East Durham named one of America's "best old-house neighborhoods" by This Old House

More kudos for the Bull City -- and this time, they come east of downtown.

This Old House magazine has named 51 neighborhoods in the US and Canada as their "Best Old-House Neighborhoods," awarding the honor based on "architectural diversity, craftsmanship of the homes, and the preservation momentum in the area as well as neighborhood amenities including walkability, safety and community."

East Durham was the winner for North Carolina and a choice in the fixer-upper category, with the magazine noting the availability of bungalows for under $30,000 and two-story Victorians under $70,000 -- all in close proximity to RTP, and with the state's generous historic tax credit available.

The magazine notes:

At the turn of the 20th century, East Durham was a bustling blue-collar neighborhood, where thousands of textile workers made a good living under the employ of the Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company. When that shut down during the Great Depression, laid-off workers quickly found new jobs with the neighborhood's prospering tobacco companies. They built or bought sturdy bungalows, Folk Victorians, and foursquares, many with full-length front porches. Following World War II, East Durham underwent a long period of decline that reached its apex in the 1980s and '90s, when the town was overrun by drugs and crime. But things are changing, and structures are being turned into safe and secure single-family homes in a neighborhood that might soon be one of Durham's most sought after.

The best places issue hits newsstands on June 29. (Hat tip to BCR reader and travel writer extraordinare Diane Daniel for the heads-up.)

Comments

[Freddie]

Awesome news! Will post on the blog about this today...Thanks for the heads up!

[Michael Bacon]

Good! Maybe we can get NIS to stop tearing them down now!

[TSQ75]

I rather like that it mentions the city having been overrun with drugs and crime in the 80's and 90's..but has turned around...lol

[Myers Sugg]

Hooray for Cleveland Holloway, Durham's latest National Register Historic District! Very proud of y'alls hard work in helping reclaim this interesting part of Durham.

Myers Sugg

[Natalie]

We're not reclaiming anything. Reclaiming would imply that people who live there currently or in the days of disinvestment have no right to live there...and that's simply not the case.

We simply make our homes here.

[TSQ75]

Good call natalie...reclaiming not living in fear.

[Myers Sugg]

Geez. How about reclaiming it from disinvestment? Perhaps that is a better way of putting it. I was trying to pay a compliment to all of the people who have helped make a positive difference there.

[Khalid]

Aw man...the secret is out...There are some beautiful homes in East Durham and plenty of nice people as well. Let's just hope the baby doesn't get thrown out with the bath water.

That's why I prefer Neighborhood of Choice versus Gentrification...