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I think the reason is that Fayetteville is not a city city. Yes it has a population of over 200,000 but it doesn't have the city vibe and amenities that Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem have. While there is some progress downtown with the ballpark, its downtown is comparative with Greenville, NC. It lacks the overall feel of a city. I'm not saying thats a bad thing but I think that explains why in part Fayetteville doesn’t get the attention like the big five.
When I was in elementary school in North Carolina history class it was always about North Carolina's five major cities. Fayetteville needs more city amenities. There is not a lot to do there but its downtown main drag is charming. Also like others have said Fayetteville needs to diversify its economy. It can't all just be about the military. I think Fayetteville realizes this which is why they are focusing on downtown revitalization. But the city also needs to work with its colleges to help recruit more jobs to the city because at the end of the day that's what its all about. But even that's a challenge because Fayetteville State University, its largest college is not exactly on the top of the list of best universities. You need a large educated workforce to attract the kind of jobs you see in the big 5. It would help if FSU added more programs in different areas. Some things that might help in regards to attracting more industry is improving infrastructure around the city. The city needs better highway connections to the larger cities. Hwy 421 between Greensboro and Fayetteville needs to be an interstate (a triple digit I-95 spur) and there needs to be more direct connections to Charlotte and Raleigh. Fayetteville just seems so isolate. Much of the state's growth is happening along the I-85 corridor. I also agree with what Mutiny said. Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem benefitted from its traditional industries which served as an economic base for their growing economies today thanks to the railroad in the late 19th century. But Charlotte had something else in addition to textiles. The area was a major gold mining site which is what eventually led the city to becoming one of the largest financial centers in the United States. Because of the gold mining Charlotte had a U.S. mint. That led to the growth of banks in the area. Its the same reason San Francisco is a major financial center. (Even similar sports mascots) San Francisco has the NFL 49ers and Charlotte has the the UNC Charlotte 49ers.
Raleigh/Durham didn't have gold mining but what it has is UNC, Duke and NC State which played in instrumental part in the development of Research Triangle Park.
The Triad didn't really have anything in addition to textiles tobacco and furniture which is why its behind Charlotte and the Triangle today. But its geographic location in the state, good colleges, Interstate infrastructure, lower cost of living and great quality of life is what the area has going for it and the Triad has turned the corner.
Once Fayetteville starts seeing some job growth its regional airport needs to become an international airport which will give the city more direct flights to large urban centers across the country. Its hard to attract companies when business travelers flying in have to drive to RDU or use flight connections between its regional airport. Fayetteville needs to figure out what kind of economy it wants. Greensboro and Winston-Salem struggled a little bit with that once the textile jobs started leaving but is now starting to see some significant progress. I've been to Fayetteville a couple of times and today there just is no comparison with the big five. Greensboro is leaps and bounds ahead of Fayetteville but still far behind Charlotte and Raleigh. So Fayetteville has a long way to go. If Fayetteville ever gets to the level of Raleigh or Durham it will probably never happen in our lifetimes unless the city makes some sort of significant turn around.
Who would have thought Durham was going to be like what it is today? 20 years ago Durham was a dump and you would not catch me downtown in the evening. The place was boarded up scaryyyyyyy. Look at it now.
Give Fayetteville 15 years and you will see same growth as Durham.
Who would have thought Durham was going to be like what it is today? 20 years ago Durham was a dump and you would not catch me downtown in the evening. The place was boarded up scaryyyyyyy. Look at it now.
Give Fayetteville 15 years and you will see same growth as Durham.
Except Fayetteville doesn't have Duke, RTP, and UNC and Raleigh right next door.
Give Fayetteville 15 years and you will see same growth as Durham.
No, that's not going to happen. Fayetteville has a LOT more obstacles to overcome. Fayetteville is frankly NEVER going to see the kind of growth that Durham has seen. It will never ever ever catch up. That is pie in the sky. Fayetteville is on track to do better and if it stays the course I think it could be more along the lines of a Greenville NC or _possibly_ a Greensboro, but not Durham.
(BTW, Durham was cool 35 years ago, not scary, but just not popular. I was here then and in downtown Durham quite frequently. I used to go to the Carolina Theater and the Durham Arts Council a lot back in the day. It was certainly cool as recently as 20 years ago. The new DBAP was built in 1995. )
I have not been there, but I think Fayetteville might do well to look to Columbus, Georgia as a model. It seems pretty cool for a military town.
Gsboi, Fayetteville has a lot more problems than not being a "city city" or having an international airport (and I would be very surprised if that ever happens).
Fayetteville would do well to be as nice as Greenville NC.
The Triad didn't really have anything in addition to textiles tobacco and furniture which is why its behind Charlotte and the Triangle today.
Winston-Salem had two pretty big banks and was seen as a competitor to Charlotte back in the day. However, it didn't have ambitious business leaders who were intently focused on growing the banks significantly like Charlotte did with Hugh McColl and Ed Crutchfield.
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Once Fayetteville starts seeing some job growth its regional airport needs to become an international airport which will give the city more direct flights to large urban centers across the country.
I thought we talked about what the "international" designation in an airport's name means in another thread (meeting the customs requirement). That doesn't give an airport more direct flights to other cities; as long as it's a commercial airport where major airlines have operations, it has the potential to add more routes and flights but that will only happen if the demand is there.
Winston-Salem had two pretty big banks and was seen as a competitor to Charlotte back in the day. However, it didn't have ambitious business leaders who were intently focused on growing the banks significantly like Charlotte did with Hugh McColl and Ed Crutchfield.
I thought we talked about what the "international" designation in an airport's name means in another thread (meeting the customs requirement). That doesn't give an airport more direct flights to other cities; as long as it's a commercial airport where major airlines have operations, it has the potential to add more routes and flights but that will only happen if the demand is there.
But do you see a lot of regional airports that have direct flights to a number of cities like Houston, New York or Cleveland?
But do you see a lot of regional airports that have direct flights to a number of cities like Houston, New York or Cleveland?
Typically that's not the case, but I also know of many "international" airports that have zero direct commercial flights to other countries. You're too hung up on the name of the airport. If Fayetteville's airport were to get more direct commercial flights to cities in other parts of the country, it would probably drop the "regional" designation but that wouldn't make it an "international airport." Reagan in the DC area is named Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport; it has tons of domestic direct flights and although it meets the customs requirement to put "international" in the name, it has chosen not to do so. A closer example would be Columbia, SC's airport which is named Columbia Metropolitan Airport which has a couple of nonstop routes to cities in other parts of the country.
Winston-Salem had two pretty big banks and was seen as a competitor to Charlotte back in the day. However, it didn't have ambitious business leaders who were intently focused on growing the banks significantly like Charlotte did with Hugh McColl and Ed Crutchfield.
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Not to mention the the same with insurance sector in Greensboro.
I just don't see Fayetteville's airport expanding by much. There's just not much demand for it and unlikely to be. I believe Army personnel can come into the base airports. And it is soooo much cheaper to fly out of RDU it's very unlikely that there would be much demand for routes out of FAY. It currently costs $537 to fly to Atlanta out of FAY, compared to $347 from RDU round trip. Takes 1.5 hr to drive from Fayetteville to RDU. I'll save $200 and do that drive.
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