Relocate Triangle - An Insider's Guide About Moving To The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Halloween Hijinks

As it nears time for ghosts and witches of all ages to take to the streets for treats, we thought we might provide you a few pieces of advice regarding Halloween as it is celebrated in the Triangle. So keep these things in mind come Friday, Oct. 31:

Chapel Hill Celebration To Be Toned Down

This year, Chapel Hill’s annual downtown costume ball on Franklin Street will be toned down from previous efforts due to concerns by public officials it is getting out of control, with an estimated 80,000 visitors attending last year’s event. For one, thing, the town has negotiated with local bars and restaurants to limit alcohol sales. As a result, on Halloween every bar and restaurant on Franklin Street will charge a minimum $5 cover charge starting at 10 p.m., and they will all close their doors to new patrons at 1 a.m.

Also, accessing the downtown area will be difficult. Starting at 8 p.m., inbound traffic on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from Estes Drive toward downtown and on East Franklin Street from Estes Drive toward downtown will be restricted to one lane, and one lane will be reserved for emergency vehicles.

If you have little children, you really do not want to go to this event, even though it is not restricted for families. It is more of an adult “dress-up” affair with cool outfits. Getting to and from it are never easy, and obviously will be less so this year. But if you like being among crowds of people on Halloween, go for it.

“Rocky Horror” at the Rialto in Raleigh

If you still want a costume contest for adults under less rigorous circumstances, then let’s do the Time Warp again and go to the Rialto Theatre for their big showing at midnight of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Again, though, do not take the kiddies, or rather you should not, since the movie is rated R.

Habitat Halloween 100 in Durham
For those of you with a more humanitarian bent, and want to do something with your kids too, why not benefit Habitat for Humanity of Durham? There are two events connected to this deserving charity. First, the Durham Jaycees are hosting their annual Haunted House fundraiser at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park which on Fri., Oct. 24 will be raising money for Habitat of Durham. Tickets are $7 at the door, with $2 off with the donation of a tape measure.

Then check out the fifth annual “spook-tacular” Halloween 100, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 1. The routes of 100, 62, or 31 miles are fully supported and start and finish at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham. Prizes include “best costume.” For more details on both events, visit here.

Hope these events gave you some ideas for having fun. Keep in mind that whatever you do or wherever you go, weather forecasts are predicting us to have cool nights, so dress warmly. And don’t let the goblins get you, heh heh!

Voting in the Triangle

Heard anything about an election coming up soon? Yeah, we thought you might have. So, now is as good a time as any to give you a few basics about participating in the upcoming election here in the Triangle.

Last Day to Register to Vote – Friday, Oct. 10

The North Carolina Board of Elections has announced that the state will stop registering people to vote in the Nov. 4 general election by the end of this week. Registrations occur not only at the local county board of elections but also the state Department of Motor Vehicles when conducting official DMV business at the same time (e.g., applying for or renewing a driver’s license) and through several state agencies. For a complete list of what they are, visit here.

One-Stop Voting Runs Oct. 16-Nov. 1

If you do not want to risk the possibility of facing long lines at your voting precinct on Nov. 4, there are several locations you may choose to use instead to vote in person in advance of that date. In the Triangle, they are as follows:

Wake – There are 15 locations, including at the main campus of Wake Technical Community College, Triangle Town Center Mall and Cary Towne Center Mall. Operating hours for most of them are from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. For a full list, visit here.
Durham – A total of seven locations here, at the county board of elections at 706 W. Corporation St., West Union at Duke University, North Regional Library, the Parrish Center at N.C. Central University, East Regional Library, Forest View Elementary and Southwest Elementary. For more information, visit here.
Orange – The board of elections office will not hold one-stop voting here, but it will be available at the Orange County Public Library, Carrboro Town Hall, the Morehead Planetarium, Northern Human Service Center and the Robert & Pearl Seymour Center. The latter two centers will be open from noon-7 p.m. all days except the last, when they will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The others will be open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. all days except the last, when they will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information, visit here.

Absentee Ballots by Mail

Any registered North Carolina voter can request an absentee ballot from his or her respective county board of elections prior to the last Tuesday before the election. A handwritten request from the voter or near relative (spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild) must include the following:

Name of voter
Residential Address of voter
Mailing Address of voter (if different from residential address)
Date of Birth of voter
Signature of voter or near relative (indicate relationship with voter)

If the voter is qualified, an application and ballots will be mailed to the voter after the receipt of the written request. The voted ballot must be received in the County Board of Elections office by 5 p.m. on the day before the election in order to be counted.

