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The continued attention paid to Durham is flattering - especially when Durham is ranked #4 on the list of the Top 100 Places in the US to live and visit by Livability.com. The national website ranks quality-of-life amenities in America’s small and mid-sized cities. Durham ranked most highly for health care and amenities.
"The things that make Durham rank high in quality of life indices are some of the same things that make Durham a great place to visit," said Shelly Green, President and CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, the organization that markets Durham. "Things like great dining, shopping, arts and cultural opportunities, as well as abundant natural recreation areas, raise the experience bar for everyone," Green added.
In 2012 Durham welcomed 9 million visitors who took advantage of these things and many others.
According to the website, the data collected for the ranking were weighted based on an exclusive survey conducted for Livability by Ipsos Public Affairs, a leading global market research firm. Respondents were asked about factors that make their communities better places to live, as well as the factors they would consider in selecting another city. Those factors were narrowed down to eight categories – economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and healthcare – that were then used to determine each city’s LivScore. See the entire list on their website.
To produce its inaugural list of Top 100 Best Places to Live and Visit, Livability.com partnered with Richard Florida’s Martin Prosperity Institute, the world's leading think tank on the role of location, place, and city-regions in global economic prosperity. A months-long study of more than 1,700 U.S. cities and the factors that make them the best places to live, work and play was conducted. Florida also ranked Durham as having the highest percentage of creative-class jobs in the US.
See all the ways Durham is ranked highly on this online.
I find that hard to believe if not impossible. You can live outside Durham in the RTP and have access to the same healthcare, restaurants, shopping with probably better schools and less crime. I'll bet Duke wishes that they had spent some money in the 1970's so Durham outside West Campus would not look like a slum.
I find that hard to believe if not impossible. You can live outside Durham in the RTP and have access to the same healthcare, restaurants, shopping with probably better schools and less crime. I'll bet Duke wishes that they had spent some money in the 1970's so Durham outside West Campus would not look like a slum.
I'm not sure which I find more of in this comment: ignorance or insult.
Recognize that many of us have invested significantly in Durham, love it here, and find it a great place to live. And, no, you can't get "the same" shopping and restaurants in, say, Holly Springs or Clayton or Wake Forest that you get in either Durham or Raleigh.
Why? If the demand was there for locally-owned shops with great selection, restaurants with award-winning foods, or fine entertainment, you'd see those in the suburbs. Chain stores go where they go for a reason. Non-chain, locally-owned options go where they go for a reason.
Yes, plenty of people drive in from the suburbs to Durham and Raleigh to eat dinner. Nobody drives from Durham and Raleigh to Holly Springs for any shopping or dining to speak of.
If you didn't have strong (or revitalizing) neighborhoods in Durham and Raleigh, you wouldn't have the base of demand that supports those institutions day in and day out.
I have no problem with people having preferences not to live in a city. I do take great offense to people calling the place where I have made my home (and invested very significantly in the same) a "slum."
Sounds to me like you haven't spent enough time here -- or that you have no appreciation for what city life in the Triangle is actually like -- to feel that way.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I find it intersting to compare #70 Chapel Hill to #4 Durham. I wonder how Durham's healthcare received a score of 78 and Chapel Hill got a 49. Health Care is "Access to hospitals and average spending on health care and related items." I would think those numbers would be a lot closer together since we're in the same region.
I'm not sure which I find more of in this comment: ignorance or insult.
Recognize that many of us have invested significantly in Durham, love it here, and find it a great place to live. And, no, you can't get "the same" shopping and restaurants in, say, Holly Springs or Clayton or Wake Forest that you get in either Durham or Raleigh.
Why? If the demand was there for locally-owned shops with great selection, restaurants with award-winning foods, or fine entertainment, you'd see those in the suburbs. Chain stores go where they go for a reason. Non-chain, locally-owned options go where they go for a reason.
Yes, plenty of people drive in from the suburbs to Durham and Raleigh to eat dinner. Nobody drives from Durham and Raleigh to Holly Springs for any shopping or dining to speak of.
If you didn't have strong (or revitalizing) neighborhoods in Durham and Raleigh, you wouldn't have the base of demand that supports those institutions day in and day out.
I have no problem with people having preferences not to live in a city. I do take great offense to people calling the place where I have made my home (and invested very significantly in the same) a "slum."
Sounds to me like you haven't spent enough time here -- or that you have no appreciation for what city life in the Triangle is actually like -- to feel that way.
Given the past tense, may I ask how long since you lived here? (Durham was a far less desirable place ten or twenty years ago -- but places also change.)
I can't believe the hate in this thread! WOW! If Raleigh is your preference than fine. I find it hard to believe that on this forum people think there is a MAJOR difference between the 2 cities, given their proximinity. I've lived in both places. JMO!
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