Town historian, Shirley Simmons tells about Fuquay-Varina in the old days that “By and large, everybody mattered….It was a small town, with home grown people from the surrounding community….That is still here. But it is leaving somewhat now, because other people have not been part of it. Downtown, you used to see everybody you knew. Now, that is rare.”
With 30 or 40 thousand people, we are not always going to see even anybody we know. But even so, everybody still matters. Shirley added, “People matter, places matter, individuals matter, integrity matters, honesty matters. We care about each other.” So, how do we preserve this character of caring for all of us?
How to Characterize Town Character
Driving around North Carolina, we can see historic districts almost everywhere. Historic preservation experts presuppose they add to a town’s character. But character is more than buildings and streets.
I grew up in a town that nearly a century ago had been extensively studied by a team of sociologists led by Robert and Helen Lynd, whose “Middletown” books spawned a whole new area of academic study. Their version of community had six dimensions: getting a living, making a home, training the young, using leisure time, religious practices, and community activities.
To help with this story, I asked our Fuquay-Varina librarian, Pam Coker, to pick out some books that defined a town’s character. One so impressed me that I bought my own copy: James and Deborah Fallows’ Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America. He’s a career writer for the Atlantic Magazine and she’s an academic linguist. After hundreds of interviews and visits to 29 communities, they created 10½ signs of civic success. Together, their signs provide a more workaday index of town character than the Lynd’s dimensions. They include working together, local patriots, public-private partnership accomplishments, a civic story, a downtown, a research university, a community college, innovative schools, openness to strangers, and big plans. They gave their last item only a ½ a sign of success, because it showed that a town had a “certain kind of entrepreneur” and “a critical mass of young people.” They thought that people might think that putting “a craft brewer” on their list “was a joke,” but James was convinced that “it explained a lot.” Of course, Fuquay-Varina passed with its wealth of micro-breweries.
More People-Meeting and Less Slash-and-Sod Development
To discern our town’s approach to the Fallows’ signs of success, I interviewed Town Manager Adam Mitchell who has amassed a copious knowledge of and affection for our town during his five-year residency. I postponed the Fallows’ 10 topics until after two pressing questions.
First, I asked how do we preserve the people-meeting-people character that Shirley mentioned? “We support the community culture that we have, of people going to events, public places,” he replied. “It seems to me that Fuquay-Varina is unique in people being not afraid to meet their neighbors. They develop a secondary family…. The town creates opportunities for people to engage with each other. It helps that we have schools in the community. Downtown also helps to create that, with its mom and pop shops. We have places to go like the Arts Center and sports facilities including Ballentine and Falcon parks. These contribute to relationship building and a family environment. How do we not let that fade away as the town grows? Our elected officials do not want this to be lost.”
Secondly, I asked about a question I learned from interviewing Brie Arthur—see this issue “How to Grow a Foodscapes Gardener” Can we do anything local about our North American slash-and-sod development that spoils our environment as much as does the Amazon’s slash-and-burn agriculture?
“Our town encourages developers to go the extra mile,” Mitchell replied, “to create something different like curvatures, bulb-out areas, cul-de-sacs, and above all, open space. Del Webb is adding parklets for people to gather. Open space zoning requires that developers preserve 12 -25 % of land in its natural state. If they maximize open space they are permitted more density, different landscaping and buffering, and a different plan. Environmental open space such as watersheds, common green space, and passive recreation use get a lower weight than developable space.” Still, “green space” can mean just grass, hiding the need for more trees.
People Working Together
Visitors to our Town Board see people working together on practical local possibilities. Political divisions neither interfere with projects nor are even mentioned. Mitchell explained that this came about from the town’s 1909 Charter. Wisely, the forefathers chose the election process to be non-partisan. Anyone who wants can compete, regardless of party. This creates a balance of viewpoints and encourages creativity. “We don’t want cookie-cutter subdivisions,” Mitchell illustrated. “Developers can’t make identical houses or even use the same siding next to or across from each other. Each needs a unique style.”
Local Patriots
One way to derive the town mood is from the followers of the town’s Community Events Newsletter. Fuquay-Varina has nearly as many followers as Raleigh and the most in suburban Wake County. “In our downtown we have a whole different cross section of people,” Mr. Mitchell added, “stake holders, investors, and even historians.”
Public-Private Partnerships
The Spring issue of Suburban Living carried an article on the planned innovative and extensive “Mixed-Use Development” now pending the acquisition of its last piece of property. It will involve $30 million in private funds while costing over $2 million in town contributions for parking and pedestrian capabilities. It will include 165 residential units right in downtown and add 16,000 square feet of commercial space. This means people supporting downtown. Many towns are losing their historic cores, leaving developments like these to cities. Ours is destined to become a model of how to use development to preserve, not undermine, a town’s character.
The Civic Story
People know our civic story. In a nutshell it is where enterprise and education unite at the rural-urban boundary to show what people can do. Fuquay’s founders had their Spring, a popular destination, and Varina’s their Schoolmaster Ballentine, an entrepreneur and writer. We have long been more than a suburb and less than an independent city.
