When the city broke ground on Truist Point, the working plan called for roughly $100 million of private investment across the surrounding blocks over ten years. As of last fall, City of High Point Managing Director Jeron Hollis put the actual figure at more than double that, hit in under half the time. The Congdon Foundation's own tally credits Congdon Yards alone with catalyzing over $200 million in economic development in the immediate area since 2020, alongside 300-plus full-time jobs on that campus and 50 tenants.
Numbers like that are easy to nod at and hard to feel. But late summer 2026 is the first stretch where a resident can feel them on foot. Between the ballpark, Congdon Yards, and the Catalyst Social District, there is now enough programming inside a five-minute walk that you can plan a full week of nights out without moving your car.
Here's what's actually on, and what to know before you go.
The 2026 Rockers schedule quietly changed your weeknight math
Most High Point fans have not caught up to the biggest tweak in the Atlantic League's 2026 calendar. Nearly every series moved from three games to six, meaning when the Rockers are home, they are usually home for the better part of a week rather than a long weekend. Rockers President Pete Fisch called it the best schedule in the club's six seasons in the league.
For a resident, that changes the calculus. A Tuesday game is no longer an oddity. It is part of a run.
The August homestands at Truist Point on N. Elm Street:
- Aug 1–2, Sat–Sun, Rockers vs. Charleston Dirty Birds, 6:35 PM Saturday and 3:36 PM Sunday
- Aug 11, Tuesday, Rockers vs. Gastonia Ghost Peppers, 6:35 PM, opening a six-game set against the in-state rival the Rockers will see 21 times this season
- Aug 25, Tuesday, Rockers vs. Lexington Legends, 6:35 PM
Fireworks Fridays continue through the season, and the regular season wraps at home on Sunday, September 13, one of only two times in club history the Rockers have closed the year in front of their own crowd. If you're going to catch one game this year and have not yet, the closer is the one.
What to eat inside a five-minute walk of home plate
This is the part of downtown that has changed the fastest, and it is the part locals still tend to underestimate.
On the Congdon Yards campus at 410 W English Road, Earl's Landing occupies the ground floor of The Factory building. Chef Matt LaRose's menu leans modern American, with Earl's Spaghetti, signature steaks, and beef tartare as house calling cards, plus a serious cocktail list. It reads fine dining, but the room is quieter than most people expect for a pre-game reservation. If you have out-of-town family in for a Rockers weekend, this is the room.
A few doors away, Lil's does the daytime work: espresso, pastries, sandwiches, salads, and a much better iced coffee than the block deserved five years ago.
Across the way sits the piece most locals still forget exists: Stock+Grain Assembly, the food hall that opened next door to Congdon Yards. It is the low-commitment counterpart to Earl's, and it is where the group with mismatched appetites lands.
Then there is Fox & Rocks, the newest arrival to the Downtown Social District. It sells casual menswear, outdoor accessories, and gifts, and the back half is a lounge and bar. It is the rare downtown spot that gives you a reason to arrive early and browse rather than just sit.
"The original plan around the building of the stadium was to create $100 million of investment over a ten-year period, and what we found is that in less than half that time, we were able to do more than double that." — Jeron Hollis, City of High Point Managing Director
The reason that quote matters for a Saturday night is simple. Five years ago, one of these places existed. Now four do, all within a walkable ring, and you can string them together without ever going back to the car.
Two August dates that are not Rockers games
If you only mark two non-baseball things on the August calendar downtown, make it these:
- Aug 18, Tuesday, 5:30 PM — the 38th Annual Hospice Taste of the Town at 301 N Elm Street. It is one of the older civic traditions in the city and one of the few nights the ballpark plaza fills up with people who are not there for a game.
- Aug 29, Saturday, 2:00 PM — Savor High Point: Around the World in a Bite at 220 E Commerce Avenue. The premise is what it sounds like: a walking tasting across a handful of downtown kitchens. It is the closest thing High Point has to a proper food festival, and it is designed for people who already live here and want a reason to try three places they've been meaning to get to.
Between the two, plus a Rockers homestand or three, August effectively fills itself.
The building going up across from the stadium
Look across N. Elm from Truist Point and you will see the concrete work on Smitty and Pearl's, the mixed-use project set to finish in late 2026. The anchor is a restaurant of the same name, but the block is being pitched as a small entertainment district in itself: a tiki sports bar, a duckpin bowling alley, a VR arena, and an arcade, plus roughly 75 new jobs.
Business High Point CEO Rachel Collins has been direct about the theory of the case, which is that the ballpark, Congdon Yards, and Smitty and Pearl's together create enough "critical mass" for downtown to compound rather than plateau. Whether or not you buy the language, the practical effect for a resident is easy to picture. By this time next year, the walk from a Rockers game to a post-game drink and a bowling lane will be one block long.
The wildcard week: October 17–21
The biannual High Point Market returns October 17–21, and by the Market Authority's own count, it brings between 70,000 and 80,000 attendees from more than 100 countries into a city of roughly 115,000 people. About 1,500 brands exhibit across nearly 2,000 showrooms and 11.5 million square feet of space, most of it walkable from where the Rockers play.
For residents, Market week is the one stretch of the year where the downtown you know is technically not yours. Reservations at Earl's evaporate. Parking near Congdon Yards gets tight. The upside is that a lot of the buildings that normally sit closed to the public throw open their doors, and the design programming spilling out of showrooms is genuinely fun to wander if you are not chasing a wholesale account. Plan around it, not against it.
A late-summer Saturday, block by block
If you want a sample itinerary a current resident can actually use, here is one that assumes a Saturday home game:
- 4:00 PM — Coffee and a pastry at Lil's inside Congdon Yards. Walk the courtyard.
- 4:45 PM — Browse Fox & Rocks. If you're staying for a cocktail, this is the time.
- 5:45 PM — Early dinner at Stock+Grain Assembly. It is faster than sit-down and the group can split up.
- 6:35 PM — First pitch at Truist Point. Fireworks if it's a Friday.
- 9:30 PM — Nightcap and dessert at Earl's Landing, which is usually calmer late than early.
Five stops, all under a mile of walking, all opened or renovated in the last five years.
Why any of this matters if you already live here
The through-line in all of it is that downtown High Point is no longer a single-destination district. For a long time, going downtown meant going to one place: the ballpark, or the theatre, or a specific restaurant. You went, you left. The compounding effect of the last five years is that the trip finally justifies itself as a trip. You can string an evening together the way people do in Winston-Salem or Greensboro, and you can do it on foot.
That is a real change in the daily texture of living here, and it is worth using while the density is still fresh enough that you can get a table.
If you are thinking about buying, selling, or simply want to talk about what these downtown changes mean for property in your part of High Point, Melanie Pipes is a Navy veteran, Keller Williams REALTOR®, and longtime Triad resident who works with veterans, first-time buyers, and move-up families across High Point, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. Schedule a Free Consultation and get straight answers from someone who knows these blocks.
