An Orientation to DURHAM, North Carolina

Presented byShelly Green, Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau

representing

Durham Public Information and Communications Council

OverviewThe Durham Communications Council is a

collaboration of 10 organizations that provide information about Durham as a “place” to work, live or visit. It involves the senior communications and public information officers for:

City of Durham Durham Police Department County of Durham Durham Public SchoolsDowntown Durham Inc. Greater Durham Chamber of Durham Association of Realtors Commerce Durham Convention & Raleigh-Durham Int’l Airport Visitors Bureau Research Triangle Foundation

Overview

The goal of the Council is to facilitate news coverage that is balanced and accurate and to eliminate communication that is confusing or misleading to the media

What’s NOT Unique About Durham

Crime Conflict in Politics

Downtown Renovation

School Scores

Gangs

What IS Unique About Durham Extremely high sense of self pride and identity

and satisfaction with place.

What IS Unique About Durham Highest image with non-residents in 100 mile

radius.

What IS Unique About Durham Genuine – Textured – Authentic …..not synthetic. Culinary center – highly rated restaurants, hotels,

museums, festivals. Draws 5 million visitors a year, predominantly for

leisure.

What IS Unique About Durham Highest Center of Creativity Index in US (Talent,

Tolerance, Technology). Positive Brain/Gain score.

Overall “Center of Creativity” ScorecardDurham #1 in 274 County Census Cohort

What IS Unique About Durham Most jobs, residents etc. per square mile in Triangle.

Primer on Durham Durham is a single city county. It is the 4th

largest city in North Carolina, but shoehorned into the 17th smallest county in North Carolina

Population (2004 Estimates): City – 203,778 County – 237,006 Durham was the fastest growing major city in NC in

the 1990s Durham is the most ethnically diverse large city

in NC – 51% white, 40% black, 8% Hispanic

Primer on Durham Durham has dealt

with issues of limited developable land for decades

1/3rd set aside in watershed so that North Raleigh could be built COUNTY OF

DURHAM

DURHAM

DukeDowntown

CITY OF DURHAM

RTP

Primer on DurhamDurham is now the dominant city in its own MSA. Combined with Raleigh-Cary MSA and the Dunn Micropolitan area, it is also part of a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) called Raleigh-Durham-Cary.

Primer on Durham

Polycentric Region Centric RegionRaleigh - Durham - Chapel Hill

Dallas - Fort Worth - Arlington

Baltimore - Washington DC - Annapolis

Va. Beach - Norfolk - Williamsburg

Greensboro - Winston-Salem - High Point

San Francisco - Oakland - San Jose

Charlotte

Atlanta

Pittsburgh

Chicago

Austin

Richmond

Durham is part of a Polycentric Region (not centered around any dominant city), Now Consisting of 2 Separate MSAs

What Causes Confusion Only major city covered by 2 major daily

newspapers, but no specific broadcast news. Large number of people in Wake/Orange are

negative about Durham and relay gossip/sensational news.

Half of the people working in Durham are non-residents.

Historical Perspective 2 Native American tribes, the Eno and Occoneechi, lived and farmed here. The Great

Indian Trading Path is traced through Durham.

European settlers came in the 1700s and built grist mills, such as West Point, and worked the land.

Prior to the Revolutionary War, frontiersmen were involved in the War of Regulators.

Historical Perspective During the Antebellum

period, large plantations such as Hardscrabble, Cameron and Stagville were established with the labor of African slaves.

Slave quarters at the plantations became a hearth of Southern cultural traditions, including crafts, life rituals, music and dance.

Historical Perspective North Carolina was the last state to secede from

the Union and Durhamites fought in several regiments. Generals Sherman and Johnstonnegotiated the largest surrender and end of the Civil War at Bennett Place in Durham.

Historical Perspective Washington Duke and his family began to

grow and manufacture Brightleaf tobacco, and spawned one of the world’s largest corporations which included American Tobacco, Liggett & Meyers, R.J. Reynolds and P. Lorillard.

The first mill to produce denim and the world’s largest hosiery maker were established in Durham.

Historical Perspective

With money and land donated by Washington Duke and Julian Carr, in 1887 Trinity College moved from Randolph County to Durham.

Following a $40 million donation by James Buchanan Duke, it was renamed Duke University in 1924.

Historical Perspective

In 1910, Dr. James Shepard founded North Carolina Central University, the nation’s first publicly-supported liberal arts college for African-Americans.

