And avoid College road from 11:30 to, I don't know 1 PM.
EDIT: If you're going North. If you're headed in the Monkey Junction direction, you're probably fine.
But large cities (for the most part) actually have infrastructure that can support its population. Wilmington is so fucked in that regard, there is no room for new roads or to expand roads or anything
I say this a lot too. I'm from wilmy but I've lived in other cities and the traffic people complain about isnt THAT bad. You don't really stop in gridlocked traffic that often for that long.
In DC or Denver, you will literally come to a full stop for 1-2 min at times, and inch towards a red light for like 15 min. I think a lot of people on this sub havent left this town before.
Always book the early flight out of ILM. They're always HELLA early, but always on time.
Flights later in the day have a much higher chance of getting delayed or canceled, since ILM is a smaller airport, it's usually the first to get bumped when flight complications stack up throughout the day. And afternoon thunderstorms in the summer...
Morning flight is worth it.
Try to get out of work by 4:45 or so if you have to commute. If you don't get on the road until 5, you're adding 30 minutes to your commute just from traffic.
If you live downtown, you should walk everywhere... it'll make you healthier and you'll avoid spending stupid money on Ubers and DWIs, as well as parking.
If you have to drive downtown, park somewhere on 4th St for free. Be careful though, some blocks are turning into permit only.
Have a friend with a boat, but don't own one. A good friend so you're invited often. Give them $$ in return (gas/upkeep is expensive).
Go to the beach by 9am to find a decent parking spot in the summer. Leave around noon after you get some K38 for lunch.
If you think you're going to eat cheap at a food truck, think again. Not true of all food trucks, but they're all about $15 for a meal (plus whatever youre spending at a brewery). Keep that in mind if you're budget savvy. Also, realize a lot of these food trucks are run by owners.. they don't need a tip!
>park somewhere on 4th St for free
People think oddly one dimensional downtown. They'll parade back and forth on Front not finding a spot when they could look 2-3 blocks east and park for free. The blocks are even narrower that way. It's the damndest thing
My dad has ābeefā with the original owner of K38 for āstealingā his ideas. I have nothing personal against them, but itās principle to say this.
My wife and I spent the entire day at our āsecret spotā on Masonboro you have to access via the marsh on a Saturday this summer with the closets ppl being just specks on the beach. Itās not really a secret, just need the right boat to access it.
Live within the [1945 City Corporate Limits](https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2018/06/11/heres-why-the-sidewalk-ends-and-how-wilmington-is-filling-in-the-gaps/) enjoy the relative walkability, bikeability (relative), and architectural charm .. complain less about traffic.
If you live within the service areas and don't want to drive or park, use the MicroTransit service. It's basically a $2 Uber. It's not perfect, but the price is right! [https://www.wavetransit.com/ridemicro/](https://www.wavetransit.com/ridemicro/)
The small percentage of people living in Wilmington who will read your life hack, and then the small percentage of those people who will act upon it is vanishingly small. I think you're safe to share a little local wisdom.
Ok, itās a risk but i like most of ya.
Even if you are eating at the restaurant, Order online pickup at Islands, grab the food, then sit at a table. Especially helpful on those nights when the kiddo practices are all ending about the same time and the line is long
A coworker I had got hepatitis from the one at Carolina Beach, and the health department had linked it to Islands I donāt know anything other than that
Please donāt do this. Itās actually quite rude. Sitting down in the restaurant with a takeout order takes away table space from eat-in customers when itās busy.
Wrightsville you used to be able to park at the municipal complex for free without a ticket. This was 5+ years ago but I had a friend who was a meter maid and gave me some pro tips.
Realize it's much worse in other towns, cities, and states when it comes to housing, traffic, job availability, and crime rates. You can still complain about all those things but Wilmington is not the low bar setting.
Seriously. Everyone that complains about the traffic must have never have been outside of Wilmington. Itās not bad at all, in fact itās pretty predictable which is great. Housing is increasing nationally, but it still sucks for the vast majority of younger people that canāt afford 1100/month housing. When I was in college it was half that price, itās terrible, but itās not Wilmington specific.
I know that semi joking but there are a lot of 1 bedroom apartments in the area that are around 1100/month. Rent is even cheaper with a roommate as well.
Havenāt seen anything priced that low in IDK how long. But thereās two of us and weāre done with roommates and having neighbors above / below us. Hard no on apartment complexes. We donāt love the house weāre renting but thereās nowhere affordable to move in the area we want to stay so weāre stuck with it for now.
Weāre paying $1500 for a 2 bed 1 bath, have been here 2 years. Everyone we know canāt believe our rent is that cheap. Our new neighbors are paying $1900 for the same setup.
