The Triangle grows into Alamance

[ChiefJoJo]

It looks like one of the Blue Devil Ventures partners, Tom Niemann, has purchased an old warehouse in downtown Mebane with plans to convert it to apartments, with a second phase that may include townhouses. Mebane is pobably the furthest west town that you can actually call the Triangle... must further west towards Graham and Burlington, and you're in Triad territory IMO, although the lines are very blurry. The developer is appealing to folks that want cheaper "urban" living, somewhat close to RTP (within a 30 min drive I suppose). Interestingly, those folks would probably drive west to the retail center being built in Burlington next to I-40/85.

[carynative]

I've always considered Mebane as the easternmost part of the Triad. Anything west of the 40/85 split is Triad IMO

[RaleighRob]

I've always considered Mebane as the easternmost part of the Triad. Anything west of the 40/85 split is Triad IMO

[rooster8]

I've always thought that Efland should add another "L" in its name and build an amusement park.

Seriously it feels like once you hit the I-40/I-85 merge that you are out of the Triangle. I guess that's the boundary I see in my head anyway.

[Creasy336]

From an Alamance County resident perspective. Most people see Mebane as a part of the Triangle. They have WRAL 5, News 14 (Triangle), and ABC 11 as their news affiliates everyone west of Mebane in Alamance County has only ABC 11. Their local papers often include the Burlington Times News and the Durham Herald. Most of the developments built in Mebane constructed in the last 10 years have been built with Triangle commuters in mind. Their section of Alamance County is in the 919 area code, I say this because to me the 919 area code is very centralized on the Triangle region. Their phonebook contains Chapel Hill and Durham with some parts of Burlington. Mebane is considerably closer to Durham and Chapel Hill than Greensboro. I guess last but not least they are the only city in Alamance County with Triangle like land-use plans, landscaping, and walkability.

[DwnTwnRaleighGuy]

According to "Policom", Alamance County belongs to the Triad!

Consolidated Areas

Scroll down and check out North Carolina!

[NCMike1981]

For me, having lived in Wake, Durham, and Orange Counties I always thought of Mebane as being in the Triad. Pretty much because the majority of the town is in Alamance County, which has Burlington, which is undeniably (in my book) a Triad city. I think Mebane is only like 10-15 miles or so from Burlington. Plus you never hear of Mebane in the news around here, maybe b/c it is a small town and nothing much happens but I mean you hear more of Oxford and Butner then you do of Mebane. I can't think of anything in Orange County not being in the Triangle, even west of the I-40 merge b/c Chapel Hill is in Orange County, and using the west of the I-85/40 merge as the invisible line to me puts Hillsborough on the edge of the Triangle, even though it is only 10 miles northwest of Chapel Hill. Durham, Orange, and Alamance counties are very tall and narrow counties, especially compared to Wake, Johnson, Guilford, Person etc so it's a little tricky when it comes to invisible borders.

Mebane is definately growing, and quickly, much faster then it's neighbor to the east, Hillsborough. I think this has to do with most of it being in Alamance County. It doesn't appear that the small Orange County portion is really growing much, for reasons anyone familiar with Orange County's land use guidelines can understand. One thing that concerns me is that much of the growth is aimed at I-40/I-85. The Buckhorn Road exit of Mebane (in Orange County) has really only gained a truck stop in the last few years but Mebane's two or three exits in Alamance County are turning into sprawlville. Kind of reminds me of the Clayton exit off I-40.

[Jones_]

One guy I work with lives in Mebane because his wife works in Greensboro. I think Mebane has outwitted us all and managed to not get caught up in region-id-ego games.

[Subway Scoundrel]

I wish each small town would be taken over by an urban developer who comes in and purchases a lot of property and takes over the small downtowns and turns them into nice urban centers. Just imagine if this was done in Cary in 1980 or Apex and especially Wendell and Rolesville. Instead I think we got suburban growth around these towns while the Wal marts were set up just outside of town.

It is never too late.

[davidals]

For me, having lived in Wake, Durham, and Orange Counties I always thought of Mebane as being in the Triad. Pretty much because the majority of the town is in Alamance County, which has Burlington, which is undeniably (in my book) a Triad city. I think Mebane is only like 10-15 miles or so from Burlington. Plus you never hear of Mebane in the news around here, maybe b/c it is a small town and nothing much happens but I mean you hear more of Oxford and Butner then you do of Mebane. I can't think of anything in Orange County not being in the Triangle, even west of the I-40 merge b/c Chapel Hill is in Orange County, and using the west of the I-85/40 merge as the invisible line to me puts Hillsborough on the edge of the Triangle, even though it is only 10 miles northwest of Chapel Hill. Durham, Orange, and Alamance counties are very tall and narrow counties, especially compared to Wake, Johnson, Guilford, Person etc so it's a little tricky when it comes to invisible borders.

