Not too bad...not too good....
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6/14/2007
I've lived in Wilmington for 16 years. I've gone all the way through 4th grade through college at UNCW. For the most part Wilmington is a pretty nice place to live. The cost of living has skyrocketed in recent years with more and more tourists settling in and more developments/businesses moving in (look up Mayfaire town center). Just like every other city, you have your areas you don't want to travel to, if you know what I mean....but these are basically narrowed down to two areas of town that most of Wilmington won't see anyways. The beach is nice, if you can find a parking spot in the summer. The restaurants are plentiful here, as I believe we are the country leader in restaurant per square mile average (I read it somewhere) but most of these consist of fast food or chain restaurants. Basically Wilmington is set up by three or four main roads: Market St., College Rd., Oleander, and to some extent Eastwood Rd. since it is the road most people take to get to the beach. Pretty much all of your shopping/dining traffic will take you somewhere on these roads. The weather here is usually pretty mild, but in the summer it can get pretty hot and humid. Winters get fairly cold for about two months (don't bet on snow unless its once every 10 years). The crime here is pretty much secluded to certain parts of town I previously mentioned and its usually pretty small time stuff like drug arrests or things like that. As far as night life goes, it's all about downtown. Cape Fear Community College and UNCW students flock downtown to the clubs and bars (I'd say there's about 10-12 actually decent ones). There's a few of these Wrightsville Beach that are ok, but you're usually going to have to be a surfer or beach resident to feel comfortable. Traffic is slowly getting worse due to the influx of people moving here from Ohio or New Jersey. The road conditions are pretty bad all over the city, and we also are the state leader in motor vehicle accidents (GO WILMINGTON!!!!) so you're insurance may spike a little. There is no shortage of doctors or lawyers here. I've read that some people notice racial tension here, but that kind of goes hand in hand with living in the south. I usually don't see too much of it, but there's no shortage of big pick up trucks with muddin' tires or escalades with 20" chrome rims so I guess it's like any other city. It can get a little boring after you've lived here a while because you've done everything there is to do (see beaches, downtown, and bea
Chris | Wilmington, NC