Geography
Chapel Hill is coterminous to the west with the town of Carrboro, and to
the east with the city of Durham.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of
51.3 km˛ (19.8 mi˛). 51.2 km˛ (19.8 mi˛) of it is land and 0.2 km˛ (0.1
mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 0.35% water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 48,715 people, 17,808 households, and
8,138 families residing in the town. The population density is 952.4/km˛
(2,466.0/mi˛). There are 18,976 housing units at an average density of
371.0/km˛ (960.6/mi˛). The racial makeup of the town is 77.95% White,
11.42% African American, 0.42% Native American, 7.18% Asian, 0.02% Pacific
Islander, 1.16% from other races, and 1.85% from two or more races. 3.21%
of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 17,808 households out of which 22.4% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 36.2% are married couples living together, 7.5%
have a female householder with no husband present, and 54.3% are non-families.
31.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.6% have someone
living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size
is 2.22 and the average family size is 2.88.
In the town the population is spread out with 15.1% under the age of 18,
37.1% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 15.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.0%
who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 24 years. For every
100 females there are 82.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over,
there are 78.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $39,140, and the median
income for a family is $73,483. Males have a median income of $50,258
versus $32,917 for females. The per capita income for the town is $24,133.
21.6% of the population and 6.4% of families are below the poverty line.
Out of the total people living in poverty, 8.6% are under the age of 18
and 5.6% are 65 or older.
Culture
As is typical of college towns, Chapel Hill has historically tended to be
politically liberal. It is recognized for the quality of its school system,
which it shares with Carrboro. (However, many African American families
argue that the system does not serve their children particularly well, as
compared with the rest of the state.)
There is a music scene, which the town again shares with Carrboro. The
Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk, and Ben Folds are among the notable
musical acts whose careers began in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill has also been
a center for the modern revival of old-time music with such bands as the
Hollow Rock String band, the Fuzzy Mountain String band and the acclaimed
Red Clay Ramblers.
The Morehead Planetarium was, when it opened in 1949, one of only a
handful of planetariums in the nation, and it has remained an important
town landmark. During the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, astronauts
were trained there.
Since the late 50s, UNC has been very successful at college basketball,
and an obsession with the sport has been one of the most distinctive
features of the town's culture, fueled by the rivalry between the area's
three teams: Duke's Blue Devils, UNC's Tar Heels, and NC State's Wolfpack.
More recently, the town has received regional notice as the site of a
large, annual, impromptu Halloween street party.
Chapel Hill was originally home to the Carolina Courage team in the
Women's United Soccer Association, which since moved to Cary.
The town has also become one of the largest centers of improvisational
comedy in the country, behind Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles.
History
Chapel Hill, or at least the town center, indeed sits atop a hill--originally
called New Hope Chapel Hill after the chapel once located there. The
Carolina Inn now occupies the site of the original chapel. The town was
founded to serve the University of North Carolina and grew up around it.
In 1968, only a year after its schools became fully integrated, Chapel
Hill became the first predominantly white municipality in the country to
elect an African American mayor, Howard Lee. Lee served from 1969 until
1975 and, among other things, helped establish the town's bus system. Some
30 years later, in 2002, legislation was passed to make the local busses
free of charge to residents and visitors alike. Free rides boosted
ridership from roughly 4,000 to 25,000 daily passengers. The rationale for
this was many fold:
ever-diminishing availability of downtown and university automobile
parking due to a constant stream of building and an exploding student
population,
more riders mean more federal transportation funds,
pollution control
increasing the fees for on-campus parking up to $1000 per year (for those
making over $100,000), thus raising more money for university. This also
makes it more desirable to use the bus service.
Fare-free bus funding came from a 2001 student fee increase of $16 per
year, new federal funds made available to the town by pooling its funding
with regional transportation services, and increased funding from the
university for routes serving the university.
In the latter part of the 20th century, the town grew considerably and
became wealthier, with a higher proportion of its residents working at
jobs not related to the university.
