Businesses find Chapel Hill no haven (Durham, Hillsborough: rent, student loans, houses)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Chapel Hill may be Blue Heaven to students at UNC, but it's no
haven for businesses.
Many have fled the town because of its high property values,
taxes and rents.
Last year's town election featured a slate of pro-business candidates for mayor and town council. All but one lost. Seems there are some in Chapel Hill who like it just the way it is. (I'm not one of them.)
From the article:
"That nice big building on Page Road would look nice in Orange County," said Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, "in the right place."
I think that building would look fantastic pretty much anywhere in Orange Country. Franklin Street or downtown Hillsborough might be the only exceptions. Beautiful construction.
I'm also one who'd prefer Chapel Hill become a little less hostile to development and business. So many people around here want to have their cake and eat it too as the saying goes...
I do find it a bit ironic that orange county is so anti-big box/national store. They consider it bad for local economy and environment. So, instead the big box stores are opened right outside of the county (in pretty much every direction). So, a large percentage of the Orange County residents drive to the big box stores outside the county. Ultimately making it worse for the local economy and environment.
I do find it a bit ironic that orange county is so anti-big box/national store. They consider it bad for local economy and environment. So, instead the big box stores are opened right outside of the county (in pretty much every direction). So, a large percentage of the Orange County residents drive to the big box stores outside the county. Ultimately making it worse for the local economy and environment.
Layer on top of that Chapel Hill's aversion to the automobile. Makes one wonder, doesn't it?
Rhode Island (where I moved from last year) had a similar problem on a different scale. You could tell when you crossed over the state line into Massachusetts because things changed immediately from abandoned warehouses to booming commercialism. I lived three years in Rhode Island, and I have a hard time coming up with anything I spent my money on inside the state besides rent and groceries. All my spending money went to Massachusetts.
RI has a shrinking population, thanks to it's lack of foresight. It's a shame, because it really should have a lot going for it. I don't believe Orange County's fate will be quite so tragic since we are talking a much smaller scale here, but I wonder what their answer will be for the lost revenue. They either need to bend a little or cross their fingers that its residents love living there enough to bear even higher taxes.
The over-reliance on individual property taxes is troubling. If businesses cannot be incented to come or stay in Chapel Hill/Orange Co., the burden will continue to grow for the individual.
The over-reliance on individual property taxes is troubling. If businesses cannot be incented to come or stay in Chapel Hill/Orange Co., the burden will continue to grow for the individual.
Right. And the individual will only take so much.
The schools are good for North Carolina, but they are decidedly average for the country as a whole, and certainly much worse than what I grew up with in the Midwest.
Basically, when it comes down to it, Chapel Hill is governed by people who mistakenly believe that the university represents real economic activity. It does not. It is merely an economy of subsidies from the state, the federal government (through student loans) and through parents who live elsewhere. Take away those subsidies, which is quite likely given how bleak the financial future for higher education looks in this country, and you've got a very bad situation coming to Chapel Hill.
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