Greensboro vs. Durham--which is truly NC's 3rd City?? (Charlotte, Raleigh: 2013, unemployment rate)
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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I think most people would rank the metros, rather than the individual cities (1. Charlotte 2. Triangle 3. Triad) And in that vein, the logical conclusion would be Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro. Unfortunately, Durham suffers from Philadelphia syndrome. A smaller city closer to a bigger one that often gets overlooked even though it has its own identity.
But I do agree with you, Greensboro was a big letdown for me. I visited it for the first time in 1998, and was excited to see it, thinking it would be a charming small city that I might want to move to. Instead, I saw sprawl and an uninspiring downtown. I have been visiting it ever since, and it still has never charmed me, even with all of its growth. But my mother-in-law loved living in Greensboro as did my husband. I just don't get it. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I will say that the people in Greensboro are very friendly.
Durham is a cooler city with more going on than Greensboro. I live in Durham, I would personally not live in Greensboro.
However
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A smaller city closer to a bigger one that often gets overlooked even though it has its own identity.
This is true. Durham has a harder time "standing alone" as a city because it is right next to Raleigh and people that don't live here tend to group them together.
Greensboro stands as the premiere city of the Triad region.
North Carolina has so many great places to call home...
...more than 80 percent of NC is rural. Just FYI.
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Originally Posted by Atony
Greensboro stands as the premiere city of the Triad region.
that has to be taken into account. I think it's still a toss up, but Durham is slowly starting to eclipse Greensboro, especially with the Raleigh option so close. It's tough to view Durham as a standalone tho.
My vote is for Greensboro. You came to some pretty definitive conclusions for only a 2 day stay. Not to say that your observations aren't valid, but I think its hard to get an idea of a whole city in such a short time. Few dining options? Compared to Durham? I checked city data for number of full service restaurants in both cities and these are the results:
Number of full-service restaurants:
Greensboro: 416
Durham: 197
I know Durham has a great foodie scene but if these numbers are accurate its hard to say Durham beats Greensboro in dining options.
Greensboro is the bigger city with maybe 50k residents. That's not all THAT significant, but if you factor in MSA which is a more accurate IMO indicator, Greensboro - High Point has 736,065 residents to Durham - chapel HIll's 542,710. That's pretty significant. Keep in mind Greensboro's numbers are from 2010 where as Durham's are 2014 (per wikipedia). Greensboro is also denser.
I think your expectations may have played a part in your disappointment, ie: if you new nothing about Greensboro at all, maybe you would have experienced it differently. I personally think Greensboro is generally nicer. One thing, I rarely see brought up on this bored as it relates to Durham is crime. I worked in Chapel Hill a couple years ago and whenever Durham was mentioned by locals, it was usually in a less than endearing way. Shootings and killings always dominated the news.
Here is a story from wral about how Durham's homicide rate nearly DOUBLED from 2014 to 2015. So not only is crime bad there, its getting worse.
I don't dislike Durham. I'd say it currently has more "momentum" than Greensboro and could overtake the 'Boro definitively in years to come. But I don't think its there now.
I know Durham has a great foodie scene but if these numbers are accurate its hard to say Durham beats Greensboro in dining options.
The Durham food scene is noticeably stronger than the Greensboro food scene IMO. I mean these awards can be silly, but there is a reason Durham won that "tastiest town in the South" thng while Greensboro is not part of those conversations.
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I worked in Chapel Hill a couple years ago and whenever Durham was mentioned by locals, it was usually in a less than endearing way. So not only is crime bad there, its getting worse.
There are a lot of people who will trash Durham and yet they haven't hung out there in years and don't know the first thing about the city. Yes, for whatever reason 2015 had an oddly high amount of murders. But Durham's crime has been trending downwards for years (from 668 to 441 over 2001 to 2012) http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...-Carolina.html.
And gang related murders in East Durham honestly doesn't effect a lot Durham residents or people visiting the city, even the article you quoted pointed out how it is the story of two Durhams. Not saying there aren't issues to be worked out, but the "Durham is so dangerous!" line is silly to people who actually live here.
I chose Durham simply because I like Durham more. I've never been to Durham and I have been to Greensboro (a few years ago). I'll visit both in 2 weeks. Maybe my opinion will change?
My brother lived in south Durham in 2005 and he told me downtown was a dangerous area. He has lived in several cities and Durham's downtown is the only one he has never taken me to.
Durham has always seemed like a bedroom community for RTP to me, and obviously where Duke is. Durham probably is top 3 place in the state to live due to the proximity of RTP and one of the nicest malls with Southpoint and halfway b/t Raleigh and CH. and the mountains and beach.
I would rank it behind Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville, Greensboro, WS, Southern Pines / Pinehurst, Chapel Hill, Boone as far as downtown goes.
My brother lived in south Durham in 2005 and he told me downtown was a dangerous area. He has lived in several cities and Durham's downtown is the only one he has never taken me to. I would rank it behind Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville, Greensboro, WS, Southern Pines / Pinehurst, Chapel Hill, Boone as far as downtown goes.
Wait, so you are saying this and you have never been to downtown Durham?
While I don't want to disrespect your bother, it's not even a relevant opinion because downtown Durham in 2016 doesn't even resemble downtown Durham of 2005. I moved here in 2010 and live in the downtown area and even in that time it is staggering how different this city is now from when I moved here.
Come check it out yourself, there is a very lively social scene here. It is not a sleepy bedroom community at all.
Which city I prefer Durham. NC's 3rd city Greensboro. I've been to both many times. Greensboro seem to stand more on its own. I know this will offend some people,sorry in advance. Durham will never truly stand on its own. It's just too close to Raleigh. While Greensboro,at least IMO will always be the top city in the Triad area.
Charlotte,Raleigh,Greensboro,Durham,Winston-Salem. NC Top 5 IMO.
As a earlier posted pointed out. A more accurate measurement would be to rank metros. Not even going there
Population isn't everything but Durham is currently projected to pass Greensboro in population in 2022 and become North Carolina's third largest city.
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