Be sure to affix proper postage when you return your absentee balloting materials to your county board of elections. Please check with your postmaster to determine the proper postage amount. Some counties use ballot return envelopes that do not qualify for standard letter rates (11 ½” X 6 1/8” maximum). The postage on these envelopes costs at least $0.83. Again, check with the post office before mailing your absentee ballot.

We hope these have addressed your questions about the upcoming election. Now, go out and participate, and as the old joke says, vote early and vote often.

Triangle Progress Update

As part of our periodic updates to inform you of how the Triangle continues to move onward and upward, we now present these recent developments indicating how the region keeps progressing. We think these activities are enough proof of why the Triangle should be your first choice for relocating yourself and your family. To learn why, read on.

Raleigh Bus System Becoming Bigger, Receives Federal Money

Raleigh has won a $2.8 million federal grant that will help buy land for a planned Capital Area Transit (CAT) bus maintenance and operations center on Poole Road. CAT has outgrown its 30-year-old maintenance garage on Blount Street, which was designed to handle 50 buses. Now, with about 90 buses carrying more riders every month, the city transit agency is planning a new $20 million facility that can handle 150 to 250 buses.

The federal grant will cover about 80 percent of the purchase price for the planned 23-acre site. Raleigh will seek more federal money to help build the CAT maintenance and operations center. CAT buses carried 450,000 passengers in August, the agency’s busiest month on record. This clearly indicates this increasing importance of public transportation in the Triangle, and we applaud CAT for the expansion.

$1.5 Million Grant For Video Game to Boost High School Students’ Science Skills

N.C. State University is partnering with Research Triangle-based Virtual Heroes to develop a video game they believe will boost science and information technology skills among North Carolina high school students. Virtual Heroes is an emerging leader in “serious games,” or video games that not only entertain but train, and it also utilizes virtual reality to assist medical students in learning through 3D simulation. Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the collaborators are developing a videogame program called “Games Requiring Advanced Developmental Understanding and Achievement in Technological Endeavors,” or GRADUATE for short. (Clever, eh?)

NC State and Virtual Heroes will focus initially on 40 teachers and some 150 students in the 2011 class at two high schools – Lee Early College in Sanford and Hillside New Tech in Durham. Both schools are focused on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM (clever again!) efforts in “disadvantaged” rural and urban students. Researchers at North Carolina State are harnessing the growing potential of video game software to foster science achievement and IT skills of North Carolina high school students while helping them fulfill a newly implemented graduation project requirement.

Noodles and Company Comes to Chapel Hill

Noodles & Company, a quick-casual, globally inspired noodle restaurant that serves a balanced menu of freshly sautéed Asian, Mediterranean and American cuisine, will open its first Chapel Hill restaurant and 3rd location in North Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. The restaurant is located at 214 W. Franklin St. Colorado-based Noodles & Company was founded in 1995 and is the world's first, quick-casual, globally inspired noodle restaurant. Noodles & Company is continuing to expand in North Carolina with plans to open in Raleigh and a second location in Charlotte. For more info about it, visit here.

Just as we have said in the past, this is only a sampling of the improvements coming to the area. To discover more, keep checking back here in the future.

Preparing for Hurricanes

One of the great attractions of living in the Triangle is that it takes about the same amount of time to travel to the state’s beaches as it does the state’s mountains – three to four hours, depending on where you are going (and how fast you drive). You feel here that the beaches and mountains are “so close and yet so far away.” But this can provide you with a false sense of security, particularly when it comes to bad weather that hits the coast.

Some previous hurricanes have in fact been very damaging to the Triangle even though the region lies more than 150 miles away from the coastline. With bad weather anticipated in the area over the next week or so thanks to threats from a few tropical storms and hurricanes out at sea, this is as good a time as any to be prepared for a hurricane here.

Basics for a Storm

Most experts recommend you have a hurricane survival kit that can keep you alive and functioning for at least three days in the wake of a storm. The essentials should include bottled water (one gallon per person in your house per day), non-perishable foods (e.g., canned meats, fruits and vegetables), a manual can opener (not an automatic one – remember, if the power goes off, you cannot use it to open your canned food), cash currency (ATMs run on power too) and a flashlight, which in turn needs batteries that you should have ready and available to use. Make sure you have disposable kitchenware too, plus enough food, water and prescription drugs for your children and pets. If you live out in rural or remote parts of the Triangle, a chainsaw is essential if you want to cut and clear fallen trees and brush from your property, but only if you know how to operate one properly.

