Top 5 Reasons Why Raleigh is Smarter

1. It's getting hard to be humble - Each year the Raleigh area earns more and more accolades from regional, state and national media outlets, think-tanks and others—in categories ranging from business to education to relocation.

• #1 among America’s Most Wired Cities (Raleigh-Cary) - Forbes.com
• #1 for Top Public Schools: Large U.S. Cities (Wake County Public School System) - greatschools
• #1 in Quality of Life among Major Markets (Raleigh-Cary) - Portfolio.com/bizjournals
• #3 among Best Places for Business and Careers (Raleigh-Cary) - Forbes.com
• #3 Best Market for Young Adults (Raleigh-Cary) - Portfolio.com
• #4 among America's Smartest Cities (Raleigh-Cary) - CNNMoney.com
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2. We've put billions into burgeoning developments - Greater Raleigh is undergoing more than $3 billion in development and renovations from 2008 to 2011, including adding 19 hotels. Plus the area has renewed its commitment to the latest and greatest for arts, meetings, museums and transportation.

• LEED Silver-Certified Raleigh Convention Center (2008)
• North Carolina Museum of Art (2010)
• Raleigh Amphitheater (2010)
• Terminal 2 at RDU International Airport (2008 and 2011)
• Contemporary Art Museum (2011)
• Nature Research Center at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences (2011)
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3. When you're off the clock, you're on the town - Downtown Raleigh is thriving with more than 125 eateries and pubs, plus the Raleigh area’s got more than 60 music venues with live acts during the week—not to mention the area’s largest amphitheatres and venues with national touring performers.

• American, Asian, Cajun, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisines downtown
• 60 mid-size live music venues in the area
• Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park
• Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts
• Raleigh Amphitheater
• RBC Center
• Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
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4. The arts have a special place in our creative capital - Above and beyond our local rock and jam bands, Raleigh is one of only a dozen cities with the four major performing arts all in one place—ballet, opera, orchestra and theater.

• Carolina Ballet
• North Carolina Opera
• North Carolina Symphony
• North Carolina Theatre
• Plus, N.C. Museum of Art, one of the premier visual arts museums in the Southeast
• Contemporary Art Museum (2011), the state’s only non-collecting modern art museum
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5. Our area has research renown - Draw intellectual inspiration and international experts from the Greater Raleigh region’s dozen colleges and universities, plus The Research Triangle Park and N.C. State University’s Centennial Campus. Meeting here gives you ready access to these fantastic minds.