When we lived in Minnesota, we started out in the first-ring suburb of Roseville, just outside St. Paul. Three years later, we moved a few blocks south, into St. Paul proper. St. Paul always had a "second-class city" reputation compared to Minneapolis. Mpls was the gleaming big city with the skyscrapers and the hip urban scene. Mpls liked to be known as a "big city." St. Paul was indeed smaller (by around 100,000 people in the city limits but a bigger discrepancy once you counted the suburbs) and did not have the tall buildings. Instead, it had domed cathedrals, a great science museum, and old brick homes. In my opinion, St. Paul had much more charm, and I liked it much better. I felt safe and at home there.
I feel the same way about Durham. Our neighbor to the east, the State Capital of Raleigh, likes to think of itself as the big city. (Even though, trust me, it's really not.) Raleigh likes to compare itself to Charlotte, to think of itself as important, to boast of its skyline. (Again, I've lived around big cities. Raleigh is not a big deal.)
Durham is content to be a hidden treasure. It's true that Durham has a lot of bad history. The city boomed during the heyday of the tobacco industry, then the industry and the downtown fell apart in the 1960s and Durham became synonymous with run-down buildings, poor schools, and crime. But that's no longer the real Durham.
You can still see remnants of that reputation in pockets around town, but the new Durham is a thriving city of 225,000, a regional and even national destination for foodies, shoppers, social entrepreneurs, and the arts. (Our new performing arts center has blown people away; "Wicked" drew 85,000 visitors to town.) The downtown is becoming a very cool place as old tobacco warehouses are being converted into lofts and hip office space. The reputation of our school district is ill-deserved and based on a few underperforming institutions, not on the big picture. We've got a gleaming new transportation center, dozens of new restaurants, great shopping, and a beautiful trail and park system.
You can still see remnants of that reputation in pockets around town, but the new Durham is a thriving city of 225,000, a regional and even national destination for foodies, shoppers, social entrepreneurs, and the arts. (Our new performing arts center has blown people away; "Wicked" drew 85,000 visitors to town.) The downtown is becoming a very cool place as old tobacco warehouses are being converted into lofts and hip office space. The reputation of our school district is ill-deserved and based on a few underperforming institutions, not on the big picture. We've got a gleaming new transportation center, dozens of new restaurants, great shopping, and a beautiful trail and park system.
Durham is a great place for singles and families, young and old. It's a place where you can still buy a decent house for around $200,000, and where the employment and economic base is diverse enough that it was named one of the best places to ride out the recession. Durham is charming and cozy and growing. It's cutting edge and comfortable at the same time. Durham is my home. I love it, and I plan to live here a very, very long time.
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