I'm at Ft Bragg now. I drive thru Pope everyday to get to work. The previous poster was correct - ton's of Army grunts here now, and with Ft McPherson in Atlanta closing and moving FORCCOM up here (think them moving the equivalent of a MAJCOM up here), 10 to 20,000 more grunts are moving up here. This will be the largest concentration of generals outside of the pentagon. They are building lots of buildings and will eventually close the portion of highway 87 (Bragg Blvd) that goes thru the middle of the base by the Stryker golf course to the general public.
Pope is slowly making the transition from active duty to reserve. Lots of the offices are blended now and in the next year or two all the active duty folks will be gone. From what I understand, 1xC-130 squadron will be a full up active duty unit under the OG - but I'm not 100% positive since I don't work or fly with those guys. I do see lots of C-17s here on Green ramp quite often.
Pope is small - no BX , clothing sales, or commissary. All that is on Bragg now (however Bragg has 2xcommissaries and 2xPX's). There is only a Shoppette, dry cleaners, and a Burger King. The golf course and driving range is closed and overran with weeds (closed UFN). Base housing is now open to the Army.
The town outside of Pope, Spring Lake is OK. Kind of run-down compared to most off base towns. Fayetteville is OK - lots of crime, lots of Army. The mall and all restaurants are packed on payday weekends.
I live about a 30 min drive north of Pope in a town called Sanford. This puts me about a 30 min drive from the base and 45 min drive from Cary and the southside of Raleigh.