Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state capital, Raleigh, make up the corners of the Research Triangle (officially the RaleighDurhamCary combined statistical area), with a total population of 1,998,808. The town was founded in 1793 and is centered on Franklin Street, covering 21.3 square miles (55 km²) It contains several districts and buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. University Lake is part of the town's public water supply. The area was the home place of early settler William Barbee of Middlesex County, Virginia, whose 1753 grant of 585 acres from John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville was the first of two land grants in what is now the Chapel Hill-Durham area. In 1969, a year after the city fully integrated its schools, Chapel Hill elected Howard Lee as mayor. In 1993, the town celebrated its bicentennial and founded the chapel Hill Museum. The museum is a cultural community resource "exhibiting the character and characters of Chapel Hill, North Carolina" It includes among its permanent exhibits Alexander Julian, History of the Chapelhill Fire Department, Chapelhill's 1914 Fire Truck, The James Taylor Story, Farmer/James Pottery, and The Paul Green Legacy.

History

Chapel Hill has developed along a hill; the crest was the original site of a small Anglican "chapel of ease", built in 1752. In 1819, the town was founded to serve the University of North Carolina and developed around it. The town was chartered in 1851, and its main street, Franklin Street, was named in memory of Benjamin Franklin. In 1969, a year after the city fully integrated its schools, Chapel Hill elected Howard Lee as mayor. It was the first majority-white municipality in the South to elect an African-American mayor. Some 30 years later, in 2002, the state passed legislation to provide free service to all riders on local buses. The change has resulted in a large increase in ridership, taking many cars off the roads. Several hybrid and articulated buses have been added recently. All buses carry GPS transmitters to report their location in real-time to a tracking web site. Buses can transport bicycles and have wheelchair lifts. The Carolina Inn, the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House, and West Chapel Hill Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Chapel Hill Museum is a cultural community resource "exhibiting the character and characters of Chapel Hill, North Carolina" It includes among its permanent exhibits Alexander Julian, History of the Chapel Hill Fire Department, and Chapel Hill's 1914 Fire Truck. It also includes The James Taylor Story, Farmer/James Pottery, and The Paul Green Legacy.

Geography and climate

Chapel Hill is located in the southeast corner of Orange County. It is bounded on the west by the town of Carrboro and on the northeast by the city of Durham. Most of Chapel Hill's borders are adjacent to unincorporated portions of Orange and Durham Counties rather than shared with another municipality. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.3 square miles (55.1 km²) of which 21.1 square miles is land and 0.15square miles (0.4 km² is covered by water. University Lake is part of the town's public water supply. The town is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a private college with a liberal arts program. Chapel Hill is also the home of the North Carolina School of the Arts, which was founded in 1875. The school is located on the campus of the College of William and Mary. The Chapel Hill campus is located near the campus' main campus. It was founded by 17th-century settlers and is known for its Gothic architecture. It has a reputation for being one of the most beautiful towns in the United States. The city has a population of 3,000, with the majority of its residents living in or near the town center. It also has a history that dates back to the 18th century. It became a college in 1881. It opened its first high school in 1883. It closed its doors in 1894.

Demographics

Chapel Hill is North Carolina's best-educated municipality, proportionately, with 77% of adult residents (25 and older) holding an associate degree or higher. As of the 2020 U.S. census, there were 61,960 people, 20,369 households, and 10,552 families residing in the town. The racial composition of the town was 72.8% White, 9.7% African American, 0.3% Native American, 11.9% Asian,0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.7%. About 6.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in Chapel Hill was $51,690, and for a family was $91,049. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.6 males. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was2.98. The population density was 2,687 people per square mile (1037/km²). The median age was 25.6 years. The per capita income for the town is $35,796. About 8.6% of families and 19.8%. of the residents were below the poverty line, including 8. 6% of those under 18 and 5.6%. of those age 65 or over. The city has a population of 1,749,525 as of Census 2010. The US Office of Management and Budget also includes Chapel Hill as a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area. The four-county Durham-Chapels Hill MSA has a total population of 504,357.

Government

Chapel Hill uses a council-manager form of government. The community elects a mayor and eight council members. Mayor Pam Hemminger, a former board of education member, was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2017, 2019, and 2021. The current version of the town's seal, adopted in 1989, is in the process of being replaced with a similar but simpler version. All versions of the seal, dating back to the 1930s, depict Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and protector of cities. The blue represents the town and the University of North Carolina (whose colors are Carolina blue and white); the green represents "environmental awareness"; and the "townscape" in the inverted chevron represents "a sense of home, friends, and community" The town adopted its flag in 1990, and the colors are blue, green, and white, with an inverted blue chevrons for the top and the bottom of the flag for the bottom. The flag was designed by Spring Davis of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was designed to represent the city's history and culture, as well as the university's colors of blue, white, and Carolina blue. The town's motto is: "The City That Never Sleeps" and the town motto is "The Town That Never Sleeps" It was adopted by the city council in 1989 and is currently in its fourth year of existence. It is the first town in North Carolina to have a mayor who is openly gay.

