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After living in Wilmington for the past year - my thoughts on negatives:
- Insurance costs
- Lack of good shopping
- Horrible and I mean horrible drivers
- Summer heat, can't even walk outside without wanting to pass out during the peak
- Being far away from everything (other cities, family etc)
- Small (but cute) airport means stopover in CLT or PHL for almost every flight
- Retirees hate young people and act like they own the town
I still like it here, but it is getting old. I'm ready for a change. I see now why people make this a vacation/2nd home. I would appreciate it more if I lived somewhere else part of the year. It literally feels like you're on an island, isolated and in the twilight zone.
Re: hurricanes, they give you tons of notice, so you can plan accordingly.
After living in Wilmington for the past year - my thoughts on negatives:
- Insurance costs
- Lack of good shopping
- Horrible and I mean horrible drivers
- Summer heat, can't even walk outside without wanting to pass out during the peak
- Being far away from everything (other cities, family etc)
- Small (but cute) airport means stopover in CLT or PHL for almost every flight
- Retirees hate young people and act like they own the town
I still like it here, but it is getting old. I'm ready for a change. I see now why people make this a vacation/2nd home. I would appreciate it more if I lived somewhere else part of the year. It literally feels like you're on an island, isolated and in the twilight zone.
1. Shopping is horrible unless you like low-budget box stores.
2. Rural and too far away from the mountains and real cities including Atlanta and Charlotte.
3. Lack of great dining options.
4. Lack of great universities; thus a lack of educated locals.
5. POOR road planning/city management while paying HIGH TAXES.
6. Higher cost of food and gas due to lack of competitors.
7. Lack of GREAT healthcare. If you get into a bad wreck or have bad burns you must be airlifted hours away to UNC Chapel Hill/Raleigh.
8. Lack of etiquette. Too many rude displaced transplants including retirees. Won't even let you pass them while playing golf. They enjoy holding you up at every hole.
9. Drivers here are terrible. They drive below the speed limit in the left lane. Lack of driving etiquette.
10. Lack of DECENT grocery stores including Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Kroger, Lowes foods, etc.
The list goes on and on. What keeps me sane is that I spend ALOT of my weekends in CIVILIZATION (RALEIGH) and we are getting ready to put our home on the market. Looking forward to moving back to civilization.
1. Shopping is horrible unless you like low-budget box stores. I agree for the most part although if you look around some pretty cool smaller local stores. It is a tourist town for the most part so lots of catering to that
2. Rural and too far away from the mountains and real cities including Atlanta and Charlotte. Well yes it is in eastern NC which is pretty much all rural. NC is a long state east to west with the bulk of the population in the middle of the state so this is a given
3. Lack of great dining options. Disagree here, problem is many places open to only close but there have been some pretty good places. Fresh local seafood you cannot beat and I don't mean fried. Indochine is a great SE Asian fusion place and loads of good mom and pop places if you look. For someone to say no dining in Wilmington is pretty much not looking
4. Lack of great universities; thus a lack of educated locals.Again I disagree. Maybe it is the transplants who are uneducated! Had to make the dig since you do. It is a University town UNCW so to say it lacks is in poor taste. What you define as great is a matter of opinion. True it is not UNCCH or Duke or Harvard but UNCW is a good school that provides a good solid education. They have a great Marine Bio program as well as several other top notch schools. Just because they don't fit your idea of "great" does not mean it is a bad uni. Also broadly painting a local population as uneducated is pretty ignorant in itself I would say. Michel Jordon is a Wilmington local. I bet he has been far far more successful that you will ever be. I know that is an extreme example but you used a wide brush stroke. Plenty of intelligent, well educated people from Wilmington and living in Wilmington, they may just choose not to be around a person like you!
5. POOR road planning/city management while paying HIGH TAXES. Agree 100% on this one!
6. Higher cost of food and gas due to lack of competitors. Yes and no. I have at times been to WILM and found gas cheaper but in general all of the coastal towns and cities have higher gas a food prices. Again, nature of the beast in a tourist area.
7. Lack of GREAT healthcare. If you get into a bad wreck or have bad burns you must be airlifted hours away to UNC Chapel Hill/Raleigh. Agree. While the local hospital is good for the most part only real critical care facilities are Greenville or in the Piedmont.
8. Lack of etiquette. Too many rude displaced transplants including retirees. Won't even let you pass them while playing golf. They enjoy holding you up at every hole. I ponder if you have been in this category before? But yes loads of rude transplants in all of coastal NC, but I will also say some very nice folks who have moved here.
9. Drivers here are terrible. They drive below the speed limit in the left lane. Lack of driving etiquette. I will agree 100% with you here. Seems to be exceptionally bad in WILM.
10. Lack of DECENT grocery stores including Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Kroger, Lowes foods, etc. I know there are Lowes in Wilm, but Food Lion and Harris Teeter rule in eastern NC. That being said I have lived in many places with Kroger and was never that big of a fan. Harris Teeter has much of the same selection and double and triple coupon days. Would not be surprised to get a TJ or Whole Food in Wilmington, Fresh Market is in Mayfaire
The list goes on and on. What keeps me sane is that I spend ALOT(a lot has a space, just saying as an uneducated eastern NC'er) of my weekends in CIVILIZATION (RALEIGH) and we are getting ready to put our home on the market. Looking forward to moving back to civilization.
Civilization is what you make it. Wilmington is growing but is a tourist town. Raleigh may have more but I would not consider it the be all end all. We used to joke down on the coast about weekenders from Raleigh back in the day! My point is people make of their situation and where they live with what they put into it. Stay full of negativity and that is what you find. All places have good and bad it is the effort you put into what you make it. Just saying.
Civilization is what you make it. Wilmington is growing but is a tourist town. Raleigh may have more but I would not consider it the be all end all. We used to joke down on the coast about weekenders from Raleigh back in the day! My point is people make of their situation and where they live with what they put into it. Stay full of negativity and that is what you find. All places have good and bad it is the effort you put into what you make it. Just saying.
Never said Raleigh was heaven. However, I'd rather live there than live anywhere east of I-95 anyday. I'm really not that much of a NC beach person. They are ok for an uneventful weekend visit but not much more. My husband is a workaholic and when we do take vacations, we prefer the beautiful GREEN water and white sandy beaches of places like Destin Florida or the Virgin Islands.
Also, I do agree with your comment about how good/bad a place is depends on effort. I'm just USED to having nicer amenities within minutes of my house. Amenities including nice movie theaters, nice malls, nice restaurants, Hurricane's games, RBC events for the family (including Disney On Ice, Circus), concerts, and a REAL HIGHWAY to take me to them!
yeap Independence Mall is kind of blah, but Mayfaire has some pretty good shops. Many of the same as at Crabtree give or take a few. Hate Smokey Bones closed out there was really good.
But yep UNCW does not have an "arena" to cater to that sort of event which is a shame. I can remember back in the 80s loads of good shows concerts and stuff came there before the age of the mega arenas like RBC or whatever they call it now. In yep College and Market can stink to get around on as can Oleander! I do agree if you are not a beach person then Wilmington might not be your cup of tea.(Not you specifically but anybody looking to move there.)
I guess you have to determine what suits your fancy. Is it Core Banks type of experience?
Or is it more along the lines of Ocean City, MD
Either way is fine. But you can't have both at the same time.
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Looking forward to moving back to civilization.
