[Locomotive Breath]

Part of the problem is that the U's you cite are all college towns in the traditional sense of the word except for GA Tech which it totally swallowed in Atlanta. Chapel Hill loves UNC because it's the only game in town and always has been. Durham used to have an actual economy in tobacco and textiles and was there long before Duke. Now Duke is the only game in town.

[JeffAtlanta]

Part of the problem is that the U's you cite are all college towns in the traditional sense of the word except for GA Tech which it totally swallowed in Atlanta.

I see what you mean. It seems the "town vs gown" situation seems to occur when the town is decent sized without the school but not huge like Atlanta. I guess Ohio State and Michigan would fall in these categories but from what I can tell, those schools are very popular in their surrounding town.

The only other school besides Duke that I've heard of having this problem is Princeton. But in that case, it was more the condition of the town hurting the school.

I wonder how is is at UVa, Wake Forest and Maryland.

[Law is not justice but process]

"Durham used to have an actual economy in tobacco"

When I moved to Durham in 1987 there were 12 tobacco companies of various sizes in town. When I left in 1998, there was one, and it was in bankruptcy (Ligget Meyers, I believe).

"Now Duke is the only game in town."

There are the Research Triangle Park and many other industries in the area, but Duke is BY FAR the largest employer and taxpayer in the City limits. You would think the Durhamites would appreciate them a little more: Duke pays their bills.