When people like a place, it’s usually because of the way it makes them feel. Maybe it makes them feel at home, or it makes them feel free. Maybe it gives them hope, reassures them, or excites their imagination. Maybe its beauty brings them peace.

We tell a lot of stories in these pages about what makes people love Raleigh. A good deal comes down to the way our city makes them feel, and the life they can lead here as a result.

“I grew up in a place that really had a true sense of place,” says Raleigh native Tift Merritt (read more here). “It was a very singular feel. That was and that has always been palpable to me.”

The many local entrepreneurs who work in shared office spaces (read more here) could say the same of the environments they’ve created together, where they’ve allowed themselves to be inspired by colleagues and competitors alike.

The people who dine in or live in one of the restaurants or houses designed by Louis Cherry (read more here) feel, perhaps subconsciously, in harmony with their surroundings, which call attention not to themselves but to the natural world and a place’s purpose. The diners and drinkers who flock to Whiskey Kitchen (read more here) are invigorated by that place’s energetic flow, while the fishermen of the Roanoke River (read more here) find peace in those waters. Artists like Ippy Patterson (read more here) also find inspiration in the natural world, even the one within us, and are changed as a result.

Wherever you look around here, you can find what you seek. From the cheery, contemporary inclusivity of the Stonewall Sports league (read more here) to the 81-year-old charms of Burke Brothers Hardware (read more here), to a garden through the eyes of a fascinated child (read more here) Raleigh looks – and feels – like a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

Walter’s proud to celebrate them all.

—Liza