Manager Mitchell added to the story by telling how the town still ensures that new people and those growing up here know the history. History helps people understand where the town originated from and appreciate its value. Our history museum is unusually vibrant and active for a town our size. Our mayor often mentions historical details at board meetings. “It is important for people to be engaged,” Mitchell explained, “so that when there are important issues, people get out and become involved—part of the process and part of the solution.”
Downtown
Under Downtown Development Manager, Dawn Russell, the town is beginning the process of downtown planning. The town wants to grow the downtown footprint esthetically – electrical underneath, plus decorative streetlamps, sidewalks, and even parklets, like the one outside of the new city hall, which Mayor Byrne proposed.
“From talking with the big manufacturers,” Mitchell explained, “we learned that downtown is one of the most important recruitment tools for people. They tour recruits, who describe Fuquay-Varina as cute, quaint, clean, and nice.” He then turned on the seven-foot Clear Touch screen in his new office to show the manufacturers’ locations near Bob Barker. TE Connectivity is the largest. John Deere Turfcare has 600 employees. The town pre-developed and is looking for tenants for 35 acres next to TE Connectivity. South Bend Range makes commercial kitchen equipment like that in Raleigh’s famous Angus Barn restaurant.
Research Universities
The Research Triangle is famous for its nearby universities and the effect extends to Fuquay-Varina. One benefit was a whole team of planning faculty from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill making numerous trips here to help get the Mixed-Use Development off the ground. Another was the university’s theatre department recently sending a troupe of graduate student actors to our arts center for a rousing evening of Thornton Wilder one-act plays. Many of Campbell University’s nearly 2,000 graduate students live in Fuquay-Varina apartments. Campbell Law’s John Powell inspired the “restorative circles” so valuable to success at Lincoln Heights Elementary School. North Carolina State University not only serves local farmers and gardeners but also provides extensive service in the form of workforce development, especially in engineering.
Technical College
Wake Tech has a Raleigh mailing address, but it is in Fuquay-Varina. We claim it as our own and are proud of the educational opportunities it provides. The Town Board was quite aggressive about getting bus service there through a special stop of the Fuquay-Varina Express and safe parking at our community center’s town-built park-and-ride.
Innovative Schools
Fuquay-Varina already has one and will soon have two brand new state-of-the-art high schools. Even our elementary schools are distinctive, innovative, and through special funding like Lincoln Heights Environmental and Willow Springs STEM programs, extraordinarily equipped. Wake County schools is investing constantly in land down here in recognition of the need for more elementary and middle schools.
Open to Strangers
Reading A History of Fuquay-Varina by Shirley Hayes and Shirley Simmons, I was especially impressed by the 1979 conversation describing how black leaders told town leaders about their too-high unemployment rate. The book recounts that “The town board agreed that any new industry coming to town should be encouraged to hire at least 24 percent black workers.” That helped to keep a lot of young people in town.
Our population has added more Hispanic, Indian, and Ethiopian residents. We even have an acclaimed Indian restaurant that draws patrons from miles around. The Board recognizes that diversity is good. “It broadens the community’s horizons. It is valuable for our arts center (e.g, its fascinating International Festival).”
Big Plans
The list of big plans that Manager Mitchell cited with hardly a breath in between was truly impressive. The town
is encouraging investment in downtown, especially the Mixed-Use Development. The Business Park is being promoted to high tech industry. There is a great focus on enhanced medical services in the community, especially specialized medical avenues. The town is making plans for a significant commercial and retail core with a major shopping center area, restaurants, and retail, like Garner’s White Oak, Holly Springs Town Center, and Cary’s Crossroads. The waste-water treatment plan has been extensively expanded but is still not sufficient for what we will need in 50 years, requiring a $50-70 million proposition.
People may not be aware of the size of commitment made when the town accepted the new 100-acre park. Its water service was disconnected by the county and needs reconnection. The clubhouse needs new air conditioners and to be brought up to current day building code. The town tore out the carpet, put a new roof on, and changed out the plumbing. The next phase will include renovations so that we can rent the venue for events like weddings, reunions, and meetings.
Summing Up
Adam Mitchell gave the interview much more time than I expected and summed it up with a powerful vision. Growth has brought changes for the better, unlike the rural towns that are closing down. Growth also comes with challenges, but they are far less severe when a town is growing. For stagnant towns, every day becomes a struggle to create opportunities for people to stay there. “Fuquay-Varina has a lot to be proud of and to be excited for. We have a lot of challenges. That is where the focus should be given.”
The story of how to preserve our town’s character as we continue to grow is not over. We have all the ingredients the Fallows mentioned of a highly successful town. New people need to tell their versions. New sources of pride need to be found. Our history needs more telling. We need to constantly improve our understanding of our town’s character. We all need to keep caring about each other.
