life in durham

[kasha]

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what's it really like?

 

[phenylalanine]

what's it really like?

just one word... UGH .. haha

but seriously, I live in the Chapel Hill/Durham area. ask me specific questions. I can help u out more that way

 

[SoCuteMD]

...there is none.

Ummm...j/k, well, sorta. Chapel Hill is awesome and a ton of fun. Durham doesn't have much other than Duke for the younger, non-gang-banging set (awful generalization, I'm sure someone will call me on it). When I was hanging out in CH I would always run into former classmates who were grad students at Duke at the bars in CH. The good news is that Chapel Hill is nearby and pretty affordable. There are some nice places to live that are pretty much directly between Duke and UNC-CH (which is pretty much integrated with downtown CH).

 

[bluehighlighter]

...there is none.

Ummm...j/k, well, sorta. Chapel Hill is awesome and a ton of fun. Durham doesn't have much other than Duke for the younger, non-gang-banging set (awful generalization, I'm sure someone will call me on it). When I was hanging out in CH I would always run into former classmates who were grad students at Duke at the bars in CH. The good news is that Chapel Hill is nearby and pretty affordable. There are some nice places to live that are pretty much directly between Duke and UNC-CH (which is pretty much integrated with downtown CH).

- Are you serious : non-gang-banging set (awful generalization, I'm sure someone will call me on it) ... What a racist allegation...I WOULD not want you to be my doctor... 🙁

 

[2DEG]

I live near 54/55 in Durham near the new Southpoint mall. If you live around here, I really think you will like this area a lot. Its nothing like what many people stereotype Durham as. Everything is closeby, there are wonderful restaurants, coffee shops. There are lots of apt. complexes - not sure about the cost..but it would be pretty reasonable I think. Duke and UNC both are within 15 mins distance.

There are nice apt. complexes on HWY 54 as well as on Fayetteville Rd. I know many will scream by the name of Fayetteville road - but I am talking abt the apartments near the Mall.

 

[SoCuteMD]

- Are you serious : non-gang-banging set (awful generalization, I'm sure someone will call me on it) ... What a racist allegation...I WOULD not want you to be my doctor... 🙁

Funny, I didn't mention race. At all. And I didn't mean to imply anything re: race. At all.

You inferred it. Interesting to see how the mind works.

The "awful generalization" I was referring to was my generalization that Durham is, in large part, relatively poor and there are some incredibly rough parts of town. As 2DEG mentioned, there are "up and coming" areas of Durham - mostly the Southwest part that is close to Chapel Hill.

 

[DrRads101]

Durham completely blows. Moved from Carrboro nearby to Chicago two years ago and couldn't be happier. "Close by" is a relative term--here in Chicago I can walk to everything. In the Triangle I was forced to drive to do ANYTHING... and I believe I never once even saw a sidewalk! (exaggeration but you get the picture) I can't think of a place that defines the words "suburban sprawl" more than the Triangle. It is suburban sprawl without the city--that's the Triangle.

Sorry if that sounded a little harsh but it was just my experience. I just remember much of my time there was spent driving on 15-501 at night in the pitch black darkness that it is the Triangle wondering why the heck there are no sidewalks or street lights pretty much everywhere I looked, and desperately wanting to be in some sort of city. So I decided to move.

The good news is is that it is quiet, cheap, has a lot of virgin forrest, friendly people, and would probably be the ideal place to live if you DON'T like cities (many people don't) but still want decent amenities.

 

[Pinner Doc]

The Triangle = sprawl. I lived there for a year. I found western NC and the whole Appalachia-bluegrass thing really charming, though.

But the Triangle? Lots of strip malls (think Walmart, PetSmart, TJMaxx... and then another whole strip mall with the entirely same stores right down the street a few miles).

Chapel Hill was charming, too... but mainly just campus and Franklin Street. You could easily get bored.

I hope you like basketball!

 

[pagemmapants]

I would say it depends on what type of a person you are. If you're the make-your-own-fun, go hiking/camping on the weekends, hang out in honky tonk bars, ride some horses type (me) then you might love it. If you're the stay-at-home, read-a-book, Emersonesque type, then you might also love it. If you're the barhopping, clubjumping, dangly-earrings-wearing never-without-your-cell-phone primadonna type, you'll certainly be happier somewhere like, say, Cornell. Duh. Manhattan.

