09/02/2026
As a Downtown Fayetteville business owner, parking isn’t just something I hear people complain about—it’s something I have to think about operationally too.
Where do I park? Where should my clients park? How do we keep convenient spaces available for customers? What does parking cost an employee who works downtown five days a week? And if we’re asking employees to park farther away, what does that walk look like after dark?
The more conversations I’ve had, the more I realize this isn’t as simple as “parking should be free” vs. “just pay for parking.”
There are real concerns on both sides.
I believe we can support the growth and infrastructure of our downtown while also asking whether the current system works for the businesses, employees, residents, and customers who use it every day.
So instead of just having another Facebook debate 😂, I want to collect some actual feedback.
I created a Downtown Fayetteville Parking Feedback Survey to hear directly from:
🏢 Downtown business owners
👥 Employees and contractors
🏠 Downtown residents
🛍️ Customers and visitors
I want to understand the actual impact—cost, safety, accessibility, customer experience, employee needs, and what solutions people would support.
The goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate paid parking. The goal is to identify where the system can be safer, fairer, clearer, and more business-supportive. That’s also the direction of the advocacy plan I’m developing: preserve customer access while addressing employee affordability, safety, and the realities of operating downtown.
Take the survey here:
Downtown Fayetteville Parking Feedback Survey
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtNThXRRihWCpOQJS9PSSq9X4sVrKX02a7782cEbHbev9p7Q/viewform?usp=header
And please share this post with someone who owns a business, works, lives, shops, or spends time downtown.
I don't want to speak for downtown.
I want downtown to speak for itself—and then we can take the data to the table.
