Raleigh, North Carolina

Lauded as "The Best Place to Live in America" by Money magazine, and as "The Best City for Business" by Fortune magazine, the Research Triangle Park metropolitan area (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill), provides its people with a world-class combination of educational opportunity, economic vitality, environmental quality, and community quality of life. Raleigh is a vibrant and beautiful city, with a diverse and growing population. It is now home to nearly 300,000 people, and the Triangle region has a population exceeding one million. Along with its vibrant economy, Raleigh has abundant history, culture, and natural beauty. Its streets lined with towering trees, Raleigh lives up to its name as "The City of Oaks," helping make it one of the South's most intriguing locations in which to live and work.

Web Sites about Raleigh

Raleigh Chamber of Commerce
triangle.citysearch.com
VisitNC
Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau

Industry

The Triangle area is a hotbed of technology companies, including IBM, SAS Institute, Northern Telecom, Glaxo Wellcome, CREE Research, Novartis,Novo-Nordisk, Reichold, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, HAHT Software, and Broadband Technologies.

Universities

In addition to NC State, the Triangle is home to several other colleges and universities, including Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cultural Amenities

In addition to academic pursuits, Raleigh offers cultural amenities including Broadway plays, professional symphony, opera, and ballet companies, and outstanding art, history, and science museums. The American Dance Festival and the Bull Durham Blues Festival are other major cultural events in the Triangle. Raleigh is also home to the North Carolina State Fair, a ten-day celebration with carnival rides, livestock, live entertainment, and all the corn, fried dough, and barbecue you can eat. Raleigh also boasts Walnut Creek Amphitheater, renowned as one of the finest outdoor concert venues in the country, hosting concerts during the spring, summer, and fall.

Outdoor Life

One of Raleigh's most well known attractions is its climate. With weather sufficiently mild to allow outdoor activities 10 months out of the year, Raleigh offers a wide variety of venues for outdoor enthusiasts. Nearby lakes and state parks provide hiking and cycling trails, campsites, boating and fishing. Golfers, of course, will find the area superb. Also, within a day's drive are expansive unspoiled beaches to the east and the Great Smoky Mountains to the west.

Sports

Raleigh also offers a wealth of college and professional athletics. Atlantic Coast Conference basketball and football powerhouses appear regularly in Raleigh at Carter-Finley Stadium and Reynolds Coliseum. A new 20,000-seat sports arena will open in 1999 to house NC State basketball and the Carolina Hurricanes NHL franchise. In the summer, double- and triple-A baseball teams, including the Durham Bulls, make for fun local entertainment. Charlotte, just two and one-half hours away, is home to NFL and NBA franchises.