Cary, North Carolina – In an article from last week entitled Fastest Growing Cities in the South, Fortune writes that of the 11 fastest-growing areas in the country, 8 were in the South. Leading the pack: Raleigh-Cary.

Fortune Smiles Upon Cary

I’m not sure why it’s not still called Raleigh-Durham, or even Cary-Raleigh, but what’s in a name? Fortune lists the region’s population as 1.1 million (sounds like the whole Triangle, not just Cary and that other town).

Cary-Raleigh led the South with a 41.8% growth rate over the last decade. Number 2 on the list was Austin at 37.3%, followed by Charlotte at 32.1%.

Silicon Valley of the East?

Even though we drink Muscadine instead of Chardonnay, Fortune referred to our region as the Silicon Valley of the East:

Raleigh is one corner of the triangle region of North Carolina, a booming area that includes Durham and Chapel Hill and is home to the largest research park in the U.S. In 2010, the Milken Institute ranked Raleigh No. 7 in its list of best performing cities for creating and sustaining economic growth.

This Silicon Valley of the East coast attracts flocks of IT-types for jobs at tech giants like Cisco and IBM.

- Fortune, April 14, 2011

Looking Forward

Of course, the article in Fortune looks backward. So, what’s ahead?

I’m guessing more companies are going to develop a taste for Muscadine.

The kids touched a lot of stuff in the Naturalist's Room, tucked away on the 4th floor.

Story and photos by Lindsey Chester.

Cary, NC – The kids are home, vacation is into week two and the “I’m bored” chant is heard in every home.

But a short drive from Cary is the NC Museum of Natural Sciences where you can touch cool stuff like stuffed birds, real fossils and live butterflies. I saddled up my daughter, Emma, and her pal Rachel.

The Naturalist’s Room

The Museum District in Raleigh is about 20 minutes from central Cary. The trip was abreeze and we found cheap and easy parking.

Forgoing the Grossology exhibit, we decided to start at the top floor (the fourth) and make our way down one floor at at time. By accident, we stumbled onto The Naturalist’s Room. The door was open and we had never been inside before.

It looked a little like a back room at the Smithsonian or the British Museum. Specimens of natural science were tucked everywhere – stuffed owls and eagles, foxes, possums, fossils, shells, rocks, insects and fish.

We signed in and a gentleman explained how you can touch the taxidermy specimens, pick up the minerals and fossils and look at the items displayed in pull-out drawers.

My young scientists were enthralled for over an hour.

The Living Conservatory

Next , we explored the Living Conservatory indoor habitat and discovered 3 turtles hiding. Emma “caught” one of the butterflies. We witnessed the sloth actually move to eat his lunch. The museum guide explained that hardly anyone ever sees him actually move (slothful indeed!)

Each floor held the kids’ attention, (NC Native snakes, bird, bugs). The highlight is the Acrocanthosaurus exhibit.  This large dinosaur fossil was discovered in North Carolina and the room features soaring pterodactyls and interactive displays.

Picture from NC Museum of Natural Sciences

The kids insisted on exploring every inch of the museum, even though my daughter’s friend used to visit twice a year with her magnet school. That’s what quality you can expect in this museum, kids enjoy coming back for more- no matter how many times they’ve already visited. I was actually the one begging to sit down, my feet were so tired.

We had a lovely lunch at the Acro Cafe in the museum for less than $14 for the three of us (even featured a veggie Black Bean Burger)!

We will  go back downtown this week to catch the History Museum (across the street) because I hear there is a wonderful exhibit about George Washington, on til Jan 30 . That museum is free too.

Getting There

Raleigh seems so far away, but from my house in central Cary, downtown Raleigh is an easy 15-20 drive.

Simply do the 64/40/440 loop heading toward Benson/ Raleigh (the Outer Beltline) and exit at South Saunders Street. Continue up on McDowell until you hit Jones, hang a right and look for  parking right past Wilmington Street.

There’s a big parking lot and they charged me only $2 for 4 hours. The museum is about a block away.

NC Museum of Natural Science
11 West Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Map Link

Butterfly "caught" at the museum's habitat area on the 4th floor

Story and photos by Hal Goodtree.

Raleigh, NC – A small group of journalists from across the state gathered at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh on Thursday to spend an hour chatting with North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue. CaryCitizen was there.

