Residents of Chapel Hill seem to be the last to know their town is simply a haven for university elites and students.
“You’re rich. You’re mostly white. You’re the slowest-growing area [in North Carolina] that isn’t going backward,” said guest speaker Ted Abernathy, executive director of the Southern Growth Policies Board and the former economic development officer for Orange County and the City of Durham. “Your housing is the highest priced. You’re exclusive.
“You used to be the coolest place.”
The news seems to have put folks in a state of suspended animation.
The group made no definitive follow-up plans. But members were given plenty to think about.
“Are we as great as we think we are?” asked Glen Greenstreet of Greenstreet Builders. “We all live here. We all think this is great. Does anybody else know? Does anybody else care?”
If Chapel Hill really wants to be an inclusive town that’s representative of North Carolina’s population and political makeup, then it must lower its taxes and fees, reduce its many onerous regulations, and welcome, rather than reject, other views.
