Research Triangle Park's positive impact on economic growth

I found this layer that showed all the counties outside the top 110 urban regions as categorized by the Brookings Institution(in blue). As you can see the Research Triangle Park is part of the top 110 urban regions which are defined as "places within regions where economic, physical, social, and civic assets cluster at a clearly defined hyperlocal scale." Although we can't say that the RTP is causing Wake and Durham counties to be part of the top 110 urban regions, it still provides us some evidence to potentially show correlation between economic prosperity and the Research Triangle Park.

Prior to becoming the Research Triangle Park in the 1950s, it was mostly a rural farmland. The picture on the right depicts Wake County land in 1939 before the technological developments. It shows a couple of farmers transporting hay onto tractors. It exemplifies a very simple aesthetic as this was probably a very normal day in the worker's life. At this time, tobacco was a major source of income for people but the government officials of North Carolina decided to invest in technological industries as the agricultural industries were not as profitable. This image was produced to show the strenuous labor and hardships that Americans in the South had to go through. Most of the people who viewed this image were probably middle class Americans who worked similar agricultural jobs and were waiting for the technological industries to flourish so they could change jobs.

On the right is a postcard from Wake County 1939. It illustrates a general merchandise store which sold primarily agricultural materials. This further demonstrates that the North Carolina economy prior to the development of the Research Triangle Park was farm based. The automobiles in the picture also emphasize the lack of technological development compared to the vehicles we have nowadays. The timing of this image was soon before World War II so we can infer that many Americans were being sent to the war so agricultural production was probably not doing well since the labor force was decreasing. Luckily, the beginning of the technological era was right around the corner.

This image is Raleigh, North Carolina in 1953 so this is when the Research Triangle Park was being developed. Although this exact picture doesn't show RTP, it still shows the effect the technology improvements during this time had on the quality of life and the state of the economy. Specifically, much of the farmland was converted to tall buildings where people would work in office spaces and shops were more architecturally modern. In the coming years, the Research Triangle Park became a place where new ideas were spread which helped the economy flourish in not just Durham but North Carolina as a whole. Many people who viewed this image at the time were probably optimistic of the growth that Raleigh was experiencing and the transition into more urbanization of the city.