A historic city of culture, tech and progress in the American Southeast
Durham is where Southern history meets the buzz of tech culture, college life and the arts. This Eastern Piedmont city is full of stately old buildings, startup companies, a thriving food scene and plenty of outdoor scenery. It’s home to the elite Duke University, the Duke University Health System and Research Triangle Park. All of which are the city’s largest employers. “What sets Durham apart in the region is its diversity,” says Ian Kipp, a broker with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, who has lived and worked in the city since 2010. “You’ve got the university, and you’ve got downtown, which is a hub for food, commerce, arts and culture in the region. There’s a lot going on.”
With around 283,000 residents, Durham is the 4th most populous city in North Carolina and is among the fastest-growing cities in the United States. Its population has grown about 24% since 2010. Much of this growth is owed to the region’s booming tech industry. The tri-city area of Durham, Chapel Hill and the capital city of Raleigh is known as the “Research Triangle,” and Research Triangle Park is the motherboard. Sitting at the southern edge of Durham, RTP is home to more than 300 companies, including Cisco Systems and IBM, and employs around 65,000 people. It’s the largest research park in the U.S, driven by research universities including Duke, as well as the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Established in the mid-1800s, Durham was a largely agricultural area until a railroad line and rail depot built in the mid-19th century helped put it on the map. It was a major center for the area’s rapidly expanding tobacco industry. Despite heightened racial tensions following the Civil War and Reconstruction, Black business thrived during the late 1800s and early 1900s along a four-block stretch of Parrish Street, later known as Black Wall Street. Durham became a center of activism during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Several sit-ins were held in the city, including one at an ice cream parlor in 1957, typically credited as the first sit-in of the movement. According to local historians, Martin Luther King Jr. visited the city five times. Durham remains diverse and progressive today, cultivating a thriving community of minority business owners, creatives and activists.
The high-rise condos line the streets of the City Center neighborhood in downtown Durham.
City Center is the cultural hub of Durham, NC.
Croasdaile is close to RTP, located between Raleigh and Durham, NC.
The civil rights movement is commemorated in the mural near city center in Durham.
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Bull City’s booming housing market
The cost of a home in Durham has steadily increased for the last decade, with average prices up 4% from 2023 to 2024. As of October 2024, the median price for a home in the city is $434,000, slightly above the national median of $416,700. Durham homes typically cost less than homes in Chapel Hill and Raleigh. Nearby towns like Butner and Hillsborough are popular for buyers looking for single-family homes in the $300,000s. “Inventory is low, and prices haven’t gone down. The whole region is booming,” Kipp says. The market is competitive, with homes selling after 33 days on average, compared to the national average of 44 days.
The city has an array of home styles to choose from. Neighborhoods like Trinity Park , Duke Park and Cleveland-Holloway offer a mix of older homes, including 19th century Victorian and Queen Anne architecture and eclectic, early 20th century Craftsman homes. Meanwhile, former tobacco factories have been reimagined as apartments, condos, shops and restaurants in the American Tobacco community. Semi-rural neighborhoods at the edge of the city, like Arrowhead and Bethesda , offer homes nestled along country lanes, hidden from view by dense woods and foliage. Durham’s steady increase in population has been accompanied by a wave of new developments, including the construction of new apartments, condos and single-family home subdivisions throughout the city.
Nestled on the northwest bank of Falls Lake, Northeast Durham is a conveniently located.
The American Tobacco offers fast-paced, upscale city living in Durham’s urban core.
The Northgate neighborhood is a suburban neighborhood 25 miles from downtown Durham, NC.
SouthDurham_house
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Exploring Downtown Durham
With an ever-growing populace and a steady influx of younger residents, there’s plenty to do in Durham. Old buildings converted into lofts, restaurants, breweries and shops fill the city center. “Downtown Durham is the heart and soul of the city. It’s seen a lot of change and new development over the past 10 years,” Kipp says. The Durham Hotel stands out among the brick buildings and modern towers. Its midcentury modern styling and rooftop bar have made it a destination for visitors and locals alike. The Durham Bulls baseball team plays nearby at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The minor league squad has won three Triple-A National Championship Games since 2009.
