Really, how bad is the Fayetteville, NC area? (Charlotte, Raleigh: upper-class, real estate) - City-Data Forum

Jlind985 · 09-29-2010, 08:23 PM

My Fiance is in the military and is being moved to Fort Bragg, NC. He is in Special Operations. I am moving there to finally be with him but everything I have read about Fayetteville is negative. I recently graduated from a very good university and I want a good job. I am used to living in Madison, Wisconsin, with a very high standard of living. Madison is a very clean, educated, and overall great place to live (Middleton, my hometown, making the Number 1 place to live in the US recently).
Everything I have read about Fayetteville is very bad. I am just wondering if people could respond and tell me if Fayetteville is really THAT bad? I am not a low income or "Trashy" individual. I like my nice clothes, nice stores, "Luxury" apartments, nice car, etc. Being that sort of person, will I find Fayetteville essentially unlivable? The more I read about the area, the more concerned I become. Any and all advice is welcome!
Thanks!

ncguy444 · 09-29-2010, 09:09 PM

There are a ton of posts concerning Fayetteville and most of them seem to be negative. Never was there myself but had cousins stationed there. They kind of said it sucked. Being in the Marines a few years ago (from my general observation) I would say most Military towns kind of lack the qualities you are looking for. If you love and support your sig other you kind of have to go where he is stationed.

LRoyal10900 · 09-29-2010, 09:11 PM

Fayetteville is NOT as bad as you read. Unfortunately, Fayetteville has been stereotyped since the 60s and hasn't been able to shake that image. But in the last 20 years, Fayetteville has made great strides.

There ARE decent places to live and shop. Now, more "high end" stores will be found about 1 1/2 hours away in Raleigh, but we have some of the top selling stores (chain stores--top in sales) in the country. A couple of months out of the year, our Cold Stone Creamery is only 2nd to their Times Square Flagship store!

Jobs....they're scarce. What line of work are you looking for?

southernbuckeye · 09-30-2010, 04:35 AM

I am also looking to move to Fayetteville and just visited the area 3 days ago. All I can say is: It is NOT Madison. I currently live in Charlotte, NC and like the finer things of life also. You will NOT find them in Fayetteville. It is urban sprawl without a town center. One mall is the town center. Everyone I ran into was friendly, except the real estate/rental offices. Traffic is HORRIBLE. There are lots of trees and many neighborhoods have areas that back up to trees or small lakes. My first impression is it is fine place for a few years, but not my idea of long term commitment. If you plucked the downtown out of most major cities in the US and just left the sprawl, you would have Fayetteville. No major/college sport teams, no museums, no theater/opera, no concerts, NO culture! You will have to go to Raleigh for that, which is 1 hour away. 45 minutes to 1 hour away is Pinehurst. It would be more comparable to Madison. The biggest issue is CRIME. The home invasions/break-ends are rampant. I was told that the Jack Britt school district was one of the safest areas, BUT in the Fayetteville paper there are a rash of daytime home invasions were the crooks are kicking in doors in broad daylight! Scary stuff!

snapplex · 09-30-2010, 08:32 AM

Yea I'll be moving there (NC) and it looks like trading off the hour commute for better living arrangements is the most feasible option. I am by no means a high maintenance individual but I do appreciate the finer things in life...to an extent. Anyhow, I'll be browsing up there this weekend if you can recommend and good cities please share. (Apex...Cary...Knightdale)

BeeCityRoller · 09-30-2010, 02:00 PM

Lived in Fayetteville from 2003-06. Our aunt/uncle who lived there were retired military (we still travel to see them), but we ourselves were not military affiliated. I would say it's bland which is why we moved to Charlotte for a more active city life like we had back in NE Illinois.

Fayetteville does have a FEW slightly upper-class neighborhoods (Gates Four), but you'll be hard-pressed to find similar upper-shopping districts/city lifestyle present somewhere like Chicago or comparatively Charlotte/Raleigh (Downtown Fayetteville was always dead when I was there), and it's definitely not where the jobs are at the moment. I will say the school districts are great (not sure if thats relevant to your situation).

Crime has taken a turn for worse in the past couple of years (and my mother will be unpleasantly surprised about it if she ever decides to move back there), Fayetteville is mostly alot of working-class military/joe-the-plumbers, tax/crime issues are there but the social perks really aren't.

LRoyal10900 · 09-30-2010, 02:32 PM

There are several museums in Fayetteville........The Airborne & Special Operations Museum, The Museum of the Cape Fear, and several others on post. They're working really hard to reopen the Art Museum. There are many parks that offer dozens and dozens of activities. We have the Botanical Gardens, Clark Park, The Nature Trail, Methodist University, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville Technical Community College. There's the Fayetteville Fire Antz Hockey team. There's plenty to do in Fayetteville if you bother to seek it out.

I've been here my entire life---have lived in Raleigh one year and then went to college in Raleigh---I'll stay here, thankyouverymuch!

faabala · 10-01-2010, 12:07 PM

We do have a little arts culture too.

Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra - Welcome to the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra Web Site

Cape Fear Regional Theater

FACVB Performing Arts (http://www.visitfayettevillenc.com/freedomofexpression/section/performingarts - broken link)

Crime is bad if you live in bad areas. The Fayetteville region has many nice areas. I chose to move back here to retire.

heeha · 10-02-2010, 03:08 AM

Fayetteville is nothing but a big dump, period. If you are looking for the finer things in life, stay the h*** away from Fayetteville.

Fayetteville is nothing more than a bunch of strip malls, used car lots, churches, bible thumpers, and a bunch of low class people.

I grew up in FAY and I have absolutely no pride in that city. Every time I go there I get depressed.

It's always funny how the real estate agents on this board always stick up for FAY like it's Beverly Hills or some tropical paradise...You people need to wake up and open up your eyes. FAY is nothing but a low class, low income town that receives life support from Ft Bragg.

LRoyal10900 · 10-02-2010, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heeha

Fayetteville is nothing but a big dump, period. If you are looking for the finer things in life, stay the h*** away from Fayetteville.

Fayetteville is nothing more than a bunch of strip malls, used car lots, churches, bible thumpers, and a bunch of low class people.

I grew up in FAY and I have absolutely no pride in that city. Every time I go there I get depressed.

It's always funny how the real estate agents on this board always stick up for FAY like it's Beverly Hills or some tropical paradise...You people need to wake up and open up your eyes. FAY is nothing but a low class, low income town that receives life support from Ft Bragg.

I'm not a real estate agent...I'm just a private citizen (not military affiliated either)who has called this place home my entire life! Wouldn't live anywhere else! Fayetteville is not the dump you want to claim it is. It has it's good, bad, and the ugly JUST like every other town/city in this entire nation! Some people just want to dwell on the bad and never look at all the positive.