2013 family neighborhoods in or near Wilmington (Raleigh, Durham: middle-class, for sale, real estate)

[cin567]

KingaDesign had posted a few years back that great location os the key to success in Wilmington, and suggested that great family neighborhoods are Oxford Place, Woodberry Forest, Holly Tree etc. Does this still hold true? Are there still sewage pipe issues? Traffic problems? We saw beautiful homes in a neighborhood called Churchill Village @ Churchill Estate, but nothing further about it? We have a 3 year old (even though we're both 45). We will spend $150K - $190K. We love, love, love to fish. We are a diverse couple (husband from Bay Island in Central America). We like walking around a neighborhood in the early evening where other folks (or at least some) also are outside and say hello. We're modest folks, so we don't have to have a big home. It seems we gravitate toward newer (within 10-15 years) even though it means smaller homes. The yard size doesn't matter to us, as we'll live close together or we'll be fine on a farm or a ranch. Its the fishing we'd really like to be near. A beach for our little one would be ideal. Dear hubby is looking for lots of restaurants, as he is a cook. I am looking for the river, creek or the ocean within driving distance, and for guidance in neighborhoods you think might be a good fit. We live now in a communty where most are into themselves, just drive to work then back, stay indoors, walk with an iPod or on a cellphone, etc. As for work, I can be anywhere that has a solid internet connection as I work online from home. I've been traveling just about every weekend house-hunting, learning as I go, what really matters to us. We looked at GA, SC, Raleigh-Durham,Cary-CH-RTP, VA (lake community), and now I've been referred by a colleague to the stunning diverse coastal Wilmington. p.s. I thought the lake living would have been great, but that particular lake was more for boaters, and the community was indoors on a 65 degree day in spring. It hit home that weekend that I really would like to find a neighborhood where at least some of the folks like to interact with neighbors even if only a littel bit. Thanks, thanks, a thousand thanks. I've been reading countless hours (falling asleep late at night on the laptop) reading this forum and sure could use some guidance at this point with NC being so beautiful and having so many lovely neighborhoods that my brain is tired

[DanMo76]

I worked in Wilmington for 3 years and currently live about 1 hour from Wilmington. It is a great place to live. If you have ever lived around or near a large city this traffic is a Sunday drive just be cautious of College Drive (UNCW) and Market street (at times) but usually moves along good. TONS of places to eat and one of the reasons my wife and I use our date night to drive down to Wilmington. She loves the shopping down on Military Cutoff Road. Downtown is a great place to go and walk around (some really great places to eat down there too). Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach are both right outside of Wilmington so the beach is never far. If Wilmington had the right job opportunites for what I do I would without question live there. You wouldn't be making a bad choice I have two children (3 &7) and I could think of a thousand worse places to raise them. Good Luck.

[cin567]

Wow these are strong words of supoort for Wilmington - Thank you so much! I learned recently that I need to visit in person to get a feel for the area. So, I'm making plans to fly to Norfolk airport, visit Norfolk and Williamsburg areas one day, then I'll head to Wilmington and its suburbs the following day. Extended day hours and unlimited rental miles are my very good friends lol

[ncwbwilm]

Wilmington is a great place to live, seriously. You're pretty much surrounded by water, by the Cape Fear River, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Tons of tourists come here year round. There is a large historic Downtown, with a Riverfront and many shops and restaurants, etc. You can swim in the water without a wetsuit mid-late April to October, and scenic beauty surrounds you everywhere. We are growing fast and are now getting some places you only find in major cities such as Whole Foods, Chipotle, Trader Joe's, etc. I have to say traffic is really bad though. And the drivers here aren't so hot. But you have to think, there's tourists, retirees, and college kids, etc. all here. We have the most expensive housing markets in the states, but you can of course still find something in your price range. For your price range, Holly Tree is a good neighborhood, and Pine Valley too. The Silver Lake area (Southwest Wilmington) has some good neighborhoods too, and the Ogden-Bayshore-Middlesound area (Northeast Wilmington) does as well. Holly Tree and Pine Valley are both kind of South-Central Wilmington I'd say. I hope you make the move here, I really encourage you to!

