i didn't see this before or i would have posted....i was born and grew up in memphis,and currently live in a suburb of memphis....i am a fedex driver and we cover a large part of northeast arkansas,and i run those routes quite a bit...
farming is still HUGE in NE Arkansas....they grow lots of rice,tobacco,corn etc....really between memphis and little rock,there's not much else but farming,and related going on......there's not really a town in between that has anything bigger than strip malls,and walmarts,as far as commercial bldgs....just over the river from memphis is west memphis/marion which in reality are nothing more than suburbs of memphis,and together is the biggest town between Mem and L. Rock....alot of people in w memphis/marion,and alot of the other smaller towns work in memphis...
although i don't really know all the details about this,besides the farms that are harvesting crops, there are large areas where the land owners are paid by the government NOT to HARVEST any crops......the owners generally grow rice really tall and use the land for duck hunting....hunting and fishing are also big in NE Ark.....there are lots of hunting lodges as well...Ted Turner owns about a 20 sq. mile area just north of forrest city ark in colt,and has a huge hunting lodge there....
in most of the small towns though there are the few rich that own everything,and the rest are left to pretty much fight over what's left,and what few good jobs that are available...
