Looking for inside info on Durham, NC

Durham gets a bit of a bad rap, although it does require care as it change from a nice part to a not-so nice part pretty fast.

 

Nothing that isn't wrong with any other mid-size city. It just has the unfortunate luck of being located right next to a really nice place. That said, 1 bedroom 700 sqft condos in Chapel Hill cost more than my 1100 sqft house in Durham.

Live near Southpoint, but don't go to the mall. Stay toward the southern side of town. Eat at Shiki Sushi if that's your thing. Rolls are buy one get one every day for dine in. Lock your doors, don't go downtown. Bulls games are cheap.

Edit: Don't go to the mall after 6 p.m. or on the weekends. It's the best mall in the area, just impossibly crowded. But seriously stay south of the ballpark and you'll be as safe and happy as any other city with no sense of community because 90 percent of the people living here were born more than 200 miles away in one direction or another. Basically, if you hit Northgate you went too far.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/59286/

 

Southpoint is fake Durham. That don't count.

And some of the best parts of Durham -- James Joyce, Brightleaf, Carolina Theatre, the DBAP -- are downtown.

 

Go to Brightleaf, eat at El Ro. I've never found much use for anything else out that way. Carolina Theatre is a deathtrap. Saw No Country for Old Men there and my wife and I were the only two in the house. Freaky as hell. Go to Chelsea in CH for your indie movie fix, I say.

 

Packed for Spoon and Truckers shows that I've been to. Was reasonably crowded for a number of movies I've been to. I've never thought of it as a deathtrap, but I'm sure it's not as crowded other nights.

Regardless, there are some good spots downtown, both at Brightleaf and by the ballpark. Depends on what you like, but in one man's humble opinion it beats all the chains, etc., out by Southpoint and on 15-501.

And don't get me wrong -- Chapel Hill's great.

 

And see that's the thing -- if you live out near Southpoint or 15 miles from downtown, you're going to be surrounded by those people who have no sense of community and were born 200 miles away. So it all depends on your tastes and what you want. Different strokes for different folks.

 

Well, yeah. Down in that part don't go to Chili's expecting something better than crappy Chili's, but there's good secret stuff around there if get out of that Best Buy/Target/Barnes and Noble hub.

Let's just agree to say we both live/lived in Durham and there's lots of neat stuff to do as long as you don't get shot on a DATA bus.

Hell, we might work together. Who knows? Who cares?

 

Used to live in Durham -- no longer. But maybe we worked together.

Agree that Raleigh and Chapel Hill are the better options in the Triangle. But Durham's not as awful as people make it out to be.

 

Good luck trying to tell out-of-towners that. The stereotype surrounding Durham is unbelieveably nasty - and highly undeserved.

There's nothing wrong with Chapel Hill other than it's really pricey. But if you work in Durham and you know where to be and especially where not to be, it's a really neat place.

(Full disclosure: I've never lived in Durham. But I had a relative who spent years there in school and a lifelong family friend who has lived there for more than 40 years. I wouldn't hesitate to live there if a good job exists.)

 

My advice is simple: Live in Raleigh.

Chapel Hill is great if you're under 26 or have kids. Durham is ok (love Bulls games and James Joyce), but I think Raleigh is the best choice. Wide variety of housing options, lots of places to eat/drink, much better going out scene for anyone older than 25.

 

Great advice.