It is sad if that is the case and this hurts efforts about bringing MLB to Raleigh. Most companies treat the area as one region as it is but no one will give up their identity in one larger metro area. It would help the area get even more attention.
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Itâs not that people here donât care, thereâs just nothing we can do about it.
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Cary has my vote. I like Cary and live in Raleigh. I go there all the time for shopping and doctors appointments etc. I agree with you. Raleigh and Durham both flow right into Cary. No reason Cary shouldnât be part of the MSA.
Frankly, there are folks in the Triangle who are surprised to hear that we have more people and are growing faster than Nashville. The split MSA nature of the Triangle really hurts our visibility. I have even seen stories/rankings of the Triangle that say Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill and then only attribute the Raleigh MSA population of 1.5M to it.
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It wont happen under the 2 metro areas. Northern Chatham County is suburban Chapel Hill basically and only eastern Chatham orients itself towards Cary and Wake County. But this is the reason I think metro Durham Chapel Hill and the metro Raleigh Cary need to be one big metro which would be called Raleigh Durham Cary due to the population sizes.
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They could if they had a mentality of elevating the area. A growth mentality really.
Cary is just a huge suburb with homes and shopping centers. We need to reunite as the abolute Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill. Raleighs urban area is bigger than the MSA? Its so obvious there are shady politics involved hereâŚ
Cary would get #3 billing as it is the 3rd largest city town in the Triangle by population. Apex is bigger than Chapel Hill in people. Plus Cary does have 1000s of jobs within its town limits like SAS, Epic Games and many more.
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But waitâŚwhat about that beautiful downtown area with the new library and the park that will blow your 
off. Come on. Cary has way more to offer. The central location has always put Cary square in the middle of what should be a MSA considered area.
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A lot of Cary is suburban, but Downtown Cary is really nice these days. It is a pleasant place to walk around with many restaurants, numerous bars/breweries, and the best urban park in the region. For family activities, it may be the nicest downtown in the Triangle.
And as others have already said, it is the third largest municipality in the Triangle. It is also the seventh largest in the state, ahead of multiple destinations such as Wilmington and Asheville.
Cary is already part of the Raleigh MSA (just like Chapel Hill is part of the Durham MSA). The reason the two MSAâs are split is because of the commuting pattern rules. I think its dumb, but I donât think it is some big conspiracy, it is just the way the rules are written.
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Arlington tx shares those same roles, but it is still just an exurb to the real cities. There a few nice areas like any town, but Cary is nowhere land.
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I believe a huge effort was put forward on this in the last census update and the bureau heavily considered and rejected it due to the commuting patters which is an antiquated metric. Local politicians are very much in favor is my understanding. For what its worth Wilmington lobbied to have Brunswick added back into their MSA and won that argument with the data. Until the metrics change I donât think anything further can be done at the political level.
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The Cotswolds of the Triangle, aka Chatham County may one day grace your metro and your wish will be granted.
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Gotta disagree about Cary. Cary has wonderful parks, greenways including their new downtown park which is probably the best urban park in the southeast. If 180,000 people choose to live in the town it canât be all that bad! My college roommate who lives in north Raleigh feels the same way you do so I am always coaxing him to Cary for something like dinner in Fenton.
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Can we please stop with this? Its not even the best urban park in Wake County let alone the entire South East.
Pullen Park is better. Dix Park will be better.
Cary Park is Disneyland.
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Sheesh, theyâre all so different. They fill differently niches, thereâs no real better or worse between those three. I like wide open spaces so I prefer Dix of the three.
Itâs like trying to argue if Katie Ledecky or the 2005 Texas Longhorns are better at sports. The points of comparison donât make sense.
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All true! But Caryâs Downtown park has a water feature! 
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Can we please have Caryâs downtown Disneyland Park and Dix Sunflower Park and Pullen Merry-go-round Park PLUS all within the MSA. I really think we can just have it all. Who do we ask? The Great MSA god or the Grand OZ? It seems like a no brainer to me.
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Pullen Park has a lake.
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Dix Gipson Park water feature is under construction
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