Reviews & Comments
Durham, NC
re: The Good is Great and the Bad is Awful
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9/13/2020The crime rate in Durham is deceptive, since it varies widely based on very small pockets of neighborhoods. There is actually a 10-square-block area (a very small part of the town as a whole) which, if crime statistics for that area were removed, Durham's crime rate is lower than the national average. That is where the concentration of gang activities tends to be. As for property crime - it's pretty obvious that thieves go where there are things worth stealing. There's not a town in America that doesn't battle property theft in even its most well-to-do neighborhoods.
I've lived here over 20 years, now, and seen amazing changes in that time. From a downtown that was a ghost town to a downtown where thousands of people are now choosing to live, restaurants abound, live music, theater, dance are being performed, monthly art walks, small independent art galleries, and cultural events take place year round. There is a vibrant social activism here, a thriving Black professional class, the state's LGBTQ Pride Parade every year, churches of many denominations. If you love multi-culturalism, meeting the people who come here from all over the country and world to work in tech, medicine, biomed, video gaming, the arts, body-mind practices and wellness, you name it -- a town that has both a university and is a favorite for retirees and every age in-between, then this is a great place. Two hours from the beach, two hours from the mountains, rolling hills with gardens, forests, and lakes for beauty and recreation.
If you don't like that sort of thing, then yeah. Durham sucks, LOL.
The thing we've loved most for 2 decades here, is how many people in Durham take pride in the town and in trying to take care of each other. Neighborhood listservs have been sending out information and sharing it around about how to feed kids who aren't getting their free meals at school during the pandemic shutdowns, holding drives for food pantries, helping neighbors who've been flooded out, or refurbishing laptops to donate where they're needed. Someone is always up to something to help somebody else. As hard as it is to find a sense of community many places, Durham seems to really put its back into the efforts to create and sustain that. It's not perfect. Homelessness, poverty, racism, gentrification, cost of healthcare, town & gown issues -- all these show up -- but I don't know of a single city in this country where they don't.