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Raleigh, North Carolina

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Template:US City infobox

"Raleigh" redirects here. For the bicycle manufacturer, see Raleigh (bicycle). For the English explorer, see Sir Walter Raleigh.

Raleigh 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.

As of 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Raleigh's population has increased to 326,653, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. The City of Raleigh estimates its population to be 342,194 as of July 1, 2005.

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, 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.

File:Raleigh1909.jpg
Downtown Raleigh panorama, from 1909

Law and government

File:Capitol in Raleigh, NC.jpg
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

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 FBI's Crime in the US 2004, a yearly FBI publication. 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 FBI's 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 is water. The total area is 0.84% water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR 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. 6.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

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

Public education

Public education in Raleigh is serviced by the Wake County Public School System.

There are currently 76 public schools in Raleigh, consisting of 47 elementary (K-5), 14 middle (6-8), 8 high (9-12), and 7 special/optional 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)
  • 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

Attractions

Sports

Professional

The NHL Carolina Hurricanes moved to Raleigh in 1999 with the completion of the RBC Center and is the only major professional sports team in the area. 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 Arena Football League, the World League of American Football and the Women's United Soccer Association (in nearby Cary, NC).

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 US 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 soccer, softball, flag football, basketball, and even dodgeball leagues operated privately or by the municipality.

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 Beltway makes a loop around the city. Visitors and even long-time residents are frequently confused by the terms "Inner Beltway", "Outer Beltway", and "Outer Loop". The Inner and Outer Beltway are the same road. Inner and Outer refer to the positions of the lanes of traffic. The Inner Beltway 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)

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 the I-440 beltline is a limited access highway. 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:

Raleigh is part of the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville Designated Market Area, and includes the following television stations:

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

Sister cities

See also

Famous residents

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