The Durham Performing Arts Center hosts mainstream touring musicians, Broadway shows, well-known speakers and comedians. The smaller 1,000-seat Carolina Theatre, a Beaux-Arts-style theater built in the 1920s, offers a variety of live events, concerts and moving showings. The city’s collection of museums includes the Museum of Life and Science, known for its interactive exhibits and family friendly programming, and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, where thousands of artworks that span styles and time periods are on display. Independent art galleries, murals and public artworks can be found throughout the city.
Art is celebrated with annual film festivals, including the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the OUTSouth Queer Film Festival, which is one of the largest LGBTQ film festivals in the southeast United States. The city’s diverse culture is highlighted at festivals such as Blacktoberfest, which showcases Black-owned breweries and wineries.
The city's restaurants range from classic steakhouses and sandwich shops to authentic Japanese, Ethiopian, Mexican and Chinese options. Saltbox Seafood Joint is one of several decorated restaurants. Chef Ricky Moore won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast in 2022. Durham’s vibrant bar scene features James Beard-nominated Kingfisher, known for its handcrafted cocktails and chic basement vibe.
Durham’s diverse locally owned businesses, from unique boutiques, clothing shops and gift stores to small markets and thrift shops, are mostly downtown but can be found sprinkled across the city. The Streets at Southpoint, a comprehensive mall about 8 miles south of downtown, offers name-brand shopping. Located in Southpoint along Interstate 40, it's the mall of choice for shoppers across the Triangle.
21c Museum Hotel is a Stylish boutique hotel-museum with state-of-the-art features.
Fans can catch a Durham Bulls game at the Durham Athletic Park in downtown Durham, NC.
The Durham history museum has many exhibits inside and out showing the evolution of the city
Durham is home of the original location of Dame's chicken and waffles.
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Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham Central Park and nearby nature spots
Half of Durham residents are within ½ mile of a green space. Parks and gardens are interspersed throughout the city while sprawling nature preserves can be found just outside the city limits. In the heart of Duke University is Sarah P. Duke Gardens, a 55-acre outdoor area with miles of trails that wind through beautifully manicured gardens, terraces and stands of trees. A few miles west of the gardens is Duke Forest, where woodlands, streams and meadows stretch across 7,000 acres. Although a part of the Duke Forest neighborhood, public access is limited because the university uses the forest for research; however, the public can utilize the Al Buehler Hiking Trails. In the downtown district, Durham Central Park comes alive with farmer’s markets, crafts markets and seasonal events. The park also hosts Food Truck Rodeos every few months. Avid golfers will find more than a few golf courses to enjoy in the city, including Croasdaile Country Club, Hillandale Golf Course and Duke University Golf Club. Steep hiking trails climb the nearby Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area. Jordan Lake is a summer destination for swimming and boating, and Eno River State Park is a popular camping spot.
A bond referendum on the November 2024 ballot passed, approving $85 million in funding for city parks. Proposed plans include building a water park next to Wheels Fun Park, and a long list of improvements will take place at Long Meadow and East End Parks.
Eno River State Park offers over 30 miles of trails in the Eno community.
Enjoy a bike ride along the Ellerbe Creek Trail in the Weaver neighborhood.
The Duke Golf Club in Duke Forest has a large driving range.
Jordan Lake is about 20 minutes from Durham and has beaches, sports, and play areas.
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Durham Public Schools, private schools and university life
Durham Public Schools serves over 32,000 students and holds a B-rating from Niche. In addition to traditional schools, the district offers magnet programs, year-round schools and a few specialty high schools. The highly sought-after magnet Durham School of the Arts sprawls across three city blocks and earns an A grade from Niche. Several of the state’s top-ranked private schools are in Durham, including Durham Academy, Trinity School of Durham & Chapel Hill and Camelot Academy.
Duke University, a private research university, is a major focal point for the city. Founded in 1838, the university frequently ranks among the best academic schools in the country. It enrolls around 17,000 students every year and employs more than 12,000 staff and faculty members. It’s also home to the Duke University Health System, which includes the Duke University School of Medicine, the Duke University School of Nursing and several affiliate hospitals and clinics. College sports are a major draw as Duke University’s men’s basketball team, the Blue Devils, is one of the best in the nation and routinely sells out home games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The city is also home to North Carolina Central University, a renowned public historically Black university known for its flagship programs in criminal justice, education, science, business, healthcare and the arts.