I would definitely say that there is plenty to do in the Triangle for those who are willing to put in the effort to find it, and for those Duke kids who are willing to bite the bullet and wander into Tar Heel territory for those Friday and Saturday nights. Franklin Street shows plenty of promise, especially if you want to invade some of the celebrations if/when UNC wins at basketball - gotta love it when a whole street gets painted Carolina Blue and you're allowed to set park benches on fire. 👍 What, like anyone is gonna actually CHECK to see if you go to NC and not Duke? Pfft. Of course, with the way Duke is going they may be having their own celebration this year.

Oh, and if you're a California transplant, you might feel right at home if you make it to Cary. That place is seriously California East - like, tree-dotted medians and postage-stamp backyards and everything! Plus, if you're missing some of your more upscale stores and get tired of TJMaxx, etc, there's always the Streets at Southpoint, although I forget exactly where that is. . . Gotta love an indoor mall that has fake facades for every single store. Oh, and there's a Saks 5th somewhere, too.

 

[kasha]

I guess my question shoudl have been more along the lines of, are there any social options for medical students/graduate students attending Duke medical school?

If the local area is lacking but the student population makes up for it than it cant be that bad.

 

[JMC2010]

Obviously I'm somewhat biased as I hate Duke with every fibre in my body since I went to UNC...but I find durham to be somewhat of a drag and I always thought that if I, god-forbid, went to Duke, I would live in CH and deal with the commute. And a lot of the graduate students do. The drive to Duke hospital from Franklin street is about 15-20 minutes, subject to traffic. If you lived near Southpoint, which is a big ass mall and is technically in durham, it would be around 10-15 minutes. They do have nice apartments there but you would have to drive 10-15 minutes to CH for fun which is kind of lame. Actually now that I think about it, maybe the best compromise would be to live in the apartments at Meadowmont. Anyway, i'm done with my tangent. Pretty much what i'm trying to say, is that chapel hill is the greatest place ever.

 

[MarzMD]

Durham is a pretty boring place. The Duke students stick together and develop their own little community that tries to make the best of the local bars, but you will undoubtedly have to venture out to chapel hill every now and then.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Obviously I'm somewhat biased as I hate Duke with every fibre in my body since I went to UNC...but I find durham to be somewhat of a drag and I always thought that if I, god-forbid, went to Duke, I would live in CH and deal with the commute. And a lot of the graduate students do. The drive to Duke hospital from Franklin street is about 15-20 minutes, subject to traffic. If you lived near Southpoint, which is a big ass mall and is technically in durham, it would be around 10-15 minutes. They do have nice apartments there but you would have to drive 10-15 minutes to CH for fun which is kind of lame. Actually now that I think about it, maybe the best compromise would be to live in the apartments at Meadowmont. Anyway, i'm done with my tangent. Pretty much what i'm trying to say, is that chapel hill is the greatest place ever.

Meadowmont is RIDICULOUSLY expensive (when I looked a year or two ago it was 1300 for a 2 bed/bath, may have gone down a bit due to the real estate boom). Summit Hill is a little closer to Durham (by, like, a mile) and much more affordable!!!

 

[phenylalanine]

meadowmont still expensive

if u got to live in durham, I suggest 2 things:

1. tobacco warehouse district, near brightleaf center
2. southpoint area

and honestly, durham really is pretty pretty bad.... I live in Carrboro, and tho it is still boring, but I have to say chapel hill is a whole lot more fun than durham.

 

[pagemmapants]

Meadowmont is RIDICULOUSLY expensive (when I looked a year or two ago it was 1300 for a 2 bed/bath.

If this is what people think is super expensive, then it REALLY puts Westwood prices into perspective. Even MORE of a reason to go to NC! 👍

(2 BR/2 BA on the hill will easily cost you $2k+/month on the low end.)

 

[SoCuteMD]

If this is what people think is super expensive, then it REALLY puts Westwood prices into perspective. Even MORE of a reason to go to NC! 👍

(2 BR/2 BA on the hill will easily cost you $2k+/month on the low end.)

