🌳 Durham Parks Rank Last Among 100 Biggest U.S. Cities
TL;DR — 3 Things to Know This Week
- Durham ranked 100th out of 100 largest U.S. cities in Trust for Public Land's 2026 ParkScore, spending $70 per resident on parks over three years while Raleigh spent $289.
- Greg Lindberg, founder of Durham-based Eli Global LLC, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for a $2 billion fraud scheme that bankrupted insurance companies and left victims collectively owed more than $1 billion.
- NCCU is the only UNC System campus rated financially unhealthy, citing $159 million in enrollment funding held up by North Carolina's budget stalemate.
Durham Parks Rank Last Among the 100 Biggest U.S. Cities
Trust for Public Land's 2026 ParkScore placed Durham 100th out of 100, with five parks still closed for lead contamination and per-resident spending that trails Raleigh by more than four to one.
- Durham spent $70 per resident on publicly accessible parks and recreation over the past three years. Raleigh spent $289, fueled by a $275 million parks bond voters passed in 2022, and ranked 49th.
- Five Durham parks remain closed because of lead soil contamination, and the city's current budget recommendation calls for closing one outdoor pool, adding pressure to a system already at the bottom of the national list.
- The ParkScore measures access, acreage, amenities, equity, and investment across the 100 most populous U.S. cities. Durham was last on the composite.
What to watch: City leaders have said they want to make new park investments, but the gap between Durham and peer cities is now measurable at the national level. The budget cycle will be the first test of whether that intention has a dollar amount behind it.
Eli Global Founder Sentenced to 12 Years for $2 Billion Fraud
Greg Lindberg, who ran Durham-based Eli Global LLC, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison for a fraud scheme that bankrupted multiple insurance companies and left thousands of policyholders collectively owed more than $1 billion.
- The fraud ran from at least 2016 to 2019. Lindberg and others deceived the NC Department of Insurance, concealed the financial condition of his insurance operations, and redirected policyholder funds to personal use, including mansions, private jets, and a 200-foot yacht. He forgave more than $125 million in loans he had taken from firms he controlled.
- Parallel to the financial fraud, from April 2017 to August 2018, Lindberg and others gave the NC insurance commissioner millions in campaign contributions in exchange for removing the senior deputy commissioner who oversaw regulation of Global Bankers Insurance Group. A federal jury convicted him on those charges in May 2024; he pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in November 2024.
- Victims are still collectively owed more than $1 billion. A court-appointed special master is now working through the repayment process.
Why it matters: The case touched Durham's business community, state insurance regulation, and thousands of policyholders across multiple states. The sentence closes the criminal chapter, but repayment remains unresolved.
NCCU Is the Only UNC Campus Rated Financially Unhealthy
North Carolina Central University failed the UNC System's financial health benchmark in both 2024 and 2025, the only campus among 16 to miss the threshold, with leaders pointing to $159 million in enrollment funding held up by the state's budget stalemate.
- The UNC System's Composite Financial Index asks four questions: whether a university has sufficient reserves, can cover its debts, is improving financially, and is living within its means. NCCU was negative on all four in both years.
- Enrollment hit a record high of more than 9,100 students this past fall, which deepens the gap between what tuition covers and what the university needs to operate. Chancellor Karrie Dixon, who arrived in 2024 after steering Elizabeth City State back from near-closure, said the university improved in every CFI category during her first year but still fell short of the threshold.
- The UNC System also launched an unplanned audit into NCCU's foundation. System President Peter Hans called himself 'bullish' on NCCU's trajectory while acknowledging sustained system involvement in identifying problems.
What to watch: Dixon has said releasing the delayed enrollment funding is the clearest path to restoring financial health. That decision sits with the NC General Assembly, where the budget stalemate shows no near-term resolution.
Quick Hits
- Durham City Council is weighing four changes to how it runs local elections, including eliminating the October primary, creating true ward voting, extending the mayor's term to four years, and moving races to even-numbered years.
- Seven East Durham development projects are fully blocked and 64 more are partially frozen by sewer capacity limits in the Goose Creek basin, with the city's $30 million fix not starting construction until December 2027 and Phase 1 not complete until summer 2029.
- The EPA agreed to end annual vehicle emissions testing in Durham, Wake, Johnston, and 16 other North Carolina counties, saving drivers nearly $20 million a year, though environmental groups warn the rollback could worsen ozone pollution in fast-growing areas like the Triangle.
- City Council votes June 1 on a pilot offering one free weekday hour at the Morgan-Rigsbee and Church Street garages downtown, at an estimated cost of $74,000 annually, with a July 1 launch target if approved.
- Camden Property Trust is taking over a shovel-ready 400-unit apartment project at 4608 Hopson Rd Ext in Durham's southwest industrial-to-residential corridor, with groundbreaking expected this summer after High Street Residential completed years of entitlement work.
- Duke has started site prep for a $23 million data center on Central Campus near Yearby Avenue that would raise peak energy use by 2-3% and end the carbon-neutral status Duke held in 2024 and 2025, drawing questions from faculty and neighbors near Carolina Friends Early School.
- Mayor Leonardo Williams announced a three-day violence reduction summit in June that will turn months of community input into a final city strategy, giving the planning process its first concrete deadline.
Events
2026 Walk for the Animals!
Sat, May 30 · APS of Durham
The Animal Protection Society of Durham's annual community fundraiser brings together hundreds of animal lovers for a walk benefiting local shelter animals.
Lynn Blakey: A Celebration of Her Life and Music
Sat, May 30 · Cat's Cradle, Carrboro
A tribute concert honoring the life and music of Lynn Blakey, held at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro.
Young the Giant
Sat, May 30 · Red Hat Amphitheater
Zero to Sixty: An Automotive History of Durham
Sat, May 30 · Durham County Library
Durham County Library co-hosts an offsite program tracing the history of automobiles and car culture in Durham.
Sam Barber
Thu, June 4 · Red Hat Amphitheater
Real Estate
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