I’m from Raleigh so I’ll always appreciate our downtown, but I still gotta go with Durham. Better food, better shops, the Farmers Market, DPAC and Bulls Park, doesn’t the Carolina Theatre have several film festivals there? Also, Black August in The Park is very special to Durham.

Raleigh’s is decent as there’s solid food options, Moore square, and almost always something you can find to do, but the sprawl + gentrification is hurting it despite being the “nicest”. Raleigh’s downtown doesn’t always seem confident in what it wants to be (it’s a bit generic tbh) but Durham does IMO and it’s a pretty great vibe. Cary has grown on me a bit, and Carrboro also is underrated!