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I might have to give you a typo-negative-point myself! "Indogoblue"??
Speaking of dogs...I just discovered that at some point I got a negative rep pt for saying large dogs around my children makes me nervous. How fun, I look forward to leaving comments with rep pts from now.
But to get back on topic - I <3 Durham And I agree with all of MrsSteel's points It's a city, and that's going to have pros and cons
Indigo, everyone on the "banning pitbulls in durham" that agreed with the proposal must have received a negative. Mine said "not helpful". LOL
If I missed this in this thread, my apologies but can ya get any land anywhere in Durham? I thought the parts of Durham that we drove through today looked every bit as "nice" as Raleigh.
We really wanted to find a place in Durham, but couldn't find something that suited our rather unusual needs. We need a house that will have room for inlaws, but not a basement dungeon. We finally found a house with everything we wanted in Raleigh. We've pretty well decided that most of our socializing and hanging-out will be in Durham.
Perhaps when our situation changes in a few years, we'll move to the Bull City.
This is a great and interesting discussion... thanks everyone!
Some thoughts on the numbers issue -- crime stats, etc. This is an important thing for a lot of people. IMHO, it's important for the same kind of folks who are looking for Brier Creek-like areas... "new," suburban, lots of big box shopping, new development houses, etc.
I think there's lots of folks who've moved between metro areas, always living in places like Cary, or Plano, or Altamonte Springs, or Natick, or Long Island. Wanting to be a commuting distance to jobs, but not wanting to live 'inside' a city with its perceived problems and issues.
From the perspective of those individuals, I don't expect there's any way they'd ever want to look at Durham. (Though as some have noted, areas like Woodcroft and Parkwood are pretty darned suburban.) If pressed, most wouldn't want to live in ITB Raleigh either -- not due to crime, but because of density, parallel parking, etc.
But the key is, that kind of new-development lifestyle isn't what everyone's looking for. My wife and I are used to living in cities; we've both lived in rural and suburban areas before, and we strongly prefer an urban lifestyle. If we ever moved back to Boston, we wouldn't move outside Route 128, and we'd probably live in the city if we could.
For us, the part of Durham we live in (Trinity Park) is perfect for our lifestyle. We have great neighbors, a gorgeous tree canopy, and beautiful old houses. Plus fine dining and entertainment in walking distance, and a greenway trail just two blocks away that runs to Southpoint.
It's not for everyone -- but as folks have pointed out on this thread, neither is Cary, Brier Creek, Knightdale, or Fuquay-Varina.
The murder rate for 2007 seems to be on the increase. I was saddened to learn of an innocent 15 year old's murder, killed while trying to protect his young cousins, newsobserver.com | 'Thoughtful and caring' teen buried (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/durham/story/626245.html - broken link). This brings the number of murders in Durham to 11 so far this year. 4 murders have been in the last week, newsobserver.com | Durham endures its fourth killing in a week. I like Durham and would gladly live in parts of it, but it is saddening to read of these crimes.
What happened to Quincy is very very sad I hope they are able to find who did it soon. They did find the car involved. Reading about murders that are not between people who know each other (as far as we know) always put me on edge. Sadly, it can happen anywhere, though of course your odds will increase if you're standing in certain areas. Another crime that seemed completely random and was very heartbreaking was the pregnant lady killed in Raleigh. Did they ever get more info on who was responsible? I was especially sad to read that North Carolina doesn't consider unborn babies victims so whoever was responsible will only be tried for her murder.
It does seem as though the Durham murder rate this year is going to end up being closer to 2005's (35) than 2006's (15). It was however the the higher 2005 stats that were a part of the violent crime city comparison in my original post. It'll be a pity if 2006's numbers were not a part of a permanent downward trend.
It makes you wonder what was behind last year's very low murder rate. Were weapons more difficult to access? Were police in the right place at the right time more often? And why four murders in eight days? It seems completely random, especially given there were only seven in the first half of the year.
If I missed this in this thread, my apologies but can ya get any land anywhere in Durham? I thought the parts of Durham that we drove through today looked every bit as "nice" as Raleigh.
