<p>I come from the bay area, so I'm kinda used to seeing Subway/Quiznos and Starbucks all over the place.
I mean stores are everywhere, people are everywhere...usually Asians, whites, Latinos, and Indians all over the market place.</p>
<p>I come from a bustling suburb. </p>
<p>And then I visited Durham...don't take me wrong, I LOVE Duke. I just didn't like Durham...to Duke students: How do you find Durham? Do you go there often? How do you get used to it? </p>
<p>There's NO diversity at all there...its completely filled with white and black people only...</p>
<p>John117
I am from Florence, Italy…Florence wins hands down across all categories. Durham cannot compare to Florence. Impossible. But Durham has Duke. :)</p>
<p>There are a LOT of things to complain about Durham…but complaining about diversity isn’t one of them. Durham is 46% White, 44% African American, 3.64% Asian, and 9% Hispanic of any race (probably mostly Caucasian, so the white number should be decreased a bit). That’s one heck of a diverse city! Compare that to the US Census of 68% White, 12% African American, 4.3% Asian, and 14% Hispanic. So, yes, Durham is slightly less Hispanic and Asian than the US, but not by huge numbers. To say it’s not diverse *racially *doesn’t make much sense.</p>
<p>In any event, I’m not saying Durham is a perfect city. It’s common for Duke students to love Duke and not be a fan of Durham. Most people coming in probably don’t have high expectations of Durham. You’ll soon learn, though, that there’s plenty to do in Durham, and I find it to be a very livable city. Most of the time you spend on campus anyways as there’s constantly something going on and we have busy lives. But when venturing off campus, Durham has some surprisingly nice restaurants, bars, and shops, malls, movie theaters, etc. It’s not a major cosmopolitan city like San Fran, so if you’re expecting that, you’re in for disappointment, but you could do a lot worse for a college town. And Chapel Hill is only 10 minutes a way, a great college town. Overall, I’d say it grows on you. As to going off campus or not, that’s highly dependent on the individual. Some people honestly never leave campus, while others go off every day. It’s really what you want to do.</p>
<p>John117 - if you come from a bustling suburb you will be disappointed. Durham will not compare to San Jose. </p>
<p>Durham has some great bones - just look at all those great brick buildings - but there has been very little development in the area. It’s rather sad.</p>
<p>On the other hand I was told by a Raleigh resident who lived in a downtown condo that their downtown bustles with restaurants and bars. So, you might want to take a look at that area.</p>
<p>Personally, I like the restaurants in Hillsborough. One out of the way restaurant has the best pie I have tasted in decades. The last time I was there the co-owner told me a TV program was coming to interview her that afternoon. There were framed articles about the restaurant on the wall. I almost didn’t go in this place when I first found it because of its shabby exterior.</p>
<p>In San Jose you can just walk down the street and find great places to go.</p>
<p>In the Durham area it’s like a treasure hunt, but there are some great places there. After all how many streets in San Jose have homes from the 1800s that people still reside in. Plus how many signers of the Declaration of Independence are in the corner graveyard.</p>
<p>Say what? The American Tobacco campus is a multi-million dollar re-development project with restaurants, a baseball stadium and the new DPAC - I believe one of the largest theaters in the Southeast.</p>
<p>Duke’s campus is surrounded by residential areas and forest, but there are restaurants, malls and other suburban sprawl available. Durham has actually been held up as a model of urban re-development success. The major of Winston-Salem NC (another industrial tobacco city) once called Durham a “Renaissance city.” OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but Durham is rebuilding, slowly. Twenty-five years ago, downtown Durham was essentially one giant tobacco wearhouse.
No, Durham is not San Jose. However, I don’t think Duke students lack for things to do. There’s plenty to do on campus, with malls, Chapel Hill, mountains and beach are a day-trip away.</p>
<p>Durham is not the best city. However, you do have Southpoint there, which offers some great shopping and excellent restaurants. Aside from 9th street, there aren’t too many places near campus to hang out though. But, there is plenty to do at Duke and I’m sure that you’ll adapt quickly.</p>
<p>Not much to offer when I went…coming from DC. Two very different areas. Southpoint is nice, but not the best mall I’ve seen either. There are places to eat. Raleigh and surrounding towns are a little nicer. Remember, you’re going to college primarily for an education. But I understand that lifestyle outside of class is important as well.</p>
<p>Southpoint is a freaking mall, of the sort you can get in any built-up area in the country. It has the sort of deadly boring restaurants that are available anywhere else in the country, too. The triangle has a hell of a lot more interesting places to eat, drink, and hang out than that! You’re living in one of the first parts of the country to embrace the slow/local food movement, for one thing. The place is crawling with foodies of all sorts. If you spend a few years at Duke and come out thinking that some Olive Garden step-up at the mall is a good restaurant, I think your parents wasted their tuition money.</p>
<p>Yeah, I understand…I mean Duke is great and all…I LOVE it. Just wish it wasn’t in North Carolina. Maybe if it was around the outskirts of a bustling, advanced city?
Stanford is around SF
MIT and Harvard are in Boston
Caltech around LA
Columbia in NYC</p>
<p>Just wish Duke could be around some city thats a bit…not like Durham lol.</p>
<p>John-- I completely agree. Today was my first time in Durham (for BDD), and I have to say, I’m really disappointed. I went around town at night, and it was hella sketchy and really creeped me out. Maybe I was just in the wrong (bad) part of Durham… I’m not sure. I thought I was set on Duke, but I might have to reconsider Cornell as another option. ■■■. >.<</p>
<p>I’m sure Duke is still a great school… it’s just that idk if getting a Duke education is worth spending 4 years in Durham. I don’t think it’s possible to be part of the Duke community without somehow fitting into the Durham community, despite what others have said on this thread. And btw, I’m coming from the SF-bay as well, so I’m in the same boat as you.</p>
<p>uhhh, if you go cruising around downtown durham at night of course it’s gonna be hella sketchy. As for fitting into the durham community, it’s not a pre-requisite. It’s encouraged if you’d like to do community service. But let’s not let our imaginations get away from ourselves please, going to college isn’t like going native or anything, no need to get freaked out.</p>
<p>@lazypolarbears: I hear you man. But hey, I don’t think we’re going to spend much time in Durham anyways…we’re gonna have to deal with craploads of work at Duke…</p>