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For a time after World War II, there were efforts for Raleigh to expand to the east. Raleigh Country Club (1948) and Wake Memorial Hospital (1961, now WakeMed) are examples. But the north and west won out.
Before RTP came about lots of people thought that was what was going to happen. Maybe 15 years ago a project renovation some part of the administration building at Wake Tech. In one of the hallways they had a map on the wall from the early 60s with the site for Wake Tech circled and a note about how that was supposed to be the population center of Wake county in like 1995. Freaking imagine missing the mark by that much!
For a time after World War II, there were efforts for Raleigh to expand to the east. Raleigh Country Club (1948) and Wake Memorial Hospital (1961, now WakeMed) are examples. But the north and west won out.
To be fair, Cameron Village also happened in this time period, as did Dorton Arena. Might it be more fair to say that expansion didn't have as much of a bias to the west prior to RTP than it did after it?
South Durham and West Cary along with Northern Chatham have practically merged together anyway and have much the same feel. The only major difference is the schools of course, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping people with kids from moving into all the new homes going up in South Durham.
I agree that there were forces in Raleigh trying to expand in every direction. I just wanted to point out that there were forces trying to expand eastward.
We'll never know for certain, but I believe RTP did contribute to the predominantly westward growth. The population of Cary was 8,000 in 1970. Just ten years later it had risen to 22,000. Ten more years, it was up to 44,000. One cannot ascribe all of this growth to RTP, but a lot of it was. The 1970s and 1980s were boom years for IBM and Nortel, in particular. By 1990 the combined workforce of IBM and Nortel in RTP was about 25,000. Those people, mainly moving into NC from other states, drove growth in Cary. south Durham, and west and north Raleigh.
To compare, the population of Knightdale was less than 1000 in 1970. It was still less than 1000 in 1980 and only 2,000 in 1990.
I agree that there were forces in Raleigh trying to expand in every direction. I just wanted to point out that there were forces trying to expand eastward.
We'll never know for certain, but I believe RTP did contribute to the predominantly westward growth. The population of Cary was 8,000 in 1970. Just ten years later it had risen to 22,000. Ten more years, it was up to 44,000. One cannot ascribe all of this growth to RTP, but a lot of it was. The 1970s and 1980s were boom years for IBM and Nortel, in particular. By 1990 the combined workforce of IBM and Nortel in RTP was about 25,000. Those people, mainly moving into NC from other states, drove growth in Cary. south Durham, and west and north Raleigh.
To compare, the population of Knightdale was less than 1000 in 1970. It was still less than 1000 in 1980 and only 2,000 in 1990.
Without question....the "west-east" dichotomy in Wake County as it exists now, regardless of historical beginnings, can be attributed almost fully to the existence and placement of RTP. Essentially RTP's placement where it is "amplified" the westward "favored quarter" in Raleigh and Wake.
The same can be said for the "favored" status of Southern Durham and Northeastern Chatham Counties.
Even Chapel Hill....oft believed (mostly accurately) to completely revolve around UNC which is at the dead-center of the town; has an element of "favoring east" due to relative proximity to RTP/the rest of the Triangle.
The upwind side smells better, so rich people move there. Because rich people are there, the institutions that serve them are set up there. As those institutions grow, they accumulate private and public power, which reinforce their primacy.
In Raleigh, the first part of the Beltline was built in the 1960s so that US 1/64, which enter Raleigh from the north/east and exit to the south/west, could bypass Raleigh. They could've been built around Raleigh's southeast side, but traffic was worse on the northwest (favored quarter) side -- where more people were wealthy enough to have cars.
By the early 1970s, North Hills Mall and Crabtree Valley Mall had been built along the Beltline bypass, and benefitted from the drive-by traffic unavailable to the still-unbuilt south and east.
Decades later, when someone comes onto this board and asks "Where should I live that's convenient & expensive?," we still point them to North Hills -- not because it smells better, but because of its accumulated privilege.
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I question whether NCDOT still considers that as it builds more and more bypasses around towns of all sizes.
Just like I-42, US70 to Morehead City upgrade which requires building 4 or 5 new bypasses around the towns along the route.
i swear NC is the most prolific builder of bypasses too. I'll bet that at least 20 are under construction right now across the state.
I know that Louisburg in Franklin County another bypass in it long range plan. It's demarked on a map however isn't needed now.
The Beltline still isn't really a loop. It'a a bypass that uses I-40 to be a loop, something I-485 in Charlotte could have done. So when they complain about being shortchanged by the state, I remind them that i-485 is longer and more lane miles than the currently-built I-440 and I-540 combined.. It won't be after I-540 is completed though.
You may be right. 27519 seems to be the zip code. Moved from NYC to West Cary last year among many other NY’ers. The schools (Davis drive and more recent Mills Park) and West Cary have a good reputation. NY People sell homes up there and have cash. Retirees ( which I am not of retirement age ) have very robust pensions and 401k balances. So it seems, they move here or to specific towns in FL. I knew there would be lots of folks from my old area but I’m continually surprised at how many people from CA are moving in.
Last edited by newmommyq; 01-19-2021 at 08:07 PM..
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) have very robust pensions and 401k balances. So it seems, they move here or to specific towns in FL. I knew there would be lots of folks from my old area but I’m continually surprised at how many people from CA are moving in.
