Can anyone tell me the positives/negatives of Wilmington NC (Charlotte: real estate, renting) - Coastal North Carolina - North Carolina - City-Data Forum

HDL · 07-08-2006, 05:59 PM

If I were to move there, what places should I avoid renting or buying? Any builders you'd recommend? Any energy efficient or green builders? Where should I live to best avoid extremely bad weather/hurricanes(i.e. areas that aren't prone to flooding, etc.)? Are there any large contemporary Christian churches there? Is it difficult to find a job (I do procurement for companies and have recently applied for a position with PPD)?

Loads of questions, but I'll start here. Also, no children, so schools are not an issue.

Thanks in advance for your help in my journey!

Bethanytedder · 07-08-2006, 06:04 PM

Positives

Beautiful city
Access to beaches are great
School in New Hanover are pretty good

Negatives

And this is the biggie, the hurricanes. You can count on one of some description about 1 every 3rd year or so and a major one about 1 every 5-7 years although after the new weather phrase we have entered, nothing would surprise me.

Check into Hampstead, Castle Hayne and Rocky Point in Pender County. Taxes are lower there I am told. Good luck.
We have talked about moving to Rocky Point where my BIL is but we still haven't gotten there yet and at the rate we are going we won't. But it still is a nice place.

HDL · 07-08-2006, 06:20 PM

Thank you Bethanytedder :-)

RaleighRob · 07-08-2006, 08:08 PM

The downtown area, I would guess, would be pretty immune to hurricane-related issues. Why? Well when you see 200 year old buildings all over still standing, you'd think that weather damage there is not as bad.
Afterall, people in those days were smart enough not to build sprawling subdivisions out in the middle of no where.

EnglishCream · 07-08-2006, 08:15 PM

On the job side, I wouldn't move to Wilmington unless I had obtained decent employment first. It's a growing area, but growing in service related jobs. The pay there is low compared to other cities. I worked for a software company there and had to start out low in pay, in 1997. I moved to Asheville in 2002 and now make 20 grand more than I made in Wilmington when I left, for basically the same job. My father was forced out of his well paying engineering job in Wilmington last year and was then forced to bag groceries at Food Lion for 9 months just to be able to have a job. The problem with Wilmington is that people are willing to move there just to live by the beach, and will take jobs and wages with lower pay just so they can live there. PPD is a good company though, a couple of my former coworkers got jobs there after they were laid off by my former employer. They did have to take pay cuts, but that was like 4 years ago now.

Hurricanes are an issue...between 97 and 02 I had to evacuate my Carolina Beach home 4 times. They are probably overdue, as there hasn't been anything major there in about 3 or 4 years now.

HDL · 07-08-2006, 11:23 PM

Roxors,

Thanks for the info:-) I have found something sad but true. Middle class jobs and pay have all but left the country for the most part. Most cities that brag about their low unemployment and increase in jobs are bragging about retail/service industry jobs and construction/real estate jobs. That is the case in both where I moved from and also where I moved to last year.

So yes, I am moving to Wilmington for the beach and not for it's abundance of jobs, and trying to situate myself so that I can live on less. Just don't know if I can afford all the issues that come with hurricanes such as property insurance, boarding up my home, going to a hotel, etc, etc. I hear home owners insurance is $4-8K annually in FL due to all the hurricanes they've had.

What about the areas that Bethanytedder mentions? Are they worth checking out or do they lack employment and are difficult to commute to jobs from? Also, did your dad work for GE? Have you thoughts on working there?

EnglishCream · 07-09-2006, 06:09 AM

The areas she mentioned are fine, and they are not bad commutes. I lived in Carolina Beach (South of Wilmington) and worked in Castle Hayne (North of Wilmington) and could make it in about 30 to 35 minutes. Now that was a few years ago, and things have picked up traffic wise since then. One bad thing about Wilmington is the traffic. No freeways within the city, so it is hard to get around quickly. The major north-south route is College Rd and there you are dealing with lots of shopping and college traffic. There is a loop around the city, but I-40 ends at the north entrance to the city and becomes College Rd.

My dad did not work for GE, he worked for another manufacturing firm and they forced him out just after he turned 64. He has since been able to get employment at Lowe's, which is more his cup of tea, so he's happier than he was bagging groceries at Food Lion. I worked with people whose spouses worked for GE, and they seemed to be happy there. It's one of the bigger employers in town. Corning is another. I know Corning went through a downsizing a few years back, and I have no idea where they are at now. UNCW always seemed to be doing a lot of hiring too.

HDL · 07-09-2006, 11:15 AM

Thanks again Roxors :-)

mediawiz · 09-14-2006, 07:26 PM

We moved to Wilmington from Charlotte 3 years ago. I'm a software developer and I think I can count on my fingers the number of tech jobs in Wilmington. However, it's growing and there are not a lot of qualifed computer programmers in the area. Those that are here are employed and paid comparably to other places in most cases.

The beaches are great and there is no more beautiful place to me than intracoastal waterway and nearby creeks.

Thinking about building? Check out Omni Homes, Inc.:
http://www.omnihomesinc.com

They build great houses anywhere between Wilmington, Jacksonville and Wallace. Including New Hanover, Pender, Onslow and Duplin County.

Cheers and good luck with your move.

Bethanytedder · 09-16-2006, 11:17 AM

Duplin and Pender Counties flooded really bad during tropical storm Ernesto a few weeks ago. I don't know if they have gotten anything back to looking like normal yet or not. My BIL lives in Pender County. He had a lot of yard flooding but that was about it. But some people had to leave. They had waist high and higher water in their homes. On the heels of the flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999, this was not a welcome sight. You might want to look up North Carolina Hurricane history before settling on the Wilmington area. It is beautiful there and if I were to leave where I am now, that would be an area I would love to get to. But it does have these disadvantages. I guess you just get good insurance and be prepared for about anything once every 2-3 years.