Jordan P. Hickey

Springdale

Journalist and Editor at Freelance

Arkansas-based freelancer. Words in The Washington Post, Garden & Gun, Arkansas Advocate, others. Spanish, Urdu. Trying not to tump.

Articles

As Northwest Arkansas booms, residents are asking: Does Fayetteville still belong to them? - Arkansas Times

2 weeks ago | arktimes.com | Jordan P. Hickey

It was mid-December 2023, and the halls of Fayetteville’s historic square were fully decked. More than 500,000 lights had been hung for the 30th annual Lights of the Ozarks, which drew an estimated 300,000 visitors over a six-week run. In that light, Fayetteville looked every bit the “Best Place to Live” it’d been named in national rankings for eight years running. A few blocks north of the square on Block Street, that festive atmosphere was still present, though slightly more subdued.
The fading of agriculture's footprint in Walmart's backyard

4 weeks ago | agdaily.com | Jordan P. Hickey |Investigate Midwest

On a brisk October morning, two pickup trucks ground to a stop and parked side by side on a Northwest Arkansas dirt road. Dan Douglas, a cattle and hay farmer whose family has farmed in Benton County for 170 years, rolled down his window to chat with longtime neighbor Chris Harral. They spoke about the changes sweeping through their community: new subdivisions, soaring land prices, and the fading presence of a once robust farm community.
Jordan P. Hickey, Investigate Midwest

1 month ago | agdaily.com | Jordan P. Hickey |Investigate Midwest

Walmart’s corporate presence in northwest Arkansas has led to a surge of urban development, shifting the region from a farming hub into a metropolitan area.
Can Northwest Arkansas farming survive in Walmart’s backyard?

1 month ago | arkansasadvocate.com | Jordan P. Hickey |Arkansas Advocate

Dan Douglas checks on cattle at his farm on Jan. 4, 2025, near Bentonville, Arkansas. Although he had doubts about selling his family land, Douglas says he now values his financial independence, which allows him to continue to farm in the area without fear of losing it all. (Photo by Arshia Khan for Investigate Midwest) On a brisk October morning, two pickup trucks ground to a stop and parked side by side on a Northwest Arkansas dirt road.
Is there still room for agriculture in Walmart's backyard?

1 month ago | investigatemidwest.org | Jordan P. Hickey

On a brisk October morning, two pickup trucks ground to a stop and parked side by side on a Northwest Arkansas dirt road. Dan Douglas, a cattle and hay farmer whose family has farmed in Benton County for 170 years, rolled down his window to chat with longtime neighbor Chris Harral. They spoke about the changes sweeping through their community: new subdivisions, soaring land prices, and the fading presence of a once robust farm community.
Bars of Key West: 8 iconic watering holes

2 months ago | atlantamagazine.com | Jordan P. Hickey

You can tell a lot about a place by its bars. Some neighborhoods are as stiff as their martinis; others as homey as their strung lights. On the surface, Key West—that four-by-one-mile sliver of sand at the southernmost part of the United States—seems to follow the same formula: Its bars certainly mirror the larger-than-life personalities (Hemingway, Buffett) who clustered about the island like metal filings to a magnet. But that, of course, is to miss the point entirely.
First Look: Hotel Saint Augustine, in Houston

Jan 23, 2025 | gardenandgun.com | CJ Lotz |Jordan P. Hickey

Houston’s recently opened Hotel Saint Augustine, a Bunkhouse Hotels property, is rooted in dualities—old meets new, contemporary meets classical, a mirror of both the city and the surrounding Montrose neighborhood. Just past the entry courtyard, the design studio Post Company envisioned the lobby as a space reminiscent of an art curator’s private home.
Key West's Calmer Cousin

Jan 22, 2025 | atlantamagazine.com | Jordan P. Hickey |Allison Entrekin

Stock Island doesn’t exactly feel like its raucous neighbor. Where Key West’s atmosphere bears more than a passing resemblance to Las Vegas (ahem, Duval Street), Stock Island, which lies just 10-odd minutes east of Key West and is named for the livestock that used to roam the island, channels calmer, more subdued vibes. The same could be said of the Perry Hotel and Marina.
Buckville — Jordan P. Hickey

Nov 18, 2024 | jordanphickey.com | Jordan P. Hickey

THE LAST MAN TO LEAVE was well-dressed, wearing lavender, kneeling down, arranging flowers. His hair was white. His hands were red. His face was reddish. Above, there were dragonflies flitting against the gray sky threatening rain, a whole cloud of them, like particles drawn together and flung through the magnetism or attraction of something unseen. He didn’t seem to notice them.
Image Problems

Oct 31, 2024 | vqronline.org | Jordan P. Hickey

1. “It’s twenty-six thousand cars a day going up and down that road,” Tim Poynter told me as we sat in the small office he shares with the breakroom fridge at Crockett Outdoor Media. “People will see your ad. It will work.” He wasn’t wrong. There are few places better suited to be the poster child for billboard advertising than Harrison, Arkansas, which was dubbed “the most racist town in America” after a string of racist billboards appeared there beginning in October 2013.