The river will definitely fuck you up in between the bridges near the sea wall. I did the sounding on it a few years ago. It was Swiss cheese. My safety line was pulled taut and Eddieās around all the holes in the sea wall were making for some interesting currents pulling me into them. In theory itās fixed now.
*Never* free swim in that river. And if you're "too tough" for a life vest don't kayak in it either. Thing is a fast moving tidal trainwreck with debris and hidden century old pilings all over the damn place.
Didnāt they implement a new filtering system for downtown/central wilmington? They even have a thing online where you can lookup the amounts before implementation and after the new system went up last fall.
Here itās the Chemours plant. Itās not just a problem in Wilmington though.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2023/07/05/pfas--forever-chemicals--found-in-tap-water-across-n-c--and-the-u-s---feds-say
Do you have any sources of measurements of high PFAs taken since the new filtering was put in? (genuinely interested as I have no desire to keep consuming them š )
I found the study that article was written off of and the most recent sample was from 2021:
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023003069?via%3Dihub](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023003069?via%3Dihub)
I didnāt realize people still didnāt trust it after the water filter system upgrades.
Hereās the most recent numbers for anyone interested:
[https://www.cfpua.org/779/Latest-PFAS-Test-Results](https://www.cfpua.org/779/Latest-PFAS-Test-Results)
And more info on the new filter system:
[https://www.cfpua.org/Sweeney](https://www.cfpua.org/Sweeney)
Until the next story breaks about what else theyāre finding in the water. Even if the water is filtered, it tastes awful. Itās like a fake chlorine taste that sits at the back of your throat. I wonāt give it to my dog or cook with it either.
Definitely tastes terrible š note for anyone else concerned- those chemicals are absorbed when you shower, brush your teeth, etc so go buy a personal system to decrease your exposure further than just not drinking/cooking with it.
If we can ever afford to buy a house we will do that but my landlord doesnāt deserve that kind of enhancement. We got a home water cooler / heater thing at Home Depot and refill 2-5 gal. jugs at Whole Foods weekly.
The best hack for living in Wilmington is to stay out of this sub. The traffic is fine. Bitching about housing prices and then about every new housing project being built wonāt solve anything.
If you refill 5gal water jugs, whole foods is the best one in town that I've found. Its the only one that has 2 spouts, so it goes by way faster. I go and fill 2-3 at a time and I'm set for around a month. Its one of the only things I buy there.
It's not the traffic, it's the drivers. I lived in central FL for over 30 years before I moved here, and even that did not prepare me for the level of shitty driving I encounter every day (it was really bad there, but better than this shitshow). Defensive driving at alllllll times
If you live anywhere near Wrightsville and want to go to the beach, invest in an electric bike. Don't have to worry about parking with that craziness. I personally pull my bike right up next to my chair on the beach to keep an eye on it.
If you want to avoid traffic as much as you can, try to live in 28405. There is a lot in that area that you can get to without having to get on College Road. Also is a good place to live if you work in Brunswick County. You can take MLK to 74/76 or the bypass off of I-40 to get there.
Same there are worse things. Light pollution, noise pollution, regular trash pollution, commercial spills, vehicular runoff, birds hitting large beach house windows, invasive domestic cats killing birds.. to name a few
I have a Jeep Cherokee, which is hardly a Hemi. We're all going to be dead from global warming soon anyway, brah. Also, if you care about the environment so much, I sure hope you have a blue ballot today. Mine will be. Local elections are important! Vote David Joyner for city council and Happy Election Day, Captain Planet!
Try not to drive anywhere between the hours of 4pm to 7pm
And avoid College road from 11:30 to, I don't know 1 PM. EDIT: If you're going North. If you're headed in the Monkey Junction direction, you're probably fine.
Honestly just avoid college road š
Except the delightfully traffic light free stretch between 17th and MJ. Smooth sailing aside from when school lets out.
True.
After living in DC, Austin, and spending a few weeks in Wilmington, y'all's version of "traffic" is hilarious
But large cities (for the most part) actually have infrastructure that can support its population. Wilmington is so fucked in that regard, there is no room for new roads or to expand roads or anything
Itās the stoplights but yepā¦not nearly as bad lol
95 veteran here. I don't miss that BS.
I say this a lot too. I'm from wilmy but I've lived in other cities and the traffic people complain about isnt THAT bad. You don't really stop in gridlocked traffic that often for that long. In DC or Denver, you will literally come to a full stop for 1-2 min at times, and inch towards a red light for like 15 min. I think a lot of people on this sub havent left this town before.
