My sister moved to Bentonville 20 years ago and it definitely felt like a small rural area near a college town. It's changed a ton since then, in large part to Walmart and the Walton's trying to keep young professionals longer term, and to generally attract more economic development. It's worked, the Bentonville town square is very active these days and feels modern. It's still not a place I'd go out of my way to live, I prefer more centralized cities, but if something arose, I would give it serious consideration. I think the area is a lot like Tulsa on the cr scale, still overwhelmingly conservative, but plenty of pockets of more progressive thinkers, if that's your preference, especially in Fayetteville in and around the university (last time I walked the area lots of rainbow flags and similar political yard signs). I think it's still considered a big time job, their 1994 national championship was a long time ago, but not like their 1960's football championship that feels like ancient history.