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Two years ago we had the chance to move away from the Charlotte NC area. We thought about the NC coast but ultimately chose Asheville NC. I think we made the wrong choice. Is there anyone that has lived in Asheville and now lives in Wilmington that could give me your opinion on the differences of these two citys? Besides the obvious of course, that one is coastal the other in the mountains. Jobs? Cost of living? Crime? Traffic? I really want a comparison from people that have made this move. Are you happy you did it and why? Looking forward to your answers! Thanks in advance!
Perhaps it would help responders if you said why Asheville was the wrong choice for you. I have only visited Asheville, and thought it was lovely. The climate seems more moderate in the summer, and I would enjoy the arts and crafts scene. So I am puzzled why anyone would not like Asheville if they had a job there and could afford it.
Asheville is a wonderful place to visit. I visited here many times before I moved. I thought the same thing. It's beautiful, artsy, has wonderful food...I work in the medical field so I found a job with no problem but the pay rate was slightly lower then what I made before. Not by much, only $1 an hour but the cost of living here is higher then Kannapolis NC where I lived before. In the winter months if a flake of snow falls they close school AND the daycares...we don't have family here so we don't have an emergency babysitter on hand...that means you miss work...miss work you don't get paid...don't get paid and those higher bills become a problem. If you want to live in a decent, safe neighborhood you will pay for it...yes I know that it's like that anywhere but I had a much nicer home in Kannapolis in a safe neighborhood. The same type house/neighborhood in Asheville is $300 more a month. All the fun things that people do when they come here to visit aren't as affordable when you live here. Yes there are parks and hiking and fishing...that's not expensive but I can only do that so much. Downtown is wonderful but after 6pm most of the stores start closing and the homeless will start approaching you so it doesn't feel safe. I want to know if Wilmington is the same. Is the pay v/s living expenses reasonable? What about medical care in Wilmington? That is another thing about Asheville. The hospital here is not a good hospital. I work at a nursing home and see the shape patients are in when they come directly from the hospital and it is awful. Having worked with patients coming from Charlotte hospitals and Northeast Medical I do know the difference. I would be scared to get really sick here. I started this post so someone that has lived in Asheville and experienced it, then moved to the Wilmington area could tell me how they are different in their experience. If you haven't lived in a city it is hard to have an opinion about the day to day in that city.
perhaps I should not respond to this since I have never lived in Asheville, only visited,
but I did move from Charlotte to Wilmington.
we have several friends that works for the one of the hospitals in town and they seem to think that
it is a good hospital, fyi, there are several hospitals in the area.
their pay is a little lower than the bigger cities.
it rearely snows here , schools do close but snow is never here for more than one day at a time.
it did not snow last winter and only once the winter before.
many decent safe neighborhoods in Wilmington, many in the 200.000's thousand area. the city is easy to get around in except for the area around UNCW, it can be congested at times with some crazy teens and out of towners.
we have not found cost of living to be more than charlotte, except insurance rates for flood and rain.
Downtown Wilmington is hopping at nite and we always feel safe walking around, yes there are areas one should stay away from but the immediate downtown is safe.
lots of people in the streets at nite and not a lot of panhandlers. I have been in Asheville many a time
and felt the same unsettled feeling/vibe from the many homeless, don't know why it is such a big problem
in Asheville.
Living in Wilmington does mean that there is increased traffic on weekends due to many having second homes in the area. parts of wilmington are beautiful , it is however a totally different beauty than Asheville.
the music scene is fab, we go out for music 100 times more often than when we lived in Charlotte.
art scene is also good, movie busines brings a lot of creative people to town and many stay.
Thank you Movedtothecoast! That does help me. Having lived in the Charlotte area my whole life before moving to Asheville the fact Wilmington's cost of living isn't more then Charlotte's that gives me more of an idea what to expect as far as day to day money going out the door
Very glad to hear about the hospital there..and the nightlife downtown! I have to be honest I never considered the standard of medical care as a factor before I moved here..I just assumed Asheville had a big hospital and it would be fine. Naive I guess.
Traffic doesn't sound too bad...having worked in Charlotte and sat for hours on 77 and 85 many times before sounds like I can handle it there in Wilmington Thanks again for the helpful info!
artistic, Mission Hospital is actually rated pretty highly by US News. You can look up their criteria and see if you agree. They have it listed higher than any of the Charlotte hospitals. I don't have any first hand experience with either. Wilmington's hospitals are ranked further down.
Hey Poppy...yes I know they have a high rating...but being here 2 years I have seen too many medical mistakes coming out of that hospital first hand and when I express surprise to people that have been here alot longer then me they just shrug and say "That's Mission"...so I'm not sure what criteria is used for that ranking but in my experience from taking care of post surgical patients coming from that hospital I dread ever having to go there for care.
Yeah, I'm not sure what they base their rankings on, but I'm not sure if New Hanover will be a lot better or not.
Duke is very highly ranked, but I am pretty ambivalent about it because of some personal experience family members had there. Not that they had bad care, just that Duke is pretty interventionist and probably put them through more than they should have just because the surgeon could do it.
I've never lived in Asheville, but I moved from Durham to Wilmington and I feel like Wilmington is a lovely place to visit too. Though I know a lot of people that love it here. I'm actually moving back to Durham - maybe an option for you too if the ocean isn't that important to you.
Hi NorasMom...did you visit Wilmington before you moved and thought you would like it there but have decided you don't? What are the things you don't like about it? What do you see about it now that didn't stand out to you when you were just visiting? I would love to hear your view of things. I have never been to Durham but have heard alot of great things about it, however I do really want to be close to the ocean.
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