Durham Next is a community nonprofit building a prosperous Durham for everyone by actively pursuing transformative projects, programs and other community-based opportunities that will attract visitors and newcomers and build a thriving environment for our residents.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR
DURHAM?
We’ve loved Durham from way back!
Durham’s promise is that it’s ever-changing and never changing. That it will ever be a place that welcomes the bold, the unapologetic, the creative, the visionary and the defiant, even as we’ve evolved. As we’ve remade ourselves from a tobacco-steeped town into the City of Medicine. As we reinvented ourselves over the past two decades into a vibrant, thriving destination known nationally as a foodie’s dream, a baseball town, a place for top notch entertainment and the home of the North Carolina Central Eagles and the Duke Blue Devils.
The community’s collaboration and the investments made by Durham Next will drive positive change, building our visitor economy, supporting local businesses, driving job creation and promoting experiences that increase Durham residents’ quality of life.
DEVELOP
Attractions, Events & Experiences
REIMAGINE
Durham’s Community Spaces
ENGAGE
Local Voices
ACCELERATE
Community Alignment
MAKE
Progress Happen
We’ve become such a popular city and region that people are flocking to relocate here. We’re one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and we have a responsibility to craft and steward a vision for the community that ensures it remains the vibrant and thriving place people will continue clambering to live in, work in and visit.
We believe a great place to live is also a great place to visit.
Visitors to Durham—many of whom become future neighbors, and all 13 million per year of whom contribute their hard-earned dollars to the economic drivers that are our local businesses and establishments—are a $1 billion sector of our economy.
We’re taking the opportunity to invest a small portion of their spending to help Durham expand its ability to thrive—to ensure Durham continues to offer the facilities, infrastructure and programming that add value to our community’s quality of life and offer meaningful opportunities to those who seek to grow and prosper along with us.
WE ARE
ENGAGING
Durham Next is the convener of the community, and we’re committed to practices that pursue transparency and embrace equitable community input. We bring voices from across our community to the table to create an efficient process for moving projects—like creating trails or upgrading sports arenas—forward.
WE ARE
PARTNERING
Making Durham the best place to live, work and visit is not an ideal any one person can do on their own. It is not the mission of Durham Next to be the owner of the community’s future, but instead to facilitate community-wide collaboration and celebrate work that supports the vision, wherever it happens. We hope everyone will join us in this effort and welcome new opportunities for collaboration.