INC NEWS - Column: City is the doggone greatest (Durham News)

[John Schelp]

Column: City is the doggone greatest 
By Rob Waters, Durham News (N&O), 23 Feb 2008

Some cities are so distinctive that, if you were
suddenly placed in one of them and your blindfold
removed, you would instantly know where you were.
Boston's like that, as are San Francisco, New Orleans
and Las Vegas.

The more I get to know Durham, the more I believe it
belongs in this couldn't-be-anywhere-else category.
The legacy of the city's industrial past is a
collection of gritty, muscular structures that give
Durham a look and a feel very much its own.

Contrast this with the bland, sprawling, capital city
southeast of here. Or with North Carolina's biggest
urb, the so-called Queen City. Could a city be more
generic-looking than Raleigh or Charlotte?

Durham has other strengths. Wonderful places to eat,
for example, and a downtown that's poised for a
breakthrough.

Among all these other virtues, we learned this week,
Durham can claim an additional "best places" title:
Best place to lose your dog.

Bean, the mild-mannered pit bull, turned up last
weekend and was reunited with her owners, Rebecca
Silver and Bryan Proffitt.

The theft of Bean from Proffitt's car on Ninth Street
two weeks ago touched off a community mobilization.
Message groups buzzed. People searched. It was an
amazing outpouring.

After Bean was returned last Sunday, Silver thanked
everyone on the blog she created for Bean
(http://beanthepit.blogspot.com/ tells the whole
tale), and invited visitors to contribute to the
promised $1,000 reward. The money was raised in less
than a day.

What a town!