Duke:
- Advantages: 1-Seems to be my best fit in terms of academic interests. 2-I like the original way in which its program is structured. 3-Most human-sized of the three.
- Drawbacks: 1-It's not Californiaaaaaaa 
2-Not sure how it is in terms of culture.
I can't comment on Duke's PhD programs (I'm only looking undergrad for now), but I've been to a couple of summer camps at Duke and I have an aunt who lives in Durham. Duke's in a pretty nice area of the city, all else considered. I'm assuming you'll be working on West Campus and living nearby - it's pretty isolated from the rest of Durham and there's no rail or anything, but busses are available regularly to take you to the city's major attractions. A lot of work has been put into redeveloping the downtown area recently as well, with a lot of nice restaurants as the result (the Q Shack being my favorite BBQ place in the area - you'll also get access to regional restaurant chain Cook-Out, which serves large quantities of cheap, fairly good food. Other good spots near campus are Elmo's Diner and Cosmic Cantina). I've never been to the Performing Arts Center, but the arts scene is supposed to be pretty nice, and of course you can go to a Durham Bulls game (of
Bull Durham fame - of course, you're already right next to Cameron Indoor). You're also within a bus ride of Chapel Hill and a short car trip of a state capital - the Research Triangle overall is a fantastic region (and a liberal and highly-educated pocket of NC).