Education

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district covers most of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, along with portions of unincorporated Orange County. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university. The state's main youth orchestra, Piedmont Youth Orchestra, is based in Chapel Hill. There are several private K-12 schools, including Emerson Waldorf School. The small portion of Chapelhill located in Durham County is part of Durham Public Schools. The city is home to the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1789. It is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in the United States, dating back to the early 19th century. It has been the home of the National Symphony Orchestra for more than 50 years. It was the first symphony orchestra to be established in North Carolina in 1903. The orchestra is now the largest in the state, with more than 2,000 members. The symphony is also home to North Carolina's largest orchestra, the Carolina Symphony, which has more than 1,200 members. It also has its own band hall, the Chapel Hill Music Hall of Fame, which is located in the center of the city. The Chapel Hill High School was ranked the 88th-best high school in the nation by Newsweek in 2008, and the highest-ranked standard public high school. The school has been recognized for its academic excellence for over 20 years. The university is the flagship of the University of N.C. system, which also includes UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro.

Culture

Chapel Hill-Carrboro area has roughly 85,000 residents. Health insurance provider Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina was one of the town's 10 largest employers. Technology companies USAT Corp and Realtime Ops have made Chapel Hill their headquarters location. James Taylor, George Hamilton IV, Superchunk, Polvo, Archers of Loaf, Ben Folds Five, The Kingsbury Manx, Spider Bags and more recently Porter Robinson, are among the most notable musical artists and acts whose careers began in Chapel Hill. The town has also been a center for the modern revival of old-time music with such bands as the Ayr Mountaineers, Hollow Rock String band, Mandolin Orange, the Tug Creek Ramblers, Two Dollar Pistols, the Fuzzy Mountain String band and the Red Clay Ramblers. Bruce Springsteen has made a point to visit the town on four occasions, his most recent appearance was on September 15, 2003, at Kenan Memorial Stadium with the E Street Band. One song from the 2011 John Craig song, "Dirty Youth", is named after the town. The city has been a distinctive feature of the Tobacco Road culture, fueled by the four ACC teams: the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Duke Blue Devils, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and the NC State Wolfpack. In addition to the football stadium, Chapel Hill is home to the Dean Smith Center, which formerly housed the football team, and Carmichael Arena, which is the home of the basketball team.

Transit

Chapel Hill has intracity bus service via Chapel Hill Transit. Go Triangle provides connection to the rest of the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Hillsborough) The DurhamOrange Light Rail line, which would have run between Chapel Hill and Durham, entered planning and engineering phases in August 2017. The project was discontinued in April 2019. The Hillsborough service is operated by Chapel Hill transit, and supplemented mid-day by a county shuttle. The Chapel Hill to Durham line was to run between Durham and Chapel Hill. It was to have run from Durham to Chapel Hill, with a stop in Hillsborough. The line was never built, and the line was canceled in 2019. It would have been the first light-rail line in North Carolina, and would have cost $1.6 billion to build. It is not expected to be completed by the end of the 20th century, and will have a ridership of less than 1.5 million. The service was supposed to run from Raleigh to Durham, then to Hillsborough, and then back to Raleigh again. It has never been completed, and is expected to cost $2.5 billion to $3 billion. It will not run between Raleigh and Durham. It also would not run from Hillsborough to Durham to the Raleigh-Durham line, but to the Chapel Hill-Hillsborough line. It had been planned to connect the two cities via a single line, the Durham Orange Line. It never got off the ground, and has been canceled.

Sister cities

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristóbal (Galápagos, Ecuador) is a sister city of Ecuador. The city is located on the island of San Cristóbal. It is the second largest city in the island, after the capital of Quito. It has a population of 1.2 million. It was founded in 17th century by Spanish settlers. It became a city in 18th century. It's one of the largest cities in Ecuador, with 1.3 million residents. It also has a sister town in San Cristobal, San Paulo (Ecuador), which has 1.4 million people. Its population is 1.5 million, making it one of Ecuador's largest cities. The two cities are also sister cities in the province of Santa Carmen, which has 2.1 million people, and in the country's capital, Quito, with 2.6 million. They are the only two cities in Ecuador with more than 1,000 people each. They also share a border with the island of Santa Cruz, which is 1,500 miles (2,500 kilometers) away. They share a city center with the city of Puerta del Sol (Santa Mariano, Ecuador), and a town with 1,200 people, San Cerro, Ecuador. They have a city centre with 2,500 people, the town of Puerto Baquizo Moreno (San Christóbal).

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina = 85.1. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 73. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 98. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Chapel Hill = 4.5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 3,343 individuals with a median age of 27.8 age the population grows by 10.53% in Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,869.05 residents per square mile of area (1,107.75/km²). There are average 2.23 people per household in the 19,583 households with an average household income of $48,277 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 5.00% of the available work force and has dropped -5.29% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 24.42%. The number of physicians in Chapel Hill per 100,000 population = 899.5.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Chapel Hill = 46.2 inches and the annual snowfall = 5.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 118. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 216. 89 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 27.9 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 35, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina which are owned by the occupant = 38.12%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 29 years with median home cost = $274,530 and home appreciation of -1.48%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $10.78 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,986 per student. There are 13.4 students for each teacher in the school, 312 students for each Librarian and 326 students for each Counselor. 3.31% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 34.23% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 40.32% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).