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5 <br />The City of Durham is currently attracting companies in industry clusters identified by the <br />RTRP. It has successful incubators and innovative supportive programs including Bull City <br />Forward, American Underground and Bull City Start Up Stampede. The Council for <br />Entrepreneurial Development (CED) moved from RTP to American Tobacco to contribute to the <br />budding startup scene in Durham. <br />Both Raleigh and Durham have older buildings offering Class B and C office space or flex space <br />in or near downtown. The available inventory is larger and rents are comparable or lower than in <br />Orange County. These downtown areas enjoy good access and several have the right "vibe." <br />The location and space needs of startups depend on the preferences of startup founders in the <br />life-science, IT and broader market segments. The founders of life-science companies tend to be <br />established medical doctors or scientists who live in Chapel Hill with their families. Many <br />would prefer to locate their company closer to home as it grows, especially if employees live in <br />or near southern Orange County. They would be comfortable in less urban locations, but <br />affordable space in the county is limited. <br />Founders of companies in the IT and broader market segment may be generally described as <br />young, college-educated tech-sawy entrepreneurs who are using IT andlor the web intensively to <br />develop new services and products. These entrepreneurs overwhelmingly want to grow their <br />companies in urban places. <br />Across the Triangle area, Durham has central places that are generating the right "vibe" for <br />young tech entrepreneurs. These places offer affordable space, proximity to urban amenities and <br />business and professional services, access to potential investors and reasonable commutes from <br />home to work. <br />Indeed it is ironic that downtown Durham, the least attractive location in the early 1990s <br />compared to Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hi1UCarrboro and RTP, is now the most vibrant and popular <br />urban center in the region. <br />Downtown Chapel Hill has liabilities including less access, higher rents and less convenient <br />parking. Downtown Carrboro has more affordable space in older buildings, but the potential <br />inventory is quite limited, and available space is in short supply. Like Chapel Hill, it is not <br />central in the region and has limited parking in the core area. <br />Hillsborough is as expensive as southern Orange County and less central in the Triangle. <br />Although less viable for startups, it is the best place in the county to find expansion space. <br />