[cin567]

Good morning! I'm making the plans to visit Wilmington Tuesday. My house here in CT is under contract now, so I move on May 31. I really appreciate this guidance. I'll look online at the neighborhoods. Holly Tree and the Ogden-Middlesound area were mentioned in other people's posts from years ago (see, some of us DO read those old ones lol) so your update that they are still family-friendly and affordable is great news for us! I will also look at the Pine Valley and Silver Lake areas too. It helps me to have an organized list of places prior to leaving, and I bring an open mind that the list is subject to last-minute change Now for java....

[HP91]

With a 3 year old (a couple years from Elem school) I would suggest you stick to Holly Tree/Parsley school districts or Pine Valley...all of which feeds to Roland Grise MS and Hoggard Elem. To give you an idea of what you may be looking at...

385 RL Honeycutt Dr Wilmington NC - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #488390 - Realtor.com®

This is a nice brick ranch with lots of good neighbors within walking distance to PV Elem (which has multiple playgrounds)...needs some cosmetic upgrades, but most folks do those anyway. Can also walk to Halyburton Park and the cross city trail within this area of the neighborhood. Lots of kids in the area (and no I'm not the realtor).

It should be noted that you can apply for the year round elem schools (either Codington or Eaton) no matter where you live and if you get in, you can move around within half the county....but you won't know until your child is 5.

[Maximmmm]

Ogden Elementary in Middle Sound is rated a 10 on a scale of 1-10 on the GREAT Schools website. It is a really useful tool in picking out neighborhoods and schools. Also as an FYI, we have been here 5 years and they have rezone the middle school twice.

[HP91]

Originally Posted by Maximmmm

Ogden Elementary in Middle Sound is rated a 10 on a scale of 1-10 on the GREAT Schools website. It is a really useful tool in picking out neighborhoods and schools. Also as an FYI, we have been here 5 years and they have rezone the middle school twice.

And the #1 priority on the NHC schools wishlist is a new Elem school in the Porters Neck area...so Ogden will likely see its lines move...lots of those kids that will go to that new school are currently going to Ogden.

Be careful of the "website rankings" for schools...recent district line changes aren't reflected in the rankings...and the district lines change every time a school gets built or one gets renovated. The Holly Shelter schools were recently completed and I haven't even seen data on them.

The schools ratings in general are outdated in my opinion.

[cin567]

I agree that the school websites are data that are constantly evolving, and can be outdated rather quickly. However, the replies pointing me to the school websites helped me better focus my search (unfocused= like being in a huge restaurant with a menu of ten thousand items). There are many many beautiful areas in and around Wilmington, and along the coast. I'm happy to report how friendly the folks are, how there are vast areas in or around Wilmington that one could joyfully raise a family. The homes are all lovely. The neighborhoods appear safe. There are a few blocks near downtown that appear iffy. Downtown itself was pretty. There are historic homes, new homes, and old homes. In a small area, I can find wealthy, middle-class, poor, working poor, etc. I didn't find concentrations of one class in any one certain area, with the exception of oceanfront homes. Even those had sprinklings of a modular home on waterfront property. I will say that there is a BOOMING housing industry. I can't keep track of the number of new construction developments. Centering the search around good schools helped tremendously. It also helped to look ahead to which high school would best fit, and concentrate my search to neighborhoods that feed into that high school/middle school. So I'm down to a few homes (like the ranch in HP91s post). I drove along the coast and liked Hampstead, Southport, Sneads Ferry, Swansboro and Cape Carteret as well. Hampstead seemed to be closest to Wilmington as far as having amenities, while Swansboro had the coastal fee Wilmington offers. Southport and Surf City were "beachy" which was nice. All told, its a really nice area.

[cin567]

oops - typo in my post - Swansboro had the coastal town "feel" that Wilmington has... oops!