All of these materials will be useless if you are not home when the storm hits, so review what items you have and where they are located with your family should you be separated and unable to communicate with them. Remember, power outages can limit your phone and Internet access.

Other Good Things to Have

A battery-operated, portable radio or TV is a great help in learning the status of the aftermath of the storm. A cooler full of ice will keep items chilled while the power is out. We are still in the summer season, so sunscreen and insect repellent are a must if you are out in the afternoon. Tools and trash bags also are close to essential in cleaning up after poor weather conditions have subsided.

When to Take Action

Almost all the local radio and TV stations are strong in keeping their audiences updated on the conditions of storms approaching the Triangle. But there is a difference between a hurricane watch (hurricane conditions are possible in the specified area, usually within 36 hours) and a hurricane warning (hurricane conditions are expected in the specified area, usually within 24 hours). When a watch or warning is announced, it is recommended that you fill up your gas tank, as fuel will be at a premium to find if there is severe damage, and bring in all lawn furniture and plants to prevent their destruction.

Because of the Triangle’s location, we are always susceptible to being in the line of hurricane damage, so make sure you are familiar with these tips and are prepared to employ them at any time during hurricane season (typically April through October). Chances are that you will face minimal if any damage from storms that reach here, but as the old saying goes, better safe than sorry.

As Summer Ends, Big Events Begin

While August winds down, the Triangle becomes livelier with activities in virtually every field or interest you can imagine. To list them all would make this blog run near infinity, so we will just concentrate on the highlights instead.

New Monthly Economic Forum

Leave it to the Triangle to host a new monthly gathering to promote the local economy at a comedy club, although we are sure the discussion will be mostly serious on the topic. The RTP Tech Event @ Goodnights is a new forum to promote business collaboration and the local economy. This first meeting will be at Goodnight’s Comedy Club at 861 W. Morgan St. in Raleigh on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. The first speakers are Dave Morris, CEO of Fuquay-Varina-based InCon, and woodworking artist Mike Parker, co-owner of and an artisan at Eidolon Designs in Raleigh. You can register for the event and learn more about it here.

College Football Returns

If you have overdosed on the Olympics – or even if you have not – that sporting event soon will be lost around here as UNC, N.C. State and Duke hit the gridiron in another football season that they hope (probably fruitlessly) will end with a bid to a bowl championship. The Tar Heels open their schedule at home Saturday, Aug. 30 opposite McNeese State (yeah, we do not know who that is either), the Wolfpack heads out of town to visit South Carolina in their opener on Aug. 28, and the Blue Devils try for at least a winning season since – well, we cannot remember the last time they had more losses than wins, but anyway, they face James Madison at home on Aug. 30. South Carolina is a top team, so if State falls to them, it will be no great cause of concern, but if UNC and Duke fall in their first games, expect a lot of talk in Chapel Hill and Durham about how they cannot wait for college basketball season to start.

Alltel Goes All Out

For those of you inclined towards the performing arts, the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek – or the Alltel Pavilion, as those of us who have been here longer when it was under different management still call it – at 3801 Rock Quarry Road in Raleigh is really going all out the next few weeks for top talent. For country fans, there will be Brooks & Dunn on Sept. 6 and Martina McBride on Oct. 4. Rockers will like John Mayer on Aug. 27 and 3 Doors Down on Sept. 16. And R&B enthusiasts can check out Mary J. Blige on Sept. 21.

As mentioned previously, these are just a sampling of what’s happening in the Triangle. We will provide much more to you in the next few weeks, so check back often.

Triangle Keeps Diversifying

A report in this week’s USA Today caught our attention, as it spotlighted data from the U.S. Census showing that Wake is the fourth largest county in the nation that gained the most non-Hispanic whites from 2000-07. A total of 103,302 people in that category became residents of Wake County, helping it to be one of the fastest growing counties in America.

This does not mean that ethnic minorities are not coming to the Triangle, however – far from it. For example, Wake’s Hispanic population nearly doubled in the same period, while Durham County’s Hispanic population zoomed up 68 percent.

The reality is that more people of all races, creed and color continue to relocate to the Triangle. While non-Hispanic whites are in the majority for Wake, Durham and Orange counties, each has more than 15 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic and 4 percent Asian residents, along with assorted other racial categories. In fact, Durham has one of the largest black populations of any county in the nation, with around 40 percent of its citizens falling under this classification.

The diversity shows up as well in the variety of ethnic interests available as well. Virtually each of the major metropolitan cities in the counties (Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill) has a plethora of restaurants specializing in foods from Chinese to Greek, and there are several publications and social organizations devoted toward the different demographic groups as well.