Have you done any searches at the real estate websites on-line? I just went to realtor.com and, using the advanced search function, I found 206 pieces of land for sale in Durham.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bull City Rising
But the key is, that kind of new-development lifestyle isn't what everyone's looking for. My wife and I are used to living in cities; we've both lived in rural and suburban areas before, and we strongly prefer an urban lifestyle. If we ever moved back to Boston, we wouldn't move outside Route 128, and we'd probably live in the city if we could.
I totally understand where you're coming from, BCR. Woodcroft is really about as suburban as we like to be. My husband and I have lived in the heart of a few cities in the 5 short years we've known one another. I especially loved our neighborhoods in the two cities where we lived in England because everything was so close. We walked to grocery stores, restaurants, the park, the library, everything (my husband's office was just 2 blocks away, making it even more perfect). Once in a while we might take a bus or the train to visit other areas, but we were very content in our own area. We didn't own a car & I barely missed it.
Now we've been here in the states for a few years. In that time, we've lived in two different states under a total of five different roofs (that's if you count the month we lived in a furnished apartment in Chapel Hill). We've lived in the city center where we were surrounded by friends & restaurants and we've also lived out in the boonies where the closest grocery store was 6 miles away. There are pros and cons to both lifestyles. Woodcroft is our way of finding a happy medium. I might not have a gourmet grocer across the street from my front door anymore, but at least everything we need is within 4 miles of our front door. That's an important factor in our personal quality of life.
The negativity towards Durham feels more and more ridicuous the longer we live here. For example - the comment about how the city is piecey with quick transitions from industrial to urban to suburban?? I suppose you could maybe argue the downtown has an industrial feel with some of the tobacco warehouses but that's part of the charm of it and they are all being converted to lofts/offices/retail... I suspect that a lot of the people saying they don't like how Durham looks are just like my husband who had only seen the industrial section around RTP - that is the only industrial area I've seen (and I've driven over a lot of Durham) though I might have missed another? And the suburban areas are huge, subdivision after subdivision after subdivision throughout the city, and the only breaks in them are for shopping.
My area (Hope Valley/Southpoint) has particularly awesome shopping In fact I recently looked on a map b/c I get whiny when I have to go to Lowe's b/c it's soooo far away (Home Depot is much closer but I like Lowe's better). It's the furthest I have to travel for any store. It's 3 miles away! I've gotten so spoiled Now I enjoy driving any distance for entertainment purposes, but I like my shopping near me
On Monday we went to Durham's Museum of Life and Science with welovedurham and her kiddos - NCMLS Museum of Life and Science - and WOW I was SO impressed. It was absolutely amazing and we only saw a fraction of it. I've been to children's museums in many large cities both in and outside of the US and Durham's is definitely one of the best. We were there for five hours and didn't get to enjoy everything there was to do and see. My boys usually get tired after a couple of hours no matter where we are or what we're doing and ask to go home, but I was the one who wanted to go home in the end b/c I was so exhausted (a lot of it is outdoors and it was a 97 degrees day). It is well worth the drive for those of you in other areas of the triangle, and visitors checking out the area should definitely go for a break for the children. I haven't been yet but I'm told Edison Johnson park next door has a large outdoor sprinkler play area that would prob be great to visit afterwards to cool off
Quote:
Originally Posted by kbutler
Thanks Indigoblue,
I am so glad you posted this thread, I am moving to durham in 3 months, and I feel the same way.
Durham's city government tends to coddle criminals. Violent repeat offenders are released on bail/probation to continue their career of crime.
There have been numerous high-profile incidents including shots fired at DATA public buses.
Crime isn't everywhere in Durham, but the image is perpetuated by a city government that seems to be way too soft on gang members and career felons.
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And I agree with all of MrsSteel's points 
It's a city, and that's going to have pros and cons 
I hope they are able to find who did it soon. They did find the car involved. Reading about murders that are not between people who know each other (as far as we know) always put me on edge. Sadly, it can happen anywhere, though of course your odds will increase if you're standing in certain areas. Another crime that seemed completely random and was very heartbreaking was the pregnant lady killed in Raleigh. Did they ever get more info on who was responsible? I was especially sad to read that North Carolina doesn't consider unborn babies victims so whoever was responsible will only be tried for her murder.
In fact I recently looked on a map b/c I get whiny when I have to go to Lowe's b/c it's soooo far away (Home Depot is much closer but I like Lowe's better). It's the furthest I have to travel for any store. It's 3 miles away! I've gotten so spoiled 
