Durham, North Carolina
Once it snowed 7 inches in Durham and then the temperatures stayed below
freezing for a whole week. I couldn't get to work the whole week and schools
were closed. The snow stayed in the neighborhood and on the streets. We
had a great time sledding, sitting by the fire, and just enjoying the time
off. We never had a chance to do so much sledding back in New York because
up there they would have plowed the streets and opened the schools and
businesses all in the same day. This was our best winter ever!
Durham is an interesting city that has had many opportunities but just
hasn't been able to leverage those opportunies very well. For example,
the Duke family was one of the richest families in US history and gave
much to the city. It was one of the earliest industrial cities of North
Carolina, where some of the most popular cigarette brands of the past were
manufactured. It's the site of Duke University, a world leader in medical
research and one of the top schools in America. Durham was linked with a freeway
before Raleigh and is the site of Research Triangle Park, a
very successful business park in North Carolina, with something like 40,000
employees. For some reason, Durham has just not become a desireable place to
live in this fast-growing area. Most RTP employees commute from Raleigh--and
it's a terrible commute down I-40 every day. I'm glad I don't make that commute anymore!
Durham is a city with character, though, especially compared to Raleigh,
which can be boring and monotonous in comparison. Raleigh, however, tends to rate better in terms of crime and public
education, so that's why we, with school-aged kids, live in Raleigh.
Family Home Page
/ August 28, 1998
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