Mebane is definately growing, and quickly, much faster then it's neighbor to the east, Hillsborough. I think this has to do with most of it being in Alamance County. It doesn't appear that the small Orange County portion is really growing much, for reasons anyone familiar with Orange County's land use guidelines can understand. One thing that concerns me is that much of the growth is aimed at I-40/I-85. The Buckhorn Road exit of Mebane (in Orange County) has really only gained a truck stop in the last few years but Mebane's two or three exits in Alamance County are turning into sprawlville. Kind of reminds me of the Clayton exit off I-40.

[Jones_]

What does downtown Mebane look like....never got off the interstate to see......anyone have some pics?

[Creasy336]

I guess I've considered Mebane to be a Triangle town because of commuting - I know LOTS of people who work in CH/Carrboro who live there and drive in; as most of the town fall over the county line, the affordability factor goes up. The sprawl issue could get out of hand however if they don't watch it. This downtown development sounds very promising however; it's definitely a town with great potential.

I think the Triangle/Triad identity, or boundary, is definitely going to get blurrier - like Mebane, I know plenty of people who commute from Graham and Saxapahaw, which are areas with plenty of charm, comparatively low costs, and they're still a quick trip. The usual commuting issues - traffic and pollution - exist and they aren't good, but unless Orange County affordable housing options dramatically improve in short order, people are going to have to vote with their wallets. Graham has some serious sprawl issues in places, but there's a great downtown still intact as well.

[pack-man]

i always felt that Mebane was triad. like mentioned before, the 40/85 split is my boundary for the triangle. perhaps its time i updated that in my mind.

Mebane is an impressive little town. it has a cool eclectic downtown feel with little shops/restaurants and it looks like stuff is continuing to be added to its downtown. It reminded me of Carrboro with a Franklin Street kind of feel(if that makes any sense) i predict good things for Mebane from what I've seen already.

[Jones_]

I have to agree most of the people I know who commute from Mebane that don't go west to Burlington/ Graham all commute to the Triangle. The developments on the Orange County side are increasing. Since Mebane doesn't have to abide by Orange County's strict land-use and zoning policy's once they become annexed into the city. Saxaphahaw has begun developing high end apartments and homesites around the abandoned mills of the town. Graham and now Swepsonville do have some of the worst looking sprawl I have seen.

Here are some photos I took of downtown Mebane several months ago.

[Creasy336]

Yes actually there are some along NC 119 (Fifth Street) near downtown Mebane.

[DanRNC]

Saxaphahaw has begun developing high end apartments and homesites around the abandoned mills of the town.

[NcSc74]

Read an article earlier this week about commuters from Alamance county. The link doesn't work now but it is not so surprising to see the Triangle and the Triad slowly growing together. Most of the article talks about residents living in Alamance and commuting to Chapel Hill and West Durham. Not to speculate too much but as these metros grow and urbanize along 40/85 when does the state begin to think of an alternate route to alleviate traffic in about 25-30 years. We could have a Baltimore/Washington traffic counts with no viable limited access route. As this goes on that aletrnate Raleigh to Charltotte link will sound a lot better.

[RALNATIVE]

Read an article earlier this week about commuters from Alamance county. The link doesn't work now but it is not so surprising to see the Triangle and the Triad slowly growing together.

[Creasy336]

Read an article earlier this week about commuters from Alamance county. The link doesn't work now but it is not so surprising to see the Triangle and the Triad slowly growing together. Most of the article talks about residents living in Alamance and commuting to Chapel Hill and West Durham. Not to speculate too much but as these metros grow and urbanize along 40/85 when does the state begin to think of an alternate route to alleviate traffic in about 25-30 years. We could have a Baltimore/Washington traffic counts with no viable limited access route. As this goes on that aletrnate Raleigh to Charltotte link will sound a lot better.

[Creasy336]

Here is a brief article from the News and Observer that summarizes much of what is going on in Alamance County as far as growth. The article goes on to talk about the county's eastern side (Mebane) which is seen as a being more a part of Triangle region than the Triad. Often times in the morning I see lots of people board the TTA busses bound for Chapel Hill in Graham. I believe TTA's presence will be appreciated the rest of the county if the express bus routes are ever implemented here. I often state people in Alamance County feel more connected to the Triangle than people from the region might would think.