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Durham Revitalization Efforts


raleightransplant

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Indeed, any thread about Durham in this forum has to have an obligatory reference to crime despite the fact that there are other areas in the Triangle where gangs and crime are thriving. Amazing.

I know, right? <_<

Of the 40 Durham homicides in 2005, only one occurred downtown. Several of the others occurred in apartment complexes in historically "rough" neighborhoods.

Here's an interview with Mayor Bill Bell:

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I agree. I have never felt unsafe in Durham and am there every day of the week. When I lived in Charlotte my car was broken into twice, three people we knew were mugged (1 being beaten almost to death), and one person my fiance knew was murdered (hit and run). It is totally a matter of PR or lack of.

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Charlotte has some serious problems. But it is 5 times the size of Durham. Durham is a smaller city then all the previous mentioned. Crime is higher there than any of the others too. There is an underlying problem that people are overlooking. Until that is resolved, crime will always be an issue in Durham.

Don't get me wrong, I like Durham a lot. I am considering moving there, but everyone I spoke with when looking at property mentions the crime problem. Even on the western side of town. I was shocked because that side of town shows so much promise. I really hope that Durham police can eliminate the crime problem. I get a great city vibe when I'm in that town that I don't get in Raleigh.

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I too, am there every day and haven't felt unsafe either. A vast majority of the violent crime that takes place here, from what I've read, is preordained. And it's mostly black on black, often relating to drugs.

40 people were killed in Durham county in 2005. The other 239,693 were not.

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I too, am there every day and haven't felt unsafe either. A vast majority of the violent crime that takes place here, from what I've read, is preordained. And it's mostly black on black, often relating to drugs.

40 people were killed in Durham county in 2005. The other 239,693 were not.

I don't think this sort of crime will stop until serious reforms are taken regarding welfare and the war on drugs. The "drug wars" are essentially fueling organized crime by giving them an illicit market to work in. Perhaps with a welfare system that isn't half-assed, people wouldn't be forced to turn to these markets for a spare buck.

That's another discussion for another thread though.

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In the last two years, there has been non-lethal gunplay in several areas of Durham commonly accepted as safe -- downtown (the nightclub with too many underaged kids nearby that finally closed), Northgate (outside Hechts), and Southpoint (parking lot near Sears Auto Center).

Downtown Durham is safe because very few people go there at night other than for the Carolina Theater or Durham Bulls, and leave as soon as events there are over. I hope that the American Tobacco Complex does not draw the wrong kind of attention once more people start going there, the way the Duke East Campus wall used to.

The idea that you just don't go to large areas of a city because it's a known haven for drugs, gangs, and crime is sad for a city Durham's size. For the mayor to just about say it's ok, and that it is bad only because it is "black on black" crime is a symptom of becoming numb to it all. The role of the police is now to "solve crimes" not "to protect and to serve"???

I was accosted for money several times in the early 90s walking from NCSSM to Northgate and 9th Street. Instead of "hey, don't harass that kid", onlookers turned a blind eye or gave "go get him" encouragment to my would be attackers. Several students were attacked the year after I graduated. South Square couldn't be bothered to clean up its act.

In this way, Durham has its charm the way Baltimore does. People just live with the problem, move on, and outsiders who make a wrong turn are on their own. If I didn't buy my current house, I would look at living there.

It is a promising sign that in last year's mayorial election, the "gangster candidate" Jackie Wagstaff and the convicted ex-con candidates received a small percentage of the vote. But the fact that they had any support base highlights the fact that gangs and crime are looked at in a positive light in some parts of the city.

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I find it amusing that Durham has such a bad image problem, yet the city's population continues to grow quite steadily.....must be from people moving from across the country, I highly doubt it's from people moving from Wake County....alot of people in Wake County seem to have a very strong negative image of the city....

Out of boredom here are some numbers showing Durham's population growth...

2003: 201,660

2000: 187,035

1990: 136,612

1980: 101,149 (the yr b4 I was born :-p)

the link to the above #'s can be found at:

http://www.tjcog.dst.nc.us/pop5030.htm

the numbers for all the Triangle towns/cities are quite fascinating....the area really didn't boom until the '80's....Raleigh at 150,000ish in 1980 and Cary at 7,400 in 1970....wow....

