Work hard, play hard. WalletHub ranked Raleigh the No. 18 best place to start a career behind No. 1 spot Atlanta—while Charlotte ranked No. 29.
Mass transit for the win. GoRaleigh is the Triangle’s most-used bus service, welcoming 7.6 million riders last year.
Go bananas. Two recent Savannah Bananas games at Chapel Hill’s Kenan Stadium generated a whopping $17.1 million for the greater Chapel Hill area, with an average of 16,984 hotel rooms booked a night and 25K overnight visitors.
Tip, please. According to recent data from Toast, NCers are above-average tippers, clocking in at 19.3%, compared to a nationwide average of 19.2% in Q4 2025.
After spiking in recent years, Raleigh saw one of the largest drops in homicide rates among major cities across the country in Q1 2026. In the U.S. as a whole, robberies fell by 20.4%, rapes by 7.2% and aggravated assaults by 4.8%.
Your basic supply and demand in action: Due to a flooded apartment market, Raleigh—along with most metro areas in the Sun Belt—saw rent decline over the last year. Read: Between February 2026 and February 2025, median rents in Oak City were down 2.2%, currently clocking in at an average of $1,3661 per Apartment List.
Return to office? The post-pandemic comeback is real, with a report from CRE Daily showing March 2026 as the busiest in-office March since COVID.
Wake County home owners may have to cough up additional cash, as Wake Manager David Ellis recommended a 2-cent property tax increase in the 2027 budget in an effort to address a funding shortfall. Meanwhile, the current median annual property tax in Raleigh is $3,200—the No. 257 highest in the country.
Can you actuallyafford to live in Raleigh? According to a new analysis from the National Association of Home Builders, 66.4% of NC households are getting priced out (read: housing costs exceed 28% of income) of buying a new home.
In not-so-great spirits, budget-friendly Spirit Airlines abruptly shut down at the beginning of the month, immediately canceling flights and deactivating its customer service line.
If they can’t build it, who will come? According to the Turner Building Cost Index, national building costs are up 77% since 2013.
Migratory eastern monarch butterflies remain at risk of extinction. Though new census data shows a slight uptick in population, this year’s count of the beloved orange-and-black butterflies remains perilously low.
WHAT’S NOT
Inflation is still soaring. Largely due to rising gasoline prices, consumer prices rose 3.8% in April YoY, surpassing the previous month’s reported increase of 3.3%.
If your feed is full of slightly scary glowing red masks, you’re not imagining it. Red light therapy has officially crossed over from influencer curiosity to mainstream wellness—but this isn’t just aesthetic theater. The treatment has research-backed benefits, with dermatologists, estheticians and medical professionals increasingly incorporating it into care plans.
At HOTWORX, members cycle through 15- and 30-minute sessions inside saunas, combining heat, infrared light and movement. The pitch: faster heart-rate elevation, boosted calorie burn and optimized everyday performance in less time. Confirming the appeal, one Raleighite regular tells RM it accelerated her weight-loss journey.
Still, not all red light therapy is created equal—and results vary based on consistency, device quality and what you’re targeting. To break down the noise, we tapped local nurse practitioner Bozena Narula of Amelia Medspa to get the 411 on the essentials—and the top benefits worth your time.
What It Can Do
Skin health: Boosts collagen and elastic production for firmer, more even-toned skin
Inflammation + healing: Helps reduce swelling and supports recovery from surgeries and procedures, injuries, muscle strain, and chronic conditions like arthritis
Fine-lines + texture: Softens wrinkles and rids fine lines, acne scars and rosacea
Recovery: Speeds cellular repair, regeneration and circulation—ideal for post-workout recovery, post-extraction healing and wound care
Forty years, 700+ exhibitions, over 2,500 free events—and an immeasurable impact on Raleigh’s creative community. That’s the legacy Artspace has built since 1986—and it shows no signs of slowing down. As the nonprofit hits 40, it continues to back local artists and bring people Downtown—proof a thriving arts scene isn’t just cultural, it’s catalytic. artspacenc.org
The hottest topic in Raleigh right now? Downtown parking—and how much it’s going to cost you.
