Why does the term "Raleigh-Durham" bother people from our area?

[RALNATIVE]

Being a native of Raleigh and a frequent traveller throughout the country, I am always irritated when I hear people refer to my home as "Raleigh-Durham." Don't they realize that these are seperate and distinct cities? I'm afraid that alot of Americans actually believe that Raleigh-Durham is the official name of the city.

Does anyone else find this annoying or see a problem with it's common usage?

[RaleighRob]

Not really. Though technically I think it should be "Raleigh/Durham" instead. The hyphen almost implies a joint city, like Winston-Salem. A slash does better at getting the idea of two separate, yet neighboring, cities.

No one really minds Minneapolis and St. Paul having their names combined I don't think. Or Dallas & Fort Worth.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

or Tampa-St.Pete

[waccamatt]

or Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson-Clemson-West Pelzer-Gaffney-Greater Greer-Easley.

[ERG]

hahahha, oh this is great. it bothers me bc they are so clearly two very distinct cities with very distinct personalities.

my last job was at a place where the bosses lived in CA and would always call us the "raleigh-durham" office. my coworker and i sent them a very official memo explaining the difference and would they please fix it on letterheads, etc. that are sent out to clients. they ignored us.

its just a small pet peeve that is annoying when encountered.

[Atlside]

Being a native of Raleigh and a frequent traveller throughout the country, I am always irritated when I hear people refer to my home as "Raleigh-Durham." Don't they realize that these are seperate and distinct cities? I'm afraid that alot of Americans actually believe that Raleigh-Durham is the official name of the city.

Does anyone else find this annoying or see a problem with it's common usage?

[Spatula]

Raleigh-Durham is correct anyway. It's one CSA with a shared airport, and it's clearly one metropolitan area with two cores.

Baltimore-Washington is another good one.

[Atlside]

hahahha, oh this is great. it bothers me bc they are so clearly two very distinct cities with very distinct personalities.

my last job was at a place where the bosses lived in CA and would always call us the "raleigh-durham" office. my coworker and i sent them a very official memo explaining the difference and would they please fix it on letterheads, etc. that are sent out to clients. they ignored us.

its just a small pet peeve that is annoying when encountered.

[RALNATIVE]

Raleigh-Durham is correct anyway. It's one CSA with a shared airport, and it's clearly one metropolitan area with two cores.

Baltimore-Washington is another good one.

[serapis]

It's seeming more and more like Durham is quickly getting thrust into the suburb role, and Raleigh is emerging as the sole core. It's possibly due to the desire to accentuate Raleigh's strengths, and hide Durham's weaknesses.

The main factor is probably due to the higher growth rate of Raleigh.

[RaleighRob]

It's seeming more and more like Durham is quickly getting thrust into the suburb role, and Raleigh is emerging as the sole core. It's possibly due to the desire to accentuate Raleigh's strengths, and hide Durham's weaknesses.

[ERJ170]

Personally, I don't mind Raleigh-Durham or Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill...

I don't like Raleigh-Cary MSA because Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill are the major centers.. I think they should name is back as Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill MSA (which actually IS the triangle) or call it the Triangle MSA..

I don't like Raleigh/Durham because it denotes, at least to me, and either or... and I definitely hate it when I hear someone call the area RDU.. that is the airport, not the area...

The Raleigh-Durham or Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill or the Triangle MSA is a little under 2 Million people.. Its an area like the DC Metro area or the NYC Metro area.. the traffic and people are all interdispersed.. so I hate it when the area is split into the Raleigh-Cary and Durham (no Chapel Hill) MSA.. stupid stupid government moves...