Bloomberg/Businessweek.com ranks Raleigh 18th

Bloomberg and Businessweek.com came out with their latest 50 Best Cities list and ranked Raleigh 18th.

In its description of the city, Bloomberg and Businessweek.com had this to say about Raleigh:

Raleigh wins the Carolinas, with strong median household income, low crime, and five universities. As one-third of the Research Triangle region, Raleigh is just minutes from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University. The city features a major historical tradition with such properties as the Mordecai House and Tucker House. Residents who aren’t so interested in uninhabited old houses—especially younger residents—might prefer the sights at BugFest, the event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

See that? Raleigh is “just minutes” away from UNC and Duke, but the reporter apparently failed to notice the 35,000-student North Carolina State University located squarely in the middle of Raleigh.

While I’m fond of Mordecai Historic Park and Tucker House, I wouldn’t exactly say these properties are worthy of national attention. There’s no mention, for instance, that Raleigh is the state’s capital, either. It’s as if all the reporter’s research on Raleigh came from Wikipedia or something (though Wikipedia would be more accurate).

Amtrak through NC hits highest percentage of growth in nation

Rail travel is hugely popular in North Carolina!

Raleigh, N.C. — Amtrak’s Piedmont route, which runs from Raleigh to Charlotte, grew by a higher percentage of riders than any other route in the nation during the last fiscal year, according to the latest data from the rail service.

The route set a new record of more than 162,000 riders and had the best percentage increase of all Amtrak routes, with a jump of 16.2 percent over the previous year, Amtrak said. The 2012 fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

It sure makes me wish the USDOT had awarded our state something more than the paltry $1.5 million from the billions in stimulus rail funding that were awarded two years ago:
Continue reading