Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh (rälÄ" or RAH-lee) is the capital of North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. It is the county seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 276,093, making it the second most populous city in North Carolina, behind Charlotte. Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up the three cities of The Triangle, so named in 1959 with the creation of the Research Triangle Park, a research park between Durham and Raleigh (mostly located within Durham County). The Triangle is equivalent to the U.S. Census Bureau's Combined Statistical Area of Raleigh-Durham-Cary. Its total population as of 2004 was over 1.46 million. The estimated Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area population, as of 2004, is 914,680.

Combined Statistical Area population for Raleigh-Durham-Cary was 1,509,560 as of July 1, 2005

The City of Raleigh estimates its population to be 347,729 as of January 1, 2006, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

History

Raleigh was established in 1792 as both the new county seat and the new state capital. It was named for Sir Walter Raleigh, sponsor of the Colony of Roanoke, which was known as the "Lost Colony." The site was chosen as being within ten miles of Isaac Hunter's Tavern, a tavern popular with the legislators of the time. No city or town existed on the site before it was chosen to house the capital.

Despite being spared destruction in the Civil War, Raleigh grew very little from its original 1792 size until the introduction of streetcar lines in the 1920's, foundation of the Research Triangle Park in the 1950's, and a freeway known as the Beltline (I-440/US-1/US-64) in the 1960's.

Raleigh is one of the few cities in the US planned and built specifically to serve as a state capital.

Downtown Raleigh panorama, from 1909

Law and government

The state capitol in Raleigh

Raleigh has operated under a council-manager government since 1947. The city council consists of eight members; all seats, including the mayor's, come up for election every two years. The current and 7 council members (5 district representatives and 2 at large).

City council

*Charles Meeker Mayor
*Tommy Craven (District A, north-central Raleigh)
*Jessie Taliaferro (District B, northeast Raleigh)
*James West (District C, mayor pro tem, southeast Raleigh)
*Thomas Crowder (District D, southwest Raleigh)
*Philip Isley (District E, west and northwest Raleigh)
*Russ Stevenson (at-large)
*Joyce Kekas (at-large)

See also: List of mayors of Raleigh, North Carolina

Crime

Raleigh has a very low homicide rate. In 2004 only 16 murders or non-negligent manslaughters were reported within city limits, per the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports. In 2005, Raleigh's murder total grew to 21.

Raleigh has 469.2 motor vehicle thefts per year per 100,000 residents. The average for metro areas in North Carolina is 528.4 motor vehicle thefts per year per 100,000 residents.

According the FBI's Crime in the US 2004, there were 99 forcible rapes, 661 robberies, 1,091 aggravated assaults, and 12,126 incidents of property crime.

According to the Uniform Crime Reports, crime in Raleigh has been steadily decreasing, as has the trend been nationally. In 2004, there were 580 violent crimes and 3768 property crimes reported per 100,000 population. Nationally there were 466 violent crimes and 3517 property crimes reported per 100,000 population. However, it can be difficult to compare local averages to a national number as a number of urbanization levels are present across the nation. Cities with between 250,000 and 500,000 population reported 978 violent crimes and 5631 property crimes per 100,000 population, well above Raleigh's report crimes.

In 2004 and 2003, Raleigh has posted a 10% and 6%, respectively, decrease in violent crime per 100,000 population and a 21% and 14% decrease in property crime. Nationally a drop of 2% and 4% were registered for violent crime and 2% and 1% for property crime. The drop for cities between 250,000 and 500,000 population is not able to be measured yet as 2004 was the first year that the Uniform Crime Report broke data down into city size categories.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 299.3 km² (115.6 mi²). 296.8 km² (114.6 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²) of it (0.84%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 276,093 people, 112,608 households, and 61,371 families residing in the city. The population density was 930.2/km² (2,409.2/mi²). There were 120,699 housing units at an average density of 406.7/km² (1,053.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 63.31% White, 27.80% African American, 0.36% Native American, 3.38% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.24% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.99% of the population.

There were 112,608 households out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.5% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.5% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 15.9% from 18 to 24, 36.6% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $46,612, and the median income for a family was $60,003. Males had a median income of $39,248 versus $30,656 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,113. 11.5% of the population and 7.1% of families were below the poverty line. Approximately one out of four (25.5%) Raleigh citizens are beneath 200% of the poverty line. Out of the total population, 13.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Education

Institutes of higher education

*ECPI College of Technology
*Meredith College
*North Carolina State University
*Peace College
*School of Communication Arts
*Shaw University
*St. Augustine's College
*Wake Technical Community College

Public education

Public education in Raleigh is serviced by the Wake County Public School System. Raleigh is home to 77 schools in that system (48 elementary, 15 middle, and 9 high schools. Raleigh is also home to 5 other special public schools.

