The Boroughs of a Greater Raleigh

[Merboy]

First and foremost, I'll preface this by saying how much I ADORE Durham and Chapel Hill. I work in the RTP in the RTI campus. I go to Carrboro all the time for fun and friends. But Raleigh is my home and for better or worse you couldn't drag me out of this great city. But to Durham, Chapel Hill, and others... you ROCK. I LOVE you. We're not the same place without you.

However, I was reading comments on the New Raleigh site about how the "Triangle" was credited with the new title of "Most Wired City" in the states and how the article seemed to imply that the Triangle = Raleigh, there seemed to be some question as to the identity of what the Triangle actually is. Those of us who live here know it as the triangle shape made by Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, but to the rest of the country, all of us seemed to be lumped in under the banner of Raleigh.

Now my question to you isn't about how to define "The Triangle". My question is... well... ok, let's pretend it's a hundred years or so in the future and all three cities have done outstandingly well in all arenas (economy, arts, technology, R&D, et al). Do you think that somewhere in the distant (and yes, duh, it will be distant) future the area will eventually grow into a single city that refers to itself as Raleigh, possibly even making other cities into boroughs, a la Brooklyn City/Queens County, etc etc?

And seriously, we all have a lot of pride in our respective roots. This isn't a question of "who's more important".

[RALNATIVE]

I actually think that this is a very important topic. Years ago, we were referred to as the Triangle, with no real central city. Then others outside the region began to refer more to us as Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. Then they dropped Chapel Hill, and it just became Raleigh-Durham.

As of the last two years, i've been hearing only Raleigh when references to the region are made. I hear this on airlines, on the news, in the media...everywhere. I think that most of the world is not used to dealing with combined cities, and had a hard time dealing with the concept of "Raleigh-Durham." You actually had those people who thought that Raleigh-Durham was a merged city, like Winston-Salem. This became very confusing.

Since most of the action in the Traiangle in recent years has taken place in Raleigh, and the majority of the growth has occured in this city, I do think that Raleigh is emerging nationally and internationally not only as the central city of the Triangle, but a major city in the U.S. We are currently ranked at #45 in terms of population.

As far as Durham and Chapel Hill, I do see them taking more of a backseat in the future, and will probably be seem as suburbs at some point. That is not to say that they are loosing their prominence locally, or anything of the sort, but it does indicate that Raleigh has risen in prominence on the national scene.

I just hope that the leaders and movers-and-shakers in this area continue to step up, and help Raleigh become the city that it should be.

[Gard]

I believe that the mere fact that Raleigh is the state capital is providing it benefits as well. North Carolina, as a whole, has been growing rapidly, which also means that the state government gets larger and has more of a voice on the national and to some extent, international stage. The result is more business leaders and foreign government representatives coming here to meet with state leaders on various things, such as business deals, university partnerships and so forth.

Raleigh no doubt benefits from this, even if it is just name recognition because people have to travel here. I think the 2010 census will be very telling in how large we officially are now, both as a city and as a state, and will very likely provide us greater benefits than ever before.

[Jones_]

No, not boroughs. The Airport and Umstead provide a physical divide that will maintain respective political boundaries. You won't even get physical wrap-around with Falls Lake controlling that to the north primarily. More likely you would see City/County mergers of police and utilities first and ultimately governing bodies.

[Justin6882]

Wasn't the "Most Wired" thing based on the Raleigh-Cary metro...it didn't include Durham, from what I understood.

[RaleighRob]

I certainly refer to the area as the Triangle whenever appropriate. And I certainly hope that people still consider it as such instead of just "Greater Raleigh". That just doesn't even begin to explain the region accurately, in my view.

And I refuse to refer to it as "Raleigh-Cary". Um, no. Cary is not a real city....I will always call it a town. (Or sometimes as "sprawling tumor".) It's a suburb of Raleigh and if it were not Raleigh, Durham and RTP, Cary would still be just a tiny blip on the map.

Plus, as Raleigh and Wake County begin to finally fill up and run out of places to develop, I think Durham & Orange counties will start to catch up, population-wise. (Though frightfully, Johnston County seems hell-bent on developing every last acre of farmland they can possibly do. ) For example, ever census, it seems Durham & Winston-Salem switch back and forth on 4th and 5th largest NC cities.

And I've said it before and I'll say it again....The city of Raleigh has way more in common with Durham & Chapel Hill than it ever will with the rest of Wake County. And those of you who've been well-read up on recent stuff going on in Wake, you know exactly what I mean!

[Merboy]

The city of Raleigh has way more in common with Durham & Chapel Hill than it ever will with the rest of Wake County. And those of you who've been well-read up on recent stuff going on in Wake, you know exactly what I mean!

[sax184]

Do you think that somewhere in the distant (and yes, duh, it will be distant) future the area will eventually grow into a single city that refers to itself as Raleigh, possibly even making other cities into boroughs, a la Brooklyn City/Queens County, etc etc?

[RALNATIVE]

RaleighRob and Jones133 are on the money. There may be consolidated services where it makes sense (solid waste? transit? police? fire?) but Raleigh and its suburbs are increasingly on different cultural paths. The urban centers of the Triangle have more commonalities, and they will all thrive if they focus on the synergies the connected urban areas provide.

[RaleighRob]

What's funny is that Chapel Hill and Carrboro are arguably more alike than any other two towns in the region...or possibly, the state---and are crammed up against each other geographically more than any other towns I know of. (You can literally walk from the downtown of one to the downtown of the other in less than 20 minutes!) YET---they still both refuse to even consider merging. (Not counting the school system.)

So if that can't even happen...don't expect Raleigh to submit to Wake County anytime soon.

[Merboy]

So with all the eyesores and gems.... What exactly is Raleigh's image all about? What do *you* think of when you picture a future Raleigh?