As the 21st century’s second decade is well underway, North Carolina’s sixth-largest city, Fayetteville, is reveling in its 2011 designation as an All America City, a distinction it has now earned three times since 1985.
Boasting a population of more than 200,000, Fayetteville’s growth mirrors the growth of North Carolina, which rose 18.5 percent between the censuses of 2000 and 2010. Fayetteville serves as the county seat for Cumberland County as well as a population, shopping and cultural center for the multi-county region surrounding it.
Though there are other Fayettevilles across the nation, this is the only American city named for the Marquis de Lafayette that he personally visited. That visit is but one of the many fascinating vignettes in a long and colorful history for this southern city.
In 2012, Fayetteville is an anomaly in a bleaker national economy. The home of Fort Bragg, one of the world’s largest military complexes, Fayetteville benefits from the economic engine that the large Army post is for the region.
Fort Bragg pumps billions of dollars into local economies every year and even with upcoming cuts to the Department of Defense, Fort Bragg is expected to remain a linchpin in national defense initiatives. Local defense businesses such as Booz Allen Hamilton are planning expansions. Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics recently leased space in a local business park.
Two major Army commands have relocated to Fort Bragg from Fort McPherson in Atlanta. More high-tech, defense-related industry has located in Fayetteville, and high-dollar contracts related to defense, security and intelligence are being awarded to entrepreneurial firms in Fayetteville and the surrounding region. A military business park has been created adjacent to Fort Bragg, and its first tenant is already operational.
Fayetteville is also home to such well-known business and industry leaders as Goodyear Tire Co., Cargill and DuPont, and serves as a major distribution center for Purolator, Maidenform and WalMart.
Long known for its retail and restaurant choices, Fayetteville was not surprised when the local branch of Panera Bread opened to record patronage, making the local Panera the most successful in the chain. Well-positioned for commerce by its location on I-95 and near I-40, Fayetteville is equidistant from Boston and Miami.
All of this growth has contributed to an astonishing rise in Fayetteville’s per-capita compensation (pay and benefits) in the past decade. In 2011, Fayetteville’s average income rose 4.4 percent, making it ninth in the nation among counties where pay and benefits totaled at least $10 billion.
The Milken Institute’s Annual “Best Performing Cities Index” cited Fayetteville as fourth in the nation for a one-year increase in wages and salaries. Fayetteville’s housing market remains strong for year-over-year appreciation in 2010, a time when many markets are experiencing depreciation in home values.
The housing market in the Fayetteville area has been spared the agony that markets in other parts of the nation have endured. Doug Nunnally, President of the Fayetteville Regional Association of Realtors, said the future continues to look good.
“The real estate market in Fayetteville and the surrounding areas will continue to be a buyer’s market, with lots of inventory in various price ranges,” he said. “As long as interest rates remain low, and our overall economy remains strong, we should experience an ever-strengthening residential real estate market locally.”
Tourism has become another strength for Fayetteville, with an economic impact of more than $417 million in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available. It’s been listed in the Top 25 cities and towns with the best American values, characterized as “one of the most patriotic communities in America.”
Fayetteville Regional Airport is experiencing a double digit increase in traffic, and USAirways recently announced it will offer daily flights to Washington DC’s Reagan Airport from Fayetteville, supplementing the flights offered by Delta to the hubs of Atlanta and Charlotte.
John Meroski, the CEO of the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, knows well how significant tourism is to the local economy.
“It’s not widely known that tourism is a major economic driver in our community,” he pointed out, “but more than $33 million was generated in local and state tax revenues in 2010. Of all of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Cumberland is the 8th highest generator of economic impact from tourism.”
While enjoying a stable and growing economy, Fayetteville is also proud of being home to two four-year universities, Fayetteville State University and Methodist University. Furthermore, Fayetteville Technical Community College, offering two-year degrees, adds to the opportunities for life-long learning in Fayetteville.
The public school system, Cumberland County Schools, is the fourth largest school district in the state, serving more than 53,000 K-12 students in more than 80 schools throughout the county. It’s also one of the largest employers in the area, with more than 6,800 people working within the schools.
Reinforcing the opportunities to learn locally is the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center, which has eight branch libraries to patronize as well as a law library located in the Cumberland County Courthouse. The libraries are well patronized in the Fayetteville community. The system has recently installed RFID (radio frequency identification) in all branches, enabling patrons to check out materials without the assistance of a librarian.
Fayetteville offers plenty to see and do for residents and visitors alike. The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra presents a season of musical entertainment annually. The Crown Coliseum regularly presents concerts and events that attract an audience from across the region. Among the diverse artists who have performed at the Crown in recent years are Elton John, B.B. King, Toby Keith and Jerry Seinfeld.
