Where we live: Trees, Tees, and PhDs!

So if you are wondering more about where we live, here you go!

We live in Raleigh (RAH-lee) which is the capital of North Carolina. It is part of the metropolitan area they call The Triangle. The Triangle consists of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. All 3 cities have a major university.

Raleigh has N.C. State:

Durham has Duke University:and Chapel Hill has UNC (University of North Carolina)

In the middle of the 3 cities is a large area called RTP, which stands for Research Triangle Park. It was started in the 60s by the 3 universities for research. Now almost 200 companies have set up research offices in the RTP, usually medical, bio-medical, or high tech. The locals call it the Silicoln Valley of the east coast. Because it employs so many high tech jobs and because of the universities, they claim there are more PhD's per capita in the Triangle than any other metropolitan area. In fact, the area's unoffical slogan is: "Trees, Tees, and PhDs" because of all the forests, golf courses, and brainiacs here.

The area is growing fast. Currently 1.6 million people live in the area but the census just ranked Raleigh as the fastest growing metro area in the country. It grew at a larger percentage than even Vegas, Houston, Phoenix, etc. Hopefully it doesn't grow too fast though!

Near us are some great places to visit. The mountains are just 2 hours west of us. The Blue Ridge Mountains are the beginning of the Appalachains. The Appalachian Trail runs through North Carolina and there are many places to hike, camp, and see the foliage.

The ocean is two hours east of us. The Outer Banks (OBX for short) is a chain of long islands off the coast.

The beaches have sand dunes, and have many miles of un-crowded beaches.

There are also many lighthouses in the OBX including some famous ones like Nags Head

and Cape Hatteras

Because of the uniqueness of the OBX, they say it is just about the only place in the country where you can watch the sun rise and set over the water in the same place.

Here in the Triangle, In downtown Durham, they've renovated an old area of abandoned tobaco warehouse into Brightleaf Square with dinning, shoping, cafes, etc

Also in downtown Durham is the minor league baseball stadium for the Bulls, you might remember them from the movie Bull Durham:

They also just built a brand new theater in downtown Durham that opened last year called D-PAC (Durham Performing Arts Center) that has the Broadway Shows, concerts, etc.

In downtown Chapel Hill, Franklin Street borders UNC's campus and is also a great area for cafes, bars, restaurants, shops, and people watching.

Downtown Raleigh has the big city feel with high rises:

the new convention center that just opened:and all the state government offices.

Raleigh has a system of trails called The Capital Area Greenway that criss cross the area. The trails are mostly paved and run along streams and in the forests throughout the city. There are over 100 miles in the Greenway system right now with more planned

Overall we love the area. Some co-workers at Jim's work ask if he has kids. When he replies "No, but someday we would love to have kids" they all say that this is the best place to raise kids. Low crime, some of the best schools and a smart populace, and lots to do with the ocean and mountains nearby and the big cities of the north east just a few hours away. We agree!