The area must have appeared so different when I was a little kid in the '80's then it does now....some of the changes occured gradually while others hit before one had the chance to realize it....

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Thank you for confirming what I've always suspected: Durham's crime rate isn't unusual, or anything to concern ourselves with. It's par for the course for cities its size, and the only reason it gets any attention at all is from Wake County's unusually low crime indexes, and the lack of other noteworthy news to bring up.

I see the numbers and I hear you guys on their lack of significance as an "issue," and I hear you guys that lived there and never had anything bad happen. My experience living there was different: our car was broken into regularly over the 2 years we lived in Trinity Park; our neighbors had similar experiences, and the neighborhood listserv is peppered with car and house break-ins and attempted break-ins; my wife and daughter had several experiences that, while resulting in no physical harn, made them afraid to take a walk in our neighborhood at any time of day; a very close friend and neighbor was one of the numerous non-gang-related, non-black-on-black victims of a horrific sexual assault in that neighborhood while we lived there.

this is not to say that the numbers aren't what they are; it's just that there's a "vibe" in Durham (for lack of a better term) that we experienced based not on media hype but on actual experience, that left us feeling like it was not a safe-feeling place.

That said, as I've said before, the Durham PD has done a great job trying to get it under control, and they have made great strides in that direction. It's got a long way to go, but it will get there. There's too much that's cool about Durham for the bad stuff to prevail for long.

40 people were killed in Durham county in 2005. The other 239,693 were not.

Dude. 40 murders is a lot, especially in a city that size!

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^^^

To be fair, Durham's come a long way. It used to be worse.

Charlotte, Wilmington, and Fayetteville are the places in NC having real problems. It's silly trying to portray Durham as some festering ghetto where you can't walk 50 feet without getting mugged. That's basically what a number of local news outlets do in Wake County. Anything you do experience there would be the same as Greensboro or Winston-Salem: cities in the same size range. Suggesting that Durham has no outstanding crime problems, just that it's perceived as having them.

There are areas, like any city. Downtown, at least, seems to be doing pretty well in the crime department.

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Anyways, like the topic title suggests, investors still see potential in DT Durham, regardless of the city's reputation. So there you go.

Absolutely. I share my personal experience only as insight into my opinion, which should not be extrapolated as anything beyond that.

And that said, I agree that Durhm has tons of potential, especially downtown, and all the new investment will add activity and vitality to the area, put more "eyes on the street," as it were, which will in turm assist in crime reduction, making the area have even more potential, etc. etc. Upward spiral.

If I had any money, or access to a group of investors, I would buy & develop property in downtown Durham in a heartbeat.

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As would I... I think some point down the road the crime will get pushed into other areas away from downtown, west village, and trinity park. These are nice areas with great potential. But like the previous post mentioned, it is these little crimes that can really hurt an areas reputation. I was looking to buy a house in Trinity park and i looked up crime and I couldn't believe what i saw. I knew it was attempted breakins and car theft. but that little stuff leads to bigger things. I confirmed this from talking to people in the area.

I hope that the police will find a solution, but after talking to some people in durham, they aren't holding their breath.

40 murders is a lot for a city that size, but Wilmington is just as bad.

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  • 1 month later...

It looks as if a new European-style bistro will be opening in the Brightleaf area. This is one block away from the West Village II (Ligget-Myers) project and will join Federal, James Joyce, and Devine's to create a pretty busy little corner.

Story

cool! that seems like the perfect addition for the ecclectic little mix of stuff at that corner.

good for downtown Durham. :)

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Thanks for looking, everyone!!! To tell you the truth, all I did was go back through the threads for the most recent 10 pages here and found each Durham item. I really wanted to put up something about the new performing arts center and the Urban Outfitters, so I just lumped it all into one big review. In all honesty, though, I have to thank all of you for digging so much good stuff up.

That transit station looks great, doesn't it. I don't think it will ever get built, but maybe if something else had that look...in downtown Raleigh... we'll just wait, I guess.

If y'all have any thoughts or suggestions, we are wide open. :)

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