I live in Chapel Hill - about a five minute walk from the main UNC campus. Durham is a ten minute drive away (15, maybe, depending on where you're going). Durham definitely gets a bad rap. It really is not that bad - I can understand why a visitor wouldn't be too hot on it, but trust me, once you "get to know" Durham, it gains a lot of charm. That said, Charlottesville or Palo Alto it ain't. I think the Duke campus is very bike friendly, but you can't rely on it to get from Durham to CH. Although public transportation in this area is pretty good, having a car will be nearly a necessity here.
The American flight from RDU to London has been there for quite a while. Delta just launched a new RDU-Paris link too - which is pretty valuable for my line of work.
The ladies at UNC and Duke (undergrad or otherwise) are Out. Of. Control. If that's on your decisionmaking calculus, then consider that a big plus of this area. That and the BBQ.