homelessness. Expanding supportive housing opportunities allows people to move out quickly into homes where they can thrive and contribute in a community where everyone belongs.

(With thanks to the National Alliance to End Homelessness for these definitions)

11/14/2025

Solomon Burchfield, Executive Director of New Beginnings NWA, brings both lived experience and professional expertise to one of Northwest Arkansas’s most urgent challenges. Growing up in a family that faced the real possibility of homelessness. That formative memory, combined with years working directly with chronically homeless neighbors, has shaped his vision for what he calls “universal dignity,” a community where everyone has access to the basic resources needed to survive and thrive.

This conversation moves beyond stereotypes about homelessness to examine the interconnected systems that either support people or allow them to fall through the cracks. Solomon explains how housing functions as infrastructure, why exclusionary zoning and NIMBYism create the homelessness we claim to want to solve, and what it would look like for Northwest Arkansas to grow in a way that doesn’t push more people to the margins.

Through New Beginnings’ innovative approaches, including micro-shelter communities, medical respite programs, and mixed-background neighborhoods, Solomon demonstrates that homelessness is a solvable problem when communities commit to housing-first solutions and recognize that everyone’s well-being is interconnected.

With homelessness increasing 23% in the region and housing costs rising 71% over five years, this conversation challenges us to see the gap between those who thrive and those who struggle not as inevitable, but as a choice we’re making about what kind of community we want to build.

Mentioned in this episode: .burchfield

11/12/2025

Solomon Burchfield, Executive Director of New Beginnings Northwest Arkansas, brings both lived experience and professional expertise to one of Northwest Arkansas's most urgent challenges. Growing up in a family that faced the real possibility of homelessness. That formative memory, combined with years working directly with chronically homeless neighbors, has shaped his vision for what he calls "universal dignity," a community where everyone has access to the basic resources needed to survive and thrive.

https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-neighborhood-solomon-burchfield-new-beginnings-homeless

This conversation moves beyond stereotypes about homelessness to examine the interconnected systems that either support people or allow them to fall through the cracks. Solomon explains how housing functions as infrastructure, why exclusionary zoning and NIMBYism create the homelessness we claim to want to solve, and what it would look like for Northwest Arkansas to grow in a way that doesn't push more people to the margins.

Through New Beginnings' innovative approaches, including micro-shelter communities, medical respite programs, and mixed-background neighborhoods, Solomon demonstrates that homelessness is a solvable problem when communities commit to housing-first solutions and recognize that everyone's well-being is interconnected. With homelessness increasing 23% in the region and housing costs rising 71% over five years, this conversation challenges us to see the gap between those who thrive and those who struggle not as inevitable, but as a choice we're making about what kind of community we want to build.

Big congratulations to Boyce Upholt () for his launch of !I have loved the rich stories of the South, the land, the peop...
10/29/2025

Big congratulations to Boyce Upholt () for his launch of !

I have loved the rich stories of the South, the land, the people, conservation, and the photography and illustrations are legit.

This is both a celebration & a reckoning of what is good and true and beautiful of our communities, stories, and place.

Such great work Boyce and Team. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Plus, incredible bonus to read article from past guest on Wendell Berry & see such rich story on cycling in the Delta with featured…I mean, not sure it gets better than this.

Can not wait for the next issue - visit their website - southlandsmag.com - for more info.

Don’t miss this…it matters a whole lot.

10/27/2025

This is what is great about living in - you can be out on the trails and run into the most amazing people working on the most amazing projects.

The Springer Family of out testing their newest Trishaw model designer to hold “two passengers or adapt for wheelchair access — so everyone can enjoy the freedom of cycling.”

Love this. This is one way that companies and people are making trails accessible to everyone.

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terr...
10/27/2025

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil-he is anger, envy, sorrowe, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good-he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you-and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

10/16/2025

In this episode of the underview, we sit down with Victor Gurel, CEO of Trailblazers, the organization shaping how Northwest Arkansas moves, connects, and imagines its future. From singletrack to city streets, Trailblazers leads the region’s effort to design trails, tunnels, and active transportation systems that connect communities through shared infrastructure. Their work reminds us that movement is about more than recreation; it’s about access, equity, and belonging.

Victor reflects on his journey from a gravel road in rural Arkansas to leading one of the state’s most influential organizations in trail and infrastructure development. Through his leadership, Trailblazers is helping Northwest Arkansas see trails not just as amenities, but as essential public spaces that shape how we live, relate, and grow together. This episode explores what it means to build systems of movement that reflect the wholeness of a community, not just its privilege or pace.

Mentioned in this episode:gurel .are.trailblazers

10/14/2025

the trailblazers with Victor Gurel.

In this episode of the underview, we sit down with Victor Gurel, CEO of We Are Trailblazers, the organization shaping how Northwest Arkansas moves, connects, and imagines its future. From singletrack to city streets, Trailblazers leads the region’s effort to design trails, tunnels, and active transportation systems that connect communities through shared infrastructure. Their work reminds us that movement is about more than recreation; it’s about access, equity, and belonging.

https://www.theunderview.com/episodes/the-underview-trailblazers-victor-gurel

Victor reflects on his journey from a gravel road in rural Arkansas to leading one of the state’s most influential organizations in trail and infrastructure development. Through his leadership, Trailblazers is helping Northwest Arkansas see trails not just as amenities, but as essential public spaces that shape how we live, relate, and grow together. This episode explores what it means to build systems of movement that reflect the wholeness of a community, not just its privilege or pace.

Today, we honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a day our nation still struggles to fully recognize, even as some celebrate the...
10/13/2025

Today, we honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a day our nation still struggles to fully recognize, even as some celebrate the legacy of colonization that Indigenous communities continue to endure.

This day calls us to remember that before the United States, before Arkansas, this land was home to sovereign nations whose stories, languages, and lives were violently disrupted. The work of truth and reconciliation begins by telling those stories honestly and holding the history we’ve inherited.

Through the underview, we’ve listened to voices like Dr. Melissa Horner, who helps us see how settler colonialism still shapes our systems today; Betty Gaedtke and Barbara Kyser-Collier of the Quapaw Nation, who remind us of what was taken—and what still endures; and John McLarty, who traces the Trail of Tears through Northwest Arkansas, connecting our roads to histories of removal.

There can be no belonging without truth.
There can be no future without repair.

Listen to these episodes at theunderview.com and join us in learning the stories this land still carries.

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Bentonville, AR

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