Lowes Grove Middle School near Woodcroft serves grades 7-9.
Durham School of the Arts is a magnet school located in downtown Durham, NC.
Duke University is one of the top private universities located in Durham, NC.
Duke University is just east of the Duke Forest neighborhood.
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Getting around the Triangle
Durham is traversed by Interstate 85, Interstate 40 and the Durham Freeway, three major corridors used by commuters across the Triangle. The GoDurham public transit system provides transportation to about 15,400 riders every weekday through its bus line network that takes passengers to just about every corner of the city. An Amtrak station downtown offers commuter service to Raleigh and Charlotte. Two passenger trains, the Carolinian and the Piedmont, make stops as far north as New York City. Raleigh-Durham International Airport is roughly 14 miles from downtown and has nonstop flights to domestic and international destinations, including Toronto, Paris, London, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The airport is the second largest in North Carolina, behind Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
The daily commute in Durham averages about 22 minutes, less than the national average of 26 minutes. However, traffic congestion is a challenge as the city grows, especially near the Research Triangle Park and Duke University Hospital. Some commuters avoid gridlock by biking. The city has over 40 miles of bike lanes and greenways. There’s also the Shared Micromobility Program, which was created to fill gaps in the GoDurham transit system. It offers rentable electric scooters and bicycles. Walking is an option for those living downtown and near the Duke University campus.
According to the 2023 Durham County Transit Plan, the city is improving bus service by adding more crosstown routes, extending service later into the evenings and upgrading bus stops with shelters, benches and lighting. A pilot program will add vertical barriers like concrete curbs to protected bike lanes along Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in 2025. Results will impact future projects to increase bike safety across the city. To improve pedestrian safety, a project approved by city council in May 2024 will add flashing beacons to over a dozen crosswalks around town.
A spike in property crime and the HEART program
Violent and property crimes are a reality in Durham. Like many U.S. cities, the violent crime rate in Durham rose during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but has steadily declined in the years since. Durham Police reported a 4% decrease in violent crime in 2023 compared to 2022, but property crime increased 19%, with car thefts more than doubling.
City officials have taken steps to improve public safety in recent years with programs like HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams), an unarmed task force of mental health professionals that helps people in crisis get the care and resources they need. The program, the only one like it in North Carolina, has assisted in diverting thousands of 911 calls that would have otherwise required a police response. It has been hailed as a success in the city, and advocates in neighboring Raleigh are pushing for the program to expand to the state capital.
Durham’s environmental initiatives and a look to the future
Durham experiences all four seasons. Rain falls throughout the year, hurricanes are possible in the summer, and several inches of snow can fall in the winter, though temperatures are relatively mild.
This city is actively addressing climate change and sustainability. Durham adopted a greenhouse gas reduction plan in 2007, a first for the state, to reduce city-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. So far, emissions have dropped 8% since 2008. Actions taken so far to reach this goal include switching nearly half of the city’s bus fleet to hybrid electric buses, installing four electric vehicle charging stations around the city and improving energy efficiency in city-owned buildings. As development continues around Durham, there’s been an increase in concern about runoff and water pollution. In 2024, the city received a 77 out of 100 on the Water Quality Index. The city’s stormwater management plan includes routine stream monitoring, stream restoration projects and educating the public on water pollution prevention.
The 2023 Durham Comprehensive Plan outlines the city's potential investments over the next two decades. The plan primarily focuses on tourism with recommendations to add more sports venues, build a new convention center and hotel and create a greenway over State Route 147 to provide a walkable route between downtown and the Hayti District .
I am Marshall Rich, owner and real estate broker for Rich Realty Group, Inc. where "it is a great day to buy real estate!" We are a boutique company that constantly strives to provide the highest level of service in real estate brokerage. Over the past twenty years in the real estate and construction industry, I have gained an immense amount of knowledge about the local housing market in and around Raleigh. We greatly appreciate your business and your referrals are the highest compliments we can receive.
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