Reviews & Comments
Wilmington, NC
re: Stop Crying! - 10/24/2012 -
2/9/2013No one is bashing. Commentators are just stating their experiences as they have lived them. Although you contradict your own comments, like you wrote, "people have to be accepted for who they are." Visitors come to this particular website to see what the culture and people are like in Wilmington. For some people (like you, I assume) these comments will make some people say, "Hey these are my kind of people" and for other people it will make them say "Maybe these are not my kind of people and I should move elsewhere." That is the purpose of the website, so please don't bad mouth or bully the commentators who are not like you if you are intolerant of their ideals and unable to accept these commentators for who they are.
Wilmington, NC
re: Humidity - 1/13/2013 -
2/9/2013I'd have to disagree with Humidity. Actually one of the best things about Wilmington is the weather.
Wilmington, NC
re: Traffic, No/Low Paying Jobs, High Cost of Livi -
2/9/2013I've lived in Wilmington for 7 years and I have been subject to the police actions. Driving on River Road where the speed limit constantly changes between 25 and 35, I was stopped by a police officer that said I was driving too slow. I told him I have an older car which drives at a slower 25 to 35 mph rate than newer cars drive, and I asked him if he really intended to give me a ticket for driving too slow. He realized his mistake, cleared his throat, and stated that since he stopped me he had to give me a ticket. He decided he would give me a ticket for crossing the white biker's lane line. I told him I was on a curve and I might have touched the line, but I did not cross it. He said he had a video of my tire touching the white line and that was enough for him to give me a ticket. He also said if I wanted to contest it in court, I'd lose and with an arrogant smile handed me a hefty ticket. I didn't contest it because earlier in the year the same happened to my husband. My husband turned right on red on Shipyard. This is a legal turn. The police officer stopped him and gave him a ticket for taking a red light. My husband had a friend that owns a store near by that had a video of what really happened. My husband took it to court, but still lost. A representative of the court told my husband that the Wilmington Police are advised to stop Spanish people and give them tickets. My husband said that was racial profiling. This court representative arrogantly smiled at him and callously admitted to my husband that the Wilmington court makes most of it's money off of bogus tickets given to Spanish drivers, so there was nothing anybody could do to change it. He was right. Even with the evidence,the charge against my husband was changed so he didn't receive points on his license, but he was still forced to pay the original ticket fine plus lawyer fees. To all newcomers, if the police and courts do this to Spanish speakers, I'm sure there are other questionable practices they adhere to. Something to think about.
Bridgeport, CT
in retrospect -
8/9/2012I left Bridgeport in 1996, after bankruptcy changed it. I left looking for a better place to live. Funny thing is I haven't found it. I grew up in Bridgeport. What I loved? It was near the ocean. Not all towns have that quality. It had three parks. Seaside with lots of playing fields, Beardsley with a petting zoo and a nearby dairy queen, and Pleasure Island with endless horseshoe crabs. The houses have character, at least the older well maintained homes. I attended Central Magnet High School and I had the best teachers. They were people that cared about my future. They guided me to attend college, and they taught me how to work hard. Yes, there was crime. I personally never suffered anything horrible thank God, but I was no stranger to people being murdered, raped, or robbed. You know what, so far Bridgeport is one of the best places I'e ever lived. I moved to Florida. Everything costs an extensive amount of money. Florida was fun, but living there was hectic. I found that the teachers in Bridgeport cared more than the ones in Florida. The homes in Florida all look like cookie cutter houses and they are all controlled by home owners associations. My home in Florida never felt like my home. Then I tried Fresno California. It had no beaches. It was safer than Bridgeport, but it was like living in the middle of nowhere so that I could be safe. Then I moved to Wilmington NC. The city is beautiful and it has beaches. At first I thought, yeah I did it, but I was wrong. The people are hateful and racist. In Bridgeport I learned to respect and appreciate other cultures. In Wilmington they teach you to blatantly hate them all. In Bridgeport people worked together and worked hard. In Wilmington, the people like to destroy each other and do not appreciate people that work hard. Having a cousin or making a donation gets you a job faster than working hard. Wilmington makes me miss Bridgeport. My point. Bridgeport is a solid Big City. It is one of the USA's oldest cities and it is a big city so yes it has crime, but it also has a lot good things to offer its people. It has experience that new towns lack to properly handle crime waves and economic waves. Shoot, Bridgeport was the first town in the US to go bankrupt and since then it got back on its feet. If you are looking for the laid back, good old boy but kissing of a suburbs don't go there, but if you are looking for a big city with character, a beach, a multicultural attitude that welcomes all, values hard work, and always bounces back on its feet try Bridgeport.
Wilmington, NC
re: A Diamond In The Rough? - 10/23/2011 -
1/12/2012Wilmington welcomes tourists and at first you will love it here. The problem with Wilmington is if you stay too long. The term "outstay your welcome" could have been originated in Wilmington NC. If you have family or friends here and a job where you are accepted here then you might be able to make a good life here, but if you are no part of "the good old boy system" or you are not willing to play the small town mentality game, it may not be the best place for you. It may be a growing town but it is still a small town with enough "old towners" in power that if they want to they will make your life impossible enough to chase you out.
Wilmington, NC
The Good and The Bad -
3/10/2010The Good: Wilmington NC is a beautiful family town for the right people. It has the mentality of a small beach town with the growth of a not so big city. It has two malls: an indoor one and an outdoor one. It has a great library. There are three movie theaters and a big stage theater. It is a huge sports town. The town has all kinds of youth sports available at a low cost to families: soccer, football, basketball, softball, baseball and more. The parents can get a bit competitive, but what sports lover doesn't. There are YMCA's, a YWCA, and lots of summer camps and youth centers. The parks more than four, are available to everyone. They are clean and beautiful. They all have walking trails for walkers and joggers and some even have dog parks. Wilmington is definitely a dog town. It also has all the major stores: Target, JC Penny, Walmart, etc. It has great places for family to enjoy the outdoors and indoors. It is a college town so their are a lot of college students at UNCW. The beach is a tourist spot for surfing and fishing. Downtown has gorgeously restored homes and churches. It is a town for the arts. The negative: Many people born and raised here do not want outsiders here. They hire their own and if an outsider is hired, they tend to join forces to make sure the outsider quits. Hispanics are not welcome here. Although many of the Mexican people that live here are here on work visas that the natives request for help in the farms, they are all treated like illegal aliens. The people native to the area are so protective of the beautiful town they call home, they do not realize how hateful they can be and often cross the line. If you are not careful, it could be dangerous. After 4 years of trying to make the natives of Wilmington NC see that we are good people just like them, we are finally giving up and looking for a way to leave. As you can tell, we love the town. It was perfect, but the hatred of the natives to outsiders made it too difficult for us to stay.