About The Triangle Area Folks in the Triangle didn't set out to get noticed. They just decided to create a great place to live and work -- and have they ever succeeded. In the past decade, the superlatives have poured in: Money Magazine's Best Place to Live in America, Fortune's Best City for Business and one of Redbook's Top Ten Cities for Working Mothers. Other accolades come from residents themselves: The Triangle is known for its NCAA basketball championships, world-class medical research facilities, NHL hockey franchise, Triple-A baseball team with a sparkling downtown stadium, award-winning schools, celebrated orchestra and -- last but not least -- darn fine weather. In all, it's not a bad place to live. While the Triangle is a region woven together by economics (and, some would say, regional marketing convenience) into one big metropolitan area, those who live here know that the Triangle is composed of a patchwork of cities and towns, each with a distinct character and history, each with something different to offer residents and visitors. The common denominator is growth. In fact, the Triangle has even outgrown its name, which was first used in the 1950s to describe a section of North Carolina's Piedmont region marked by Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The Triangle now stretches to include the residents of Johnston, Chatham, Franklin, Lee and Harnett counties, and its original communities have bulged past their seams to create high-growth suburbs like Cary, a town that practically didn't exist when the region's moniker was born. Today, more than one million people make up the Triangle's diverse population. A first blush look at the Triangle area reveals several appealing qualities, like the caliber of available cultural and sports activities, the reasonable cost of living and the high level of educational opportunities and medical facilities. Three renowned universities -- UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and NC State -- draw top-flight educators, students, medical professionals and researchers. The companies of Research Triangle Park, a world-renowned research and high-tech corporate park, also bring brilliant minds to the heart of North Carolina. This cosmopolitan influx creates an expectation of excellence in the region's quality of life, and with few exceptions, the region delivers. A second look reveals an even more endearing charm, with diverse communities in every corner of the region. From the weathered floors of restored brick warehouses to the pristine appeal of suburban neighborhoods, and from rambling country farmhouses to the eclectic energy of bustling urban neighborhoods, Triangle communities are microcosms of the best any community has to offer. A combination of agriculture, politics, medicine and education grounds the Triangle's history, and, one could conjecture, its future as well. Raleigh, the state's capitol, was founded in 1792, and today features six colleges and universities, a huge entertainment and sports complex, the state fairgrounds and a host of cultural attractions and museums. Durham, whose beginnings are rooted in the post-Civil War tobacco and textile industries, boasts a downtown warehouse district undergoing a transformation into a residential, retail and entertainment neighborhood where people can live, play and work within a few blocks. Today, known as the City of Medicine, Durham prides itself on its status as a mecca for health care and cutting-edge medical research, with Duke University and North Carolina Central University within its boundaries. Chapel Hill, the town, and UNC-Chapel Hill, the university, have shared space for 200 hundred years. Nearly half of the people who live in Chapel Hill are students, which may be why its citizenry is among the more politically active in the region. Burgeoning Cary is a mix of old and new, with its modern and centralized Town Hall campus, old-style refurbished downtown and dozens of expanding neighborhoods and proportionally expanding schools, making the town the third largest in the Triangle and the 10th largest in the state. A visitor or newcomer's to-do list is too long for a weekend, or perhaps even a week. State-supported museums of life and science, natural history, state history and art are just a few of the many area attractions that draw thousands of visitors each year. The gardens and arboretums of NC State, Duke and UNC all offer a spectacular array of the region's flora for public appreciation. Duke's Primate Center is a working research facility that welcomes school children and the public. UNC's Morehead Planetarium, the NC Symphony and the American Dance Festival are all nationally recognized jewels of the region's cultural crown. City, county and state parks all provide excellent recreational facilities for hiking, swimming, paddling, biking and natural discovery. But in the Triangle, when it comes to recreational activities, there seems to be a penchant for basketball. Each of the major universities boast nationally celebrated men's and women's teams, and during basketball season, you had better be prepared to declare a favorite. Schedulers of important events in the area work around March Madness -- if one of the area's own make it to the NCAA tourney, locals leave theaters, pews and lecture halls empty in their wake. And speaking of events, Triangle residents love to celebrate, and festivals dot the calendar from January to December. Raleigh's First Night launches each New Year's Eve with fireworks and a dropping acorn. In April, Apple Chill offers a street festival of music, art and minstrels down Chapel Hill's Franklin Street, while May's Artsplosure is exactly that -- an explosion of arts through the streets of Raleigh. A mainstay of Fourth of July is the Festival for the Eno, a four-day music and arts bash in Durham on the historically and ecologically important Eno River, which wends through several parts of the Triangle. Cary's Lazy Daze festival in August draws more than 500 exhibitors and ten of thousands of visitors from across the state. Durham's CenterFest invites autumn to gently settle with an array of the area?s entertainers and artists offering an eclectic mix to festivalgoers. The rich and diverse blend of artists in the area makes for dynamic and exciting cultural offerings, from theaters and galleries to classrooms. Given the area's growth, one is likely to hear a New Jersey accent or a foreign language as often as a familiar southern drawl. Expect to find sushi, authentic Mexican or grits with comparable ease. The resulting diversity in politics, ethnicity, lifestyle and spirituality makes for a colorful and rich quality of life in the Triangle. Just remember to bone up on basketball before you get here. -- Laurie Scott