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In terms of housing, the feel, things to do, appearance, the people who live there, greenspace, highrises/urban development, etc. etc.
i know durham has the colleges, but beyond that.
i'm 25 and liberal and gonna be married (i dont care about the schools right now), looking for a small city feel, like portland, OR or worcester, MA sized, i guess.
thanks a lot for any help!
The main difference-the one that always comes to my mind first- is that Durham tries to be Li'l New York in terms of gangs and crimes. I moved to Durham for 8 months and quickly moved back to Raleigh. I have lived in Los Angeles and Las Vegas but Durham was the first city I was actually afraid to drive in.
The main difference-the one that always comes to my mind first- is that Durham tries to be Li'l New York in terms of gangs and crimes. I moved to Durham for 8 months and quickly moved back to Raleigh. I have lived in Los Angeles and Las Vegas but Durham was the first city I was actually afraid to drive in.
Completely and totally inaccurate and misleading. Perhaps a troll trying to flame.
I am so damn sick of typing the same things here over and over again that I rarely even respond to this nonsense anymore, but all I'll say to the OP is that I live in Durham and have never once been afraid to drive anywhere or live here - and I have lived in NYC and I went to college in Newark - and, once yet again, let me state that the majority of crime is confined to an area in East Durham that has gang issues.
Joeysmuneca, if you were afraid to drive in Durham then you probably are just afraid to drive in any city, or, you are afraid to drive in a place you might see black faces. At least be upfront about what you're really saying.
Completely and totally inaccurate and misleading. Perhaps a troll trying to flame.
I am so damn sick of typing the same things here over and over again that I rarely even respond to this nonsense anymore, but all I'll say to the OP is that I live in Durham and have never once been afraid to drive anywhere or live here - and I have lived in NYC and I went to college in Newark - and, once yet again, let me state that the majority of crime is confined to an area in East Durham that has gang issues.
Joeysmuneca, if you were afraid to drive in Durham then you probably are just afraid to drive in any city, or, you are afraid to drive in a place you might see black faces. At least be upfront about what you're really saying.
I agree...I drive and bike around Durham and never feel uncomfortable as I was raised in Roxbury, MA (urban neighborhood in Boston). But I am aware that anything can happen at any given moment no matter where you're at. I guess it all depends on where you're coming from and what you're used too...In my eyes, Durham has many extremes where if you drive one way you may see drugs being sold on a corner (mostly eastern sections of Durham), then you may see a beautiful neighborhood with a golf course, then beautiful farmland with horses and goats, all of a sudden you may be right in downtown with very nostalgic neighborhoods around it.
GLP - I moved from Worcester to Durham a few months ago, after living in the Worcester area for most of my life. The urban neighborhoods in Durham are far more liberal than Worcester. MA has gay marriage but Worcester's still a pretty conservative town. But the "far left" in Durham, like anywhere, can be closed-minded so expect some negative reaction when you express your libertarian views on guns!
I think there's a lot more vibrancy in Durham than there was in Worcester - more activism, and an engaged citizenship. As PDX implies, the city leadership in Durham isn't perfect, but the city is far ahead of Worcester in terms of revitalization. Check out the photo link that raleightransplant provided just above. (I hadn't seen those pictures in many months, and it's great to see them again now that I know my way around a little.) Worcester's Water Street area can only dream of being like Brightleaf Square or the American Tobacco district. Shrewsbury St. is fun but it's more spread out and not as hip as Durham's Ninth Street. Durham has old character that I like.
I can't really speak to Raleigh. But Raleigh and Durham are separate towns, and if you move here, you probably won't be saying "Raleigh-Durham" anymore!
Wow, it's weird to have someone on here talking about Shrewsbury Street (i live right off rt 9 in western shrewsbury, so RIGHT there for me...)
it's nice to have your take on the comparison, especially in reference to things i am so familiar with. for the record, i'm not a gun nut, i just can see both sides to some issues (some i can't, like why gay marriages are an issue at all). i think i'm going to have to check out chapell hill then, too. but i thought raleigh would be more exciting overall, but Durham looks and sounds so interesting.
and to another person who replied, i visited portland for about a week last year, and loved it, but i was a tourist in the early summer. ive gotten the sense that being a year-round resident is a different story.
I have been to Durham on bus for an interview at Duke University for a secy job and once again to Duke University for a secy job either. Neither I was hired but that's fine with me. I think it's horrible. As for the crime rate it's pretty high. Everytime I turn on the TV all I hear is durham, durham, durham. A poor lady who seemed very nice on TV was shot in the back of the head coming out of her vehicle. When you see the pic of her house it was in the middle of no where surrounded by nothing. I don't understand why people find being around nothing safer. I think it's depressing and solitude is not up my alley. However, different strokes for different folks. I am not here to argue with anyones preference. Cary seems to have a country feel to it most people consider safe and family oriented. Maybe that might be something you might want to consider. I am not much on opinions of where to live because I have only lived here five mths., and there are days I want to go back home to NY and quite frankly when I am able to afford it financially I will go home again.
I have been to Durham on bus for an interview at Duke University for a secy job and once again to Duke University for a secy job either. Neither I was hired but that's fine with me. I think it's horrible. As for the crime rate it's pretty high. Everytime I turn on the TV all I hear is durham, durham, durham.
That's funny, because when I turn on the news, all I hear is Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh. Some people want outsiders to think that all the crime takes place in Durham, but that simply isn't the case. Both Raleigh and Durham have their share of crime.
There are a lot of Durham residents on these boards who are all quite happy in our neighborhoods. We will honestly tell you that there are some shadier neighborhoods in east central Durham, but people in Raleigh will also tell you that there are parts of southeastern Raleigh that should be avoided. Does that mean that both towns should be completely discounted because of a couple of bad neighborhoods? Of course not.
I live in Durham in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood where people are always out walking their dogs, riding bikes, pushing baby strollers, etc. Obviously, the people here feel perfectly safe. That may not be the case in every single neighborhhod in the Triangle, but it's certainly the case in the high majority of neighborhoods ... even in Durham.
I don't think the crime stats tell the full story for either city. I feel very safe in the areas of Durham I go into (and I've branched out quite a bit since I first moved down here - I used to believe the hype as well). Sure, there are areas that are not great and no one is saying that gangs aren't an issued in Durham....but heck, they aren't exactly unknown in Raleigh either.
Last edited by Desdemona123; 12-30-2007 at 06:23 PM..
Reason: requested
That's funny, because when I turn on the news, all I hear is Raleigh Raleigh Raleigh. .
So true!! WRAL doesn't even include Durham on the map when they show the area temperatures! I swear they have ever other municipality on there. I stopped watching WRAL because it's all Raleigh all the time with a slight nod to Cary.
I wish I knew which station she was watching so I could get more Durham news.
While Durham isn't as bad as some make it out to be lets not act like it has less crime than Raleigh.
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