The State Budget

Many questions revolved around the coming budget for North Carolina. The State faces a $3 billion shortfall.

Responding to improved economic indicators, Gov. Perdue said she thinks that 2011 will be better than 2010, and that the most recent numbers seem to confirm that “recovery is coming along more quickly than anyone hoped.”

The Governor told the assembled journalists that she had worked the $3 billion gap down to about $900 million in her draft budget.

Preserving “The Core”

Several times, Governor Perdue referred to “preserving the core” functions of government as her yardstick in measuring competing budgetary demands. She said she intended to “protect” K-3 education. “You give them good core skills and they’re on their way,” the Governor said.

Liquor Stores

As the conversation shifted between subjects, education, privitization and the budget became intertwined with state liquor sales. Perdue said she did not see state run liquor stores (ABC stores) as a “core service” of government. In fact, she said, North Carolina is one of the few states that have ABC stores.

The Governor said she was looking forward to getting an evaluation back after the New Year on ABC privatization.

Federal Stimulus Money For High Speed Rail

The railroad has always played an important role in Cary. It runs through the center of our town.

I asked the Governor about news that two Governors-elect (John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin) have announced they will not take federal stimulus money for high-speed rail because it imposes too big a financial obligation on the states. North Carolina is one of twelve states to accept federal funds for HSR.

“It might be political rhetoric,” she said. She pointed out that Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina had sworn off federal recovery money but the state had ending up receiving funding.

Governor Perdue confirmed support for investment in rail across the state. She also cautioned about the alternative: Thursday morning, she had spoken to a company interested in locating to North Carolina, but concerned about our lack of public transportation infrastructure.

New Hill

Water is another key issue or Cary. I asked Governor Perdue if she saw an opportunity for Executive leadership to break the logjam between residents, towns, landowners, legislators and activists on the New Hill Water Treatment plant.

She said she asked the Secretary (Dee Freeman, Department of Environmental and Natural Resources) to broker a compromise. The Governor said she tries not to micromanage local issues, but “if there comes a time when I have to get in, I will.”

Steel Magnolias

The Executive Mansion is beautiful at Christmas. I looked at the oil paintings of Governors from years gone by. I had some of the Mansion’s very fine chocolate cookies.

The Governor seemed a little weighed down buy the budget crisis, by two grinding years of tough decisions. But she said she maintained her resolve. “It’s a little like Steel Magnolias – blond hair and blue eyes and all,” Governor Perdue said.  “But I can make hard decisions.”

Joyce Watkins King from The Lucy Daniels Center; Cokie Roberts, Emmy Award-Winning Journalist & Keynote Speaker; Dr. Donald Rosenblitt of The Lucy Daniels Center

Information provided by The North Carolina Community Foundation.

The Women’s Network of Wake County has awarded grants totaling $125,000 to Hospice of Wake County, Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood, Urban Ministries of Wake County and Wake Technical Community College Foundation, according to Noel Lichtin, President of the Executive Committee.  Awards were made at the group’s annual grants luncheon at The Umstead in Cary, where nationally acclaimed journalist Cokie Roberts served as keynote speaker.

“We had a number of deserving applicants, and the grants committee did an outstanding job of carefully reviewing proposals and conducting their due diligence so our membership could vote on our third-year recipients,” Lichtin said. “All of these programs will make a significant impact in Wake County.”

Hospice will receive $25,500 to create an after-school support program for children of chronically ill parents. The Lucy Daniels Center will receive $25,000 to support a free mental health service for children from low-income families. Urban Ministries will be granted $49,500 to provide access to health care in a “medical home” model for low-income, uninsured minority women. Wake Tech Community College Foundation’s award of $25,000 will be used for scholarships and other needs as foster-care youth make the transition from high school to higher education and independent living.

The Women’s Network of Wake County is a program of the North Carolina Community Foundation (NCCF) and is designed to maximize women’s leadership in philanthropy by engaging and educating its membership, increasing charitable contributions and strengthening the Wake County community through the impact of collective giving. The Network has awarded $294,000 to Wake County initiatives supporting women and/or children since its inception in 2007.

Members of the Women’s Network agree to contribute $1,200 annually for five years to support Wake County needs.