This is your token Durham/Chapel Hill resident, speaking:
true.
…but that’s mainly a basketball thing (go Heels) crossed with national(?) trends, with a more-than-healthy serving of elitism and anti-libertarianism. It’s just a cultural thing, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about something so petty.
The way this side of the Triangle dismisses Raleigh (not just State), though,…
Nearly everyone I know in Chapel Hill say Raleigh is just too inconveniently far for them to care about on a daily basis. Whether it’s shopping at a mall (Southpoint), employment (RTP), an urban downtown (Durham), concerts/theaters (DPAC), a college-town experience (Franklin Street), or hipster culture (Carrboro), residents in Orange and Durham counties already have their semi-regular needs checked off; there’s not much other than the occasional concert that only Raleigh can provide, so there’s no incentive for them to care about Raleigh. Obviously, I don’t believe that, but that seems to be the popular assumption. It’s a long-term issue of transit, development, and regional culture (or lack thereof).
There’s a whole thread where we’re talking about this, btw. (and… sorta trying to figure out solutions for? but not really?)