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Okay...so I am going to take exception with this over-generalization.
First of all, there isn't anything in the Triangle that is truly urban in the way that Chicago city neighborhoods are. That said, each of the 3 named cities in the Triangle has a major university and the area around each affords a level of foot traffic as one would expect. This phenom is probably most noticeable in Chapel Hil where the university community completely dominates the small city's (~50,000) culture. As for Durham, it has grown much more slowly than Raleigh over the past 4 decades so it has much less suburban development on its edges. Frankly, without Duke near its core, Durham would have tumbleweeds blowing through downtown. But, because of Duke, the city has had success with redevelopment of the American Tobacco Campus and Brightleaf Square. Ninth St. has long been the epicenter of student culture and remains a vibrant place. The majority of the VERY suburban Research Triangle Park is located in Durham county and borders Durham's Southeastern city limits but it has never really ignited development beyond more edge city office parks, strip malls and subdivisions. The development that Durham residents like to tout is the Cary-like suburban development at Southpoint.
Wake Co. (Raleigh, et al) has long since been the epicenter of the Triangle's growth and continues on that path. Yes. There's tons of suburban development on its edges but there's change in the air: especially in Raleigh. As the city absorbed land and new residents at one of the fastest clips in the country for decades, its city center and older areas have quietly been busy upgrading and establishing their next role in the city's history. Areas like North Hills and Crabtree that were once considered the edge of the city are rapidly being reinvisioned as denser urban "midtown" centers. The 5 branded downtown districts are developing rapidly with housing, business and entertainment options that would surprise the folks who never come downtown but spend all their time talking about how nothing is there. While the weekdays are still slower, the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night scenes are truly hopping. In particular, the Glenwood South neighborhood is rapidly becoming the Triangle's only urban neighborhood that has emerged without being striclty influenced by a university. Hundreds of Urban condos have been completed in the last few years and hundreds more are about to come online. A new urban apartment complex is also under construction there to provide housing to those who are young or just choose not to own. The area is the epicenter of Raleigh nightlife. To the East of Glenwood South, The Blount St. Commons project is reimagining an urban neighborhood adjacent to the State's Government area. Blount Street Commons - Raleigh, NC The next step is to bring more retail into the area so that it can realize its potential as an urban neighborhood.
The Warehouse District also continues to add housing with 2 new projects under construction. Its potential is huge with acres of old warehouse buildings and its proximity to the existing rail lines proposed for a light rail system.
As a wrap up, Raleigh is much larger than Durham and Chapel Hill put together. Its options are greater and it doesn't have one identity. While much of its edges are politically more conservative (as typical around the country), its center is much more politically progressive. It's also home to a famous Baptist Church that got tossed from the Southern Baptist Convention almost 2 decades ago for blessing same sex unions. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Here are some other links: Downtown Raleigh Alliance :: Welcome
City of Raleigh | Raleigh-Cary Climb In Annual Economic Study (http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_411_208_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/news/public/News-PubAff-Raleigh_Cary_Climb_In_An-20080915-16235195.html - broken link)
Livable Streets - Raleigh Downtown (http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_200_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/project/public/livable_streets/index.htm - broken link)
I don't recall Old North Durham, the American Tobacco District or even some of Brightleaf being influenced by Duke University. Durham is much more urban than Raleigh, with most of the surrounding downtown neighborhoods being so. Durham is a city with a couple of universities in it, not a college town. Ninth St. is much more townie than Franklin St. (something that Hillsborough St. tries to aspire to but ultimately fails). Glenwood South is a cheesy name that is apporpriate for what's springing up in that area.
Iam a 25 yrs old and iam also considering the big move in a couple of years raleigh was also one of my choices, but iam still researching. iam also from chicago. and although i do love chicago iam tierd of it and want to try something new. the first thing i want to change is the weather!!!!! iam tierd of the cold weather..........and sorry off subject iam new to this site how do u start a new thread??
Iam a 25 yrs old and iam also considering the big move in a couple of years raleigh was also one of my choices, but iam still researching. iam also from chicago. and although i do love chicago iam tierd of it and want to try something new. the first thing i want to change is the weather!!!!! iam tierd of the cold weather..........and sorry off subject iam new to this site how do u start a new thread??
Last I checked there is snow, just not a whole lot of it...
We DO get snow, I promise, but the last 3-4 winters have been really sparse. In 2000, we got 20 inches, which shut down the city for a week, but that, too, is an anamoly. "Regular" winters before the 2000s would usually see 2 "significant" snowfalls, (bearing in mind that "significant" is relative and for this area means 3-6 inches, enough to close schools for 2-3 days), typically one in January and one in February on average. December snow is rare; I am 45 and have NEVER seen a White Christmas, since the one year Raleigh had one, 1989, I spent Christmas somewhere else!). Dustings of snow happen about 4-5 times a year, but often don't affect anything, even our terrified-of-snow drivers.
