Cary, North Carolina


Cary is the seventh-largest municipality in North Carolina. Cary is predominantly in Wake County, with a small area in Chatham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the county's second-largest municipality, as well as the third-largest municipality in The Triangle of North Carolina after Raleigh and Durham.
The town's population was 135,234 as of the 2010 census, making it the largest town and seventh-largest municipality statewide., the town's estimated population was 170,282, though Cary is still classified a town because that is how it was incorporated with the state. Cary is the second most populous incorporated town in the United States.
According to the US Census Bureau, Cary was the fifth fastest-growing municipality in the United States between September 1, 2006, and September 1, 2007. In 2015 Cary had a crime rate of 84 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina, had a violent crime rate of 648 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, almost eight times higher than Cary.
Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill make up the three primary metropolitan areas of the Research Triangle metropolitan region. The regional nickname of "The Triangle" originated after the 1959 creation of the Research Triangle Park, primarily located in Durham County, four miles from downtown Durham. RTP is bordered on three sides by the city of Durham and is roughly midway between the cities of Raleigh and Chapel Hill, and the three major research universities of NC State University, Duke University, and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Effective June 6, 2003, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget redefined the Federal statistical areas. This resulted in the formation of the Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area and the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area.
The Research Triangle region encompasses OMB's Combined Statistical Area of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina., the population of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill CSA was 1,998,808. The Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area as of Census 2010 was 1,130,490.

History

In 1750, Cary began as a settlement called Bradford's Ordinary. About a century later, the North Carolina Railroad between New Bern and Hillsborough was constructed through the town, linking Bradford's Ordinary to a major transportation route.
Allison Francis "Frank" Page is credited with founding the town. Page was a Wake County farmer and lumberman. He and his wife, Catherine "Kate" Raboteau Page bought surrounding the railroad junction in 1854 and named his development Cary, after Samuel Fenton Cary. Page became a railroad agent and a town developer. He laid out the first streets in Cary and built a sawmill, a general store and a post office. In 1868, Page built a hotel to serve railroad passengers coming through Cary. Cary was incorporated on April 3, 1871, with Page becoming the first mayor. In 1879, the Raleigh and Augusta Air-Line Railroad arrived in Cary from the southwest, creating Fetner Junction just north of downtown and spurring further growth.
In the early years, Cary adopted zoning and other ordinances on an ad-hoc basis to control growth and give the town structure. Beginning in 1971, the town created Planned Unit Development zoning to accommodate population growth related to the growth of Research Triangle Park nearby. A PUD allows a developer to plan an entire community before beginning development, thus allowing future residents to be aware of where churches, schools, commercial and industrial areas will be located well before such use begins. Kildaire Farms, a Planned Unit Development in Cary, was North Carolina's first PUD. It was developed on the Pine State Dairy Farm by Thomas F. Adams, Jr. Adams named a section of Kildaire Farms "Farmington Woods" in their honor.
In addition to the Page-Walker Hotel, the Carpenter Historic District, Cary Historic District, Green Level Historic District, Ivey-Ellington House, and Nancy Jones House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Located in the Piedmont region of the eastern United States, Cary is near North Carolina's Research Triangle. It is bordered on the north and east by Raleigh, on the north and west by Research Triangle Park and Morrisville, on the south by Apex and Holly Springs, and on the west by the Jordan Lake area. The town is hilly, with much of the undeveloped land covered in dense woods. Several creeks and small lakes dot the area, most notably Lake Crabtree in the north.
Nearly all of Cary is in western Wake County, with neighborhood-sized sections in the northeast corner of Chatham County.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 43.5 square miles, of which 42.1 square miles is land and 1.4 square miles is water., Cary claims a total area of 55.34 mi².

Climate

Cary has a humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification system. It receives hot summers and mildly cold winters, with several months of pleasant weather each year. Temperature extremes here range from the negatives to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hurricanes and tropical storms can affect Cary, usually after weakening substantially from being over land. Some, such as Hurricane Fran in 1996, have caused great damage in the area. Snow falls every year, averaging approximately six inches annually.

Townscape

Cary is divided into distinct east and west sections. The eastern side contains the downtown area as well as the town's neighborhoods. Several of the town's iconic buildings, such as the Ashworth Drug Store, Fidelity Building, and Page-Walker Hotel are in the eastern part of town. The western side holds mostly residences and shopping. Almost completely suburbanized, the area features sprawling neighborhoods, parks, and lakes.

Demographics

According to the 2010 Census, there were 135,234 people and 55,303 households in the town., the population has increased to 151,088. The population was 73.1% White, 13.1% Asian, 8.0% African American, 7.7% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 2.6% identified as having ancestry of two or more races, 0.4% Native American, and 0.0% Pacific Islander.
The median household income for Cary as of 2011 was $110,609.
Data from the 2000 Census shows 29.2% of Cary residents are native to North Carolina; 55.2% were born in other states. Additionally, 15.6% of the town's population were born outside the United States. The high proportion of non-native-born North Carolinians in the town has led native-born North Carolinians to refer to it derisively as "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees" or "Congested Area of Relocated Yankees".

