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I was thinking Brunswick County. "Away" from Wilmington, but still fairly close. A lot of history there.
Except isn't a high percentage of Brunswick county comprised of retirees? And they'd definitely have to "go into town" to Wilm to do ANYTHING 30something usually like.
Unfortunately the NC coast other than Wilmington is pretty slim as far as being near cities. You have the Virginia Beach/Norfolk metro in VA and Myrtle Beach in SC, (or Charleston) that might better suit you (and have better school systems than the rural NC counties on the coast). There is Greenville, not far from the cost and a college town, but that and Wilmington are about it. Check a map for verification.
I guess we are looking for an "Annapolis South" in a way. It's changed a lot in the past twenty years or so, especially in the past 15. It's sort of become a DC retirement community/commuter town, and that's changing the character of the place. It's kept the "bubble" real estate prices as high as ever, and people in general have become ruder, honestly. There have always been snobs in Annapolis, but now there aren't enough non-snobs to balance it out. It's become a little less southern Maryland and a little more Jersey/NYC.
Well let me assure you that you won't be getting away from that in NC! NC is probably the single biggest destination state for NY (especially Long Island) and NJ, including Wilmington/Brunswick county. Check some other threads or migration statistics.
I agree with other posters. My wife and I are about in the same boat with you, in terms of education, political affiliation, entertainment options, pets and age. We did start our family a couple of years ago, but we still like to get out together without the little one.
As someone from NC, who has lived in Wilmington, Raleigh, Charlotte, New Bern (currently) as well as various cities in SC and on the West coast I can tell you probably the best area for you in NC is Wilmington. Check out Charleston also, but for a more affordable option Wilmington is the way to go. Career wise, the Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte or Winston-Salem/Greensboro areas of the Piedmont are probably the way to go, but if you want to be close to the Coast Wilmington is the only place in NC that really offers what you are looking for. Greenville, NC is a great small sized college city, but is still a good drive to the beach, Jacksonville is heavy military and pretty much just a town of bars and tattoo shops, New Bern is beautiful and historic, but is really old and not that friendly to families or young people. Wilmington offers a good mix of history, education and jobs, night-life, amenities and coastal recreation in a decent sized, but not too large city. Everything else in close proximity to the the coast is likely to be too small to offer what you are looking for.
Check it out, but I agree with others, make sure you have your job or income figured out before moving there.
With your Terrier dog (PIT BULL) be careful where you move, not all counties are pitt friendly. Also, some counties have a no leash law so that makes it difficult. Although some cost are lower here, some things are much higher...gas, groceries, ect. I can say that the people down here are MUCH MUCH friendlier than the north.
Sounds like Wilmington would really work out for y'all.
Instead of choosing between a bay or river, or an ocean, why not both? Wilmington's historic downtown riverfront is on the Cape Fear River, and a short drive to Wilmington's beaches, like Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Fort Fisher, etc., on the Atlantic Ocean. Oh, and you have the Intracoastal Waterway too, which is like a
The Wilmington Area has lots of nightlife and bars. Downtown Wilmington is historic, and has all sorts of places everywhere. Wilmington isn't the size of the DMV, it's a medium-sized city, but growing fast. It has many of those amenities you find in larger cities though, like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Chipotle, etc. and places like those are popping up now all the time here.
I would say Wilmington is "family mandatory." You don't have to have a family to live here, but if you do or don't, you'll still love it.
Wilmington has decent schools, and of course private schools are an option here too. I've never really felt unsafe in Wilmington. Of course I wouldn't advise walking around rough areas of downtown at 3:45 AM, but I've always felt pretty safe.
Wilmington is really humid. And hot. But you said you don't like the cold, right? It's the hottest city in North Carolina, and one of the wettest in the country too. Summers are hot and humid, and winters aren't that cold. The average high in January is the 50s. It doesn't snow much here, and if it does it's barely any. But I'm not a snow fan or a cold fan myself. I love it here. In the summer, when checking the weather I look at the heat index, not the actual high. If its 98 here, it feels like the 120s. I remember one day last summer the heat index was in the 130s. That's probably not even the highest it's been, too. But at the same time, here you are surrounded with water. New Hanover County is a peninsula. You can always cool off in a pool, the ICWW, or the ocean, or the river (but I strongly advise against swimming in the Cape Fear River). In conclusion, it's hot. But I like hot. And you have water.
The Wilmington Area has excellent fishing, with competitions being held here year-round. There are TONS of charter fishing yachts to go offshore, etc. As for camping and hiking, Masonboro Island is a pretty popular place to camp. It's uninhabited, as conservation laws prohibit development. But if you ever want to get away, and gaze at the stars above, it's the place to do it. It's not remote if you needed to get something, it's in between the North End of Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach, and the only thing between it and Wilmington is the ICWW and estuaries. Plus, you get the beach and camping in one! It has a side on the ICWW, and the beach side! The only downside is there is no bridge to it, it's only accessible by water, but there are plenty of boat and jet ski rental places here, and water taxis also. As for hiking, Wilmington's on the coast. It's flat. The highest point is on a gold course. You can't really hike up mountains or hills, but the North Carolina mountains (highest mountains east of the Mississippi River) aren't a very far drive either, and of course have great camping and hiking spots.
Wilmington has that Southern Hospitality and charm you're looking for, and at the same time, it's pretty politically balanced. It's not as conservative as a lot of other places in NC are. Wilmington has a lot of churches and other places of worship, but it's not a place where you will be shunned for not going to one at the same time. I know many Agnostic people here.
