I live 45mins to an hour from Wilmington (depending on traffic).
Wilmington is a lovely town with a fair amount of shops, a historic downtown district and decent amenities due to it being a college town (UNC Wilmington).
Wilmington
The Pros:
-Near the Ocean / Beaches
-Downtown is a lot of fun and has a decent night life
-Some really pretty architecture
-Mayfair Plaza & Independence Mall are both decent for shopping (for mainstream stores etc)
The Cons:
-Wilmington's economy isn't great. Unemployment right now is slightly higher than the national average. Depending on what you do, finding a job may not be easy.
-Traffic: although I-40 runs into Wilmington, I-140 is yet to be completed to it's full extent and traffic through the central part of town (US-17) is oftentimes overly heavy (in my personal opinion).
-Crime: I'm pretty lenient about crime statistics for the most part, but like any city, Wilmington does have it's fair share of crime. It's the 2nd worst city in the country for burglary, and the 5th worst medium sized city for crime overall. I had a friend who moved into a great house in a historical neighborhood near downtown, but unfortunately the area was plagued by problems due to a transitional area just a block away. He said he literally slept with his shotgun beside his bed. They ultimately broke their lease and moved to the suburbs after about 6 months due to some incidents with break ins.
-Cost of Living: While more affordable than California or the North East or even parts of Florida, I've always found this area to be too expensive for what it is and how much you get.
I'm sure that people will tell you as far as jobs go, that Jacksonville (where I am currently stuck, but not for too much longer) may be worth the commute. Personally, I don't think it is. Jacksonville's economy has already dropped off by a long way due to various factors but mainly pertaining to the Marine Corps (main economy in the region). Jobs here aren't as easy to get as people make out, and development has started slowing down. I don't think it would be a long term feasible option. Not to mention the fact that you're look at over an hour commute from Wilmington-Jacksonville during rush hour (probably more depending on where in Wilmington you're coming from and where in Jacksonville you're going to).
Myrtle Beach is another fun option, but although I frequently visit, I've never lived nearby so my knowledge of the area is limited.
A couple of years ago, I had considered moving to Myrtle Beach so during one of my vacations down there I spoke with the locals. They basically told me that the economy was awful for half the year. Although there are jobs with decent hours to be found in the Summer, as it's a tourist based economy, everything really, really slows down in the winter with a lot of reduced hours / lay offs. Additionally, I believe it's considered the #1 worst medium sized city for crime in the U.S., although this isn't surprising since it's a tourist town with a transient community.
What is surprising to most, is that Myrtle Beach only has 27,000 year round residents, but there are approximately 1 million people there on any given day in the Summer.
One huge benefit of Myrtle Beach however, is the fact that the cost of living is reasonably low. As of right now, the Average House Price in Myrtle is only $97,000 compared to $140,000 in Wilmington. Wages in Myrtle Beach are usually a bit lower than Wilmington, but Wilmington's cost of living far exceeds the price difference (higher utilities, groceries, gas, housing, transport, etc).
The best advice I could give you though on either place, would be to
find a job first. Then, do your math based on how much rent/mortgage you would be paying and how much more (or less) you would be spending on everything else, and work out if the move is really worth your while.
I'm not trying to diss Wilmington or Myrtle- the beaches are great, and I enjoy both places, but you've got to take the cons with the pros
Good luck in whatever you choose!
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