Laura Weakland, of Raleigh, founded Carolina Rollergirls, a roller derby league. She started the group after visiting Austin where roller derby is popular.

"There are a lot of people that are really doing some interesting things to make [the region] more active. I came here from Greensboro, which was twice as dull in comparison.

"I think there needs to be more going on downtown. Austin was the benchmark which I measured other cities by because it seemed like the perfect place for somebody who likes being very active. There's a lot going on along a few streets, where you can walk to everything you're going to. [Many bars] have outdoor seating. You can be sitting outside and interacting with everybody that's walking by."

TRIANGLE NEEDS TO BECOME A 24/7 KIND OF PLACE

Janelle Simmons is director of orientation and first year experience in the Division of Student Affairs at N.C. Central University in Durham. She moved this year from New York, where she was born and raised.

"From what I'm seeing so far I guess there's things to do, but the thing about it is, coming from New York where it's 24 hours a day, the city that never sleeps, it is different in regard to things shutting down early. And that to me has been a challenge in terms of my doing things because I'm used to being a night owl."

She likes the region, though. "I just think there needs to be more opportunities spread out amongst the Triangle of things to do."

EMBRACE NCSU, RALEIGH

Gaurav Patel owns the Pi Bar and Lounge on Hillsborough Street, across from N.C. State University.

"I don't think it's necessarily dull. I think it's spread so far apart it doesn't make us seem like a metropolis. But in a way it is. It's very spread, so unless you really know your way around the Triangle area it seems like there is really nothing to do here."

Recent improvements on Fayetteville Street "are great," he says. But he says Raleigh also should focus on improving Hillsborough Street.

"What I would like is for the city to embrace N.C. State actually because that is one of the biggest things for Raleigh, as far as the downtown area."

MORE REGIONAL EVENTS

Poet Jaki Shelton Green lives in Mebane, on the Orange County side.

"I wish that the Triangle used more of its space. There are kind of the designated places that you think about for art happenings ... but I really wish there were more regional happenings.

"What are the possibilities? I think they're endless. I think there's a lot of untapped creative energy to think about in terms of who all the players are."

PEOPLE NEED TO GET OUT

James Lee runs 305 South Anti-mall, with his wife, Michelle. The building on South Dillard Street in Durham houses a music venue, vintage store, coffee shop and other businesses.

"I think people aren't going out and realizing how many great things there are in the Triangle, which is making it harder for the small businesses, which are the businesses that keep it interesting. You've got Duke putting everything they can on campus so the students don't leave and things like that happening, which makes it that much harder for any business to make it in any of these towns."

WE'RE GETTING LESS DULL

Linda Satterfield is past chairwoman of the board of the Contemporary Art Foundation, which is raising money for a new art museum in Raleigh's warehouse district.

"My husband and I moved here from Boston and New York ... and this is a different place to live than those big cities, but it's a nicer place to live. It's easier, and certainly now with more and better restaurants and more and better things to do, it's less dull than it was in the mid '80s. But I wouldn't call it a dull place to live."

The museum "will definitely ramp up our cool factor" as part of a development with condos, stores and possibly spaces for artists to live and work.

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