Charter Schools

The State of North Carolina also provides for a certain number of charter schools. These schools are administered separately from the Wake County Public School System. Raleigh has 10 charter schools:
*Casa Esperanza Montessori School (K-6)
*Exploris Middle School (6-8)
*Hope Elementary School (K-5)
*John H. Baker, Jr., High School (9-12)
*The Magellan Charter School (4-8)
*PreEminent Charter School (K-8)
*Quest Academy (K-8)
*Raleigh Charter High School (9-12)
*SPARC Academy (K-8)
*Torchlight Academy (K-6)

Private education

*Raleigh Latin High School
*Saint Thomas More Academy
*Ravenscroft School
*Cardinal Gibbons High School
*St. David's School (Previously St. Timothy's - Hale)
*Saint Mary's School
*Raleigh Christian Academy
*Wake Christian Academy
*Friendship Christian School
*North Raleigh Christian Academy
*Trinity Academy of Raleigh
*Al Iman School
*Word of God Christian Academy

Attractions

*The Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek [1] hosts major touring musical acts
*The Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts [2], which encompasses the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, the Fletcher Opera Theater, the Kennedy Theatre, and the Meymandi Concert Hall
*Exploris hosts an IMAX theater
*Juniper Level Botanic Gardens
*North Carolina Museum of Art [3]
*North Carolina Museum of History [4]
*North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences [5] is the largest museum of its kind in the southeast.
*Raleigh City Museum [6]
*Playspace [7]
*Pullen Park, on the campus of North Carolina State University, houses a circa-1912 Carousel and offers train and boat rides.
*JC Raulston Arboretum Internationally renowned

The Museum of History, Natural Sciences and Exploris are found in downtown Raleigh. The Museum of Art is located on a substantial parcel of land in North West Raleigh. The Exploris Museum has struggled for years to find a purpose. It was intended as a museum to help develop cultural understandings, but has never been able to translate that goal into exhibits and programs that the general public is willing to see. Substantial discussion has occurred over the past few years as what this prime property and large building could support that would be popular. Now Playspace (a very busy childrens museum with little space) is working with Exploris to combine their two museums into one. Ideas such as a science and technology museum or an NCAA museum have been dismissed by politicians who want to stick with their "theme".

Sports

Professional

The NHL Carolina Hurricanes moved to Raleigh in 1997 from Hartford, Connecticut (and temporarily from Greensboro, North Carolina in 1999) with the completion of the RBC Center and is the only major professional sports team in the area. Greensboro, North Carolina received the franchise from Hartford, Connecticut in 1997. The Hurricanes are the only top league professional sports team in North Carolina to have won a championship, winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. They also have an AIFL team named the Raleigh Rebels. Before the Carolina Hurricanes several other professional sports leagues have had failed franchises in Raleigh including the American Basketball Association, the Arena Football League, the World League of American Football, the United States Basketball League with the Raleigh Cougars, and the Women's United Soccer Association (in nearby Cary).

RBC Center

College Sports

Due to the number of colleges and universities in the area, NCAA sports are very popular. The Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina State University Wolfpack is situated in West Raleigh, and fellow ACC rivals, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels, and the Duke University Blue Devils, are no more than a 30 minute drive away. The competition among these three schools is sometimes referred to as Tobacco Road by sportscasters. Two historically black colleges, St. Augustine College and Shaw University also provide a basis for the strength of college sports in the area.

Leisure

The NC-DOT Mountains-to-Sea bike route goes through Raleigh, as does the U.S. Maine-to-Florida bicycle route #1. The NC-DOT Cape Fear Run bicycle route connects Apex to Wilmington and closely parallels the RUSA 600km brevet route.

The area also features a variety of amateur participatory sports as well, with an Australian rules football semi-pro team the North Carolina Tigers [8], and soccer, softball, flag football, basketball, and even dodgeball and kickball leagues operated privately or by the municipality.