Historical Perspective Following the Civil War, Durham’s African-

American economy developed through jobs, land ownership, business, community leadership and vocational training.

African-American businessmen, led by John Merrick founded NC Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1898, and Mechanics and Farmers became the nation’s strongest African-American owned bank.

The flourishing Parrish Street became known as “Black Wall Street.”

Historical Perspective Durham’s role in civil rights history

In the late 1950s, Reverend Douglas Moore and other religious and community leaders pioneered sit-ins throughout North Carolina to protest lunch counters that only served whites.

Dr. Martin Luther King coined his famous rallying cry, “Fill up the jails,” in Durham.

Historical Perspective City of Medicine

B.C. Headaches Powders were

invented in Durham in 1910 Duke University Medical School

opened in 1930 Durham is known as the Diet Capital of America

with nationally acclaimed diet and fitness centers Healthcare is now Durham’s leading industry Durham’s physician-to-population ratio is about

4 times greater than the national average

Research Triangle Park World’s largest

university-related research park

Namesake for the vast Triangle region

Durham postal substation and special Durham County special tax district

DURHAM

COUNTY OF DURHAM

CITY OF DURHAM

RTP

Downtown DURHAM

Developed by Research Triangle Foundation, RTP is approximately 7,000 acres, of which 75% is located in Durham with 25% in Wake County.

93% of the businesses in RTP are located in Durham.

RDU International Airport One of our region’s first major collaborations – co-

owned by Durham and Raleigh, Wake and Durham Counties. Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority chartered by the NC General Assembly in 1939.

Airport is located 10 miles NW of Raleigh and 10 miles SE of Durham. It is not in either city, and functions like its own municipality with its own police force, fire and rescue forces.

33% of visitors using RDU are headed to Durham compared to 23% heading to Raleigh

Perception of Durhamas a Place toLive and Visit

Downtown Durham Each year more than 2,000,000 people

frequent Downtown Increase in private property values since 1993

by 97% according to 2001 revaluation Steady growth in leasable office space from

1 million square feet in 1993 to over 2 million square feet today.

Office Occupancy Rate of > 90%

Downtown Durham

Major Commercial/Public Development Projects Underway American Tobacco Campus Liggett & Myers Tobacco Warehouses Triangle Biotechnology Center at Venable Durham Central Park Durham Transportation Center Center for Senior Life

Downtown Durham 6 Downtown Districts

have been designated and color coded.

Planning is now underway for a signage/way finding system to make Downtown more visitor and pedestrian friendly.

City Center District

Central Park District

Brightleaf District

Bull Durham District

Government Services District

Warehouse District

American Tobacco District

Crime and Public Safety Fact – Durham’s crime is average for both a

10-community SE cohort and 29-community national cohort.

Durham’s crime is below average in murder, rape, aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft and violent crimes.

Durham Police Department and Durham County Sheriff’s Office are both internationally accredited law enforcement agencies.

Crime and Public SafetyFacts About Durham’s Crime

In the past 4 years (through 2003), the overall index crime and crime rate have improved dramatically.

Index Crime (actual # of crimes)

Overall - 7% Violent Crime -10% Property Crime - 6% Robberies - 5% Aggravated Assaults -15%

Education Durham has a full range of education

institutions to serve its citizenry Duke University (private – largest employer) NC Central University (UNC System) Durham Technical Community College (public) Durham Public Schools (unified school district) NC School of Science and Math (state

residential high school) Numerous private and parochial schools

Durham Public Schools 7th largest school district in the state with

31,000 students from 60 countries speaking 79 native languages.

Both African-American and Caucasian students outperform peers at the state and national level.

SAT scores meet or exceed state peer groups. Durham has quietly closed any gaps with –and,

in some cases, surged ahead in comparison with—the end-of-grade test scores of other urban communities in NC as well as highly regarded systems like Wake County and Chapel Hill/Carrboro.  

Durham Public Schools 6 honor schools of excellence, 11 schools of

distinction. Two high schools rank in the top five percent

of academically rigorous high schools by Newsweek.

Governor’s Award for Excellence for the nationally-modeled K-3 literacy program.

Top sports achievements including state champions in football, wrestling, track, golf, and women’s volleyball.

Nearly 9 out of 10 seniors intend to pursue post secondary education.

National Magnet School of Excellence Award.

