I surfed Topsail / Surf City in early March. My first trip there. Impressed. Off-season, and several owners getting the rentals prepped for the summer hordes. People easy to talk with, hang out with. Honestly the waves were really decent, esp the south side of that pier. I don't know if that's the norm (probably not, don't anyone go there it sucks dead moose.....was that ok, guys?). I just liked the area, from Surf City down through 'the island.' Would have liked to explore the off-road zones in my truck, and Ft Fisher & the stuff south of that, but ran out of the most precious currency of all: time.
If you are worried about the school system, Hoggard is the public high school in southeastern nc, regardless of any school rivalry. Hoggard and New Hanovers Lyceum academy produce the most and best college bound students, but Hoggard draws students from friendlier neighborhoods
We have lived in the area just about 8 months. We are actually in Leland, (due to housing availability w/ a quick job transfer) but hope to get closer to either island. Wilmington is cool in that if you live centrally in Wilmington, CB/Kure and Wrightsville are about the same distance. Wrightsville can get crowded and has leash laws. Kure has free parking. If you ride a longboard the Wrightsville Beach Longboard Association is a cool group of folks. Water got to be skinnable by May. Never had a bad vibe in the water. A ton of surf shops and a few good board builders are in the area. But, I will say that it is already getting crazy on the weekends at WB and to a degree CB... I grew up in the Cocoa Beach area, so, crowds in the water are nothing new. But cramming a gazillion people through that little 2 lane bridge can test someones patience.
Also a CB local, its a great place to be and you will meet enough people soon enough to get parking down where its not insane. The schools are alright but as with any city there will be better areas than others. Crime is nominal and less than average for its size, but you really cant beat the climate 70+ in december is always great.
No need to sugar-coat what you really mean, everyone knows Hoggard gets preference with school districting. It's somewhat by design that it's predominantly white and upper middle class--hell the school was built to accommodate the white flight out of downtown in the late 60's through the 70's. So, let's drop the "friendlier neighborhood" euphemism. Not to mention, there are plenty of "friendly" neighborhoods downtown, close to downtown and around mid-town. However, some may not consider them as such because they are close to "not-so-friendly" (read: lower on the socio-economic scale and more ethnically diverse) neighborhoods and you might see some "not-so-friendly" person walking down your sidewalk who might make you feel uneasy because they don't look like you. Oh, the horror!
Sorry didn't mean to bash anybody like that, but Hanover draws from neighborhoods where crime rates are higher, but they also draw from neighborhoods very high up on the economic scale with (would move there but moving away from the beach=no bueno). Sorry to "sugar-coat" it like that, but I found this map to avoid any euphemisms or feelings. http://spotcrime.com/nc/wilmington But this only shows crime rates, regardless there still are some BEAUTIFUL homes downtown that I would love to live in if it didn't mean a longer drive to the beach.
Ahh the Wilmington, NC ghettos............Probably pretty cool places. Anyways, for those who are considering the Wilmington area as a new home, consider this you SOB's: Take Swellinfo's delightful forum and use it as a microcosm for the east coast. Pretty much all of the Southern North Carolina guys on here are respectful, intelligent, seemingly friendly and down-to-earth. You bunch them up with the South Carolina contingent, and you are looking at the classiest group of shred hounds on here. And they are surfers !!!! Imagine how sophisticated the rest of the population is. Go figure.......So take that for whatever it's worth. My Lord what happened to the Northeast? Where did we go wrong? We used to dominate economically and politically, and now our greatest contribution to the nation is Snooki, Pauly D, and Shredmachine.
Glad we don't get 23 footers down here, would hate to see the NJShredMachine hogging all of our waves. And I have never had or seen any conflicts in the water. Maybe some d-baggery by warm water UNCW students or tourists, but good vibes at topsail, cb, wb, etc...
Try Sunset Park...its not Landfall, but it isnt Creekwood and if you want to check it out and not get high and mighty about what neighborhood is more diverse than others go to Wilmington Police Department's Website and look for the Crimestat link.
x2 on Sunset Park, I represent Washington St. WOOT WOOT! Upcoming urban neighborhood being infiltrated by young professionals and young families, nice "old guard" residents reppin it hard and just rough enough around the edges to keep the artists, eclectics and eccentrics around. Affordable prices keeping it diverse, walk across CB Rd to catch a Hammerheads or Sharks game and to Greenfield Lake Amphitheater to catch insanely good live music or bike down to the Satellite and enjoy some tasty suds. My wife and I are pretty heavily invested in this neighborhood--bought an old house that was about to fall apart and have pretty much rebuilt the entire thing over the past 4 years. PLUS a lot of the degenerate chitt-head slum lords are finally getting their chittholes foreclosed on so hopefully we'll get some more folks who want to come in and restore themselves their own little chunk of awesome.
Lived in wrightsville beach for a few years. Beautiful place and one.of my favorite surf towns. Ghetto's down there are nothing compared to north philly ( where I live now for school)
Hey you watch out walking around that Temple..........or maybe LaSalle area, ok dude. Look over your shoulder once in awhile, and don't be like some of the more oblivious students. Get some pepper spray and a whistle.. SSSSSSWWWWWWWW...........SSSSSSSWWWWWWWWWW.....blow that whistle whenever you see some thuggy guys or girls. Them big North Philly gals can lay a whoopin on a man. I hope you enjoy your educational experience in the city of brotherly love. I sure did. Though I commuted to West Philly. We had a bar right across campus at 56 St & City Line Ave. I loved that place. Now it's gone. It's not there anymore. It even had a cool name - The Muddy Duck. Like a duck, who's muddy because he's drunk all of the time. Ya know what it is that I be sayin' ?
pepper spray???? more like a ak-47 and body armor. West of Broad above Susquehanna and up and your not coming back alive. Got lost in Fairhill/ West Kensington one day. . . .almost got killed at 11:30 in morning. Love the city though just hope i survive to graduate