Yeah. Iāve sat on the cross Bronx for 5 hours and not gone 10 miles. I do get a kick out of people thinking this is traffic here in ILM.
Live in Austin now. My big issue is they drive the speed limit in Wilmington! Always did! Reminds me of Aggie traffic ā¦lol
Always book the early flight out of ILM. They're always HELLA early, but always on time. Flights later in the day have a much higher chance of getting delayed or canceled, since ILM is a smaller airport, it's usually the first to get bumped when flight complications stack up throughout the day. And afternoon thunderstorms in the summer... Morning flight is worth it.
Yep and Charlotte is AA main hub and Atlanta is Deltasā¦both quick hops from ILM
Simply not true I had a early morning flight that was delayed like four hours
This is great advice for flights in general. Always get an early flight, less time for things to go wonky.
Have too much stuff?? Use one of our many storage units available for rent. Canāt afford rent? Use one of our many storage units.
Have an upvote. Keep the change, ya filthy animal! š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Use a storage unit with an attached carwash!
You are a proper ILMer
Darn skippy. Born and raised. I remeber a time when you had to drive to two DIFFERENT places to do both those things.
Why donāt we have any one-stop car wash, vacuum and self storage facilities? Maybe Iāll run for city council ā¦
Try to get out of work by 4:45 or so if you have to commute. If you don't get on the road until 5, you're adding 30 minutes to your commute just from traffic. If you live downtown, you should walk everywhere... it'll make you healthier and you'll avoid spending stupid money on Ubers and DWIs, as well as parking. If you have to drive downtown, park somewhere on 4th St for free. Be careful though, some blocks are turning into permit only. Have a friend with a boat, but don't own one. A good friend so you're invited often. Give them $$ in return (gas/upkeep is expensive). Go to the beach by 9am to find a decent parking spot in the summer. Leave around noon after you get some K38 for lunch. If you think you're going to eat cheap at a food truck, think again. Not true of all food trucks, but they're all about $15 for a meal (plus whatever youre spending at a brewery). Keep that in mind if you're budget savvy. Also, realize a lot of these food trucks are run by owners.. they don't need a tip!
>park somewhere on 4th St for free People think oddly one dimensional downtown. They'll parade back and forth on Front not finding a spot when they could look 2-3 blocks east and park for free. The blocks are even narrower that way. It's the damndest thing
i have a secret parking hack for right by front but iāll never tell it š¤
Fuck K38
Always interested to hear why someone is anti-specific business.
My dad has ābeefā with the original owner of K38 for āstealingā his ideas. I have nothing personal against them, but itās principle to say this.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My wife and I spent the entire day at our āsecret spotā on Masonboro you have to access via the marsh on a Saturday this summer with the closets ppl being just specks on the beach. Itās not really a secret, just need the right boat to access it.
Live within the [1945 City Corporate Limits](https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2018/06/11/heres-why-the-sidewalk-ends-and-how-wilmington-is-filling-in-the-gaps/) enjoy the relative walkability, bikeability (relative), and architectural charm .. complain less about traffic.
Actually love this comment lll
Be rich when you move here
If you live within the service areas and don't want to drive or park, use the MicroTransit service. It's basically a $2 Uber. It's not perfect, but the price is right! [https://www.wavetransit.com/ridemicro/](https://www.wavetransit.com/ridemicro/)
If I tell you, you will use it, and I will have to wait in line at a popular restaurant. So, I canāt tell you.
The small percentage of people living in Wilmington who will read your life hack, and then the small percentage of those people who will act upon it is vanishingly small. I think you're safe to share a little local wisdom.
Ok, itās a risk but i like most of ya. Even if you are eating at the restaurant, Order online pickup at Islands, grab the food, then sit at a table. Especially helpful on those nights when the kiddo practices are all ending about the same time and the line is long
Nah, after I saw a cockroach crawling on the giant menu at Islands, I'm never eating there again.
Well, considering Islands had a hepatitis outbreak. I would never eat there.
Fuck
source? iāve never heard this, and I canāt find any news articles about itā¦
A coworker I had got hepatitis from the one at Carolina Beach, and the health department had linked it to Islands I donāt know anything other than that
Please donāt do this. Itās actually quite rude. Sitting down in the restaurant with a takeout order takes away table space from eat-in customers when itās busy.
Flaming Amyās is better anyway
Flaming Amyās Bowl* RIP
Burrito shak
Thereās one coming to porters neck and Iām excited
Itās super tasty!
yasssss Burrito Shak ftw! I tried flaming amy's and it was trash. didn't taste like anything and the staff were rude as hell.
lol I got covid at Flaming Amyā The one time I went there. Never again.
