Durham, NC is a strange creature. It is also known as the 'Bull City' and dirty D. I shall try and shed some light....
On the one hand you have Duke which is not only one of the top universities in the US, it is also really rich $7 Billion in the trust fund and counting (they could pay the postdocs a bit more). So it attracts the kind of people that can pay $35,500 a year (also really cleaver kids too). I was told by my boss that the undergrads drive the kind of cars the professors wish they could. While in the Duke bubble it is easy to forget the other side of Durham.
From what I gather, after the tobacco industry had a slump, employment in Durham took a turn for the worst. It is only getting better recently. This means that 15% of Durhams population is below the poverty line. So Durham is a city of haves and have nots. It does lead to some sketchy areas, and the problems that goes along with that in western culture. Durham was the subject of a documentary with the very apt title of 'Welcome 2 Durham'. This ain't no tourist promo y'all, but neither is it everyday life in dirty D.
So Durham has a kind of bad rep. I feel this is because North Carolina is actually a nice place to live and Durham is this kind of bad apple. It's not as bad as they say. There is a lot of regeneration of the downtown area going on right now. I found this cool blog showing old pictures of Durham. There was a 'celebration' of the first stage of this regeneration, this last Saturday gone. It was nice to see stuff going on downtown. Instead of empty streets and people looking me strange because I am walking. In fact it does have this feeling of impending coolness. Is Durham rising? It could well be.
On the one hand you have Duke which is not only one of the top universities in the US, it is also really rich $7 Billion in the trust fund and counting (they could pay the postdocs a bit more). So it attracts the kind of people that can pay $35,500 a year (also really cleaver kids too). I was told by my boss that the undergrads drive the kind of cars the professors wish they could. While in the Duke bubble it is easy to forget the other side of Durham.
From what I gather, after the tobacco industry had a slump, employment in Durham took a turn for the worst. It is only getting better recently. This means that 15% of Durhams population is below the poverty line. So Durham is a city of haves and have nots. It does lead to some sketchy areas, and the problems that goes along with that in western culture. Durham was the subject of a documentary with the very apt title of 'Welcome 2 Durham'. This ain't no tourist promo y'all, but neither is it everyday life in dirty D.
So Durham has a kind of bad rep. I feel this is because North Carolina is actually a nice place to live and Durham is this kind of bad apple. It's not as bad as they say. There is a lot of regeneration of the downtown area going on right now. I found this cool blog showing old pictures of Durham. There was a 'celebration' of the first stage of this regeneration, this last Saturday gone. It was nice to see stuff going on downtown. Instead of empty streets and people looking me strange because I am walking. In fact it does have this feeling of impending coolness. Is Durham rising? It could well be.
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