Durham is a colorful, creative, and entrepreneurial community where diverse and passionate people come together to shape a better world and a place that visitors, residents, students, and businesses find enriching, accepting, and engaging.

Durham has always been a place where diverse cultures and populations have come together: originally the Great Indian Trading Path and Native American villages; then Scots-Irish settlers; yeoman farmers and plantation owners; early African Americans (both free and enslaved); Russians, Greeks, and Asians working in Durham's first factories; scientists and venture-capital entrepreneurs; great physicians and inspired dreamers; neighborhood activists; gay and lesbian residents; and Hispanic immigrants. So it is not surprising that today, Durham is still an open and welcoming community.

We embrace our distinctive cultural and ethnic diversity and are open and welcoming in the way that we share with others. This acceptance, spirit, and diversity add up to a driving force that enables great things to happen in Durham.