In addition, most if not all of the companies based in Research Triangle Park emphasize diversity in their workplaces, as do the leading universities in the area. And many businesses offer bilingual service to attract non-native speakers, and not just Hispanics either.

So do not let the recent Census figures fool you. Yes, plenty of Caucasians are coming to the Triangle, but so are most other segments of the general population. Everyone is welcome, and we have plenty to offer you, so come on here, OK?

We Just Keep Growing

We have covered this topic before and we will keep on doing so because we love good news. Simply put, new population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau released this week indicate that the Research Triangle remains one of the fastest growing areas in the country, based on estimates compiled through June of last year.

For one thing, Cary was the nation’s fifth-fastest growing large city, behind such cities as New Orleans, North Las Vegas and Victorville, a suburb in southern California. The town increased its population by 7.3 percent between mid-2006 and mid-2007. Cary now has nearly 122,000 residents, up from about 95,000 in 2000. Cary is no stranger to this list – it finished a strong 22nd place in the same category in 2005.

Then there is the biggest city in the area, Raleigh. It is now the 48th most populated city in America and looks primed to jump a few more points next year. It ranked 13th among fastest growing large cities, with a 4.2 percent growth during the year studied. With more than 375,000 residents, Raleigh has passed Honolulu and is less than 1,000 residents behind the slower growing Colorado Springs, Colorado (#47) and less than 1,900 behind Minneapolis (#46), which has lost 1.4 percent of its population from 2000-2007. And while we have said it before, it bears repeating: Raleigh now has more residents than St. Louis, Tampa, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, just to name a few others.

And we do not want to forget Durham either. That fair city now is the fourth biggest in population in the state, behind Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro (in that order) and ahead of previous fourth place holder Winston-Salem. Durham has 217,847 residents versus 215,348 for Winston-Salem. It will take a lot to surpass Greensboro, though, as it has 247,183 residents at last count.

Adding up the amounts in Cary, Raleigh and Durham alone, the Triangle has more than 700,000 residents. Put in the numbers from Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Apex, Fuquay-Varina and unincorporated areas, and you have close to a million people total. We have not had time to crunch all those numbers yet and give you a definitive answer, but we will, and when we do, we will provide it ASAP.

So if you are one of the newcomers to the Triangle, welcome and thanks for adding to our numbers. If you are reading this and thinking about becoming one, these statistics should let you know we have a vibrant community ready and eager to accommodate you, so come join us, OK? After all, thousands of recently relocated people cannot be wrong!

New Month, New Happenings

We are halfway through this year in the Triangle, and activities and achievements continue to bustle in the area as July gets underway. Normally this is a time things tend to cool down, what with many fiscal years ending on June 30 and vacations being taken in observance of the July 4th holiday, but someone apparently forgot to give the message to people involved in these events.

Chelsea (The Team, Not You Know Who) Comes to Raleigh

Anyone who is from the United Kingdom – or has a serious devotion to soccer – may be surprised and hopefully delighted to hear that Great Britain’s Chelsea FC has struck up a partnership with the Capital Area Soccer League, Raleigh’s large youth soccer club, and it is already sending coaches to work with CASL youth players. It is the first of many such partnerships Chelsea intends to establish with American soccer clubs, according to this article on AOL Sports. Chelsea hopes to develop Chelsea Soccer Schools, a new tournament called the Chelsea Sevens, coaching clinics and exchange programs with its new overseas venture.

In case you are wondering why Chelsea picked the CASL as its first venture into the United States, it is because it is considered one of the leading soccer clubs in America. That, and maybe the fact that Chelsea encountered the Chelsea Academy U-16 team lost to the CASL U-16 Academy team in the final game at Disney’s Soccer Showcase in Orlando in December 2007. If you can’t beat them … well, you know the rest.

The New Chancellor at UNC

The new chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill started his first day on the job July 1. Holden Thorp, a graduate of the university and formerly its dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, took over the position from the retiring James Moeser, who held the post for eight years. Moeser is going back to teaching.

What makes Thorp’s appointment interesting is that he is 43 years old, making him among the youngest chancellors in America. He will be leading a campus with more than 28,000 students and 3,200 faculty members. We wish him good luck.

New Drug Partnership Could Be Worth $200 Million

Durham’s Addrenex Pharmaceuticals has inked a deal with Atlanta-based Sciele Pharmaceuticals that could eventually be worth up to $200 million. If that is not impressive enough, get this: Addrenex consists of just four employees.

