Of the
three major cities in the Triangle, Durham perhaps is the one that carries the
most paradoxical images. The city has its origins in tobacco and textiles, yet
today it's home to some of the most acclaimed medical institutions and high-tech
businesses in the Triangle – indeed, the nation.
The city was named for Dr. Bartlett Durham, who donated
four acres of land for a train station in what is now downtown Durham. It took
little time for Durham to become a boomtown. Returning home from the Civil War,
Washington Duke and his sons established their lucrative cigarette manufacturing
facilities here, serving as the foundation of a vast family fortune that funded
the Duke Endowment. The financial impact on Durham (in fact, the entire state)
made by the Duke family endowment is immeasurable.
The most notable testament to the Duke family's
contributions in Durham is Duke University and its world-renowned Medical Center
and Health System. Together with Durham Regional Hospital, the VA Medical Center
and other health institutions, about one-third of Durham's work force is in a
health care-related field. Nearby North Carolina Central University (NCCU) – a
historically black institution that offers an array of liberal arts courses –
contributes to the academic environment and college atmosphere within the city.
The last of the Durham cigarette manufacturers – Liggett
and Myers – relocated to nearby Mebane in 2000. Gone also are the textile and
hosiery mills that helped fuel the local economy. So Durham has moved from a
blue-collar tobacco town to a city that proudly proclaims itself as the "City of
Medicine." Most of the other well-paying jobs in Durham are found in Research
Triangle Park (RTP), America's largest research park that is home to corporate
giants like IBM, Northern Telecom and GlaxoSmithKline.
The southern half of Durham County, near RTP, has
experienced a fast-paced bonanza of new construction in both the residential and
commercial arenas. Within the last few years, the Highway 751/Hope Valley Road
corridor between University Drive and Jordan Lake has experienced tremendous
growth, with new-home communities springing up seemingly overnight. On I-40
between 751 and the Fayetteville Road interchanges, development is booming with
offices, hotels, and even a huge mall – Streets at Southpoint. The mall's easy
access on I-40 draws shoppers from other Triangle cities.
From 20-acre horse farms in Bahama and Rougemont north of
Durham to lavish mansions in Hope Valley, the city offers a wide variety of
neighborhoods to its 192,000 residents. Bounded by Duke's east campus, Main
Street, Northgate Mall and Duke Street is Trinity Park, Durham's first historic
neighborhood. During the last 25 years, this active community has experienced a
renaissance that has set the precedent for historic renovations in other sectors
of the city. Other neighborhoods near the Duke campus – Watts-Hillandale, Duke
Park and Trinity Heights – have experienced similar revivals. The demand for
homes along the tree-lined streets near Duke remains greater than the supply,
resulting in sale prices that escalate each year.
Another desirable in-town neighborhood is Forest Hills,
located just south of downtown. There you'll find massive estates with colonial
mansions alongside more streamlined Cape Cod designs that surround Forest Hill
Park. On most any sunny Saturday afternoon, the park serves as the venue for
Frisbee contests, softball and soccer games.
Hope Valley is in the fast-growing southwest Durham area
and is Durham's oldest country club community. Homes here date back to the late
1920s and you'll find an eclectic mix of renovated brick ranches to sprawling
French country and English Tudor mansions whose values approach $3 million.
Continuing down Hope Valley Road are two newer, very
popular (and more affordable) planned communities, Hope Valley Farms and
Woodcroft. Each offers a variety of housing styles and lots of neighborhood
amenities.
If golf is your passion, Croasdaile, Willowhaven and
Treyburn country clubs (all located north of I-85) each offer 18 holes of
championship golf, as do several public golf courses. Previously a family-owned
farm, Croasdaile continues to expand its residential development with a sister
community of custom homes, Croasdaile Farms. Encompassing more than 5,300 acres
that were once three separate antebellum plantations, Treyburn is a planned,
mixed-use community with 10 residential districts surrounding the Fazio-designed
golf course.
Other popular communities include The Estates at Hardscrabble (off I-85 at Guess Road) and Tyndrum (off Kerley Road and Rte. 751).
Durham residents can pursue a variety of recreational and
cultural attractions. The Durham Bulls, a Triple A International League baseball
team, became famous after the hit movie "Bull Durham," starring Kevin Costner
and Susan Sarandon. The Durham Bulls Athletic Park, patterned after Camden
Yards, is easily accessible in downtown off N.C. 147 (Durham Freeway).
Another team synonymous with Durham is the Duke basketball
team, which has consistently finished as one of the top teams in the nation
since the early '80s. Cameron Indoor Stadium is known for its avid, creative
fans.
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Auditorium on the Duke campus is home to the celebrated American Dance Festival,
as well as a Broadway on Tour series. Several plays, including those by Neil
Simon, actually premiere at Duke before going on to Broadway.
Downtown entertainment offerings include CenterFest, a street arts celebration that attracts 70,000 citizens downtown each September, and live performances in the venerable Carolina Theatre, a beneficiary of a magnificent multimillion-dollar renovation. Complete with an elegant ballroom that's available for private functions, the Carolina Theatre offers concerts and dramatic productions, as well as art films.
With arts and the Bulls as the major drawing cards for a downtown renaissance, many unique specialty shops and restaurants have joined the urban center's attractions list. Largely centered on the renovated tobacco warehouses known as Brightleaf Square, the area boasts delightful boutiques and restaurants, such as Nikos, whose chefs have won critical acclaim in a number of national publications.
Mixed-use projects bringing retail and office space
downtown makes use of existing buildings through renovation. The former American
Tobacco buildings and the old Liggett and Myers buildings are two good examples
of this.
Driving west on Main Street past Brightleaf and Duke's east
campus, stop for a visit along Ninth Street, home of more specialty shops and
restaurants. Magnolia Grill features the culinary delights of chefs Ben and
Karen Barker, who have won national awards for their exquisite food and
pastries. Directly behind the west side of Ninth Street is Erwin Square, a huge
textile mill that's been converted to New York-style loft apartments. Nearby
Erwin Square is home to Parizade restaurant and the Mad Hatter, a bakery shop
displaying an impressive collection of hats of every description. And nearby
Jewelsmith has garnered a substantial local clientele and national recognition
for its outstanding jewelry designs.
Once done with lunch, take a drive out Duke Street to the
N.C. Museum of Life & Science, a popular destination for families and school
groups all over central North Carolina. The museum boasts a unique, live
butterfly house that entertains hundreds of children and adults alike. If fresh
air and the outdoors are more to your liking, visit the 55-acre Sarah P. Duke
Memorial Gardens on Duke's west campus or West Point on the Eno, a huge
state-owned park bordering the Eno River. The park is the perfect place for a
hiking or rafting excursion and is also the site of a big Fourth of July
festival.
A buzzword in Durham seems to be "sustainable growth." That translates to mean maintaining all the desirable qualities that make Durham so attractive, while at the same time encouraging the kind of growth that provides the well-paying jobs, state-of-the-art schools and clean environment that have brought newcomers here all along.