While you’re enjoying the small-town atmosphere, you’re also just a short drive from the Triangle (formed by Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill), with its world-class universities, businesses, shopping, dining and hospitals. Throughout Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, you’ll find plenty of attractions and excellent opportunities for careers and education.

Raleigh

For the past two decades, Raleigh has continued to be one of the fastest growing cities in the country, while at the same time consciously managing this growth to maintain its small town feel. The city continues to offer a variety of entertainment opportunities with numerous theaters, museums, art galleries and cultural events. Raleigh also has the first state-sponsored symphony in the nation, the North Carolina Symphony. Here you will also find the state's own museums of art, history, and science. Of course, sports are an incredibly popular draw in this area – the city offers professional soccer, baseball and hockey – and the local universities offer year-round entertainment. For those who like to spend their free-time outdoors, Raleigh has a nationally-acclaimed park system comprised of 7,500 acres of parkland and greenways, as well as 40 miles of hiking and biking trails.

Durham Hill

Durham is a colorful, creative, and entrepreneurial community of 262,715 that welcomes 6.04 million visitors each year. Durham occupies a prime location in the heart of North Carolina and is a nexus for learning, achievement, creativity, research, and industry.

In the 1950's-60's, what is now the world's largest university-related research park and namesake for the vast Triangle region was carved from Durham pinelands as a special Durham County tax district. Research Triangle Park is encompassed on three sides by the City of Durham, with a small portion now spilling into Wake County toward Cary and Morrisville. RTP scientists have developed everything from Astroturf® to AZT and won Nobel Prizes in the process. Now, nearly 140 major research and development companies, including Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Underwriters Laboratories, and agencies such as the EPA, employ more than 45,000.

Chapel Hill

The Town of Chapel Hill is a community where a diversity of ideas, people, and opportunities converge. It is a place where its citizens feel a vitality and pride that stem from Chapel Hill's history, traditions, and unique characteristics. Nicknamed the "Southern Part of Heaven," Chapel Hill was named after New Hope Chapel which stood upon a hill at the crossing of two primary roads (where The Carolina Inn currently stands). Town lots were auctioned in 1793 when work began on the first University building, although it was 1795 before any residents occupied permanent homes.

The history of the Town is inextricably linked to the University. The Town was, in fact, created to serve the University. When the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees chose the area around New Hope Chapel as the site for the first State university in 1793, they also named a committee to lay out a town adjacent to the site.

Present day reminders of Chapel Hill's history are cherished by its citizens and admired by its visitors; quiet winding streets, wooded homesites, stone walls, and small shops surrounding the University add to the charm, mystique, and "small-town" atmosphere. Much of the character of Chapel Hill is due to its great natural beauty including steep wooded slopes, small streams, and tree-covered vistas. The integration of these protected natural environments with the cosmopolitan and institutional setting of the University reflects the spirit of diversity and community which is Chapel Hill.

Here's just some of what others have to say about the Triangle Area:

• #1 Best Place for Business and Careers (Raleigh, NC)—Forbes.com, March 2008
• #2 Best City for Bargain House-Hunters (Raleigh, NC)—Forbes.com, February 2008
• #9 Best City for Jobs (Raleigh, NC)—Forbes.com, January 2008
• Top Five Strongest Real Estate Market (Raleigh-Cary, NC)—Veros.com, January 2008
• #7 Top Appreciating Metro Area (Raleigh, NC)—Money, December 2007
• #12 Most Affordable Real Estate Market in the Nation (Raleigh-Cary, NC) —Forbes.com, August 2007
• #3 America’s Best Jobs in the Hottest Cities (Raleigh-Durham, NC) —Business 2.0, May 2007