Pathways to Local Self-Reliance: How the Fort Bragg Region is Positioned for Change

By Donald R. Belk, AICP, REPI Regional Planner

With the passage of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, ‘change’ is defining our times.  The troubled economy has been the first priority for Congress in the new Obama administration, and now a massive ‘stimulus package’ directed toward rebuilding and improving the nation’s infrastructure has been realized.  North Carolina, its counties, municipalities wait as priorities are set and proposals submitted in anticipation of over $6 billion in stimulus funding.  This enormous ‘gear up’ is being compared to the great New Deal endeavors that gave lasting value to the nation – programs like the Public Works Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, to name but a few.

Many leading economists agree that such an effort is needed to generate investment, job creation, and consumer spending.  The consensus among municipal leaders is that reinvestment in the nation's infrastructure will help the U.S. compete in the global economy and yield tangible and lasting benefits.

This major federal effort in infrastructure investment will include repair of roads and bridges, improvements in seaport and airport security and capacity, water and wastewater projects, intermodal freight and high-speed passenger rail, and large-scale alternative energy projects.

Where should such investments be directed?  The Brookings Institution recommends a national focus on America’s metropolitan areas, the top 100 of which account for 65 percent of population and 75 percent of economic output. America 2050, a coalition led by several regional planning associations and a committee of scholars and civic leaders, has proposed a scheme for “megaregions”, or networks of metropolitan areas, where infrastructure investment should be concentrated.  These regions could enhance the federal role in projects that cross state borders, such as interstates, freight, and high-speed rail.  A regional focus would also provide a better system for evaluating a project’s benefit—within a broader strategy for economic development, for example—and help the public get more for its money.

The Fort Bragg region, squarely within the the Piedmont Atlantic megaregion, is a case in point. Not only do we possess the essential elements upon which a national ‘pilot project’ for sustainable infrastructure investment could be based, but we are connected geographically to a substantial share of the nation’s defense assets.    Because the Piedmont-Atlantic megaregion fronts the strategically-vital Fall Line region of the southeastern United States - home to several key military installations that are experiencing BRAC-related growth - it would make sense to focus federal infrastructure investments here - especially research and development connecting rural economic development with sustainable urbanism.  It would achieve multiple objectives: help military communities cope with anticipated growth from the defense and homeland security economic sectors, provide much-needed jobs for a region that has suffered staggering losses in manufacturing and a depressed economy, and ensure the preservation of the Sandhills Ecoregion and sustainment of our military readiness. 

Our recently-completed Comprehensive Regional Growth Plan for the Fort Bragg Region (CRGP, November 2008) provides a ‘roadmap’ for infrastructure investment that will ensure the public gets maximum return on its investment.  How?  Specifically:

• The region’s educational institutions (K-12, community colleges, and universities), workforce development system, and economic development efforts are unified, through the All American Center for Workforce Innovation.    Innovative investments in 3D technology, virtual classrooms, and career pipelines are already paying off through additional public and private investment to train the workforce of the 21st century.
• A regional economic development and industrial recruitment program, the All American Defense Corridor, has resulted in new jobs in the defense sector, as well as tremendous visibility of the region as a great place for business.  The region’s economic developers are focused on strengthening business clusters and entrepreneurship, the development of human capital, and improvements to quality of life – keys to the nation’s global competitiveness.  Moreover, the AADC has established critical research & development partnerships with the UNC system that will enhance economic prospects for the entire state. 
• A Regional Planning model has been proposed for the region’s counties and municipalities to follow which would (1) focus new growth within existing urban service areas; (2) maximize the connectivity and efficiency of the region’s rail and highway corridors through multi-modal transportation and transit-oriented development; (3) protect the region’s green infrastructure – including our ‘working lands’ that are vital to the region’s economy. 
• As stated in the Land Use Planning chapter of the CRGP, most of our communities already possess the essential physical attributes for successful revitalization in the ‘neotraditional’ or New Urbanism model: historic architecture within the downtown core containing a mix of land uses, residential areas built upon a grid street system with diverse housing stock, walkability, and the potential for future passenger rail access. 
• The regional development model bodes well for the Laurinburg-Lumberton-Pembroke area, especially, as it stands to become a ‘mega-regional’ transportation hub, with its airport industrial park, direct Interstate Highway access, and rail connectivity to the North Carolina seaports, the Charlotte metro region, and its position as the ‘midpoint’ along the I-95 corridor.
• Fayetteville, the region’s urban and metropolitan core, ranks among the nation’s top ‘creative class’ communities and is focused on creating synergies with their largest ‘suburb’ (Fort Bragg was recently annexed by the City of Fayetteville) through their sustainability division, Sustainable Fort Bragg. 
• Sustainable Fort Bragg is an acknowledged Department of Defense leader and an award-winning exemplar for the armed services.  Their array of programs - ranging from green procurement standards, natural resource protection, urban design, stormwater management, to energy efficiency - makes Fort Bragg the model to follow as our region aspires to a future of sustainable economic development.
• Building toward a local food economy and infrastructure through the Regional Agriculture Sustainability Program, a collaboration of Sustainable Fort Bragg, Cooperative Extension Service, and Sustainable Sandhills.  Paul Hawken, the renowned author and sustainability entrepreneur, has suggested that “the cure for the ailments of globalism is ‘localism’”.  Establishing a local food system will build the sustainable foundation for a business model where adherence to preserving and growing the ‘triple bottom line’ - environment, economy, and community – is the guiding principle.

In summary, there is a compelling statewide imperative to establish the Fort Bragg region (as well as the seven-county region around Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and New River Air Station) as a focal point for federal infrastructure investment.  The BRAC Commission’s 2005 recommendations (mandating growth at North Carolina’s military bases) solidified the commitment by the State to bind the economic future of the eastern North Carolina to the presence of key Department of Defense installations.  Our state has the 3rd largest DOD presence in the country, but ranks 38th in the amount of federal Defense and Homeland Security dollars returning here.   Federal funding to continue BRAC Regional Task Force and NC Eastern Region initiatives would bridge that gap and be a worthy investment for the nation – strengthening national security while preparing society for the transition toward a post-carbon economy.

The region is unified, prepared, and ready to lead.    For the so-called ‘great retooling’ of the nation’s infrastructure, there would be no better location for a pilot program than the Fort Bragg region.
           
Mr. Belk is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the NC Rural Economic Development Institute. Contact Don Belk at dbelk@bracrtf.com.