Durham Durham has a rich and vibrant art and cultural community. Events include jazz festivals, blues festivals, symphony concerts, art exhibitions, and a multitude of cultural expositions, including the American Dance Festival and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. A centerpiece of Durham's culture is its Carolina Theater which shows both live performances as well as films, primarily independent releases. Durham features excellent culinary offerings, particularly for a city its size, with a wide selection of diverse and renowned establishments. These establishments are primarily concentrated in the Ninth Street, Brightleaf, and University Drive areas. There is a resurgence of restaurants in and around the downtown area, including several new restaurants in the American Tobacco District.

Jacksonville Jacksonville operates the largest urban park system in the United States, providing services at more than 337 locations on more than 80,000 acres (320 km²) located throughout the city. Jacksonville gathers significant natural beauty from the St. Johns River and Atlantic Ocean. The Jacksonville Beaches area is a center of recreation and nightlife, and the many parks around the city have received international recognition. The city center includes the Jacksonville Landing shopping center and the Riverwalk. Downtown Jacksonville has a memorable skyline with the tallest building being the Bank of America Building, constructed in 1990 with a height of 617 ft (188 m).

Raleigh Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 276,093, making it the second most populous city in North Carolina, behind Charlotte. Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up the three cities of The Triangle, so named in 1959 with the creation of the Research Triangle Park, a research park between Durham and Raleigh (mostly located within Durham County). The Triangle is equivalent to the U.S. Census Bureau's Combined Statistical Area of Raleigh-Durham-Cary. Its total population as of 2004 was over 1.46 million. The estimated Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area population, as of 2004, is 914,680.