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Fayetteville is soul crushing I'm afraid. It's not a city, but a series of subdivisions connected by "strips" of ugly commercial areas. There are no actual neighborhoods in the sense of places where homes are clustered around parks and shopping areas that one can actually walk to. I know the city is trying in some ways to make it more appealing, but it's akin to putting lipstick on a pig. The area just isn't designed right and they can never change that. This may sound biased as well, but the education level here is abysmal. The town does not attract highly educated people for the most part. I think those people move to Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte. The town is over-represented by people with a superficial flag-waving, monster truck Americanism and lots of Christian crosses and Jesus stickers.
When I lived in Charlotte after first living in Fayetteville, I was surprised to see how large swaths of Charlotte (I'm recalling parts of North and West Charlotte in particular) reminded me of Fayetteville. Building stock, major arteries, etc. Raleigh is the closest big city to Fayetteville, so there is more cross-flow between Raleigh and Fayetteville. But a smaller percentage of Fayettevillians relocate to Charlotte, and in my opinion, Fayetteville resembles Charlotte more than it does Raleigh...
I 10,000% agree that the flag waving Anericanism is annoying as ****...
And most of Fayetteville is designed the same way that Raleigh and Charlotte are. None of these cities were particularly strong at city planning and managing growth, and all utilized the old annexation law to increase municipal size to some degree. Your description of "series of subdivisions" is a North Carolina thing more than just a Fayetteville thing, and is more of a North Carolina thing than anywhere else I've lived...
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsoboi78
Unless Fayetteville gets an international airport with direct flights to many urban centers across the country, its going to have an uphill battle attracting industry and corporate headquarters. Thats what leads to growth and development. Convert Fayetteville Regional Airport to an international airport. Also Being isolated away from the hot I-85 corridor doesn't help either. A state legislator had proposed a 3 digit I-95 spur from Fayetteville to Greensboro via Hwy 421 but don't know if that proposal has legs. The idea for the Interstate is to attract industry to mega sites along that corridor. That would certainly benefit Fayetteville. Fayetteville is about an hour and 40 minutes from Greensboro. But if hwy 421 were upgraded to an interstate with a speed limit of 70 mph, it would cut that time down. This better connects Fayetteville with larger urban centers across the state so that it is less isolated.
Fayetteville also needs to improve its institutions of higher learning with new programs. Fayetteville State University is the city's largest college maybe add an engineering and technology and bioscience program. In addition the city should continue to focus on downtown revitalization. The ballpark is a good start but downtown could also use a large urban park which could serve as a venue for downtown events and festivals. I know it has Festival Park and an even smaller Cross Creek Park but it needs something larger that can host more activities and attract more people. Fayetteville needs a true urban park. Also Fayetteville is considering replacing the auditorium at Crown Coliseum. This is the perfect opportunity to build a new performing arts center downtown (1,500 to 2,000 seats). Build it on part of the Festival Park land and improve Festival Park and make it a real urban park with fountains. It would be within walking distance to the new ballpark and hotel. These ideas could help jumpstart a true urban renewal and create more energy and excitement downtown. It would be nice if downtown Fayetteville had a convention center/hotel. But again a better interstate network and international airport could help make that happen. Interstate spurs to I-40 and I-74 would better connect Fayetteville with Wilmington and Charlotte. Fayetteville needs to start getting serious about attracting jobs and growth. Get legislators and senators to lobby for better interstate connections and an international.airport like other larger cities in the state have done.
Spectra Stadium will continue to spur growth downtown, which is already markedly improved from ne first seeing it in 2005. Fayetteville has to have the arts community to support a new arts center, for which I'm not sure the culture is large enough...
Quote:
Originally Posted by lonewolf333
I am from California, and lived in Fayetteville for about 11 years total since 1998 (currently in Sanford, NC). Here I will give you specific experiences of my time there, not just generalized opinions. Fayetteville has good and bad like any place. I actually hope my assessment sounds schizophrenic in its take, as I want to emphasize both the pros and the cons. Too many posts here make it either sound like Hell (which it isn't), or sugar-coat things to the detriment of people that move here. That being said, here it is:
Pros:
Lots of retail locations; this is one of the best retail markets in the country, meaning businesses do some of their best business here. Therefore you can expect to find most of what you want here without having to go out of town.
Because of the military, there are also a variety of restaurants. Fayetteville is also somewhat of a melting pot because of the international nature of the military, so you will find people from all over the world here, and therefore also a lot of international cuisine if you know where to look. I'm from Souther California, and grew up on real Mexican food. I've been all over the east coast, and some of the "closest to home" Mexican food I've found was in Fayetteville (El Cazador, specifically).
