RTP, Municipalities and Territoriality By Adrian Johnston Though it continues to be at the centre of planning debates today, Research Triangle Park (RTP) is nearly half a century old (About Us, 2003). Throughout this time, it has served as a major part of the Raleigh-Durham region's "growth machine" (Logan, 1987: 52). Occupying a 7,000 acre swathe of land that spans Wake and Durham counties, there is something fundamentally territorial about RTP (About Us, 2003). While its physical growth has come through land concessions made by these counties, some may argue that its economic presence causes hardship within these very jurisdictions. Apparent is an economic paradox, for RTP is both united with local municipalities and at odds with them. In his article, The City as a Growth Machine, Logan argues that "the activism of entrepreneurs is, and always has been, a critical force in shaping urban system" (Logan, 1987: 52). Historically, this was explicit as the private interests of the business elite were conflated with a city's economic prospects (Logan, 1987: 52-57). Such is the territorial nature of growth, as individuals or groups determine the course of their city with a specific agenda in mind. The case of RTP may be examined through Logan's historical lens. The source of the political drive towards RTP may be traced back to Governor Luther H. Hodges, who, in 1955, "formed a committee of state business leaders to investigate how the strengths of the research universities could be used to help restructure North Carolina's economy" (Luger, 1991: 77). Thus, RTP's democratically elected catalyst immediately placed the task of economic restructuring in the hands of a local elite, including prominent academics (About Us, 2003). These individuals furthered their political agendas by building an economic growth engine predicated on the strength of UNC, Duke University, and NC State University (Logan, 1987: 75) (Luger, 1991: 97). World class post-secondary institutions are now an essential characteristic of the state's economy. This growth engine has successfully connected three counties whose municipalities were previously disjointed (Luger, 1991: 97). Moreover, the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill now proudly assert their identity as part of the Research Triangle area. The most obvious example of this identity shift must be the changing of the slogan of the city of Durham in 1983, from "City of Tobacco" to "City of Medicine" (Luger, 1991: 96). However, while the region's economy and identity were forged anew, local citizens are marginal players in the growth machine. RTP exists on privately owned land, administered by the Research Triangle Foundation (About Us, 2003). In 1984, "a special tax district for the park" was created by the State Legislature, preventing "RTP from being annexed, and property taxes from being assessed, by any nearby city" (Luger, 1991: 82). While the counties which RTP occupies levy taxes and provide infrastructure for the development, neighboring municipalities have no such influence (Local Government, 2003). Thus, decisions surrounding the economic engine of the Research Triangle are largely removed from local public control. As RTP has won the region many accolades, including "Best Place to Live," appears to be a good thing (Why RTP?, 2003). This indicates that public interests may be aligned with the private interests of the elite that built and now maintains RTP. So does the available economic data. From 1990 to 1999, per capita income in the Research Triangle region grew from $16, 867 to $25,238 (Income, 2003). This occurred as the number of research and development firms at RTP nearly doubled (Facts and Figures, 2003). Durham and Wake counties enjoyed higher than average per capita incomes in each of these years. Here lies the territorial paradox of RTP. On the one hand, RTP has successfully created a regional identity in the Research Triangle coupled with positive economic restructuring (Luger, 1991: 97-99). Yet, these benefits are not spread evenly through the Triangle. Consider downtown Durham. Within one mile of the city center, the median family income was assessed at $26,031 in the 2000 census (Downtown, 2003). This figure rises with distance from the city center to $34,348 at five miles out. Additionally, the emergence of RTP as a commercial node took its toll on nearby municipalites' central business districts. Bill Kalkhof, the president of Downtown Durham Inc. commented that RTP is "hard to compete with" where "they're leasing class A office space with parking at the front door below market rates" (Krishnan, 2002). Thus, Durham finds itself at once in league and at odds with RTP, pursuing a downtown revitalization strategy to woo investors and business back to its political oversight and tax base. There are plans to convert a Lucky Strike tobacco factory into a mixed-use office park. Kalkhof says of the project that it "is just what IBM was to the Research Triangle Park 30 years ago � It has that type of potential multiplier effect for downtown in terms of new investment" (Krishman, 2002) (Logan, 1987: 58). In the meanwhile, Triangle municipalities like Durham grapple with the territorial paradox of RTP: at once suffering and gaining by it, but having limited ability to influence its course.