Of course, there is the infamous half-inch of snow in January, 2005 that caused the whole area to gridlock for hours, because EVERYONE left work/school at the same time, but this was more a traffic problem than a weather problem. Any day of the year you have a whole metro area on the road at the same time, that'll happen.
We natives love snow, all the more since it's become rare, and we are usually happy with our little 3-4" snowfalls. But, I know those of you from the North probably don't even really consider that "snow" and probably go outside in sandals ;-)
Hey, Francois, I remember the day we got snow in New Orleans.
Everyone was totally beyond belief. Me and the kids were eating at Mickey Dees. We gathered some snow in cups, rushed home, and threw snowballs at my wife,
I too moved from the Chicago suburbs to Raleigh in 2006 for the same reasons you and all the other Chicagoans listed.
For the most part, I really enjoyed it. I was in my mid-twenties and never had a problem finding things to do. We would usually head down to Glenwood South in Raleigh and on many occasions we took the short 15-20 minute drive over to CH or Durham when more exciting events were being held there. To me, the area WAS like living in the suburbs of Chicago. Maybe one of the more "urbanish" 'burbs like Naperville, Oak Park or Evanston, but definitely a more suburban feel. Therefore, if you're looking to live in the suburbs - Raleigh is the place for you!
The only thing I didn't love was the lack of public transit. My boyfriend worked in RTP and his commute was a pain. I never understood why the cities of Durham/CH/and Raleigh didn't plan a train sytem that; at the very least would connect downtown Raleigh with RTP. Nothing elaborate: even a shuttle-like service to connect the main points would help create a more urban downtown raleigh (many young professional work in RTP - you will see if you don't already know that). Oh well, I live in Portland now and love the transportation options. I guess there's a place for everyone.
Good luck with your move.
P.S. The weather there is the BEST! Just crank up the AC in June July and August; the other 9 months are perfect.
Youll love it here, traffic can be bad depending where youre going at what time, but not worse than Chicago! I just moved here from Michigan and hung out ALOT in Chicago, all over but mainly the Mag Mile, (yes i love shopping), when they say jobs dont pay, it depends what you do and what youre looking for. Youll deff see its a lower cost city to live in than Chicago, we almost chose there instead of here and I can happily say WE LOVE IT! Im from Cali where the traffic is ridiculous, you pretty much are at a full stop in one spot for over 20 minutes, here its not like that but yes, can get bad. I drove my husband to work at Duke University and I think it took us 10 minutes to get from 40 onto 147, due to cars backed up. But thats nothing to actually worry about, I mean traffic isnt a reason to not move somewhere, altho southern cali it can deff keep you from moving there lol
Youll love it here, people are actually polite! Not the fake polite but genuine and nice. Not to mention its gorgeous here!
I don't recall Old North Durham, the American Tobacco District or even some of Brightleaf being influenced by Duke University. Durham is much more urban than Raleigh, with most of the surrounding downtown neighborhoods being so. Durham is a city with a couple of universities in it, not a college town. Ninth St. is much more townie than Franklin St. (something that Hillsborough St. tries to aspire to but ultimately fails). Glenwood South is a cheesy name that is apporpriate for what's springing up in that area.
I stand by my original post. Without Duke, DT Durham would have died after the collapse of its local tobacco industry. I will never believe anyone that tells me that the university isn't the single biggest influence to development on the Western side of Downtown Durham. I don't say this as if this is a bad thing. Durham should be very happy and proud to have such a huge influencer like Duke near its core.
As for the comment about Glenwood South. I'll need more information why you think the name is cheesy. After all, the name is derived from the fact that the neighborhood's main artery is the very South end of Glenwood Ave. It sure makes sense to me. Using your logic, do you think that "The American Tobacco Historic District" seems just as cheesy?" If you want to talk cheesy, how about Triangle Town Center? It's nowhere near a "town": on the NE edge of Raleigh. There's nothing central about it while its name evokes an image that it's somehow an urban landscape. IMO, Triangle Town Center is surpassed in cheesiness by Cary Towne Center, whose name adds an "e" to the end of Town(e) but uses the "American" spelling of Center(re).
Your point about Hillsborough St. just strengthens my point that Raleigh isn't a city that is strictly influenced by its university. I think the area needs a ton of work and investment but its fate was sealed years ago when yuppies started buying up the neighborhood to its immediate north and simultaneously converted many student rooming houses into single family residences while complaining about noise from the university students along the strip. Students and businesses slowly abandoned the strip in the face of this hostility from these new neighbors.
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just want to know
