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This assesment of Wilmington as a place to move and 'work' is essentially correct. Great professional area for medical, legal, owner-operated business, etc. This is essentially a true, (wonderful, beautiful area) - Retirees who have paid their dues, love the waterways, beaches, restaurants, etc. - they flock to this area. Good for them (I am one). The movie-making biz has a modest presence here. However - the pay drops off - $ 10.00/hr - you apparently have some special admin or organizational skills. Going to school,waitressing, retire, live on the beach to surf - right on! Otherwise be careful about moving here for a career to support a young family.
We (myself, significant other, and dog) recently (3 weeks ago) moved to Wilmington, NC from Buffalo, NY. We absolutely love it. Yes, we are having some trouble finding work. Myself in Human Services and him in banking. he's having a bit of an easier time than myself. Aside from our job hunt, which is hard but not impossible, there are many other things we love about the area. The downtown area is nice. It's small but there's a great variety.of bars, restaurants, shopping and sight seeing. Including a rooftop bar, coffee shops, fresh sea food, a board walk and night-life. Close to our place is Wrightsville Beach with more fantastic hole-in-the-wall sea food, many beautiful rental properties and of course a nice beach for sunset walks after dinner. We're also very into walking, hiking and getting some exercise with our dog. Great walking at Greenfield Lake (4mi. paved/sand/bridge), Hugh MacRae park, Carolina Beach State Park (Great hiking trails and "dog beach"), Poplar Grove plantation (Abbey Nature preserve), and close enough to take day trips to Myrtle Beach (Nice dog park called "barc park"). Our bills are cheaper and we feel like we got more of a "deal" on our place compared to where we were living in Buffalo, NY. We pay about the same for rent that we did and have a nice 2b/2b place. While our bills aren't significantly cheaper, it does help. Gas is roughly 20-30 cents cheaper depending on the station. It's more convenient to have only an electric and water bill every month instead of gas, electric, water(we rent). The people seem very nice here. In the time that we've been here we've made some friends and find it easy to socialize with everyone.
overall, we are VERY happy we moved here and have few complaints with the area. I guess when your used to cold, snowy winters with no sun for weeks... it's not hard to enjoy it here.
Hope this helps people make a decision. I would have appreciated some input like this before we moved.
So glad to hear that! I am moving from northern Wisconsin in June. With my two daughters. I have been researching jobs, neighborhoods and schools. Coming out a week or so before my daughters come out to get settled. I too am looking forward to more sun and warm weather!! I appreciate your experiences!!
Thanks!
We (myself, significant other, and dog) recently (3 weeks ago) moved to Wilmington, NC from Buffalo, NY. We absolutely love it. Yes, we are having some trouble finding work. Myself in Human Services and him in banking. he's having a bit of an easier time than myself. Aside from our job hunt, which is hard but not impossible, there are many other things we love about the area. The downtown area is nice. It's small but there's a great variety.of bars, restaurants, shopping and sight seeing. Including a rooftop bar, coffee shops, fresh sea food, a board walk and night-life. Close to our place is Wrightsville Beach with more fantastic hole-in-the-wall sea food, many beautiful rental properties and of course a nice beach for sunset walks after dinner. We're also very into walking, hiking and getting some exercise with our dog. Great walking at Greenfield Lake (4mi. paved/sand/bridge), Hugh MacRae park, Carolina Beach State Park (Great hiking trails and "dog beach"), Poplar Grove plantation (Abbey Nature preserve), and close enough to take day trips to Myrtle Beach (Nice dog park called "barc park"). Our bills are cheaper and we feel like we got more of a "deal" on our place compared to where we were living in Buffalo, NY. We pay about the same for rent that we did and have a nice 2b/2b place. While our bills aren't significantly cheaper, it does help. Gas is roughly 20-30 cents cheaper depending on the station. It's more convenient to have only an electric and water bill every month instead of gas, electric, water(we rent). The people seem very nice here. In the time that we've been here we've made some friends and find it easy to socialize with everyone.
overall, we are VERY happy we moved here and have few complaints with the area. I guess when your used to cold, snowy winters with no sun for weeks... it's not hard to enjoy it here.
Hope this helps people make a decision. I would have appreciated some input like this before we moved.
Have you walked the loop at Wrightsville yet? It's a nice walk as well.
I lived in Wilmington, and although it wasn't my favorite, it's not as bad as this person puts on. The city is generally nice, as it's a very touristy town. Especially the newer developed mall/restaurant area, and the fun downtown (by the river) area. And most towns' high paying jobs are the professional jobs... so that's not a big revelation there. This person just needs to move if they're unhappy there & can't find the specific type of job they want. We had several family members come visit us while we lived there, and LOVED it- it's an awesome town to find things to do, and to show off. Everyone we knew was jealous of us living there, and some good friends are getting ready to retire there (well, down closer to Kure Beach). My only complaints are: a lot of the non-chain restaurants seem to take advantage of the tourism, & aren't very good, but are expensive. I kept being diappointed, so just kept to Macaroni Grill & Red Robin for eating out. And two, travel is hard, because it's wicked expensive to fly into the small airport there (and too far to get to a major airport).
we've heard about the loop... still not quite sure what it is though. Someone told us there was a "dog friendly" bar there. Would be fun to bring the dog with us to the beach and still be able to have a drink without taking her back home.
I've actually found that you can get super cheap flights and deals if you fly out of myrtle beach airport. With it only being about an hour away, it is worth it for us. DirectAIR ®: Compressed air utility service, direct air just had a $169.00 round trip sale going on! it doesn't get cheaper than that.
we've heard about the loop... still not quite sure what it is though. Someone told us there was a "dog friendly" bar there. Would be fun to bring the dog with us to the beach and still be able to have a drink without taking her back home.
It's just a two mile walk(sidewalks) around the canal,park,etc. right before you get to the beach.
Wilmington is a pretty nice place. It has all of the usual you would expect for a city this size -- the Walmarts, the Home Depot's the car dealerships, etc. The usual chain restaurants. It also has a very attractive historic downtown, many good non-chain restaurants, a university, a beautiful ocean beach, live plays and other entertainment, nice people. It has an airport that through Delta and USAirways it is possible to connect to most of the US, and flying in and out is not difficult. Compared to the northeast housing costs are reasonable. The summer climate is very hot and humid, but not so different from those of most of the mid-atlantic. The winters are relatively mild. The area is suffering from the same economic slowdown as most of the country, so it would be risky moving here without a job for anyone. Right now moving anywhere without a job is risky. Every person needs to look realistically at his or her own situation, but for those who can support themselves here it can be a great place.
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Wilmington - East Carolina in general
This assesment of Wilmington as a place to move and 'work' is essentially correct. Great professional area for medical, legal, owner-operated business, etc. This is essentially a true, (wonderful, beautiful area) - Retirees who have paid their dues, love the waterways, beaches, restaurants, etc. - they flock to this area. Good for them (I am one). The movie-making biz has a modest presence here. However - the pay drops off - $ 10.00/hr - you apparently have some special admin or organizational skills. Going to school,waitressing, retire, live on the beach to surf - right on! Otherwise be careful about moving here for a career to support a young family.
I am moving from northern Wisconsin in June. With my two daughters. I have been researching jobs, neighborhoods and schools. Coming out a week or so before my daughters come out to get settled. I too am looking forward to more sun and warm weather!! I appreciate your experiences!!
