Nicknamed the City of Medicine, Durham is home to four hospitals. Approximately 22,000 of its 125,000 citizens work in health-related fields. 

Durham is an integral part of a growing tri-city area called the Triangle, which also includes Raleigh and Chapel Hill. In the heart of the Triangle, nearly ten miles from Duke, is Research Triangle Park, one of the oldest and most successful high-technology research parks in the country The park houses the national laboratories of Glaxo Wellcome Inc., the National Humanities Center, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In addition, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is eleven miles away North Carolina State University is twenty miles away in Raleigh, and North Carolina Central University is in Durham itself. This mix of research, industry and teaching institutions makes for an active intellectual, cultural, and recreational life in Durham.

The Triangle's range of cultural attractions rivals that found in much larger, and more expensive, cities. The $20 million downtown Durham Arts Center has become a national model for community arts programs. Area attractions include the highly acclaimed American Dance Festival, touring Broadway shows, outstanding art exhibits, libraries, concerts in the park, and performances by renowned symphonies, opera, and ballet companies. The movie industry has even made Durham home in such films as "The Handmaid's Tale" with Robert Duvall and "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon.