Possibly moving to Wilmington (Castle Hayne: crime rate, neighborhoods, tornadoes)

[Supersarad]

My fiance and I want to move to NC from PA for many reasons. We want to live in a coastal city. We are both recent graduates and will be begining the job search in December. I am a writer and he is in the criminal justice field.

What are your thoughts on Wilmington? Any pros and cons that you can think of?

Also, we're going to visit Wilmington again this weekend. I'm really excited. NC is beautiful in fall, as well as every other season.

Has anyone else moved to Wilmington. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for your help!

[friendnc]

I have an uncle who lives there and it's a good area. Lots of water reacreation and sun. Historic area. Good economy for an area its size. Cost of living is a little high (as with any coastal area). Prone to hurricanes. The city of Wilmington itself has a crime rate that's a little high, but not extreme. So if you're wanting a coastal area, overall, it's a great choice. Good luck!!!

[Bethanytedder]

I love Wilmington and if I were going to move, I would head in that direction. I probably would stop short of the actual coast though since it is prone to hurricanes and live in either Rocky Point, which is where my BIL is now, Castle Hayne or Hamstead. This year has been one of the mildest hurricane seasons I can remember although it isn't quite over with yet. The official end is November 30th. Wilmington looked like a war zone after Fran in 1996 and I think for that reason alone I would stay off the immediate coast. Not that being inland seals your fate from not being hit by hurricanes. We lost our roof, fence and other things during Fran and we are nearly 100 miles inland from the northwest of Wilmington. I have come to the conclusion that nearly every state in the union has some type of weather problem that can basically leave you homeless. The trick is to figure out which you can live with and stay put. I have been in North Carolina my entire life so I know basically when to leave and when to stay with hurricanes while I know virutually nothing about earth quakes, tornadoes until they hit, or even blizzards. We have had one huge snow storm that I recall in 1980 and I would imagine by northern standards this was probably a baby. We got 2 feet of snow while they had called for 2 inches. It effectively stopped most of the travel around here for a while. My best advice is if you are determined to go to Wilmington or any other coastal city is to learn where the weather channel is and watch it religiously during hurricane season that runs from June 1-November 30th of each year.

[RaleighRob]

Wilmington is the only city on the NC coast I'd ever consider living in. Partly cuz it's the only one that actually feels like a city, and not a small village.

Good thing about it is, Wilmington proper (downtown and surrounding historic neighborhoods) isn't actually on the beach...it's actually inland a bit. It is on a riverfront, but that has enough man-made walls to separate it from the water. Many of those buildings have survived hurricanes and storms since the Victorian Era, so I would think they're pretty safe there.

Downtown's got a great feel too it...very walkable/pedestrian-friendly, historic, tons of restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. Really nice.