Category: Wake County
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Wake County's 2009 Accolades
Wake County is among the country’s leading communities taking proactive strides in bettering its economic and business situation, as was proven in 2009. While we could list many others, we believe that the following items represent the top 10 highlights of Wake County’s achievements during that period:
• Raleigh was named #1 “Top City for Small Business” by Bizjournals in February 2009.
• Raleigh was named the “Best Place for Business and Careers” by Forbes.com in March 2009 for the third consecutive year.
• Raleigh was named #1 “City Where Americans Are Relocating” by Forbes.com in April 2009.
• Kiplinger’s named Raleigh #10 “Best City” in May 2009.
• Raleigh-Cary was named #8 “Best Big Cities for Jobs” by Forbes.com in May 2009.
• Raleigh-Durham was named #5 “Metro for Best Quality of Life” by Business Facilities in August 2009.
• Raleigh was named #18 “Best Cities for Working Mothers” by Forbes.com in August 2009.
• Raleigh-Durham was named #8 “Next Hot Youth-Magnet Cities” by The Wall Street Journal in September 2009.
• Sporting News named Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill #17 “Best Sports City” in October 2009.
• Cary was named #19 “Safest U.S. City” by CQ Press in November 2009.
We at WCED are proud of these honors and accomplishments over the past year. For a complete list of our accolades, visit http://www.raleigh-wake.org/files/Accolades.Flyer.pdf. We aim to complete and announce even more successes in 2010.
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Wake County's Mass Transit: Now And The Future
Wake County is among the country’s leading communities taking a proactive stance to increase ridership and employ electric transportation. There are many approaches already underway addressing these issues.
One is the improved Raleigh CAT (Capital Area Transit) bus system. Its free fare R-Line service has been successful in attracting ridership in the downtown area.
Another is Project Get Ready, an initiative to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles nationwide. Raleigh is a partner city for this effort, joined by Advanced Energy, Duke Energy, the Rocky Mountain Initiative and Progress Energy, which plans to pay for erecting 10 plug-in stations on downtown Raleigh city-owned property by next year. Each will consist of a pedestal with a plug in it to juice up a car, plus signs and a parking space. More info can be found from the Triangle Electric Auto Association.
A third is Triangle Transit, which operates regional bus and shuttle service for and within Wake, Durham and Orange counties. Its popularity is growing – TT reported a 28 percent jump in bus ridership between July 2008 and February 2009 over the same period a year earlier.
For the future, TT has proposed a combination of a $2.2 billion, 56-mile light rail system to connect Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill and expanded bus service across the region. Wake alone would see 100 new buses, primarily for express service between municipalities.
The state has approved legislation that authorizes referenda in Triangle counties to fund this through a half-cent sales tax, and authorizes other funding measures for transit. Voters must pass the referenda for it to go into effect.
For the latest information on Wake mass transit activities, visit the TT Web site as well as WakeUP Wake County, a nonpartisan advocacy group calling for increased mass transit. -
Home for the Holidays in Wake County
With the holiday season approaching, we would like to remind you that there are plenty of ways to celebrate without leaving the area. Here is a sampling by upcoming special days:
Halloween
Cary is offering scary movies at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre through Friday, Oct. 30, for $3 per adult and free for kids under 12. On Oct. 30, Zebulon Community Center hosts “Trunk or Treat” for kids in the early evening, while the “Family Fall Day Festival” occurs Oct. 31 at Michael Blake’s Garden Center and Gift Shop in Knightdale before evening of trick-or-treating begins. Some Halloween-related activities also take place Oct. 31 at Fuquay-Varina’s “Day in Downtown” and Holly Springs’ “HollyFest”.
Thanksgiving
For those who want to dine out rather than eat in, in Raleigh Margaux’s Restaurant and the Angus Barn offer buffets. Reservations are recommended for both. A less pricey option is the K&W Cafeteria buffet at Cameron Village in Raleigh.
Christmas
The many activities include the Centennial Community Christmas Gala in Wake Forest and the Historic Oakwood 2009 Candlelight Tour. There will be Christmas parades held in downtown Raleigh (it’s held early, before Thanksgiving on Nov. 21), Fuquay-Varina and Zebulon (both Dec. 6). For eating out lunch or dinner Christmas day, the Irregardless Café is open in Raleigh.
New Year’s Eve
For New Year’s Eve, there is the big acorn drop in Raleigh as well, but we will tell you more about that when we approach that date. For now, enjoy the merriment and learn why Wake is not just a great place to do business, but take it easy as well. -
Wake Most Prosperous County in North Carolina
A report by The News and Observer regarding 2008 census data for North Carolina found that Wake County was the most prosperous of the state’s largest counties last year, meaning counties with more than 65,000 residents.
