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I recently moved here from Arkansas. Before considering moving here I had only driven through the area once on the way to the Outer Banks. I was always aware of the area as Raleigh-Durham or Raleigh and Durham individually. I was aware that there was a place in the area called Research Triangle Park. I did not have any idea that the area was referred to as the Triangle. If I had told people back in Arkansas that I was moving to the Triangle I would have gotten nothing but blank stares.
I voted "Triangle," but when speaking to people from out of town, I'll usually use Raleigh-Durham as the main descriptor and then specifically say "I live in Durham", but this might stem from having to try to explain where I grew up in NY.
When I first moved out of WNY, I'd say I was originally from "Western New York" but that seemed confusing to many people, like I was from the western part of Manhattan. Since then, I've switched to Buffalo, which works for most people, and if they have knowledge of the area, I'll go in more specifically about how I'm from Jamestown (about an hour and a half south of Buffalo).
It's all about providing further details to those that have context of an area -- without any context of an area, it doesn't really matter.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greg5green
I also like the choice of Raleigh + Durham.
I voted "Triangle," but when speaking to people from out of town, I'll usually use Raleigh-Durham as the main descriptor and then specifically say "I live in Durham", but this might stem from having to try to explain where I grew up in NY.
When I first moved out of WNY, I'd say I was originally from "Western New York" but that seemed confusing to many people, like I was from the western part of Manhattan. Since then, I've switched to Buffalo, which works for most people, and if they have knowledge of the area, I'll go in more specifically about how I'm from Jamestown (about an hour and a half south of Buffalo).
It's all about providing further details to those that have context of an area -- without any context of an area, it doesn't really matter.
See, I'd say, "Oh Jamestown, New York, home of Lucille Ball." Doesn't everyone know that?
I recently moved here from Arkansas. Before considering moving here I had only driven through the area once on the way to the Outer Banks. I was always aware of the area as Raleigh-Durham or Raleigh and Durham individually. I was aware that there was a place in the area called Research Triangle Park. I did not have any idea that the area was referred to as the Triangle. If I had told people back in Arkansas that I was moving to the Triangle I would have gotten nothing but blank stares.
The sense of this really comes down to what you feel about Chapel Hill.
I mean why rep Durham at all why not say just raleigh?
Arguably Chapel Hill has a higher national profile than Durham with the school
My .02 we are moving toward some sort of twin city situation where Durham and Chapel Hill coalesce
The sense of this really comes down to what you feel about Chapel Hill.
I mean why rep Durham at all why not say just raleigh?
Arguably Chapel Hill has a higher national profile than Durham with the school
My .02 we are moving toward some sort of twin city situation where Durham and Chapel Hill coalesce
I’m from raleigh - Chapel Hill XD
Durham and Chapel Hill already "coalesce" pretty well from how I see it. I'd bet that most Durhamites spend more time in Chapel Hill than they do in Raleigh. Cary/Apex/Morrisville folks seem to make their way to both cities pretty regularly. Raleigh is a little more insular and has that "Raleigh-only" sentiment spreading IMO.
Either Wake, Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties have always felt interconnected and part of a the same metro region to me. Chatham if not just for having spillover from Cary/Apex and Chapel Hill as well as containing Jordan Lake.
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is a mouth-full (though not as much as "Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point"...yikes!) but leaving Chapel Hill off in the Raleigh-Durham moniker just doesn't seem right for the above reasons as well as through historical context.
RTP for me. Since my company has campuses in several states we are known by the location. I then have to further state that RTP is near Raleigh to help dial folks in a bit better. For family and old friends, it's simply "right outside of Raleigh" since Durham and Chapel Hill are meaningless to them.
I like "Raleigh + Durham" too. It gets at the geographic proximity without seeming like they're the same place.
Kind of also reminds me of the "Dunn/Coats/Erwin" grouping. I'm not from there but I wonder how people who are feel about them being all lumped together.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pierretong1991
I would say Midtown is anything south of Millbrook. I'm fine with Midtown because I think North Raleigh is too large of an area to be clumped into one name.
I agree that North Raleigh is a huge area and needs to be diced up some how for understand-ablilty, and since my usual go-tos of "way North Raleigh" or "North Raleigh but not that far north" obviously don't work that well. I'll say Midtown on the 10th of never (as I previously stated) but "North Hills" is geographically squishy in my mind and is basically anything north of 440 and south of Millbrook with about a 3/4 mile buffer around Six Forks Rd but doesn't have super defined boundaries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by michgc
I tell people I live in North Carolina, near Raleigh. It's what most people will have heard of. If the person is familiar with the Raleigh area then I go on to say I live in Chapel Hill.
Growing up in Fuquay-Varina a few decades ago I almost always said "Raleigh" when asked where I was from by people who didn't live in NC or even central NC. Even now I do the same when those people ask me where I grew up. If someone is familiar with The Triangle and its specific towns I'll usually start with Raleigh, then Southern Wake Co., then finally specify Fuquay-Varina if they seem to know what the heck I'm talking about.
I agree that North Raleigh is a huge area and needs to be diced up some how for understand-ablilty, and since my usual go-tos of "way North Raleigh" or "North Raleigh but not that far north" obviously don't work that well. I'll say Midtown on the 10th of never (as I previously stated) but "North Hills" is geographically squishy in my mind and is basically anything north of 440 and south of Millbrook with about a 3/4 mile buffer around Six Forks Rd but doesn't have super defined boundaries.
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In my mind, it's south of Millbrook, east of Lead Mine, west of Wake Forest/Atlantic, and north of Crabtree Creek.
I really hope nobody ever forces it to be a "thing."
I cannot stand "Midtown" for "North Hills."
Sounds pretentious. LOL.
I agree. I still call the entire area North Hills. Take solace that it's not as pretentious as Uptown.
There still isn't a universal understanding of the Triangle moniker, with or without the word research. That said, its recognition is growing from my informal observation. As Raleigh continues to grow larger, I do think that it's becoming more and more recognizable as the core of the Triangle area. Much to the obvious chagrin of the other two points of the triangle, I'm hearing people call the entire area "Raleigh".
Raleigh-Durham is still recognized by many people but some people still confuse it as a singular city like Winston-Salem. This one needs to die because it's very confusing.
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