I'm sure you could find IT work here. Your wife might want to look at being a professor at UNCW. Since she is getting her doctorate, she can pretty much work at any school. I wouldn't advise a public school here though, because North Carolina as a whole does not spend much on education, and doesn't pay teachers much.
As for housing.. Downtown is mostly apartments and duplexes. You have homes, but the homes aren't in a very good area. You have the Historic District too, with tons of very nice historic homes close to all the restaurants, etc. but they don't come cheap. Wilmington is the most expensive housing market in the state. If you're looking for water, Wrightsville Beach is nice, but the price tags aren't so nice. Carolina Beach is cheaper, but more "commercial," is how I would describe it. You might want to rent a place first and save up to buy. I would look at the Ogden/Middlesound area. Not too expensive homes, and many have water access, are waterfront, and have docks, etc. Plenty of families live there, and it has less of a city feel.. Kind of feels secluded, but not far from everything at the same time. Even though its not as expensive, it's still really pretty, and it's nice too. Tons of friendly people. Pretty much everyone I know who lives in that area absolutely loves it.
Wilmington seriously does fit your criteria, and I STRONGLY advise you to move here.
As for housing.. Downtown is mostly apartments and duplexes. You have homes, but the homes aren't in a very good area.
This was an excellent post, except that the above statement is slightly misleading. if the write meant than only a few dozen blocks of *downtown* Wilmington are not good areas, I would agree. However, the *city limits* of Wilmington are many square miles larger, and the are many affordable, nice and safe neighborhoods.
I know there've been a bunch of threads like this, but my wife and I seem to be looking for different things than other posters, so I'd like to run my situation past folks and see what advice I can get.
My wife and I are in our mid-30s. I work in IT, and she's finishing her PhD in Science Education. Right now we live in Annapolis, MD, in an older community near the historic area, but in a year or two, when she's finished, we're going to be in the market to relocate. We don't have kids, but are planning on starting in the next year or two; that's another reason for the timing, so that we can go on and find a place to be for the next twenty or so years. To the extent that it matters, she's a Democrat and I'm a Libertarian, neither of us go to church or subscribe to any particular faith, and we've got two cats and two dogs (a Rhodesian mix and an American Staffordshire Terrier). We've both lived in Maryland all of our adult lives, and, between the high cost of living, nasty people, stupid government, and atrocious weather, we're about ready to leave.
Although we're considering several different areas, we've got a few requirements that narrow the field.
-We want to be close to the water; preferably the ocean, although I'll settle for a bay or river.
-We don't want to live in a major city, but we don't want to live too far from nightlife or social activities. We're between the Washington, DC and Baltimore metro areas, and we've long since stopped heading into the city to hit the clubs, but we still love the fact that we live in a historic town with bars, restaurants, and cafes that we can walk to from our house. We'd be willing to trade the walking part for a larger yard, but we'd still want a place like that nearby.
- Although we're not looking for a place that's family-hostile, we're probably not going to be happy somewhere that people would describe as family-friendly. In our experience, that usually means family-mandatory, and we'd rather have the option to go places that aren't geared towards people with kids and just NOT go than only be able to go to places that are "kid-safe." Again, we're not looking for 24-hour strip club/tattoo parlors, but a Chucky Cheese and a Shoney's isn't gonna cut it.
- Having schools that are at least decent is important, as is a reasonably safe neighborhood. We don't need to be able to leave the keys in the ignition and the door unlocked (although that would be nice), but we don't want to have to worry about walking outside at night unarmed.
- We don't mind heat, dry or otherwise, and we're not huge fans of cold. We both like snow, but we're willing to drive to it. Ditto with mountains. We live in an extremely humid place with virtually no wind, so a.) we're used to it, and b.) if we're going to deal with humidity, we may as well be some place we really like.
- I fish, we both hike and camp, and my wife loves going to the beach.
-We're pretty friendly, and we really want to find a place where we can get to know our neighbors. We'd both love to live in the kind of place where you know everyone in your neighborhood and actually hang out from time to time, where you run into people you know walking down the street, and where you can go to a bar and be a regular. Like I say, we're trying to put down some roots, and we really want to do it somewhere other than where we currently are.
Obviously, the biggest factor is employment, so we wouldn't be moving anywhere unless at least I could find work. Aside from that, we're looking for somewhere that feels like a small town, but has a little bit of a nightlife or a downtown area. Again, not like a nightclub every block, but at least a few pubs and restaurants, shops, cafes, etc. It'd be nice if it was on or close to the beach. Neighborhoods with single-family homes are pretty much mandatory; we're not interested in townhouses, apartments, or duplexes.
Where should we look? Are there some places in NC that might fit the bill? We're headed down to east Texas this summer to see my wife's father, and we'd like to stop by potential places on the way down. I'd definitely appreciate any advice!
I have lived in wilmington for about 5 years of my life. I currently live in frederick, md, where I've been for 6 months. I totally know where you are coming from when referring to maryland. this place is something out of an orwell novel. a couple of things to consider when moving though. if you don't like annapolis because it's becoming a retirement haven for DC workers, then you might not like wilmington, because the city if crawling with retirees from DC, NY, and boston. as for the weather, it's not much different in wilmington, but the seasons are. it does get cold, but it doesn't stay cold.
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Moving to NC