Our median household income of approximately $65,000 was nearly $20,000 greater than the state median income ($46,500). Another strong indicator was fewer than 13 percent of Wake County residents lacked health insurance in 2008, compared with nearly 16 percent statewide.
In terms of richest cities in North Carolina, two from Wake County made up the top three. Cary was at number one, with a median income of $91,947, while Raleigh finished third at $53,825, just a few thousand shy of Charlotte at number two.
This does not mean, of course, that you will strike it rich should you relocate to Wake County. However, it does point out the resiliency of the county amid tough times. Even with more people arriving every day, there is on average a better economic opportunity to succeed here than in the rest of the state, and we are talking considerably better than average, for that matter.
The reason is – and we have said it before and will say it again – diversity among employment opportunities. The county has never become too dependent on one single industry as its primary source of jobs. Because of that, a collapse of one market or considerably large employer will not devastate the county’s constantly positive trend of economic growth.
In a year where median income actually dropped in five states – Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana and Michigan – it is reassuring to know that people in North Carolina and particularly Wake County are able to weather the storm. When the storm ends, you can bet that Wake will emerge even stronger economically afterward.
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Wake County Projected to Surpass Mecklenburg County
Charlotte is easily North Carolina’s most populated city. Consequently Mecklenburg County, which houses Charlotte, also has the highest population of any county of North Carolina. But as Wake County is increasing in population by leaps and bounds, it will not be long before Mecklenburg will be in second place in the state.
Whether it is attributed to the excellent education system, the comparatively stable housing market, or the seemingly recession-proof economy, Wake is booming, so much so that its population is predicted to grow faster than that of Mecklenburg over the next two years. According to an estimate released earlier this year by the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2011 the populations of North Carolina’s two largest counties will differ by fewer than 25,000 people.
The population of Wake County is estimated to increase by 4.9 percent and 4.3 percent in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Mecklenburg will continue to grow, though at an estimated slightly slower pace than Wake over the next two years. This means that if these exponentially increasing trends remain stable, Wake could potentially become the state’s most populated county in 10 years. Given the trends among newcomers in relocating to the state, there is every reason believe this can and will happen.
While Charlotte and Mecklenburg remain at the top of the chart, Wake County is a rising star, so keep your eyes on the horizon.
For more information visit this Triangle Business Journal article. -
Think Globally: Big Changes Made to the Wake County Public School System Curriculum
In the 1960s Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a-changin.’” This classic phrase has come to light again in our fast-paced times which are full of technological advancements and worldwide changes.
Here are some statistics to put things into perspective. Soon China will become the number one English-speaking country in the world. And the 25 percent of India’s population with the highest IQ is greater than the total population of the United States; thus, India has more honor students than the United States has students.
These statistics prove that it is high-time we changed with the world. Proposed new “world-class standards” for the Wake County Public School System will alter the methods of teaching as well as the tools used to teach.
This change to the curriculum is founded upon the idea that we are preparing students for jobs that do not exist yet and technologies that have not been invented in order to solve problems that we do not know will exist.
In terms of the WCPSS, this means it is time to increase the degree of competencies of the average graduate. These competencies include:
• Use all forms of information especially current media and technology
• Be culturally aware
• Communicate effectively across cultures
• Be aware of events and global dynamics
• Work together in multicultural teams
• Learn how to learn
The motif of these competencies is being globally aware and the idea of quality over quantity. The structure of WCPSS is to be reformatted to cut curriculums in half to promote a deeper understanding of the material rather than a greater amount of material.
For more information about this process, visit this Carolina Newswire article. -
Triangle Unemployment Rates Go Down
The effects of the recession appear to be ebbing here in the Triangle, where the jobless rate has fallen over the last few months. Wake County now has the eighth lowest unemployment rate in state, preceded by Orange County with the lowest rate and Durham just barely in second place. For a state average more than 10 percent unemployment, that is good news for this region.
For the Raleigh-Cary area, which includes Wake, Johnston, and Franklin counties, the unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in April. That is less than March’s 8.7 percent, although greater than the 3.4 percent from a year ago.
The statistics for the Durham-Chapel Hill area, which includes Durham, Orange, Chatham and Person counties, put the unemployment rate at 7.3 percent. That is higher than last year’s 3.6 percent but down from the 7.6 percent rate in March.
These rates combined yields an 8.2 percent unemployment rate. Though this rate is one of the highest in the Triangle over the past 25 years, our area is still faring much better than the state’s other two major metros (Charlotte and Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem).
While there were job losses in both the Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan areas, mainly in manufacturing and trade, there was growth in other fields, such as information technology.
For more information on Triangle employment levels, visit this Triangle Business Journal article. -
Wake County - Top 10 Awards For 2009 (So Far)
Since the start of the year, Wake County has received more than a dozen awards and recognitions. From its growing economic potential to its dating scene, the Triangle is gaining national praise.