Educational attainment

More than two-thirds of Cary residents hold an associate degree or higher, and 60.7% of adults possess a bachelor's degree or higher. Cary has one of the lowest crime rates in the state for municipalities of its size. The home ownership rate is 72.8%.
In 2013, Cary moved up in the latest rankings of safe U.S. cities and is now considered the third-safest among municipalities with populations of 100,000 to 499,999, behind Amherst, New York, and Irvine, California, according to CQ Press, publisher of the annual "City Crime Rankings 2008-2009: Crime in Metropolitan America."

Economy

Notable businesses

According to the Cary's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the town are:
#Employer# of Employees
1SAS Institute5,616
2MetLife2,600
3Verizon2,000
4Powersteam Services1,993
5Siemens Medical Solutions USA1,600
6HCL America1,500
7ABB, Inc.1,300
7Town of Cary1,222
5American Airlines Reservation Center1,200
10DB Global Technologies1,000

Arts and culture

Cary is home to two professional sports teams. North Carolina FC of the USL Championship league, and North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League. The USL Championship league is the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Both teams play their home games at WakeMed Soccer Park, known as Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.
ClubSportFoundedLeagueVenue
North Carolina FCSoccer2006USL ChampionshipWakeMed Soccer Park
North Carolina CourageSoccer2009NWSLWakeMed Soccer Park

Cary has also been the host site for various different NCAA sports national championships.

Parks and recreation

Cary has a council-manager government; the mayor and council members serve a four-year term, with half of the council seats being up for election each odd-numbered year. Four of the six council seats are elected by single-member districts; the remaining two seats are elected as at-largerepresentatives, meaning they must attract a majority of votes across the whole town.
The current town council consists of Mayor Harold Weinbrecht and Representatives Jennifer Robinson, Don Frantz, Jack W. Smith, Ken George, Lori Bush, and Ed Yerha.
On October 9, 2007, Harold Weinbrecht defeated incumbent Mayor Ernie McAlister in the 2007 mayoral election. Citizen concerns that rapid growth was adversely affecting infrastructure and environment over the effect rapid growth was having on the town, especially on roads, schools, and the environment, led to McAlister's ouster.
On December 26, 2009, The Nation reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had secret prisons in the United States, where it held suspected illegal immigrants indefinitely before deportation. It reported that at least one of these secret federal prisons is allegedly located in an office building in Cary. Part of the federal government's Department of Homeland Security, ICE has leased an office in Cary for more than 10 years. The town says that no detainees are kept at this location overnight. Other than protesters of punitive ICE policies picketing the facility, the town does not acknowledge any issues associated with the Cary ICE office.

Mayors

;From 1871 to present
Read in columns.
NameYearNameYearNameYearNameYear
A. F. Page1871G. S. Leacock1914Dr. J. P. Hunter1933–1935Joseph R. Veasey1969–1971
J. H. Adams1884T. H. Taylor1916M. T. Jones1935Fred G. Bond1971–1983
R. J. Harrison1887W. G. Crowder1916T. W. Addicks1935Harold D. Ritter1983–1987
John Nugeer1897E. P. Bradshaw1921L. L. Raines1937–1947Koka E. Booth1987–1999
E. C. Hayes1900W. H. Atkins1921–1925R. W. Mayton1935–1937Glen Lang1999–2003
A.R. McGarrity1902G. H. Jordan1925Robert G. Setzer1947–1949Ernie McAlister2003–2007
R. J. Harrison1903E. P. Bradshaw1925H. Waldo Rood1949–1961Harold Weinbrecht2007–present
H. B. Jordan1903Dr. F. R. Yarborough1927–1928Dr. W. H. Justice1961–1962
N. C. Hines1910A. N. Jackson1928–1929James Hogarth1962–1963
J. M. Templeton, Jr.1912H. H. Waddell1929–1933Dr. E. B. Davis1963–1969

Education

Public schools

Based in Cary, the Wake County Public School System is the largest public school system in North Carolina.
High Schools
Middle Schools
Elementary Schools

Transportation

Public transit

Public transit within the town is provided by GoCary, with six fixed-routes. There is a door-to-door service for the senior citizens and riders with disabilities. GoTriangle operates fixed-route buses that serve the metropolitan region and connect to the local municipal transit systems in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

Intercity rail

's Silver Star, Carolinian and Piedmont passenger trains stop at the Cary Amtrak station. They offer service to Charlotte, New York City, Miami, and intermediate points.

Bicycle

In 2010 the League of American Bicyclists designated Cary as one of the fourteen recipients of the first Bicycle-Friendly Community awards for "providing safe accommodation and facilities for bicyclists and encouraging residents to bike for transportation and recreation".
The Maine-to-Florida U.S. Bicycle Route 1 passes through suburban Cary, as does N.C. Bicycle Route #2, the "Mountains to Sea" route.

Pedestrian

Cary Greenways and Trails maintains a network of sidewalks and paved trails connecting neighborhoods and parks throughout the town. These greenways place strict requirements on environmental conditions to preserve a park-like atmosphere. In addition, standard sidewalks and paths exist throughout the town.

Air

The Raleigh-Durham International Airport, north of Cary via Interstate 40 between Cary, Raleigh and Durham, serves Cary and the greater Research Triangle metropolitan region. Raleigh-Durham offers more than 35 destinations, serving approximately 9 million passengers per year.

Freeways and primary routes