Downtown something to be experienced
I live downtown and came home for lunch one day to find a young woman in a beautiful white bridal gown posing for two photographers. I waited patiently to enter my door, not wanting to cross behind her and wind up in the background of someone's wedding pictures.
I didn't mind the wait at all - I reflected, not for the first time, that it was a compliment to Fayetteville's downtown that people thought it pretty enough to photograph. I have seen over time many tourists pause in front of the Cameo Art House Theatre to take a picture in front of the tall glass windows with its brightly lit-up movie posters.
Longtime residents know it was not always this way. Years ago, Fayetteville's downtown had a different reputation, and in those days one would be more likely to encounter an exotic dancer instead of a new bride. There were those, too, who never imagined downtown would become a place of thriving business and residences.
But downtown has become just that, and I consider it one of the better living experiences in the county. More folks are getting a shot at living here, too, with a major new set of condominiums bringing new residents to the 300 block of Hay Street.
You do have to get used to some inconveniences when living downtown - the honking trains that run on two sets of tracks across Hay Street; the parking challenge during big events for those of us without garages; the noise that can go past midnight on the weekend, as revelers file out of various nightspots. Many of the restaurants downtown offer café seating, and the outdoor areas are sectioned off by heavy, portable barriers. The occasional sound of those barriers hitting the pavement late at night became a regular feature until most proprietors started latching them together.
But that's downtown. It's life. It's people living and going and doing. And I like that.
Who cares if I have to wait for the occasional smiling bride to get her picture snapped?
- Myron B. Pitts