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BSL has more young families than Southport, Arbour Creek is very nice, You might want to check out info on the proposed port before considering Rivermist. It all depends on what you need. Southport is lovely but Oak Island is crazy in the summer when the population triples.
We currently live in the Triangle, we are in our mid 30's and have no children. I am so over living in the 'burbs! I hate to keep driving and driving seems like it's all I ever do. I would love to live in a small town with a cute downtown area and a few good restaurants. We are very outdoorsy and do everything with our dog. Trying to convince my husband to put the city behind us and settle for a more simple life instead of trying to keep up with the neighbors or make sure we fit in with the subdivision standards. Trying to find the perfect place to live and maybe open a small business. From what I am reading Southport sounds perfect but seems that there are a lot of retirees. We are young and active and want a little action but away from the daily grind of it all. Is Southport a place I should consider? Seems like Wilmington or Myrtle Beach is close enough for jobs..or am I wrong on that? Would anyone recommend our lifestyle to be in Southport. Thanks
Location: I currently exist only in a state of mind. one too complex for geographic location.
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southport is pretty boring, and it's over priced. wilmington is close enough, but it's a nightmare drive during rush hour. looking at close to an hour.
We currently live in the Triangle, we are in our mid 30's and have no children. I am so over living in the 'burbs! I hate to keep driving and driving seems like it's all I ever do. I would love to live in a small town with a cute downtown area and a few good restaurants. We are very outdoorsy and do everything with our dog. Trying to convince my husband to put the city behind us and settle for a more simple life instead of trying to keep up with the neighbors or make sure we fit in with the subdivision standards. Trying to find the perfect place to live and maybe open a small business. From what I am reading Southport sounds perfect but seems that there are a lot of retirees. We are young and active and want a little action but away from the daily grind of it all. Is Southport a place I should consider? Seems like Wilmington or Myrtle Beach is close enough for jobs..or am I wrong on that? Would anyone recommend our lifestyle to be in Southport. Thanks
Southport is a beautiful and very calm place to live. I think it would fit your criteria of a "cute downtown area and several good restaurants" - that is, if you truly want a laid-back lifestyle. There is a good bit of "culture" in Southport, too, for such a small town. There is always a lot to do within 30-60 minute drive - but that's just it - you'll have a drive. On that downer, if "driving is all you ever do", and you're getting sick of it, then you must take into account the commute times to Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. Wilmington is at least a good 40 minutes,(outskirts to outskirts - more if going to heart of town) and Myrtle Beach area probably at least an hour,(same criteria) maybe less to the Little River/ No. Myrtle Beach area. Southport could use more small businesses, though.
I absolutely love Southport, and have considered living there myself, but the isolation from other population areas has always been a drawback for me. However, I hear the Bolivia/Rt. 211 area is building up, and with that new bridge going in straight from Bolivia to Oak Island - that should connect the population areas a little more, as well as free up traffic congestion. It might grow into more of your cup of tea.
Thanks for the input! Guess it's back to the drawing board to find the "perfect place" for us. I am more laid back but I need to find a happy medium for both of us. I will check out Bolivia next.
thanks for all of your input. Unfortunately, my husband didn't get the job. Needless to say, it was heartbreaking to get that far and then lose it. We are still looking but I doubt another job like that will come up in that area, but you never know. We are bound and determined to move south and have some other possibilities out there. We could end up in the Charlotte area, we'll see.
We spent the day in Southport and Oak Island! We loved it, so nice and the downtown was great. We had lunch on the water with the dog!! Then I got home and checked out the place we ate b/c it looked like a hot spot for SP. It said it closed at 9pm on a Saturday night????? This was a shock to me, does the town really close down that early on a weekend in the summer? All of this depends on employment but I have been looking at Surf City/EI area as well. Does anyone have any input on which is best? We like a small town but with a little action, we are not big bar people but if we have company we'd like to take them out and have a drink and dinner.
Last edited by NC for Me; 07-22-2009 at 11:54 AM..
Reason: Misspelling
Thanks for the input! Guess it's back to the drawing board to find the "perfect place" for us. I am more laid back but I need to find a happy medium for both of us. I will check out Bolivia next.
Bolivia is country living at its finest. Seriously, it is lovely if you like rural living. It doesn't do much for the drive-times, though. You're about 10 minutes back into Southport ( like I said - the traffic should be better once they get the bridge up - then you are straight into Oak Island in about the same amount of time.) You may shave about 10 minutes off of the Wilmington/No. Myrtle Beach commutes living in Bolivia - BUT you have a commute of about 10 minutes to get groceries. (They DO have a couple little Mom and Pop stores that runs a line of credit to the locals in Bolivia itself - but very limited selection). Bolivia also puts you about 20 minutes to either Leland or Shallotte. The seat of county government is in Bolivia - so it's within easy bicycling distance to pay your taxes, water bill, or visit the inmates at the county jail. It all depends on what you like.
We spent the day in Southport and Oak Island! We loved it, so nice and the downtown was great. We had lunch on the water with the dog!! Then I got home and checked out the place we ate b/c it looked like a hot spot for SP. It said it closed at 9pm on a Saturday night????? This was a shock to me, does the town really close down that early on a weekend in the summer? All of this depends on employment but I have been looking at Surf City/EI area as well. Does anyone have any input on which is best? We like a small town but with a little action, we are not big bar people but if we have company we'd like to take them out and have a drink and dinner.
Not to my knowledge - not in the summer, at least, for sure. I don't know where you ate, but there are places that stay open past 9pm. Some of the places have live music after about 9pm, so they've got to stay open a little later. Of course, it may have something to do with the "type" of place you're looking to stay open later. If you ate at a place like "The Pharmacy", I would imagine they would close up shop early. A place like "Fishy-Fishy's Cafe" would be open later (Some people I knew were in a band, and I think that was the name of the place they often played...)
Hopefully someone with some details can jump in at this time, but that just doesn't sound "normal" to me - not for summer.
I am probably reading their site wrong b/c it did look like a great place for the summer. Thanks so much for the input. Everyone is making it really hard for us to try to sit tight here in suburbia and wait til the market turns around. We are ready to make the jump down to the coast just as soon as we can.
Thank you to everyone that helped us and given info for an easy decision to be in SOuthport!!
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Over the Triangle
Seriously, it is lovely if you like rural living. It doesn't do much for the drive-times, though. You're about 10 minutes back into Southport ( like I said - the traffic should be better once they get the bridge up - then you are straight into Oak Island in about the same amount of time.) You may shave about 10 minutes off of the Wilmington/No. Myrtle Beach commutes living in Bolivia - BUT you have a commute of about 10 minutes to get groceries. (They DO have a couple little Mom and Pop stores that runs a line of credit to the locals in Bolivia itself - but very limited selection). Bolivia also puts you about 20 minutes to either Leland or Shallotte. The seat of county government is in Bolivia - so it's within easy bicycling distance to pay your taxes, water bill, or visit the inmates at the county jail. 
It all depends on what you like.
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