The Bars: Places to be scene and not hurt
We’re here to tell you about the dingier, seedier, romantically-messy-hair, PBR-and-Jim-Beam, cigarette-stubs-in-the-urinal-soap bars in the Triangle–and there are plenty.

The Arts: A feast of fine art
The Triangle boasts more than 50 theater companies, 30 dance companies and 80 art galleries and museums, each with unique missions, productions, and events, and each worthy of a closer look.

Cheap Fun: Lots of stuff better than TV
A night out in Raleigh with dinner, coffee, and a movie can cost under $20 if you know where to go. And even if you insist on staying home and renting a movie, we’ve got some suggestions on how you can do it for free.

Sports: More than pigskins and men’s hoops
Women’s soccer is typical of the kind of cheap, world-class excitement you can find if you’re just willing to look past the big-time ACC sports.

Cheap Eats: Eat well, For less
Atmosphere is nearly as important as great-tasting food, which doesn’t have to cost a fortune if you’re armed with insider’s information on where (and when) to go.

Music: From the blues to the weather
The Triangle’s history is as deliriously rich in all kinds of rock as it is in glorious bluegrass, burgeoning hip hop and its fair share of country, folk and mixtures therein.

Film: More screens than a Manhattan neighborhood
There are 18 art-house screens in Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill, which is enough to serve a couple of hip Manhattan neighborhoods. Of course, they’re a bit spread out here, but the pickings can be quite tasty.

Thrift Stores: The best things in life are used
It’s through patience and perseverance that one finds the treasures buried in the stale air of dead possessions, but the key is to know where to go.

Buy Local: Businesses with a pulse
There are plenty of goods and services you can find around the Triangle provided by local businesses, some that’ll save you a few bucks and keep your mind from being numbed by the traffic clustered around most centers of mass commerce.

Editor: Finn Cohen
Contributors: Amelia Burch, Darwin Campa, Diane Cordova, David Fellerath, Lauren Hooker, Brian Millikin, Danielle Purifoy, Mia Tyler