I’ve been talking to quite a Oh, we may have special few people lately about the conferences and public changes that have been taking meetings, but more and more place in Fayetteville. There are being left out of the is a sense of sadness that dream. many of them feel, in that And then there is poverty - the social fabric that once those not actually homeless, held the city together is but barely hanging on. Not coming apart. just homeowners, but renters, For many editorial writers, who live in conditions that the only place they notice some of us can barely imagine. any change is in our much About 15 years ago I took a vaunted “Entertainment Fayetteville alderman on a District” (sometimes I tour of Fayetteville to parts suspect that if a local of the city that he never reporter forgets to say these knew imagined, where folks silly words they are in rent by the week, and the danger of losing their job) trailer parks, and the but it is far more than that. rundown duplexes, and houses But beginning with Dickson that could barely called Street, though, there is a houses. It might not be a bad tendency to patronize folks idea to give new alderman and refer to the bygone (and some of the older ones “hippie” era of Dickson, when as well) such a tour. comparing it with today’s We rarely, if ever, get news Dickson. How do they know coverage of these parts of that “hippies” hung out on the city, or the lives of the Dickson? Well, they’ve people who live there. probably seen them in one of Unless they have the bad the books of photographs that taste to be murdered, or circulate about Fayetteville. commit some other horrible They see the surface, but act. Otherwise, it’s on to don’t even bother to scratch reading aloud the next even that. exciting press release from Yeah, the infamous hippies Wal-Mart. hung out on Dickson - and When new developments are other parts of Fayetteville built, people are evicted as well - but for many, that from homes that they rent. wasn’t what made Dickson More unraveling of our social special. tapestry. What made Dickson special was Where do you think they go? because it truly was a place You think there is anything where folks from all walks of in the “rules” that says that life congregated together, landlords must provide any often sitting just a few feet sort of finacial cushion for away from each other in the folks when they are evicted, same retaurants. Factory in a world in which workers, university faculty landlords demand first and and students, writers and last month’s rent, plus a artists, politicians (I once deposit? ate lunch just a few feet It’s sort of sad when the away from David Pryor) and only place in the community others, rich and poor alike, where the social tapestry is came to Dickson. still in full-flower is at a It was the great equalizer, TV staion, Fayetteville’s or so it seemed at the time. public access station, but And it isn’t now. Apologists there you have it. Like the for the new Dickson don’t old Dickson Street, folks even seem aware of this from all walks of life still aspect of Dickson’s past; all rub shoulders and work they are aware of is that together. hippies hung out on Dickson This is less a plug for once upon a time. See, Ma, I Community Access Television know history! than wondering why it isn’t It’s symptomatic of something seen in more places across larger, I think. But you the city, and why you can’t have to look beyond Dickson get at least send reporters Street - even beyond the down to Stone Street or Betty English gothic folly that Jo Corner. Block Street is becoming. And not just take pictures, A lot of cities go through a thank you very much. sort of metamorphosis as they Well, if you want something embrace the New Urbanism (or done right, I suppose . . . gussy themselves up, as they ****** case may be) but one thing Quote of the Day sort of remains constant - To cherish what remains of the poor and working class of the Earth and to foster its a community find themselves renewal is our only of less importance than the legitimate hope of survival. - pretty buildings and Wendell Barry sidewalks. rsdrake@cox.net Or silly street designs.
Tags: Fayetteville, late, noticing, Social, tapestry, that, Unraveling, until
