This is the last article in a four-part series that focuses on the history of Durham and the city's relationship with the University.
Durham is expected to grow both commercially and residentially over the next decade due to an influx of smaller businesses whose products and services complement those businesses already established in the Research Triangle Park.
Pat White, director of research for the Durham Chamber of Commerce, said that recent statistics show that the county's population will increase from an estimated 193,954 people in 1995 to 241,554 in 2010. White attributes this growth to the computer, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and telecommunications companies which attract many business-oriented professionals to the Durham community. Furthermore, these new businesses benefit from their proximity to Duke, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.
"We have three research universities here where [businesses] know they can hire a trained work force," White said. The "number-one reason" why people come to the Durham area "is the brainpower that is here," he added.
Reyn Bowman, director of the Durham Visitors and Convention Bureau, said that because Durham is the second smallest county in the state, a third of which is set aside in watershed, real estate development will always be restricted. Therefore, future growth is based more on creating jobs and increasing revenue rather than selling real estate, he said.
In effect, the consumers come to the product which makes for a very dynamic type of economy, Bowen added. "We are redefining how we qualify growth," he said.
Bowman also cites intrinsic values that Durham offers to its residents. For instance, Duke and Research Triangle Park are the two biggest employers in the region. Furthermore, Durham offers a wide variety of music and dance festivals, the Duke Gardens, the Museum of Life and Science, and the Duke Primate Center, all of which are incredibly valuable features to promote, Bowman said.
"Durham has an incredible collection of various indigenous features... it's not like a theme park which is a simulated experience. We still have the culture and texture of this community... we didn't tear down what was good in order to progress."
These diverse features of Durham have helped increase the tourist population, Bowman said. From 1990 to 1995 the population increased from 2.3 million to 3.97 million. Over the next five years, The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau expects the population to increase even more rapidly.
Furthermore, there is an expected 8 percent increase per year in the number of conventions which come to Durham, Bowman added. There was in increase from 2,200 in 1990 to 6,100 in 1995, a high proportion of which were national and international, he said.
Tom White, vice-president of economic development for the Durham Chamber of Commerce, said that a recent announcement indicated that $250 million in capital was invested in Durham last year and that 2,100 jobs were created.
"We have a large volume of industrial clients who are evaluating the market for corporate expansion," White said.
White said that companies like IBM and Motorola have recently expanded in the Triangle area. As a result, a second generation of companies which produce the components that make up these large companies' products are now entering the area, he said. The addition of these new business are great for generating new jobs, White said. He also cited Midway Airlines' relocation to RTP as being a major factor in the increasing number of jobs in the community.
Durham offers many other things besides a good location for business, White added. There is a superior quality of life, a reasonable cost of living, and a variety of social outlets that are inherent in the city.
Dianne Powell, director of relocation for Prudential Realty, said that Durham has a lot to offer to people who are looking to relocate to the Triangle area. The city offers affordable housing, good public and private universities, excellent health care, and golf courses and parks, she said.
Furthermore, the Durham Board of Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Durham-Chapel Hill have made great efforts to build competitively-priced, executive-quality homes in the Durham area to attract relocating business executives. This, coupled with the recent changes made to improve the public schools, have significantly increased the number of new residents.
Powell also attributes the increasing interest in Durham over the last few years to the annual articles run in Fortune and Money magazines rating the best areas of country in which to live. Many of the companies Powell talks to that are looking to relocate already have a very knowledgeable background of the Triangle area because of these articles, she said.
Good Morning America's recent visit to the University community was also "great publicity," Powell said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.