Last spring, national media often portrayed Durham as a city torn apart by race and class divisions that had been exacerbated by the then-fledgling lacrosse scandal.
A year later, with the case's conclusion last Wednesday, much of the community is breathing a sigh of relief.
Days after all charges against the three former men's lacrosse players were dropped, Durham Mayor Bill Bell said residents are ready for the healing process to begin.
"I'm convinced that this community will move forward, and we've already begun to move forward," Bell said. "The relationship the city has had with both [North Carolina Central University] and with Duke is stronger today than before. As a community as a whole, I think Durham handled itself very well."
In Walltown-a neighborhood just off East Campus, near the North Buchanan Boulevard house where the accuser alleged she was assaulted last March-residents say they believe the situation was blown out of proportion and received excessive media attention.
"In the beginning, everyone jumped into it with the cameras, helicopters and even the [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]," said a Walltown resident who asked not to be identified by name. "It was a whole big mess. It could have been handled a little bit slower."
Trinity Park resident Tom Brothers said he believes that dropping the case was an appropriate decision, and that continued investigation of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's conduct is warranted.
Jerry Jackson, another resident of Trinity Park, said the development of the lacrosse scandal led to a decreased amount of noise and disruption in his neighborhood. "I'm just glad the team's not in the house anymore," Jackson said. "The parties went away. For the neighborhood, it's going to be a net positive because they're going to be private homes."
The house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. was among 12 off-East houses bought by the University last year.
Charlie Parish, a Walltown resident, said she felt the case was mishandled and will cause irreparable damage to the three former Duke players.
Despite a general sense of relief that the case ended, some residents lamented that the case has had negative effects on the community.
"It's been botched the whole time," said James Henderson, a longtime resident of Southwest Durham. "It's one of the biggest tragedies to the city of all time. It is a real black eye to Durham."
Rony Camille, a senior at North Carolina Central University and editor of the school's student newspaper, the Campus Echo, said that when the news first broke, he noticed a range of reactions on NCCU's campus-the school where Crystal Gail Mangum, the accuser in the case, was enrolled.
He added that most students are now happy the case has come to a close.
"I'd say it was much more of a relief because students were tired of this whole media coverage of Duke and NCCU and this whole case," Camille said. "They want to focus on their studies. It would be better for us to move on and to focus on the relationship of Duke and NCCU and the community."
Camille noted, however, that some students still held reservations about the dropped charges and were disappointed that the case was not pursued further.
"Some students were like, 'Hey, I think it's time to drop it.' Others were like, '[Mangum's] been through a lot-that's why she's changing her story five or six times,'" Camille said. "There were a lot of mixed feelings."
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