Speaking of the international nature of things as above, when I worked retail, at one time at a job I had we had employees that could speak Russian, Spanish, and German, and were from Russia, South America, and Germany (military wives). If you look hard enough, you should be able to find someone from "your country" if you are an immigrant.
Despite what some residents say, there is plenty to do in Fayetteville and there should be people that share your interests if you look for them. I'm from a small town (population 15k) a hundred miles from the next city (with +100k population), so I know what it's like to REALLY have nothing to do. Fayetteville offers indoor rock climbing, several parks, indoor skydiving, a nice downtown atmosphere, an indie movie theater, and many other things. Not as much as a larger city, but that's pretty obvious.
Fayetteville is near the center of the state, so you have faster access to the beach that someone living in the western part of the state, but faster access to the mountains than people in the east, giving you the advantage of doing either over a weekend. If you like variety like that, Fayetteville is a good choice. Raleigh is also only just over an hour away as well. California was just too big to do these things in a timely manner, at least where I was from in California.
Cons:
Yes, there is crime in Fayetteville, and a lot of it. Stay away from the greyhound station downtown, I had a bad experience there getting panhandled at night by several rough looking characters. Stay away from Murchison road. If you have to go to Skibo Road Walmart, do so during the day. There has been some bad stuff happening there at night. I once had someone approaching me in a threatening manner that I had to ward off with the universal language of a cocking pistol. There are also many places down Bragg Blvd. you have to be careful about. I lived in the outskirts of Bonnie Doone off of Bragg Blvd, and I remember hearing gunshots every day, trunk deals in front of my duplex, and constant other crimes going on at all times of the day. The place I lived was only $255 a month back in '02, so that was probably a red flag to begin with. There are good neighborhoods too, so you should be ok if you don't stay in a rough area of town.
Even if you stay in a good neighborhood, avoid night activity in isolated or sparsely populated places. Several of my coworkers got robbed right outside the store (Best Buy) when I worked there, as most of us were still inside closing. One of my other coworkers decided to go to Wendy's with his friends and eat outside at night, and a guy came out of the woods and robbed them at gunpoint. I've personally never experienced a robbing or mugging, but I'm vigilant and I get night activities done FAST. When I was in the military there, I also had a friend of mine get punched simply because he was trying to park and this guy thought my friend was driving too close to the guy's son.
If you are looking for a career here, it can be hard unless you already have a good job. This place is filled with retail, and that's about the best you're going to do. There are a few industries, but competition will be high. Also, the cost to rent seemed a bit high to me for a place like this (excepting the $255/month ghetto I described earlier), probably due to the realtors being spoiled with guaranteed military money.
Also, if you are a single male, expect one of the toughest singles markets in the country. There are far more guys here than women, and for that reason alone Fayetteville is not a place for single guys.
There's more than just this, I'll just have to add to this later as I'm pressed for time.
A lot of this was fair...
The largest cities in NC, by MSA, are (in order) Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston, Durham, Asheville, and Fayetteville. Fayetteville is the most diverse of North Carolina's largest cities, and the only city that is even comparable is Charlotte because its size as a major city attracts foreigners, but drawn to scale, Fayetteville is more diverse. It's an underappreciated characteristic of Fayetteville. I definitely wouldn't call Fay international, but it is the most diverse "big-ish" city in NC and that diversity definitely has an imprint citywide that you can sense, after spending time in the other cities...
Crime in Fayetteville is pretty avoidable. The reputation doesn't exactly match the reality, but Fayetteville is def one of the cities I've lived in with abnormally widespread property crime...
Fayetteville is 51% Male, 49% Female which does represent a higher proportion of men than NC at large. All of the other larger cities are all significantly more female, too. Charlotte was easier, more women and etc, but the impact the diverse populace has on Fayetteville reflects in the dating pool. The worst part of dating in Fayetteville is that because of the lack of educated populace and the military, the pool is thin. But if you have time (and I'd understand why any man wouldn't lol), you can find some diamonds in the rough in the Ville...
The largest cities in NC, by MSA, are (in order) Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston, Durham, Asheville, and Fayetteville. Fayetteville is the most diverse of North Carolina's largest cities, and the only city that is even comparable is Charlotte because its size as a major city attracts foreigners, but drawn to scale, Fayetteville is more diverse.
I don't see that. Looks to me like Durham is more diverse with a closer percentage of black and white, more Hispanics, and more Asians.
