Dickson Street Development

I’ve lived in Fayetteville most of my life, and spent the last 11 years or so living a beer bottle’s throw from Dickson Street. I have seen a lot of changes over this time. Some of the changes have been good and others not so good. One of the best changes has been the Walton Arts Center and the Brew Pub building. Both corners used to be pretty bad looking and made Dickson look run down and a little seedy. The changes have revitalized the area and have made it better in many ways. It has also started the push to force out the undesirable less affluent residents that once made Dickson Street their home. Now the city and developers are seeing the opportunity to completely change the area and make the street that we all had fond memories of into something that only the affluent will be able to enjoy, walking distance to the entertainment. It seems that the idea is to eventually get rid of all locally owned affordable housing in favor of corporate owned luxury condominiums and specialty retail shops so money hungry developers can take advantage of peoples fondness for the Dickson Street of the past. In so doing, they completely change the essence of what the place was and make it into something that only the well to do can afford. The mayor, city council and chamber of commerce are ecstatic about these changes but then many aren’t native to Fayetteville.
Is all of this good for Fayetteville and for the Dickson Street business owners? Will the rising property taxes and fee’s force some of the owners out in favor of more diversified corporate owners that can spread their risk among many shops and properties, ones that have more of an ability to change when some part of their holdings don’t quite work out? Will the city use their new eminent domain powers to force holdouts to leave in favor of higher taxes paid by more affluent tenants? Where will the less wealthy live when the affordable houses and apartments are destroyed in favor of parking garages and luxury condominiums?
We rely on the mayor and the city council to use their wisdom when it comes to administering the city for the residents of Fayetteville, but we have seen what they do. They allow Bikes, Blues and Barbeque to happen and then gouge the vendors. Waste money on signs telling riders to, “Please Ride Quietly.” They disregard residents and non bar owners of the Dickson Street area that are trapped in their homes and can’t get to their businesses for the four days. They allow development first, roads and traffic tie-ups are a distant second. Build a giant new library then tell us they need new taxes to operate it. And now they want to approve more development and destroy the essence of Fayetteville’s downtown in favor of some new business owners and property management companies. Should we allow these changes?