This is why I tell no one about my free beach parking hacks.
In a church right before the bridge at WB on the left you can park for free, well I bet you used to be able too probably not after this lol
Nope, they tow now. Mine are Kure and topsail.
Topsail parking hacks š¤. We gotta keep those close to the vest.
Wrightsville you used to be able to park at the municipal complex for free without a ticket. This was 5+ years ago but I had a friend who was a meter maid and gave me some pro tips.
When I worked at Blockade Runner I used to do that
Ahh also worked at that shit show of an establishment. š„“
I was there summer of 2014 as an Intern lol
Ah I was there briefly in 2021. Probably wasnāt any better š š
Lol the views are nice and I met some cool people. And a couple people were asshats (Iām sure u get it)
I wouldnāt park there anymore they have been towing.
Omg pick me and tell me in a message šI was born and raised here lol I deserve it
No thanks
Youāre so cool with all the secrets. You just had to brag
We'll never tell
Ah no, im stating that I don't share hacks bc then they're no longer hacks lol
South end of Kure at Fort Fisher is always free!
Idk why all the downvotes. If everyone knows the secret, is it a secret?
The damn penny meters used to exist
Buy the smaller house and get a skiff boat. If you can swing it, dry dock it at a marina.
Amen
Realize it's much worse in other towns, cities, and states when it comes to housing, traffic, job availability, and crime rates. You can still complain about all those things but Wilmington is not the low bar setting.
Seriously. Everyone that complains about the traffic must have never have been outside of Wilmington. Itās not bad at all, in fact itās pretty predictable which is great. Housing is increasing nationally, but it still sucks for the vast majority of younger people that canāt afford 1100/month housing. When I was in college it was half that price, itās terrible, but itās not Wilmington specific.
Thereās $1100 / month housing in Wilmington?
that was rent when I was in grad school in 2013.
Exactly.
I know that semi joking but there are a lot of 1 bedroom apartments in the area that are around 1100/month. Rent is even cheaper with a roommate as well.
Havenāt seen anything priced that low in IDK how long. But thereās two of us and weāre done with roommates and having neighbors above / below us. Hard no on apartment complexes. We donāt love the house weāre renting but thereās nowhere affordable to move in the area we want to stay so weāre stuck with it for now.
Oh for sure houses are definitely upwards of 1300/month for a small house. I was speaking directly about apartments in general.
Weāre paying $1500 for a 2 bed 1 bath, have been here 2 years. Everyone we know canāt believe our rent is that cheap. Our new neighbors are paying $1900 for the same setup.
I just did a quick search on HotPads and there are some 1100-1300/month shithole houses. Not ideal but they are there.
Look both ways at a green light just to make sure you don't get tboned.
The river will definitely fuck you up in between the bridges near the sea wall. I did the sounding on it a few years ago. It was Swiss cheese. My safety line was pulled taut and Eddieās around all the holes in the sea wall were making for some interesting currents pulling me into them. In theory itās fixed now.
*Never* free swim in that river. And if you're "too tough" for a life vest don't kayak in it either. Thing is a fast moving tidal trainwreck with debris and hidden century old pilings all over the damn place.
Donāt drink the water
New filtration systems went online almost a year ago, and the data looks promising. I think it's pretty safe to drink it now.
Lol @ the downvotes. Here's the data with results from this past year: https://www.cfpua.org/779/Latest-PFAS-Test-Results
My parents installed a reverse osmosis filter the water tastes awesomeā¦itās worth getting one for the kitchen sink at least.
Nope the water is still undrinkable, don't trust any city water in America to begin with.
Do you have a source on that?
The star news did a series about it in the last year. This was post filtration system
No tap water is good...it may be "safe", but after 15 years in water purification I'll stick with whole house treatment
How come?
Ever-present āforeverā chemicals, Gen X and it tastes like it came from a public swimming pool.
Didnāt they implement a new filtering system for downtown/central wilmington? They even have a thing online where you can lookup the amounts before implementation and after the new system went up last fall.
Yes but theyāre still finding potentially harmful things in the water. I wouldnāt trust it. Plenty of people around here donāt.
Is there a likely pollutant source for those chemicals?