I understand that, and I actually pay a ridiculous amount right now for 800 square feet to call my own. The thing to keep in mind is that in med school you are presumably limited by the amount of student loan money allocated towards housing to pay your rent. This is based on the cost of living in the area. So, while $1300 isn't that expensive for a 2 bedroom in most markets it is VERY expensive for the CH area - I have friends who have a 4 bedroom house in the area and their (part interest-only) mortgage costs less than that!!!! I don't know if Duke's student loan allowance would even cover the cost of Meadowmont.

 

[pagemmapants]

Lucky friends. 😀
No, I'm fully aware that different schools allocate different amounts to their students depending on their surrounding market, so while $1300/mo would be awesome at UCLA for a 2 br/2ba and would VERY easily fit into their FA package, it's a different story for Duke/UNC, as I'm sure it's also different for somewhere like ECU. Didn't mean to offend.

 

[mbadoc]

I have a Duke interview tommmorrow and was wondering if anyone could give me 3 reasons why I would want to go to Duke. What makes Duke special? Thanks.

 

[pagemmapants]

Do your own research, buddy! There's one thing that should jump right out at you.

 

[MrBurns10]

Durham as a whole is nothing to write home about, but the area near Southpoint Mall is really nice. Since last summer, I've been living in an apartment in that area and working at Duke, and my commute is only 15 minutes. I have a 3 BR/3 full bath 2-story apt, 1500 square feet (not including a patio), vaulted ceilings, and free wireless internet for $950/mo (thus my portion of the rent is $317). While our deal might be more the exception than the rule, Durham as a whole is very affordable with some nice places to live. As a city it's not fantastic, but clubs in Raleigh are fun and Chapel Hill is decent if you want to relive your frat party days.

 

[Bernito]

I have a Duke interview tommmorrow and was wondering if anyone could give me 3 reasons why I would want to go to Duke. What makes Duke special? Thanks.

This is not specific to Duke, but I would recommend it for any of your interviews.
1. You want to make a lot of $.
2. You heard there are a lot of good looking people there.
3. You don't care for the city, you will move anywhere to become a Dr. (see #1)

 

[southpaux]

It seems like most of the posters havn't actually lived in Durham, so I would take their advice with a grain of salt (keep in mind that many North Carolinians *cough*UNC*cough*WAKE*cough*cough*NC State*cough hate Duke and Durham as well). Coming from someone that actually was there for four years, I can tell you that Durham has alot to offer if you go looking in the right places. Duke (and CH) will always be bringing arts and cultural events on campus (American Dance Festival). You'll also want to try and get into as many basketball games as you can (even as a med student you will make time to see the games, they are awesome [there is a subculture about Duke basketball that will suck you in as a Duke student]). There are some reasonable places to live just west of campus, like the Belmont, Duke Manor, etc. and some more townhomes just past those. There are some nicely priced houses in Duke Forest that you might find if you look hard enough. I enjoyed the running trail that goes around the golf course. Chapel Hill is right down the road and Raleigh has some big ticket items that come into town. 9th street is smaller than Franklin Street in CH, but is quaint and can be enjoyable with some friends. There are a few good bars by East campus like James Joyce (trivia nights on Tues), Satisfactions, etc that are cool to just hang out. Also, the med center is RIGHT NEXT to campus, so you get alot of the energy from the undergrads and can take full advantage of undergrad amenities (food, events/movies, etc). I work at Harvard Med now and you hardly hear a peep about the undergrads - its a definite disadvantage.

Its definitely not a major city, but it can be an enjoyable place to live if you have the right attitude. If you never try to like it you never will (the case with many Duke students).
Feel free to PM me.

 

[2DEG]

No matter where you live..do NOT live in Duke Manor. That place sucks like hell. Its close to Duke but really really bad neighborhood. I would rather live 15 min. driving distance at a decent place. But thats my opinion.

There are some reasonable places to live just west of campus, like the Belmont, Duke Manor, etc. and some more townhomes just past those.

