Wilmington area (Fayetteville, Asheville, Jacksonville: apartments, insurance, low crime) - Coastal North Carolina - North Carolina (NC) - City-Data Forum

MrsTC · 05-13-2006, 12:57 PM

My DH and I are considering moving to the Wilmington area. We are native NYers who now live in NJ and would like to move to NC so that hopefully I can stay home someday with the kids. It is too exp up here in NJ. We are in our late 20s. We have family in North Myrtle Beach. We are specifically looking for a nice family area, new development, low crime and close enough to get to work every day.

Any suggestions?>

thanks!

salatheel · 05-14-2006, 10:23 PM

I am looking in that area as well. From my past trips I like Hampstead. I am going back in 10 days.

Niki · 05-15-2006, 02:10 PM

Have you checked out Southport or Boiling Spring Lakes? Very nice little towns about an hour from Myrtle Beach.

waterbug111 · 09-08-2007, 08:42 PM

Hello, folks

This is my first post. I am a 50ish widow who has been an RN for 25 years. I have lived in CT my entire life.
I am considering moving south near the ocean (15 min. drive or less, a must). I am, like many "boomers" up here finding the long, harsh winters no longer fun.

I have eyed (not in person)the Wilmington area, possibly Norfolk, Myrtle Beach, but am open to any suggestions. Obviously, I will have no difficulty finding a Nursing job - hospital nursing home, school, etc, etc... I understand the pay will not be what it is here, BUT the housing looks very inexpensive compared to here.

Unfortunately, I have heard a few unpleasant stories from northerners who received a less than friendly welcome. One guy was told by a NC barber, "You know we don't like Yankees down here" and left after 5 months. I suspect this attitude is found in more remote,inland areas (?)

I am a friendly, kind soul who likes people in general and accepts anyone who shows basic respect, etc....

Can a Yankee (I am actually a Red Sox fan) live happily ever after, south of the Mason-Dixon??

Any and all suggestions for a nice coastal town/city are welcome. No children are involved. Thanks!!

Cindy

southernlady5464 · 09-08-2007, 09:25 PM

Okay, I've dug up most of the threads that have dealt with the questions being asked so far about the general things about Wilmington and the surrounding area.

Quote:

Unfortunately, I have heard a few unpleasant stories from northerners who received a less than friendly welcome. One guy was told by a NC barber, "You know we don't like Yankees down here" and left after 5 months. I suspect this attitude is found in more remote,inland areas (?)

waterbug111 · 09-08-2007, 10:35 PM

Thank you, Liz for the info.

southernlady5464 · 09-08-2007, 10:37 PM

Waterbug, you're very welcome. Glad I could help. And I hope you do make NC your new home. Liz

NCJill · 09-09-2007, 11:43 AM

I just moved here myself and I have to say that everyone has been extremely nice to me so far. I came from Ohio and the attitude down here is just so much more welcoming than even there. I hope you have good luck finding a place to live. If you have any questions, I would be glad to try and help.

Liz is a wealth of knowledge as well.

kilgame · 11-23-2007, 09:46 PM

I moved from asheville, nc to wilmington, nc in 2001 and lived there for 5 years (4 yrs while going to school at uncw.) I am VERY outside of the norm in appearance and politics, very unorthodox for the south and I've always gotten a lot of you know what for the way I dress and my belief system. This didn't seem to be any different in wilmington than in asheville, a pretty good treatment all around in the city but when you go outside of the city, as I lived in Leland, NC (5 mi outside wilmington or so) for half a year, and it was a Nightmare! I was harrassed and treated badly by the citizens and the police force alike. The corrupt cops OVERpatrol the smaller areas, sometimes inside wilmington as well, even unlawfully detaining, searching and arresting innocent people. The small town people and cops seem to be mostly bigots and harrass and terrorize people that are of different nationalities, religions and even seem to be anti-female! I went through hell in that small town of Leland and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
People in some remote areas are likely to fall into the unfortunate stereotype of backward hillbilly southerners, which I like to think is not the case in many southern cities.
Wilmington is a beautiful city with many people living there having moved from the north who seem to enjoy it tremendously.
It saddens me to see that small towns in the south are still fuelled by ignorance and old stereotypes and treat people with disrespect who deserve to be treated well.
I hope more people could uphold the nice aspects of the south, the tremendous hospitality, welcoming bed and breakfasts, downhome cooking and helpful locals. Just stay within larger city limits. Don't venture into Leland, and if you're going to the beach, go to ocean isle or southport or wrightsville beach, stay away from South Carolina Beach road and carolina beach itself. IM NOT KIDDING. You're liable to be arrested and held in a small town jail with bogus charges. Seriously, like the movie "nothing but trouble."

Oh, and stay away from Hendersonville and Brevard and Rosman if you're on the mountain side of NC, Asheville's the nicest.
Stay away from Maxton, Laurinburg, Fayatteville and Jacksonville. I've seen scary things and felt lucky to have gotten out of some weirdo situations that I had so long wished and thought hadn't really been a part of the south.

itrade · 11-26-2007, 08:38 AM

Wow. That was quite the post. Think I'll move back to the original topic.

We were down there for an exploratory trip last week, and frankly I am ambivelent about a move.

The area is, frankly, much smaller than I expected – especially Downtown Wilmington. By comparison, I will often think of another mid-sized southern city that I’ve spent time in – Roanoke, VA. Roanoke is very close in metro population to Wilmington – both in the high 275,000 range. Roanoke has the feel of having a real downtown and a real city, whereas Wilmington felt like a vast expanse of wide roads, strip malls and neighborhood clusters.

I was extremely concerned about the lack of infrastructure in the area. Basically there is one main road in and out of town – Interstate 40 with smaller state roads running along the coast. There is no passenger rail service there. Amtrak’s closest station is probably in Fayetteville – close to 100 miles away. There are all of two airlines at the airport, and the fares seem quite high.

By contrast, Roanoke has more road options I I-81, VA220, etc., with a new Interstate under consideration. Roanoke also has an airport which is served by 5 or 6 different airlines, has a lot more destination choice, and has double the number of flights.

We looked in one area for housing owing to the proximity to Downtown and for the academic track record. That area is area around the Hoggard school district as that school is the ONLY one we’d consider. Currently we live in Fairfax County, VA and the area has several top notch schools which I would hesitate to send my boys too. Looking at the NC state test scores, I would NOT send my children to New Hanover High, Ashley, or Laney as the school performance scores are quite low – significantly lower than what we should be seeing.

In the Hoggard area, we like the architecture of many of the new homes but I was very annoyed to find that many of the homes are literally on top of each other. Developments like Landsdowne (off of College – in Masonboro) have nice houses but clearly the developer squeezed the houses as closely as possible. You could literally punch your neighbor (on his property) from your kitchen window. We saw some nice potential tracts of land around some areas, but the folks there seem to be asking a fair amount of money for them - $350,000 for 1/3 acre. We are leaning on property as its clear to me that the new developments have unbearable CC&R restrictions that limit where you can park, how you live, and when you can go to the bathroom.

We found the people very friendly, quite accomodating, and affable in general. Whether that surmounts the shortfalls in amenities has yet to be seen.

Quick Reply
The following errors occurred with your submission

Okay
Message: Posting Quick Reply - Please Wait

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

City-Data Forum Message

Cancel Changes