Shopping

* Crabtree Valley Mall
* Brier Creek
* Triangle Town Center
* Cameron Village
* North Hills

Transportation

*Air: Raleigh-Durham International Airport is just northwest of Raleigh on I-40 between Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina.
*Interstate highway: I-40, I-440 Beltline, I-540
**The Beltline makes a loop around the city. Visitors and even long-time residents are frequently confused by the terms "Inner Beltline", "Outer Beltline", and "Outer Loop". The Inner and Outer Beltline are the same road. Inner and Outer refer to the positions of the lanes of traffic. The Inner Beltline runs clockwise; the Outer is counter-clockwise. The Outer Loop refers to I-540, which does not completely encircle Raleigh.
**United States Highways::::U.S. Route 1 (known in parts of Raleigh as Capital Boulevard):::US-64:::US-70 (known in parts of Raleigh as Glenwood Avenue):::US-264:::U.S. Route 401 (known in parts of Raleigh as Capital Boulevard)
*Passenger Rail: Bytrain.org: Amtrak Carolinian, Piedmont and Silver Star offer daily service to Charlotte, Richmond, Washington, D.C. and Miami
*Local Bus: Within Raleigh, the CAT, or Capital Area Transit system operates 27 bus routes. The Triangle Transit Authority operates buses that serve the region and connect to municipal bus systems in Durham and Chapel Hill; Efforts for the city of Raleigh to build a light rail from the downtown areas of Raleigh to the downtown area of Durham failed as TTA's projected ridership did not meet Federal Standards. The majority of Raleigh citizens failed to see the benefit of the light rail as the planned routes did not serve any of the major areas of need for citizen's. (The rail system plain fialed to include RDU airport, the three major shopping malls or any of the suburbs who could use the rail to commute to the Research Triangle Park. The planned rail did pass near RTP however this left commuters with the problem of getting to their office building in the massive technology park from the planned station.
*Bicycle: Most public buses are equipped with bicycle racks. A small minority of roads are equipped with bicycle lanes.

Capital Boulevard is a significant road in Raleigh. Its southern terminus is near the capitol building in downtown Raleigh, where it splits into McDowell Street (one-way heading north) and Dawson Street (one-way heading south). The northern terminus of Capital Boulevard is at the Raleigh city limits (where the street changes its name). Because this road was the major route of traffic to and from the government buildings of the state capital, a great deal of light industry, commercial work, and service industry grew up along it. In recent years, this development has expanded northward. The portion of Capital Boulevard between downtown Raleigh and Wake Forest Road, originally known as Downtown Boulevard, is a limited access highway. The portion north of Wake Forest Road was originally known as North Boulevard. Major highways US-1 and US-401 follow Capital Boulevard until 401 splits off north of the I-440 beltline and becomes Louisburg Road.

Media

National

WCPE-FM is a classical music station out of Wake Forest, North Carolina that transmits throughout the world via the Internet. It can also be heard via C-band and Ku-band satellite.

State

Raleigh and the Triangle are home to North Carolina Public Radio, a public radio station/NPR provider that brings in listeners around the country, and UNC-TV, also based out of UNC in Chapel Hill.

Local

There are several newspapers that serve the Raleigh market:
*The News & Observer, the large daily newspaper owned by Sacramento-based McClatchy Co.
*The Raleigh Chronicle , the locally owned daily newspaper.
*The Independent Weekly, the weekly independent paper out of Durham.
*The Raleigh Downtowner , the monthly free newspaper focused on downtown Raleigh.
*The Raleigh Hatchet , another free monthly newspaper.

Raleigh is part of the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville Designated Market Area, and includes the following television stations:
*WUNC-TV (4), the PBS affiliate and flagship station of the UNC-TV television network.
*WRAL-TV (5), the CBS affiliate, licensed to Capitol Broadcasting Company
*WTVD-TV (11), the ABC affiliate, owned by ABC/Disney.
*WNCN-TV (17), the NBC affiliate, owned by NBC.
*WLFL-TV (22), the WB affiliate.
*WRDC-TV (28), the UPN affiliate.
*WRAY-TV (30), the HSN affiliate.
*WUVC-TV (40), the Univision affiliate.
*WRPX-TV (47), the Pax affiliate for Raleigh and Durham.
*WRAZ-TV (50), the Fox affiliate, which is operated by Capitol Broadcasting Company.
*WFPX-TV (62), the Pax affiliate for Fayetteville.

Future affiliates:
*WLFL (22), the CW affiliate, to replace the WB.
*WRDC-TV (28), the My Network TV affiliate, owned by News Corporation, to replace UPN.

The market is also host to the state's first online TV station:RTP-TV - Research Triangle Park Television which has programs of local interest broadcast over the Internet as well as Fox50 (WRAZ) through paid air-time.

Raleigh is Arbitron radio market #43. Stations include
*WPTF-AM, owned by Raleigh-based Curtis Media Group
*WRAL-FM owned by Raleigh based Capitol Broadcasting Company
*WDCG-FM, owned by Clear Channel
*WQDR-FM, owned by Curtis Media Group
*WFXC-FM and WFXK-FM, simulcast and owned by Radio One
*WQOK-FM, owned by Radio One
*WKNC, owned by North Carolina State University

Sister cities

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* - Hull, England
* - Compiègne, France (twinning signed in 1989)