Last month, the City scaled back on its aggressive March-proposed rate increases thanks to community pushback, introducing a more modest proposal (see below) that preserves popular and impactful programs while still generating revenue for deck maintenance and upgrades.
“We advocated for changes to the original proposal because any adjustments to rates and hours must be carefully considered and studied for their potential effects on Downtown’s economy,” maintains DRA.
Following concerns from businesses, residents and other stakeholders about potential impacts, updated recommendations keep several key programs in place, including free two-hour weekday parking (which would become permanent in five city-owned decks), the free Small Business Downtown Parking Relief program, and nonevent deck and on-street enforcement hours—meaning free weekends and nights after 7pm.
“Parking is a service… and it’s crucial to supporting the vitality of Downtown,” said Transportation Assistant Director Kenneth Ritchie in an April virtual town hall meeting. “It’s one of the first things people experience when coming Downtown, and one of the last.”
In an effort to better the overall DTR experience, the City plans to reinvest parking revenue into replacing on-street meters, enhancing the ambassador program + pedestrian safety efforts, adding micromobility corrals, and deck maintenance.
Next up: a comprehensive parking study examining everything from how many assets the city should retain to strategies for phased rate increases, updated tech and future expansion of the on-street parking program—with results expected mid- to late-2027. The City is also gauging interest in selling the Wilmington Street deck.
The bottom line is “parking matters a lot to Downtown,” says DRA President & CEO Bill King. While DTR is reasonably transit-rich, walkable and bikeable, access to parking remains critical for businesses to thrive. “We appreciate the City listening and helping, and feel this has gotten to a much better place,” he adds.
The revised changes are scheduled for a vote in June as part of the FY27 City budget, with implementation targeted as early as Aug. 1. Until then, your voice still matters. Make yours heard by reaching out to City Council at [email protected].
New City-Recommended Parking Changes
Nonevent garages: $3/hour + $21/day max
Event garages (including Cabarrus Street deck): $4/hour + $24/day max
A pop-up dinner series pairs music, flavor and feeling.
Dinner, but make it immersive. That’s the idea behind WHET (We Here, Eat Together), a local pop-up from chef Isaac Duque that pairs secret multicourse meals with curated playlists—designed to be experienced, not just eaten.
The concept is simple but unexpected: Each dish is matched to a song, creating a sensory throughline from your ears to your plate. Think bright, upbeat tracks with citrusy, high-acid bites; fast tempos with crunch and contrast; slow, soulful songs with dishes that take time, like a braise. Sometimes, Duque pulls ingredients from a song’s global influence; other times, he cooks to the feeling it evokes.
In other words, it’s less food and wine pairing, more food and feeling. Named for both the sharpening stone and the phrase “to whet your appetite,” the series reflects Duque’s dual background. A former audio producer with no formal culinary training, the Florida native started cooking for church luncheons before moving into catering. A trip to South America ultimately pushed him to launch WHET in 2024, followed by a stint at creative event space The Portal HQ.
“When [food and music] merge together, you create a whole new flavor profile,” says Duque. “Most dishes aren’t memorable because of the food itself, but because of the situation they’re attached to.” Same with music.
Isaac Duque | Photo by Ricardo Colorado Mendez
That philosophy has resonated. Duque has since hosted dinners with big-name artists like MF Doom and Wild Child, and hosted pop-ups at spots like The Kitchen Store and Bodega Tapas & Wine in Wake Forest—most recently teaming up with the Sassool sisters for a Latin Fusion in the Pines dinner at FigMINT Farms.
Menus lean personal and nostalgic, often pulling from his Latin roots: a Cuban lasagna-style arroz con pollo layered with ham, cheese and mayo; a Jamaican- and Haitian-inspired mac and cheese with garlic, onions and Sazón GOYA; and knishes filled with chicharrón and pork rinds.
Up next: a jazz- and hip-hop–inspired dinner on May 16 with private chef Lemar Farrington—before Duque heads to Chile for a summer stage at Boragó, one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
“I’ve always felt music and food are the two most nostalgic points within ourselves as human beings,” he muses—both “transports you to a specific time and place.”
Which is exactly the point. WHET isn’t just dinner—it’s a memory in the making. @itswhet_
