The long awaited north Raleigh segment of I-540 from Triangle Town Boulevard to the U.S. 64/264 Bypass in Knightdale opened at 11 A.M. yesterday.  This segment will make travel a lot easier and faster for many people.  It will make traveling from Rocky Mount, Wilson and even Goldsboro much faster to RDU airport and to all areas of north Raleigh.  Of course it will help shorten the daily communtes of people living in Clayton, Knightdale, Garner and other communities east of Raleigh into and through the Raleigh area as well.

The rest of the new I-540 section -- from N.C. Highway 54 to N.C. Highway 55 in Research Triangle Park a 5 mile stretch into the Park opened July 17, 2007.

Data Points:

Rank Last Year: 7

Median Household Income Rank: 30
Unemployment Rank: 13
Income Growth Rank: 12
Cost Of Living Rank: 45
Job Growth Rank: 10

Raleigh has a lot to offer, mainly the fact that it has nothing bad to offer. Unlike Florida, North Carolina's housing market has been relatively stable, so Raleigh probably doesn't have a downturn to look forward to. The three universities in the area--Duke, the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University--help attract highly educated workers and technology firms. We receive comments all the time that the Triangle has a lot of the amenities of Florida, except not the hurricanes.