City-Data stats:
Durham
Races in Durham, NC (2016)
39.4% White alone = 103,678
37.9% Black alone = 99,633
14.3% Hispanic= 37,572
5.3% Asian alone = 13,885
2.7% Two or more races = 7,194
0.1% American Indian alone = 392
0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone = 267
0.1% Other race alone = 368
Fayetteville
Races in Fayetteville, NC (2016)
42.3% Black alone = 86,560
38.0% White alone = 77,785
11.7% Hispanic = 23,953
4.3% Two or more races = 8,825
2.4% Asian alone = 4,982
0.9% American Indian alone = 1,869
0.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone = 336
0.2% Other race alone = 467
Charlotte
Races in Charlotte, NC (2016)
41.7% White alone=350,932
35.2% Black alone = 296,543
13.8% Hispanic = 115,937
6.3% Asian alone = 53,142
2.2% Two or more races = 18,924
0.5% Other race alone = 3,906
0.2% American Indian alone = 1,859
0.09% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone = 786
With the Odds against Fayetteville, NC I think the city is doing pretty good
There is no State funded Research Center Project
No Major Bank Headquarters
No Major Nationally Known University
No Fortune 500 companies
But still the city somehow finds a way to Economically grow
Every City is not destine to be a major hub
To me the simple answer is Fayetteville is not NORTH CAROLINA's High Priority. Every State in the US has a city just like Fayetteville so big deal. If State really cared they wouldn't have built Global Trans Park in Kingston of all places. The would have built a Inland Terminal here and the list goes on and on. Heck I'm proud of my city we haven't got a helping yet from the state and we still find a way.
One of my favorite things about Fayetteville are the trains.
I stayed down there last night until about midnight and never
felt concerned for my safety once. Here are a couple examples
showing where I was at, across from the bus station on Winslow Street...
People have always talked junk and hated on Fayetteville for as long
as I can remember and they always will. I work there and have no
problems at all with the city...
People often compare one city with another but just because Fayetteville is smaller and not as developed as Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh or Charlotte doesn't mean its a bad city. Size doesn't always mean better.
I don't see that. Looks to me like Durham is more diverse with a closer percentage of black and white, more Hispanics, and more Asians.
City-Data stats:
Durham
Races in Durham, NC (2016)
39.4% White alone = 103,678
37.9% Black alone = 99,633
14.3% Hispanic= 37,572
5.3% Asian alone = 13,885
2.7% Two or more races = 7,194
0.1% American Indian alone = 392
0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone = 267
0.1% Other race alone = 368
Fayetteville
Races in Fayetteville, NC (2016)
42.3% Black alone = 86,560
38.0% White alone = 77,785
11.7% Hispanic = 23,953
4.3% Two or more races = 8,825
2.4% Asian alone = 4,982
0.9% American Indian alone = 1,869
0.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone = 336
0.2% Other race alone = 467
Charlotte
Races in Charlotte, NC (2016)
41.7% White alone=350,932
35.2% Black alone = 296,543
13.8% Hispanic = 115,937
6.3% Asian alone = 53,142
2.2% Two or more races = 18,924
0.5% Other race alone = 3,906
0.2% American Indian alone = 1,859
0.09% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone = 786
I'm looking from 2017 OMB estimates. Compared to Durham:
Fayetteville is blacker (40.8% to 39.1%); Fayetteville has more Natives (0.9% to 0.2%); Fayetteville has more Islanders (0.5% to 0.1%); Fayetteville has more people from other races (0.4% to 0.2%); and Fayetteville has more multiracial people (3.9% to 2.5%)...
Durham is whiter (38.8% to 37.9%) and more Latino (14% to 12.5%). More people speak a language other than English as their first language in Durham (22.5% to 12%), and Durham has more foreign born (15.1% to 7%), but keep in mind that Durham is also home to a globally renowned university that attracts both foreign students and teachers. Fayetteville has more foreign born Europeans, Asians, and Oceanic peoples than Durham...
This plays out similarly when compares to Charlotte...
Fayetteville is the most diverse city of size in NC. But Charlotte being so large has overwhelming volume compared to Fayetteville, so that argument can be made on the strength of volume. Durham and Fayetteville ate much closer in size and easier to compare...
Still not getting that. From your data it sounds like Durham to me.
Lol it's not "my" data, but okay. They are close enough to call a tie, but I definitely wouldn't call Durham conclusively more diverse. The eye test doesn't give that impression when in Durham, and the data certainly doesn't bear out that Durham is conclusively more diverse...
fayetville is by no means hell it just doesn't have much to get excited about
also i find the populace had a certain gruff character and i say that as someone who spent a lot of time there
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With The Odds
