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Location: (Orginally From Ann Arbor, MI) Now reside in Evans, Georgia
560 posts, read 1,143,002 times
Reputation: 314
Wilmington traffic is a nightmare ..worse than some of the larger cities. to go one end to the other no traffic, 10 minutes but the real time frame is an hour, due to traffic.
define small town feel? do you mean low crime, large lots? quiet...then Wilmington won't fit that bill for you.
What criteria do you seek? be specific be easier to answer concerns, wants, needs, desires, if your more specific
I live in Wilmington currently, and no the traffic is nothing compared to SD - having lived there as well. That's pretty laughable! What you will find is that the area was mostly built around the Cape Fear river and then spread out over time, and it wasn't set up for the spread that eventually happened, so it can get busy, but I can't say I've ever really sat in traffic for more than the time it would take you to sit at a stoplight, in the year I've been here. The downtown is a fun little place, lots of shops and bars, and a neat riverwalk. Downtown is always hopping. It's a college town, home to UNCW and that makes for some good college town amenities, plus they have a symphony and a theater house and tons of live music and events going on all the time. There really isn't ever a weekend where you can't find at least 50 interesting things going on at once all over town. The beaches are gorgeous, especially Wrightsville Beach - Moonlight was one of my favorite in SD and Wrightsville blows it out of the water and is one of the most gorgeous beaches I've seen on any coast. PLUS, the water is WARM and you can actually get in! It's definitely a small town cozy feel but it's also eclectic with a fun vibe. More liberal leaning so you don't have as much Bible belt feel as you do in other parts of the south. A lot of people from all over - California, NJ/NY, Maryland, the midwest, so you never know what accent you'll get and the diversity is nice imo. I've met a fair number of people here from SD. It's got it's own little thing going on and there's really no other place quite like it. Can't beat the cost of living either...esp for the quality of life. We missed SD but couldn't afford to go back and heavily researched similar places before we made the move and although we may have to move again for work in the near future we definitely don't regret coming here and will miss it like crazy. Definitely check it out!
Wilmington traffic is a nightmare ..worse than some of the larger cities. to go one end to the other no traffic, 10 minutes but the real time frame is an hour, due to traffic.
define small town feel? do you mean low crime, large lots? quiet...then Wilmington won't fit that bill for you.
What criteria do you seek? be specific be easier to answer concerns, wants, needs, desires, if your more specific
I guess my main criteria is year round "pretty nice" weather. Humidity doesnt bother me. I'm looking for somewhere that I can be outside pretty much every day of the year, aside from times when it's raining. I dont need southern California weather but I do need an outdoor minded nature-y area.
Dog friendly is a must. So somewhere that I can take my dog on the beach or to dog parks or just the general feeling.
I dont need low crime or large lots. Cost of housing is a big one- I need rents for a 1 bedroom apt to be $1.2k or below. Houses should be 350k and below.
I live in Wilmington currently, and no the traffic is nothing compared to SD - having lived there as well. That's pretty laughable! What you will find is that the area was mostly built around the Cape Fear river and then spread out over time, and it wasn't set up for the spread that eventually happened, so it can get busy, but I can't say I've ever really sat in traffic for more than the time it would take you to sit at a stoplight, in the year I've been here. The downtown is a fun little place, lots of shops and bars, and a neat riverwalk. Downtown is always hopping. It's a college town, home to UNCW and that makes for some good college town amenities, plus they have a symphony and a theater house and tons of live music and events going on all the time. There really isn't ever a weekend where you can't find at least 50 interesting things going on at once all over town. The beaches are gorgeous, especially Wrightsville Beach - Moonlight was one of my favorite in SD and Wrightsville blows it out of the water and is one of the most gorgeous beaches I've seen on any coast. PLUS, the water is WARM and you can actually get in! It's definitely a small town cozy feel but it's also eclectic with a fun vibe. More liberal leaning so you don't have as much Bible belt feel as you do in other parts of the south. A lot of people from all over - California, NJ/NY, Maryland, the midwest, so you never know what accent you'll get and the diversity is nice imo. I've met a fair number of people here from SD. It's got it's own little thing going on and there's really no other place quite like it. Can't beat the cost of living either...esp for the quality of life. We missed SD but couldn't afford to go back and heavily researched similar places before we made the move and although we may have to move again for work in the near future we definitely don't regret coming here and will miss it like crazy. Definitely check it out!
Aww thank you so much!! The small town cozy feel with an eclectic vibe is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. You put it perfectly!!
I guess my main criteria is year round "pretty nice" weather. Humidity doesnt bother me. I'm looking for somewhere that I can be outside pretty much every day of the year, aside from times when it's raining. I dont need southern California weather but I do need an outdoor minded nature-y area.
Dog friendly is a must. So somewhere that I can take my dog on the beach or to dog parks or just the general feeling.
I dont need low crime or large lots. Cost of housing is a big one- I need rents for a 1 bedroom apt to be $1.2k or below. Houses should be 350k and below.
Nice people. That's another one.
You can definitely find housing in your price range in Wilmington. Its a very outdoors oriented area...of course, the biggest part of that is the beach. Summers can be brutally hot at times. Winters are generally very mild. We'll have some cold days, and even a multi-day cold snap, but its usually followed by a warm up into the 50"s or so.
I don't have a dog, but my sense is that its a very dog friendly area. Lots of dogs in some retail stores like Lowe's Home Improvement, and several dog parks.
Aww thank you so much!! The small town cozy feel with an eclectic vibe is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. You put it perfectly!!
Now I'm really excited to see it!!
How are the winters??
The winters aren't too bad...supposedly this past one was unusually cold, we actually had snow at one point! Of course this shuts down the whole town for like a week because it seriously almost never happens (one person said the last time they got snow like that was 20 years ago) and there are no plows for the roads But no scraping ice off your car or anything like that. I think its usually 40's - 50's -ish but can get warmer or colder. Lots of nice days during the winter though - sometimes in the 60's.
And yes, I agree - people are very nice here!! We love how friendly the area is.
The winters aren't too bad...supposedly this past one was unusually cold, we actually had snow at one point! Of course this shuts down the whole town for like a week because it seriously almost never happens (one person said the last time they got snow like that was 20 years ago) and there are no plows for the roads But no scraping ice off your car or anything like that. I think its usually 40's - 50's -ish but can get warmer or colder. Lots of nice days during the winter though - sometimes in the 60's.
And yes, I agree - people are very nice here!! We love how friendly the area is.
Thank you! Now to just find a job!! Lol
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It's definitely a small town cozy feel but it's also eclectic with a fun vibe. More liberal leaning so you don't have as much Bible belt feel as you do in other parts of the south. A lot of people from all over - California, NJ/NY, Maryland, the midwest, so you never know what accent you'll get and the diversity is nice imo. I've met a fair number of people here from SD. It's got it's own little thing going on and there's really no other place quite like it. Can't beat the cost of living either...esp for the quality of life. We missed SD but couldn't afford to go back and heavily researched similar places before we made the move and although we may have to move again for work in the near future we definitely don't regret coming here and will miss it like crazy. Definitely check it out!