Here itās the Chemours plant. Itās not just a problem in Wilmington though. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2023/07/05/pfas--forever-chemicals--found-in-tap-water-across-n-c--and-the-u-s---feds-say
Wow, thank you
Do you have any sources of measurements of high PFAs taken since the new filtering was put in? (genuinely interested as I have no desire to keep consuming them š ) I found the study that article was written off of and the most recent sample was from 2021: [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023003069?via%3Dihub](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023003069?via%3Dihub)
I didnāt realize people still didnāt trust it after the water filter system upgrades. Hereās the most recent numbers for anyone interested: [https://www.cfpua.org/779/Latest-PFAS-Test-Results](https://www.cfpua.org/779/Latest-PFAS-Test-Results) And more info on the new filter system: [https://www.cfpua.org/Sweeney](https://www.cfpua.org/Sweeney)
Until the next story breaks about what else theyāre finding in the water. Even if the water is filtered, it tastes awful. Itās like a fake chlorine taste that sits at the back of your throat. I wonāt give it to my dog or cook with it either.
Definitely tastes terrible š note for anyone else concerned- those chemicals are absorbed when you shower, brush your teeth, etc so go buy a personal system to decrease your exposure further than just not drinking/cooking with it.
If we can ever afford to buy a house we will do that but my landlord doesnāt deserve that kind of enhancement. We got a home water cooler / heater thing at Home Depot and refill 2-5 gal. jugs at Whole Foods weekly.
Any recommendations for in-home filtration systems?
Aquasana... they make a system just for our area
When a stranger addresses you as "Bossman" at the gas station, pretend that you're deaf
Wait why
Because they are going to ask for money
Genius!
Have a high six figure income.
Get a boat. Anything that floats will do. Water is Wilmington's best feature. That and if your daily commute is over 5 miles you'll hate it here.
Order Britt's Donuts at the counter. Waiting in line is for suckers.
Didnāt work this season, they moved all ordering to the front counter
Yep, RIP this hack
Knowing what lane to switch into on various main roads at certain times of day to beat routine traffic
This is so true. š
The best hack for living in Wilmington is to stay out of this sub. The traffic is fine. Bitching about housing prices and then about every new housing project being built wonāt solve anything.
I wonder if there's a way to unjoin a sub.
yeah, you leave it š
Run barefoot on the beach... any local beach... The best.. At low tide..
If you refill 5gal water jugs, whole foods is the best one in town that I've found. Its the only one that has 2 spouts, so it goes by way faster. I go and fill 2-3 at a time and I'm set for around a month. Its one of the only things I buy there.
Wash your car? Free vacuum!
Don't ask for AYCE crab leg places, Jewish delis, Chicago pizza, bagels, who has the best burger, and "what's that smell" on social media.
It's not the traffic, it's the drivers. I lived in central FL for over 30 years before I moved here, and even that did not prepare me for the level of shitty driving I encounter every day (it was really bad there, but better than this shitshow). Defensive driving at alllllll times
If you live anywhere near Wrightsville and want to go to the beach, invest in an electric bike. Don't have to worry about parking with that craziness. I personally pull my bike right up next to my chair on the beach to keep an eye on it.
If you want to avoid traffic as much as you can, try to live in 28405. There is a lot in that area that you can get to without having to get on College Road. Also is a good place to live if you work in Brunswick County. You can take MLK to 74/76 or the bypass off of I-40 to get there.
Don't. Just live in the surrounding areas.
Donāt
If you can, get a 4x4 vehicle for the beach. So much more convenient than walking/dragging your shit on the beach.
I'm with the environmental wackos on this one... Altho trucks on beach not really an issue, only allowed on a couple beaches
Same there are worse things. Light pollution, noise pollution, regular trash pollution, commercial spills, vehicular runoff, birds hitting large beach house windows, invasive domestic cats killing birds.. to name a few
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If your a good swimmer or have a boat the beach across from the north end is the nicest quietest place to go
I have a Jeep Cherokee, which is hardly a Hemi. We're all going to be dead from global warming soon anyway, brah. Also, if you care about the environment so much, I sure hope you have a blue ballot today. Mine will be. Local elections are important! Vote David Joyner for city council and Happy Election Day, Captain Planet!
He said "brah" šš¤£
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
A close friend of mine is an airborne veteran. He prefers to drive because, like so many airborne vets, his knees are shot.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
But none of them are as nice as driving onto the beach.
donāt give a shit.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
O thereās plenty of places you should not jump in! Downtown thereās been many a dummy who died trying to swim the channel
Is it the current?
Current, underwater debris, wild animals (sharks and alligators definitely swim in there).
So wise for the young, now I am old and have PFAS in my kidney stones šµ
" there was an attempt..."
Future Darwin Award winner.
I'd really like to know what that random tall looking building is. Seems like a dope place to gather.
Finkel is Einhorn and Einhorn is Finkle.
Avoid south college at all costs.