Durham
Durham, North Carolina (population 187,035 in 2000 census) was built
on tobacco and hard work and isn’t about to let anyone forget it.
Blessed with three growing seasons, and a central location in
beautiful North Carolina, this town made history while carving out
its economic niche.
The very name “Durham” is synonymous with tobacco. And Durham has
not forgotten tobacco. With a robust economy and phenomenal
population growth, the business leaders of Durham took another look
at downtown. Durham’s downtown buildings were made to order for
Urban Renewal. You won’t find trendy little building facades here,
Durham’s turn-of-the-century warehouses for tobacco and cotton were
made to order for sophisticated apartments and shopping centers (the
lofts are enough to make you move from NYC). Architectural design in
Durham is decades old – and the buildings were made to last. A
baseball stadium was added for Durham’s minor league team, the Bulls
(est. 1902 and named for Bull Durham tobacco). An average game today
draws 10,000 people downtown. The new Durham Performing Arts Center
broke ground in December 2006 and is expected to bring over 300,000
more visitors to downtown Durham.
Durham is now known internationally as the City of Medicine USA. 28%
of the population of Durham is employed in some manner by the
medical industry. The Medical Center, Durham Regional Hospital, the
North Carolina Eye & Ear Hospital, North Carolina Specialty
Hospital, and the VA Medical Center serve the area’s health needs,
while other jobs are available with the many medical research labs
at RTC.
Durham is one corner of the Research Triangle Park (along with
Chapel Hill and Raleigh) and 50% of the biotech firms based in North
Carolina are located in Durham.
Durham is justly proud of its famed Duke University. This
world-class leader in education, research and medical care was
established in 1838. Durham’s higher education is also served by
North Carolina Central University, Durham Technical Community
College, Center for Employment Training-Research Triangle Park,
Dudley Beauty College, Carolina Beauty College 3, and Watts School
of Nursing. The University provides jobs for more than 18,000
residents of Durham.
Forbes Magazine lists Raleigh-Durham, NC as #3 on the Top Best
Places to live and work in the United States and Time Magazine lists
Duke University Medical Center as #4 medical center in the US, #2 in
physical therapy, #1 in physician assistants, #2 healthiest city for
women, #9 in microbiology, and #5 in pharmacology/toxicology. US
News has called Duke among the best Graduate Schools in the United
States. The VA Medical Center is listed in the top 11% of all
hospitals nationally, and has been cited for outstanding work in
Geriatric Research.
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