Thoughts or information on St James Plantation (Wilmington, Oak Island: residential, natural gas)
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I'm sure it's very nice also as are many of the PUDs in coastal NC. I worry for the residents at SJP that the manner in which many of the posts on this thread were addressed by certain SJP residents that they might be actually discouraging some folks from looking because of their demeanor. I can unequivocally tell you that this was certainly the case with.
And when we looked in March 2012, it was one of our considerations as well. Frankly, we entered the gates of SJP with a certain bad taste in our mouths from the "cheerleaders" on this thread (most of whom, I note, do not even live in SJP yet). But we looked anyway.
But, are things we require for OUR lifestyle and preferences. SJP was missing too many of those things - FOR US.
Nevertheless, it IS a lovely community. But I don't think the "cheerleaders" are doing the sales team of SJP many favors.
" hey, did you all ever get wal mart to close its doors to locals on sundays so you wouldn't be subjected to them? I know that was top priority."
Gee' we haven't heard that one in a while except it was supposed to be Loews and it was a Wednesday back then. That rumor was debunked by Sy Cantwell of the Star News years ago, and he pointed out the reason that people make up such drivel (you don't need to look it up, it was (and is) jealousy). When we began our search for the perfect place to live, our number one prioirty was "sense of community" St James has that and more. Yes St. James people take a great deal of pride in our beautiful town and our way of life, so that is why we react when our home is attacked by the uninformed.
Gates were not even on our list, when we found St. James, but I began to see their value when a couple of years back some teenagers with a new pellet gun decided to try it out on windows in the area. They damaged homes, businesses and cars in BSL, Oak Island, Southport and even Arbor Creek. Notice any place missing from this picture? BTW St. James is a town (not a subdivision) and has been since 1999 (just setting the record straight).
And when we looked in March 2012, it was one of our considerations as well. Frankly, we entered the gates of SJP with a certain bad taste in our mouths from the "cheerleaders" on this thread (most of whom, I note, do not even live in SJP yet). But we looked anyway.
But, are things we require for OUR lifestyle and preferences. SJP was missing too many of those things - FOR US.
Nevertheless, it IS a lovely community. But I don't think the "cheerleaders" are doing the sales team of SJP many favors.
I agree totally. I wonder if anyone from the sales team ever reads these forums. For us, we had a concern that this type behavior might be pervasive. My heart goes out to the folks in SJP that would never post in a condescending manner and I'm sure there are some absolutely wonderful people living in the community.
Well, as everyone has mentioned... at least the people that actually live here or visited for more than an hour and might know where of they speak, there are a few nice people here.... in addition, I don't believe the St James sales team needs any help from anyone, nor do they need to frequent this forum to listen to the cheerleaders OR the detractors since St James is the number one selling plantation in the entire area and ( according to the county building dept ) accounts for over 60 % of all of the new construction in Brunswick County..... must be some reason for that.
Well, as everyone has mentioned... at least the people that actually live here or visited for more than an hour and might know where of they speak, there are a few nice people here.... in addition, I don't believe the St James sales team needs any help from anyone, nor do they need to frequent this forum to listen to the cheerleaders OR the detractors since St James is the number one selling plantation in the entire area and ( according to the county building dept ) accounts for over 60 % of all of the new construction in Brunswick County..... must be some reason for that.
I and others were suggesting and case by case confirming that certain comments from SJP residents can be a deterrant rather than a help to the sales team of the community. It didn't appear that anyone was suggesting that the sales team needed help to sell properties in the community.
I can assure you that in no way do I care about assisting the St. James sales team, and I'm sure this is true of other posters here. Thanks for calling me a cheerleader at age 70 that is truely a compliment. When we discussed living here with our sales person, he did not mention sense of community, service club, promises kept, ammenities to come (other than The Players Club clubhouse). What sold us were other St. James residents (with no ax to grind) who made us feel welcome and introduced us to others who lived here already. It was the wonderful ambiance, the physical beauty, the parks, trails, and people who stopped us on the streets and asked where we were from (Jersey plates). It was the fact that everyone waved to everyone else. It was the early morning serenade by the local bird population, the frogs at night, the fox squirrels, treee frogs, and anoles. We had fallen in love with anoles in the Caribbean and finding them thriving here almost seemed like a sign. Once infected, I began helping new visitors and future residents make their decisions and build their homes. My neighbors on either side were absentee builders while we were resident builders. Their transitions were eased by our progress reporting and pictures emailed daily. If anyone needs to visit St. James to look around without a sales rep, email me, I'll leave a visitor pass at the gate and either I or my wife will give you a tour and show you why this the best community within a 500 mile radius to live. We will also show you the "cookie cutter homes" that comprise the town of St. James.