Accolades Durham has been recognized as:

#1 center of creativity among 274 similar-sized counties nationwide

One of the top 15 hottest places for jobs #2 best place for working women #6 best city for business One of the top 10 places to work off weight #2 healthiest place for women One of the best places to retire #3 city with a soul http://www.durham-nc.com/stats/overview_facts/accolades.php to search for other accolades

Housing According to a “residence choice” survey,

Durham continues to be the first choice as a place to live for people transferred to companies and organizations based in Durham

Durham offers a wide variety of choice in housing from older more established neighborhoods such as Trinity Park, Forest Hills, Old North Durham, and Duke Forest to newer subdivisions such as Hope Valley Farms, Woodcroft, Treyburn, Hardscrabble and Croasdaile Farms

Housing Average price of homes sold in Durham

(2003) is $173,844, compared with the average 2002 price of $163,483.

3,470 new and existing single and multifamily homes were sold in Durham in 2003, nearly 11 percent more than in 2002. That’s 11.6 homes sold per square mile compared with 4.2 homes in Orange and 17.4 in Wake counties.

GovernmentSingle city countyCity of Durham provides “hard” services

such as fire, police, roads, water, sewer, etc.

County of Durham provides “soft” services such as human services and education.

Government City of Durham

7-member council including Mayor Annual budget of $281.5 million Property tax rate of $0.583 per $100 of

assessed value (increased 3.8 cents for FY 04-05)

County of Durham 5-member commission including Chair Annual budget $580.8 million Property tax rate of $0.79 per $100 of

assessed value (increased 2.7 cents for FY 04-05)

Durham as a Place to Live & Visit

Offers 13 historic sites, 3 arts centers, 6 science and nature centers and a multitude of things to see and do

B

Bennett Place State Historic SiteDuke Homestead State Historic

Site and Tobacco MuseumDurham Bulls Athletic ParkHayti Heritage Center

Historic Stagville

Primate Center Museum of Life and Science

Sarah P Duke Gardens West Point on the Eno

Duke and NCCU Museums of Art

Royall Center for the Arts Magic Wings Butterfly House

Durham as a Place to Live & Visit Known as the City of

Champions 8 NCAA men’s and women’s team

championships in basketball, golf, soccer and track & field.

Basketball - 7 ACC championships, 4 national championships, 9 final fours, 7 ACC tournament championships, 9 ACC regular season championships.

5 International League (baseball) division titles and 2 Governor’s Cup Championships.

The headquarters of USA Baseball.

Durham as a Place to Live & Visit Has become known for its

colony of nationally acclaimed chefs

Celebrated CuisineDurham’s Regionally and Nationally Acclaimed Restaurants and Chefs

Anotherthyme Guglhupf BakeryBullock’s Bar-B-Que Jamaica JamaicaCafé Parizade Magnolia GrillFairview Restaurant Nana’s RestaurantFishmonger’s Pao Lim Asian BistroFoster’s Market Pop’s A Durham Trattoria Four Square Taverna NikosGeorge’s Garage The Q Shack

Vin Rouge French Café

Durham as a Place to Live & Visit Has extensive and varied retail including

North Carolina’s first Nordstrom

Brightleaf SquareThree Distinct Shopping Areas

•Downtown including Brightleaf and Ninth Street

•Northgate and North Pointe

•Southpoint

Durham as a Place to Live & Visit Has hundreds of annual events

including 11 signature events with national recognition

Durham’s Signature Annual EventsWorld Beer Festival CenterfestBull Durham Blues Festival NC Gay Pride ParadeNC Gay and Lesbian Film Festival for the Eno Festival American Dance FestivalDuke Children’s Classic Full Frame Documentary Bennett Place Living History Film Festival Civil War Reenactment Native American Pow Wow

Durham as a Place to VisitVisited by 5 million visitors in 2003

(down from 5.5 million in 2000). Reaped the benefit of $444 million in

visitor spending and $145 million in tax revenues in 2003.

For More Information Check out these Web sites:

www.durham-nc.com www.ci.durham.nc.us www.co.durham.nc.us www.downtowndurham.com www.durhamrealtors.org www.durhampolice.com www.dpsnc.net www.durhamchamber.org www.rdu.com www.rtp.org

Self-Guided Orientation to Durham (updated frequently): http://www.durham-nc.com/visitor/relocation/self_orientation_durham.pdf