According to a Vogue article posted last week, Durham is North Carolina’s hippest city. We’ll take it, sure, especially considering that the author, Jenn Rice, used to live in Raleigh. But it doesn’t escape us that what distinguishes the Bull City in Vogue‘s eyes is, with some exceptions, kinda bougie.
If you call Durham homeor have ever walked down Main Street with your eyes openyou’re probably already aware of everything Vogue has to share. Highlighted in the piece are the updated mid-century Durham Hotel and its restaurant, the artsy 21c Museum Hotel, and The Unscripted, which will be the unfortunate name of the former Jack Tar Motor Lodge on North Corcoran Street once renovations are complete and the hotel reopens this summer. There are also the obligatory shout-outs to Durham’s culinary mainstays, including Mateo, Scratch, Piedmont, Saltbox, and Monuts.
On the one hand, if being hip is just about being new and trendy, then fine, Vogue makes a pretty good case. On the other hand, the things that really set Durham apart, at least to usits tenacious residents, its scrappy arts scene, its be-you attitudeare the very things that are put at risk when publications like Vogue start calling you hip.
And Vogue isn’t the only national outlet to take notice of Durham lately. CNN recently interviewed Durham native and yoga goddess Jessamyn Stanley about her favorite spots in Durham. City council member Jillian Johnson was just profiled by Elle. The city even made a recent cameo in the Marvel universe. Last month, Garden & Gun proclaimed, “Long overshadowed by its sister citiesRaleigh and Chapel HillDurham, North Carolina, is coming into its own.”
So welcome to the party, guys. Please don’t ruin it while you’re here.
This article appeared in print with the headline “+BOUGIE AF.”