 

[starseeker]

just one word... UGH .. haha

but seriously, I live in the Chapel Hill/Durham area. ask me specific questions. I can help u out more that way

Wow thats a sick generalization of Durham. To imply that only gangbangers have something to do is really offensive. I've lived in Durham for a while now and lived in two other areas before then. Life in Durham is what you make it. If you stereotype others and only hang out with people just like you (for example other med students) then you will be really bored. However if you don't mind meeting others and learning about people from different backgrounds and their interests then it can be fun. One thing I've realized about Durham is that most people don't like to intermix with different people from different socio-economic backgrounds. I do and I love it there. I hope to practice medicine in Durham in the future.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Wow thats a sick generalization of Durham. To imply that only gangbangers have something to do is really offensive. I've lived in Durham for a while now and lived in two other areas before then. Life in Durham is what you make it. If you stereotype others and only hang out with people just like you (for example other med students) then you will be really bored. However if you don't mind meeting others and learning about people from different backgrounds and their interests then it can be fun. One thing I've realized about Durham is that most people don't like to intermix with different people from different socio-economic backgrounds. I do and I love it there. I hope to practice medicine in Durham in the future.

It's called HYPERBOLE people. Find your senses of humor, I promise that you will need them for your ENTIRE medical career.

To make up for my statements re: Durham, let's go through the Triangle:
Chapel Hill - better drive a Volvo, be a rabid b-ball fan, or just a drunk college student
Carrboro - crunchy-granola-ville
Cary - Central Area for Relocated Yankees
Holly Springs - Cary for those who just can't quite afford it
Fuquay - make sure you drive a truck and have a gun rack on the back of it
RTP - ummm, yeah
Raleigh - I'm stuck on this one, anyone care to help?

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

Durham is good and bad. If you're coming from a place like NY or CA, I can see how it would be a shock, because it's definitely different.

In Durham itself, there are only a few clubs/bars to go to for the social scene, and they are pretty overwhelmed by undergrads. Going 15 min down the road to Chapel Hell or 30 min to Raleigh increases the number of options greatly, so it helps to have a car. If you don't have a car or have access to one, you might find Durham pretty sucky. I've found that of all the places I've lived, the roads are pretty sucky, though, especially around Duke.

Also, there have been some pretty harsh comments made, but for mostly good reason. Durham DOES have a lot of crime, especially for a city it's size. This is especially true in north/central/eastern Durham (which includes the undergraduate campus/medical school). But if you play it smart (don't wander around by yourself or through unlit areas at night) you'll be fine. Plus, the areas get better as you head towards Chapel Hill and I-40 (Southpoint mall).

Housing is not too bad as other people have posted. If you want to live 15-20 min away towards Southpoint mall, you can split a 2 or 3 BDR apt and pay 300-400 a month, including utilities. If you want to live closer to Duke, you'll probably pay in the 600-800 dollar range (at least in places students normally live).

 

[pagemmapants]

You forgot Wake Forest and Youngsville, socute. *wink* Wakefield Plantations! Let's leave our 5000+ square foot brand new "mansions" to go play some polo on our enormous "estates" that have ZERO landscaping and now have a GORGEOUS view of a bright blue water tower. SWEET!

 

[dilated]

Since we've lured lots of Dukies into this thread, I'll ask: do all decisions get mailed out on 1 March? I have no idea where my folder from my Duke interview went; probably the same place as that frisbee.

 

[inflamesdjk02]

Since we've lured lots of Dukies into this thread, I'll ask: do all decisions get mailed out on 1 March? I have no idea where my folder from my Duke interview went; probably the same place as that frisbee.

Haha, that frisbee was ridiculous. Anyways, decisions are going out Feb. 27th through regular mail.

 

[dilated]

Haha, that frisbee was ridiculous. Anyways, decisions are going out Feb. 27th through regular mail.

Cool, thanks. Wait.. almost.. over!

I was trying to imagine a situation where you could use it without being incredibly pompous.

I was considering going down to the pre-medical advising office, prominently displaying my frisbee, and then saying "Who would like to play some frisbee?". Then when some hopeful premed says yes, I would demand their MCAT score and then tell them it was not good enough to merit an invitation to catch the Duke interview frisbee. This would help to prepare them for the senseless cruelty of the actual admissions process. 😛

 

[inflamesdjk02]

just think of how much rage those things are going to incite after all the decisions are sent out ... hahahhahahaha.