1. #1 City with Best Economic Potential (Raleigh, NC) fDi Magazine, April 2009
2. #1 Place For Business and Careers (Raleigh, NC) Forbes.com, March 2009
3. #1 Top City for Small Business (Raleigh, NC) American City Business Journals, February 2009
4. #1 City Where Americans Are Relocating (Raleigh, NC) Forbes.com, April 2009
5. #1 Fastest-Growing Metropolitan Area in the Country (Raleigh-Cary) U.S. Census, March 2009
6. #5 Leading Life Sciences Clusters in the U.S. (Raleigh-Durham, NC) Milken Institute, May 2009
7. #5 Fastest-Growing Metropolitan in the Country (Raleigh-Cary, NC) Easy Analytic Software, May 2009
8. #6 Healthiest Housing Market (Raleigh, NC) Builderonline.com, February 2009
9. 2nd Best State to Do Business In (North Carolina) Chief Executive magazine, March 2009
10. #10 High-Tech Centers in the U.S. (Raleigh, NC) American City Business Journals, May 2009
A common theme in these accolades is growth capacity. With one of the healthiest housing markets in the country, people are flocking to the Wake County area for both professional and personal reasons. Raleigh will be one of the largest cities in the nation by 2025, and even smaller municipalities like Holly Springs and Rolesville will continue their exponential growth and evolution while still maintaining their hometown feel.
The region has the best of both worlds as corporate RTP continues to thrive while also earning the #1 city for small businesses earlier this year. But the Triangle definitely is not all business. The area ranked #4 as the best city in America for dating and #20 most physically fit city in America.
With a growing population and thriving businesses, Wake County will continue to compete with the best cities in the nation.
For a complete list of accolades, click here.
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More Cuisine Options Than Ever
With more than 600 restaurants to choose from in Raleigh alone, Wake County offers a variety of dining to suit the most discriminating palate. Our municipalities boast numerous ethnic restaurants -- from American, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Southern Soul to Vietnamese and everything in between.
But our region is especially known for its classic barbecue -- chopped pork with a vinegary, spicy sauce, pulled from a whole hog that has been pit-cooked over charcoal and wood.
Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of 50 Best New U.S. Restaurants 2009 names “The Pit” in Raleigh among its choices. The Pit is one of the best places you can go to for authentic North Carolina barbecue. Praised by The New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, and Bon Appetit, The Pit was established by North Carolina’s legendary pit master, Ed Mitchell, in a former meatpacking warehouse.
Listing the “Best Burgers in the Country,” Food Network Magazine hit the road to find the one burger you absolutely have to try in every state. In North Carolina, they settled on the Raleigh Times Burger at the Raleigh Times Bar.
It’s not just the food that’s great here. In selecting their top restaurants, Travel + Leisure said, “We gravitated toward spots that offered us warmth and a sense of human connection.”
That’s us, all right. Y’all come visit. You just might end up staying.
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Wake Housing Market Better Than Most Counties
While several areas of the United States continue to face a housing slump, Wake County is not one of them. On the contrary, we are doing better than the national average in several respects:
- Our Home Prices Are Strong -- While it would be a stretch to call Wake a "sellers market" right now, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in February that home prices in the Raleigh-Cary area increased by 2.96 percent in 2008. That ranks the Raleigh metropolitan area 18th best in the country. While the number of transactions has dropped in Wake County, prices have remained much stronger than elsewhere. In fact, the agency said that nationally, home prices fell by 4.5 percent in 2008.
- Real Estate Agents Say Business Is Picking Up -- Some local real estate agents recently told TV station NBC17 that months of declining activity have ebbed due to more federal money to lenders, lower interest rates on mortgages and incentives such as tax credits to first-time home buyers. One expert also believes that the area's high rate of population growth of nearly 5 percent annually, one of the largest among metropolitan markets over the last five years, will help too, as more people move here over time and will prefer to live in homes rather than apartments.
- Our Housing Future Looks Bright -- Raleigh has been named one of the healthiest housing markets of 2009 by Builder Magazine. The publication analyzed 75 housing markets across the country and ranked them based on their population trends, job growth, home values and rate building permits. Raleigh was ranked sixth by the magazine with a total of 11,386 total building permits in 2008.
These indicators show how resilient Wake's housing market is even during challenging economic periods. The fact is that since our economy is so broad, we tend to suffer less and recover quicker from downturns because we are not dependent on one industry. Our housing market reflects this trend, and we expect Wake to be back on track with housing sales before the market rebounds both on the state and national levels.
- Our Home Prices Are Strong -- While it would be a stretch to call Wake a "sellers market" right now, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in February that home prices in the Raleigh-Cary area increased by 2.96 percent in 2008. That ranks the Raleigh metropolitan area 18th best in the country. While the number of transactions has dropped in Wake County, prices have remained much stronger than elsewhere. In fact, the agency said that nationally, home prices fell by 4.5 percent in 2008.