Durham 4th Smartest City in the United States

The Herald-Sun Newspaper ran a story today indicating that the City of Durham is the fourth smartest in the entire country.  Wow!  Fourth Smartest City. 

Now, I have lived in Durham for over 30 years and, yes, I have met a heckuva lot of smart people, but there are also some really dumb ones as well.  My cable guy, for instance, once used a power shovel to place a new cable line, not particularly caring that he cut through my power line.   Road crews all over town, lately, have torn-up both sides of a road, repaired one side and left the other side un-done for weeks.  The post office recently put in a greeting card rack, so that patrons who have to wait forever in line have something to read.

I am sure you can name a few examples of Durham dumb.  But the facts are clear.  Durham is one of the most progressive, thoughtful and tolerant cities in The Triangle -- and perhaps the nation.  We have lots of MDs, PhDs and folks with masters degrees, but we also have a "slew load" of hard-working, prosperous citizens who don't have the fancy degrees.  From the major universities here, to farming and businesses, the population is incredibly diverse.  Invention and innovation abound.  Durham used to be "sleepy," but with the re-emergence of a vibrant downtown, the successes of the Durham Bulls combined with the new Durham Performing Arts Center, we are looking more and more brilliant.

I am proud to live in Durham and it is very nice to see the city being recognized for all its gifts and opportunities.