B.R.A.C.S. and Sacks

One could consider the milieu that is Fayettenam, North Carolina the title above. When Ronald Reagan realigned the military bases in America in the 80's, Fort Bragg got 30,000 new troops. In a town of only 175,000 that was a giant influx. Our infrastructure has never recovered. Urban sprawl has festered in an uncanny way. The once "main drag," Bragg Blvd that led from the base to downtown was reinvented. It decided to take a right turn and head out to Cross Creek Mall. Death to downtown. Well, the city decided to clean it all up anyway, so why would anyone want to go there anyway? Downtown Fayetteville had a marvelous reputation in the state. Everyone knew about the area of bars and strip clubs. Rick's Lounge and the Korean Club come to mind. There were a few movie theaters, the Colony, and there were big retail stores there as well. Sears and the Capital were mainstays of downtown. Then it died a quick death. In the 80's citizens became concerned with trying to revitalize downtown. The plan? Put in large black light posts and pots. I guess it was supposed to be a "look." Then they blocked off the last block of Hay St. to traffic and put down cobblestone like material to replicate an "old world" feel. My point is this. They are still trying to revitalize downtown. There is an Airborne Museum now. A Transportation Museum opened today. PWC is down there along with the Fayetteville Police Department. You can transplant all you want to, but it will not change what is. What is downtown? It is the ghetto. Grove View Terrace, Cambell Terrace, and Business 95 are all down there. It is not pretty. Drive around and you will see it for what it is. Nothing. Then there is the biggest issue merchants complain about that are all ready there. Guess what it is? I am not going to get back into it for fear of sounding like a broken record. Trains, trains, trains. Ye great old Iron Horse. What's the big deal? Well, they are building as I speak a new promenade-type venue down there. Somebody burnt down the old USO building, so now the Art Museum has a new home away from Eutaw. I grew up in that neighborhood, and the duck pond they took over used to be our playground. It was a smelly mess. We used to ride our motorcycles through trails in the area, and it was fun. I guess art was more important. It still was a strange place to me. Up grows a little area near our library with a flowing fountain the homeless can use for imbibing the wicked liquid during the day. They like to hang out at the Library too and use their facilities. I don't enjoy going down there. So in this grand scheme, there is a new building of commerce being erected parallel to the rail line that feeds the Norfolk Southern yard. At any time of any given day there is a hulking CSX
GP-40-2 shoving freight cars into that switching yard. Awaiting them is a C40-9W along with two Aberdeen and Rockfish locomotives. Anybody know what the analogy of a train is? The Boss says, "Like a freight train running through my head." It is NOT a good thing. 4000 horsepower diesel locomotives and human beings buying stuff don't go hand in hand. Maybe is supposed to be picturesque, harking back to the sound of the old steam trains. A whistle, the rhythmic chug, chug, chug of the churning steam. I don't know what is going on. Who is paying for it all? Who will open businesses in there? What is the plan? Is there a plan? Well, I don't think BRACS or Sacks are going to go there. What are they? BRAC is a unit of military command supposedly coming to 'Nam. Sacks are GI's. That is my analogy. Balls on wheels. Testosterone in a bag. I miss the good old days. I don't like the Bible Belt, someone mandating behavior in my region. I don't really like all the compounds that are springing up everywhere. Well, I really mean extremely expansive buildings connected to churches. We all need churches, but what is this pattern? There are over ten churches, all at the same time, expanding their facilities. Huge buildings for what? I'm not sure. Waco? Sects? Brainwashing? No, basketball. Church dinners. I don't know. I just know it is unnerving driving around a town that seems to have a disease. New shit is popping up all over the place. Any available lot. Any barren space. Every conceivable inch and corner of 'Nam is being developed. Condominiums. Apartments. Million dollar houses. You can't keep up with it. Someone is trying to make big money. Who decided that the small businesses like the ones dotting the streets of Manhatten or LA were passe? Who decided drug stores were now going to be malls. Who decided we all like to shop at an EXPO? Fuck man. I have been saying for a year. Put a little podium at the entrance to the grocery store with maps of the place. Home Depot. Lowes. Wal Mart. Give me a map man and quit yanking my chain. I don't want to concentrate that hard when I shop. I just want to browse and have fun. Life has gotten way too hard, and somebody is getting rich.