Reminds me of the stories my parents told of what the area was like in the early 80s, and the culture shock they had coming from the northeast/west coast.
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We moved to Raleigh from far up state NY, so this was actually a big jump forward, lol.
As isolated and sleepy as Raleigh was, because of the college and IBM it more diverse and cosmopolitan than one would expect. I went to school with east Indians, Egyptians, various Europeans. We knew Nigerians and Moroccans, Moravians, Hindus, Moslems and Jews. Believe it or not, about the only religious group I didn’t know were Catholics. Not at all the stereotype you’d have of a sleepy southern state capital.
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With the university nearby, having an International collection of people is a nice perk.
Catholics (like my family) weren’t very common ITB at the time. Realtors literally didn’t show my parents any homes ITB as if it didn’t exist. We were shown homes strictly in north Raleigh and Cary.
Downtown Raleigh housed the smallest Catholic Cathedral in the world up until recently. Now ITB has one of the largest Catholic Cathedrals in the nation.
My childhood neighborhood and school were well represented with Jews and Catholics, mostly from New York.
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We went to Sacred Heart Cathedral a few times when I was married and moved back. What a beautiful floor! But it was tiny.
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Dude, I’m a Moravian!! 
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I did some sleuthing when the subject of the interstates bypassing Raleigh came up over on City-Data a few years ago. Raleigh isn’t even shown on the original Interstate maps – it had among the smallest population of all state capitals then.
Fayetteville, on the other hand, is surrounded by giant military posts. I-95 is a straight shot from there to Ft. Lee and Belvoir in VA, Meade in MD, Jacksonville FL etc. Plus, at the time US-301 carried more traffic than US-1, because it was the more direct north-south route.
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You are absolutely correct that the Interstate system program had a military logistics angle to it. The idea of that mimics how Lincoln leveraged the north’s superior rail infrastructure to win the Civil War through logistics tactics.
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An interesting read …
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Longleaf is a destination.
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We enjoyed our stay there a couple of times while we were waiting for the new place. Nice finishings, accommodations and staff is super nice. Of course we LOVE the patio area!
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I’m loving this statement:
If we’ve considered the triangle of Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham a trio for as far as we can remember, we’re giving notice now — Raleigh is poised for a promising solo career.
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Raleigh needs to become a majority Green/Environmentally friendly city, that would be a great way to become well-known especially now with climate issues on the rise.
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I like the idea. But we can’t even get our act together for mass transit.
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Mass transit is controlled by the city but housing developments are private so there’s a better chance of it happening
Building green on an individual level is still just one part of the larger issue though. This is why a large portion of green-building ratings like LEED are made up of metrics that measure the sustainability of a building’s site – is it connected? Walkable? Mixed-use? Reusing existing infrastructure?
A city that is largely composed of sprawling car-dependent suburbs cannot brand itself as a green mecca – it would just be seen as a marketing ploy that’s not really addressing the elephant in the room. We should be building greener anyway; I just don’t see it as a smart move to center sustainability in our marketing when we’ll be compared to older cities with much more transit-friendly, walkable, dense grids.
Maybe we could become a model for transforming formerly low-density, transit-proof suburbs into something more sustainable, but we’re a long way from being able to do that in any meaningful capacity.
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I meant in anyway possible like your suggestion
Unlike the Amazon sweepstakes, Apple’s announcement for Raleigh metro, was the lead story out of all the Apple expansions. Good job on all fronts for letting it burst into the news (National & International). After spending time in DTDurham last week, I now think our region resembles “Silicon Valley” region, with each city benefiting from bio/tech companies expansions in adjacent cities. Apple in particular likes a campus atmosphere, as does Broadband. Durham is hot for young singles. Raleigh, Cary and surrounding towns seem to be attractive to families. I think we will hear of new residential towers in DTR being announced for the high end salaried residents, relocating to the region. Lots of 40 story zoned properties available. This is huge for DTR, the region and the State. Also great timing with infrastructure on the docket.
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A proposed bill in the NC House would provide incentives for esport events in NC.
In general I’m dubious of these industry specific incentives, but if you are going to pick one, esports is a great one to pick, IMO. Relatively new and growing, seems like a natural fit for the state, and especially the Triangle. Work with Epic to make us one of the centers of US esports.
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Next week, City Council will talk about potentially becoming a sister city with Gibraltar, the British territory sitting between Spain and Morocco with the famous rock.
Sister city relationships seem like they don’t matter, but it can recruit new, major employers, connect local businesses with international opportunities, and win diplomatic brownie points. Gibraltar is pretty damn rich thanks to its involvement in global shipping and it being a tax haven, and the city documents imply they want to be a part of our strong startup culture.
Raleigh is already sister cities with five places, but most existing relationships have focused on cultural events and volunteer work. If the city approves this sister city relationship and leans into the strategic parts of it, it could become interesting for future businesses… 
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