6 UCW APRIL 4-10, 2018
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
OPINION
HIT (Downtown community room)
The new Fast Transit Center has a facility that
has already caught on. It's a public community
room on the second f loor (yes, there's an elevator).
The large space can accommodate meetings of
public and private organizations, taking demand
off the few other such rooms downtown. Modest
fees are charged for nonprofit and business groups.
HIT (Downtown skyline)
Fayetteville's skyline is about to change for the
first time in 40 years. The 11-f loor Systel building
will no longer be downtown's tallest structure. A
new apartment complex being built by PCH Hold-
ings atop a five-story parking deck adjacent to the
baseball stadium will make that structure two
f loors taller.
MISS (Roadside trash)
A year ago, Fayetteville City Council added two
crews and a pair of pickups to patrol our main thor-
oughfares to pick up debris. I presume they're still
doing it, but frankly, it's hard to tell. The problem is
that our city's 148 square miles make it the sec-
ond largest municipality in the state in land area.
Somehow, we've got to do more.
HIT (Hay Street restauranteurs)
Restaurant owners with rear entrances on Old
Street agreed to get rid of the garbage cans along
the narrow sidewalk. The Cool Spring Downtown
District helped solve the problem by working with
Waste Management to place dumpsters behind the
Arts Center.
MISS (City skyline)
Fayetteville is the largest city in North Carolina
without skyscrapers. We've grown out, not up.
Why? Our city lacks the big businesses others have
thrived on; no major banks or companies with
corporate headquarters here. It's an illustration
of why economic development is so important to
Cumberland County.
HIT (Traffic cops)
The police seem to be placing greater emphasis
on speeding. I've seen cops parked along busy
streets with their radar guns, and that's good.
Hits and Misses
by JEFF THOMPSON
JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter.
COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly.
com. 910-484-6200.