I can assure you that in no way do I care about assisting the St. James sales team, and I'm sure this is true of other posters here. Thanks for calling me a cheerleader at age 70 that is truely a compliment. When we discussed living here with our sales person, he did not mention sense of community, service club, promises kept, ammenities to come (other than The Players Club clubhouse). What sold us were other St. James residents (with no ax to grind) who made us feel welcome and introduced us to others who lived here already. It was the wonderful ambiance, the physical beauty, the parks, trails, and people who stopped us on the streets and asked where we were from (Jersey plates). It was the fact that everyone waved to everyone else. It was the early morning serenade by the local bird population, the frogs at night, the fox squirrels, treee frogs, and anoles. We had fallen in love with anoles in the Caribbean and finding them thriving here almost seemed like a sign. Once infected, I began helping new visitors and future residents make their decisions and build their homes. My neighbors on either side were absentee builders while we were resident builders. Their transitions were eased by our progress reporting and pictures emailed daily. If anyone needs to visit St. James to look around without a sales rep, email me, I'll leave a visitor pass at the gate and either I or my wife will give you a tour and show you why this the best community within a 500 mile radius to live. We will also show you the "cookie cutter homes" that comprise the town of St. James.
I am truly happy for you that you have found your perfect spot to live.
I have the feeling that many SJP residents have felt that posters are being negative of their community. That was never my intent. We actually had a tour scheduled to look at your community. Once I received your property report and discovered that grinder pumps were required, I posted to ask questions regarding the grinder pumps and to learn more about them. I was shocked and amazed at the reaction to my request for information. It was apparently perceived as a negative and why I still don't know.
What resulted from the avalanche of, as one poster referred to the comments, snide and condescending was a concern of, quite frankly, the possibility of some sort of hostility in SJP. As this persisted, my husband asked, "Are you sure you want to go there?" We both made the decision to cancel our reservations at SJP as a result. This might sound small minded to many. However, our retirement location is paramount to our future happiness. These argumentative posts made cause for concern as to the possibility of an environment in which we personally did not want to live. This again, was only our reaction and I am in no way suggesting that folks should not look at your community. Everyone's needs differ. Our needs include kindness, congeniality and certainly an environment where adults can agree to disagree respectfully.
I would not judge a community by comments on a blog. Prior to my wife and I looking at the communities in Costal Carolina (Landfall, Brunswick Forrest, Rivers Edge, SJP and Winding River) we saw posts and heard from others that the people in Landfall were snobs and that you could not find a eatery open in Southport after 8pm on a Saturday night, etc. My wife and I made multiple trips to these communities. We loved Landfall, and found the residents we encountered to be very nice and acommodating. We eliminated it do to the lack of the private beach (we are past the days of battling for a parking space on a summer day) and the higher carrying costs. We narrowed it down to Winding River and SJP. We ended up choosing SJP, but frankly would be very happy in either community. Since we will not be full time residents, the gated aspect of the community was important to us and tipped the scales towards SJP. We also found great eatery destinations open after 8pm.
A community is the sum of its parts. People on blogs usually have strong opinions. Calling them cheerleaders may be appropriate, but you have to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone on this blog will not share the same opinion of SJP and that is fine. America is a melting pot of people and opinions. There are things I don't like about SJP, but in my opinion the good far outweighs the bad.
My opinion is that if you are interested in the area, don't take anyone's word on a blog. Come down and tour all the communities. Create a grid with all the elements that are important to your happiness and see which communities attributes result in the most boxes being checked. If you buy in SJP and become my neighbor that would be great. If you choose Brunswick Forrest or Waterford or Landfall maybe I will bump into you while shopping at Harris Teeter. That would be nice. Just take in the benefits the Wilmington/Southport/Shallotte area has to offer and include it in your decision making process.
One other thing. Different things are important to different people. If you are concerned about a grinder pump, then that is going to be an issue you will have to evaluate and will enter into your decision process. If that is important to you then it is important and you should get answers that address your concerns. You should speak to the water/sewer department that has the subject matter experts and use their information to make an informed decision. Having a detailed discussion with members of a blog who have no expertise in this area, probably will not be of much help. But we should all respect your concerns as this is important to you.
What gets people ticked off is general comments about shoddy building. That is a generalization and is not productive information to include in this blog. By making such statements what response should the poster expect. 45 year ago when my development was built in the Northeast, the builder buried old wood in the ground the sheathing was below par and building codes changed with the wind. Well, my house is still standing and the builder is long gone. I guess my point is that nothing is perfect. You just have to have a good relationship with your building supervisor and do your homework by interviewing people whose homes they built. In most cases if you do that things will work out.
I wish you all success in finding the community that best meets your needs.
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