In the deal announced July 2, the firms will develop drugs for hypertension and menopausal hot flashes that could lead to as much as $200 million in development costs and royalties to Addrenex for treatments that make it to market. Previously Sciele acquired the rights to develop and market the Addrenex drug ADX415, which regulates adrenaline. If that sounds promising to you, Sciele is trading on NASDAQ under the heading SCRX – not that we are encouraging you to invest in it by any means. (Addrenex is not publicly traded yet, FYI.)

Three New Triangle Projects to Know

Want to be known as the newcomer who is up to date on the latest activities and events in the Triangle? Of course you do, why else would you be reading this? But to really impress your recent neighbors and co-workers, you should drop a few insights you know about these items in your conversation. To help you achieve that goal, here are three noteworthy additions you should bring up when talking to others, or at least know a little about so you can participate in the discussion.

The New Bypass
People coming from or going to Clayton or Smithfield in Johnston County from the Triangle now have a quicker route to travel by vehicle thanks to the opening on June 10 of the new U.S. 70 Bypass, an 11-mile, four-lane restricted access highway which runs south of what is now called Business 70 from Interstate 40 eastward. On the “old” U.S. 70, drivers had to contend with multiple stoplights and intersections along with traffic from fast-growing Johnston County. The new bypass cuts off up to 15 minutes on these trips. However, I-40 was not widened along with the new bypass, so during rush hour, motorists are finding that backups exist on the interstate before traffic is able to access the bypass – in other words, another example of a less-than-perfect transportation situation. Still, we will take any relief from traffic we can find around here.

New Expansion By Merck
Merck must love the Triangle, because the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company announced June 19 it plans to invest an additional $300 million in a vaccine manufacturing plant in Durham’s Treyburn Corporate Park and create as many as 180 new jobs. Back in 2004, the company announced that it would build a $300 million plant in Durham that would employ 150 to 175 workers. Then two years ago, it said it would invest about $100 million more than originally planned and add 50 to 60 more jobs.

With the latest announcement, Merck’s commitment to the Triangle totals about $700 million in investment and as many as 415 jobs. Wow.

The New (Actually Old) Drought
Despite several weekends of steady rain in April and May, the first couple of weeks here in June have been bone dry, and along with increasing demands for water plus evaporation from the humidity, our water supply is falling below normal, just as it did for much of last year. So be prepared to hear plenty of stories about how we need to conserve water, the best ways to do so, daily updates on lake levels, etc. It is just part of life here in the Triangle nowadays, so we say get used to it. And seriously, do cut back on your water use whenever possible.

Beating the Heat

With record heat hitting the Triangle this week, we thought it might help you to know about a couple of good local resources you can employ to cool down as the thermometer goes up. Among them are the following:

Cool For Wake

The “Cool for Wake” program from the Wake County Department of Human Services provides fans for some 300 to 500 low-income families each year who do not have air conditioning in their living units. Already this year demand has been greater than expected thanks to several days of 100-plus high temperatures, so the department appreciates any fans or money to buy fans that people can provide. Anyone who wants to help can drop off donations at the Human Services Department, located off Swinburne Street in Raleigh. Other organizations that dispense fans for free include the Helping Hand Mission at 613 Rock Quarry Road in Raleigh and the Durham Center for Senior Life at 406 Rigsbee Ave. in Durham.

Air Conditioning Spots

When it feels this stifling with the humidity added to the heat, you probably will want more than a fan to cool you down. If so, seek air conditioning at public places such as indoor shopping centers, libraries, restaurants, movie theaters and so on. However, note that not all public gathering places have this amenity – the Durham Police Department, for example, had replacement work on its HVAC on June 6, leaving parts of the building as hot as 93 degrees. It is now OK, but why Durham waited until this month to do that renovation boggles our mind.

Drink Water

You need to stay hydrated, and sorry, as much as you might like it, alcoholic beverages do not release heat the way good old-fashioned H2O does. Free water is available at most public buildings and shopping centers as we have listed previously. Drink up!

Take a Dip

If you cannot get to a pool, there are plenty of natural bodies of water around the area where you can wade, swim and dive. Among them are the obvious ones, such as Jordan Lake , but for less noisy enjoyment, try Sennet’s Hole at West Point at the Eno park in Durham or the Beaverdam section of Falls Lake State Recreation Park north of Raleigh.

While some might think it is obvious that you look for ways to cool down, not everyone can make that occur. Sad to say, more than 1,500 people die from excessive heat in the U.S. each year, according to the National Weather Service. So take our advice and chill out here in the Triangle – it is the smart thing for you to do.