Since when is Durham a 'small town'?

I brought this up with the director. I can think of a half dozen small towns in North Carolina filled with abandoned tobacco warehouses, with scant chances to attract new businesses and employment, more reflective of the "Durham" of the script. But this was the vision of the scriptwriter, the celebrated Horton Foote, recently deceased, who came to Durham and saw its Main Street, forlorn and deserted of all commerce and activity. Hence the name of the production.

I think the producers believe that, despite the fame of Duke University and its hospitals, Durham will be viewed by most of the world as a small North Carolina town, down on its luck.

Yep, that was my reaction. I attended NCSU in Raleigh for about only one year, and that was over 20 years ago. In that whole time I think I only made it to Durham twice. So I'm no expert. But ... there's Duke University and hospital, there's nearby UNC Chapel Hill. Durham is one of the three communities referred to in what's known as the Research Triangle area, which in my time there was know to be a prosperous area with the highest concentration of Ph.D's in the country. You'd never know any of that from watching this movie. It's kind of surreal. I know that downtown Durham itself may not be a bustling scene. But still. I like the movie actually but just had to remember it might not accurately reflect the area.