Raleigh

Raleigh, the Capital City of North Carolina, is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. A great economy, top universities, and outstanding health care facilities are some of the attributes that attract people to the triangle area. The mild climate, diverse work force and proximity to Research Triangle Park (RTP) combine to make Raleigh a great place to live. Just take a look at just about any "Best Places to…" list and you will see Raleigh ranked among the top. Raleigh has become a model of the good life in 21st century America and an exciting venue for exploring the possibilities of even greater things to come.Raleigh’s downtown is undergoing a stunning rebirth with residential units sprouting up throughout the center city. New and superb restaurants and cutting edge entertainment venues are opening their doors to serve the Capital City’s young, educated and prosperous residents.

Business
Business is booming downtown also. Downtown Raleigh is home to Fortune 500 business Progress Energy, which recently opened its new world headquarters for business in the heart of the city. While the arts are thriving throughout Raleigh, no where is the cultural and creative more robust than in the center city, site of the BTI Center for the Performing Arts, one of the South’s major performing arts facilities, a host of galleries, and the North Carolina History Museum, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Exploris children’s museum.Further bolstering Raleigh’s downtown is the new 500,000-square-foot convention center and four-star headquarters hotel that will be welcoming guests in 2008. The front door of the new convention center and four-star Marriott is changing too. The Fayetteville Street pedestrian mall has been reconverted to vehicular traffic and to even greater glory as North Carolina’s ceremonial corridor. No doubt, downtown Raleigh is buffing up to become the mid-South’s convention and cultural destination.

Housing
While working and playing in Raleigh is the ultimate, living in Raleigh is what sets this place apart from all others. Whatever the taste – center city condo, penthouse, warehouse; a bungalow nestled in the dense and eclectic mix of established, walk able neighborhoods; the comfort of the suburban; the privacy of the rolling terrain of the exurban – Raleigh offers it all with the most extensive municipal services at the lowest tax rate of any major North Carolina city, and terrific public and private schools to boot. And housing is affordable in Raleigh with the median home sale price being just over $230,000 and the median contract rent at $673 per month. The mix of housing opportunities also is accommodating with 51.6 percent of the housing stock owner-occupied and 48.4 percent renter-occupied. With Raleigh’s "best of" and ultra-cool reputation, it may be somewhat surprising how affordable it really is overall. The latest cost of living index composite gave Raleigh a 98.1 rating. (The national cost of living average is 100.)

Raleigh Accolades

T Forbes

Best Place To Sell A Home (July 2007)
Raleigh is the best place in the nation to sell a home, according to an analysis by Forbes.com. Forbes cited Raleigh’s "moderate growth and disciplined building" for keeping its real estate market healthy. The analysis used market and real estate data to rate cities by sales rate, recent sales trends and price stability.

Best Place To Do Business (May 2007)
"After three years as runner-up, Raleigh grabs the top spot on our list," Forbes magazine wrote in announcing the Capital City’s placement as the best place in the U.S. to do business. Factors: Raleigh’s economy has expanded 6 percent annually over the past three years; business costs are 13 percent below the national average and 38 percent of the labor force has a college degree.

Top City For Employment (February 2007)
Named the top city for employment by Forbes magazine.

Kiplinger

One Of The Best Cities For Young Singles (June 2007)
Raleigh joins Washington, Denver, Austin and Lexington, Ky., in Kiplinger magazine’s salute to the best cities for young singles. Among Kiplinger’s criteria: “Four young singles, two factors can be crucial to choosing where to live: Can I afford the rents? And what can I do there? Raleigh is 99 on the cost-of-living index with 100 being the national average."

Prevention

Third Best Area For African-Americans (May 2007)
Black Enterprise magazine named Raleigh-Durham the third best area in American for African Americans. The listing sited higher education, technology and health care as reasons for the exalted ranking, along with the cost of operating a business being 12 percent below the national average. 

Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Best Overall Value (September 2005)
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group rated eight high-tech areas in the U.S. on the basis of several parameters, including housing costs, quality of education, traffic, the environment and taxes. The Triangle was ranked as the best overall value, ahead of California's famed Silicon Valley, Boston or Austin.

Raleigh by the Numbers

Links

http://www.raleigh-nc.org/
http://raleighchamber.org/
Raleigh community profile
www.bestplaces.net