It is also the site for the annual visit of Ringling/Barnum & Bailey Circus. Two local sports teams, the indoor football team, the Fayetteville Force, and the FireAntz hockey team play their games at the Coliseum Complex. A baseball team, the Fayetteville Swamp Dogs, also has an enthusiastic following, attracting faithful fans from across the region.
Fayetteville’s downtown has become a center for fun with Festival Park, the home for events throughout the year. The annual Dogwood Festival in April is centered there, as is the party that welcomes in the New Year and a Fourth of July celebration. Fayetteville After Five is a monthly series of summertime concerts that also draws people to Festival Park. Fourth Friday, an every-month social opportunity, brings people downtown to gallery-crawl, shop, dine, or simply people-watch. The downtown area of Fayetteville lends itself to all these pursuits, having enjoyed a renaissance that took many years and much effort to sustain,
The Cape Fear Regional Theater is currently celebrating its 50th year of providing excellent live theater to Fayetteville audiences. Many theatergoers come from nearby counties to catch the latest comedy, musical or drama, featuring not only local performers but often, well-known professional actors. The Gilbert Theater, located in the historic downtown area of Fayetteville, has been in existence since 1994, offering contemporary and classical productions.
Speaking of downtown, there’s much to engage any resident or visitor who chooses to stroll down tree-lined Hay Street, the heart of the downtown, or any of the inviting side streets. Interesting one-of –a- kind shops, restaurants and coffee houses beckon, as does the beautiful Cameo Art House Theater, one of the jewels of the community.
The Cameo shows independent, classical and foreign films in its beautifully restored building on Hay Street. The theater features 125 velvet-covered cast iron opera seats in its larger auditorium, and upstairs, in the cozy Loge, 38 stadium style seats make for a more intimate viewing.
Downtown Fayetteville is also the setting for the administrative buildings of the City of Fayetteville, the Fayetteville Police Department and for the Cumberland County Courthouse, which houses the county’s administrative offices as well as the district attorney’s office and courtrooms.
Punctuating the juncture of Hay, Person, Gillespie and Green streets is the Market House, a structure built on the site of the former State House, which was destroyed in a fire. The Market House was completed in 1832, and served as a market until 1906. It was placed on the National Historic Register in 1973.
In July 2011, Fayetteville opened the North Carolina Veterans Park, the state’s tribute to all N.C. veterans of every era. The five-acre park, located in the heart of Fayetteville, is a $13 million complex that tells the history of North Carolina’s veterans and features the bronze-cast hands of veterans from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Pillars with cast hands representing those who support the military are also among the displays.
The location of the ark is ideal in that it abuts the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, which opened in 2001. This extraordinary museum attracts people from all over the world who want to learn about the feats of American airborne and special ops soldiers throughout various eras and conflicts. Architecturally imposing, the building is evocative of an open parachute and since opening in 2001, has greeted many thousands of visitors and served as the setting for many military-related events, including changes of command, and memorial services for fallen soldiers.
Fayetteville’s reputation as a military-friendly community was enhanced when, in November 2011, the city staged Heroes Homecoming, a series of welcome home and thank you events designed specifically to honor Vietnam veterans. The week encompassing Veterans Day brought veterans from all over the country to Fayetteville and the traditional Veterans Day parade featured many, many large “Thank You” signs held up by local residents. Among the notables participating in Heroes Homecoming were Adrian Cronauer, of Good Morning, Vietnam! fame and singer Connie Stevens.
One of the South’s premier annual festivals, The Dogwood Festival, brings huge crowds together in Fayetteville for fun, food and music each April. In 2011, attendance at the three-day event exceeded 225,000.
Festival Park, a large venue in downtown Fayetteville is the epicenter of the Festival, as it is for other community festivals throughout the year. The International Folk Festival is always a big attraction in September, with the delicious aromas of many ethnic cuisines wafting across the summer air. Other fun gatherings in Festival Park include Blues ‘n’ Brews, a fundraiser for the Cape Fear Regional Theater, combining beer and good blues music and the “Fayetteville After Five” musical concerts, May through September, sponsored by The Dogwood Festival.
Fayetteville natives understand completely why newcomers embrace the area so enthusiastically. Birch Barnes has recently taken a position as one of Cumberland County Library and Information Center’s branch managers. He lived in Fayetteville back in the 1990s, and is pleased to see the changes that have occurred in the community since then.
“I think this is a good community to come into,” he said. “Methodist University used to be Methodist College – they’ve really grown and expanded. And I like that there is a strong arts community here.” Barnes also spoke admiringly of the influence that the military population has on the greater Fayetteville community. “I think different cultures can have a positive effect on a place,” he said. “I like that I can meet people from all over the world here.”
For more on this story, click here to order our magazine