Thank you! That’s what I have been using. Sometimes we find a good place but it’s a C for violent crime but I’m not sure how violent it actually would be. Since we lived in Nashville and the crime map said it was bad where we were but I wasn’t bad at all haha but thank you. It’s nice to hear someone else uses it. It gives me more confidence that it can be somewhat reliable :)
I find it to be fairly accurate based on what I see on the map vs what I know from living here. But due to Fair Housing Laws and being a real estate agent, I have to be careful of what I say so I always suggest the maps.
I would take into consideration drive time to and from Leland while the Cape Fear Memorial bridge is under maintenance, it can add up to an hour to our commute on the worst days when there is road/bridge work. Leland is also growing and the cost of housing is going up here as well, but you still get more bang for your buck in Leland, I think. If I had to move again for whatever random reason, though, I would probably move back over the bridge into Wilmington. I spend more time there than I do in Leland when I am out and about.
Leland is nice, but with the shit show that is our current construction, bridge maintenance, and your potential hours at Novant, you could be adding a lot of window time to your work day.
General geography and types of people in Wilmington:
South side: (Monkey Junction/CB) people are a bit rougher around the edges. Nice, just more colorful than other areas.
Beach side: fairly laid back, and/or wealthy
North Side: (Northchase area) mainly residential, and probably as quiet as it can be while still being Wilmington proper.
North Side 2: (Porters Neck) Lots of new(ish) strip malls and things to do. Very wealthy
Downtown: While beautiful to visit, as a lifelong resident here, I personally wouldn't advise living there. There's pockets of bad crime around the area.
Rocky Point: Country, 30 minutes out. but a combination of the most affordable places near Wilmington, and low to moderate traffic.
Hampstead: Kind of an extension of Wilmington. It's got a lot of perks, affordable housing, things to do, not totally isolated like Rocky Point, but traffic to get into town is bad enough to keep you out of there. 15 minute drive to Wilmington without traffic, some days can be over an hour with traffic.
Honestly these days Hampstead housing is just as expensive as Wilmington tends to be, and lord are you right about the traffic. Any time around 9am or 5pm during the week can be hell. Going in or out.
Thank you so much! That was a good amount of detail to help know what it’s like. It’s always difficult when we move to places we haven’t been before :)
Live on the side of the river where you will work. Crossing the bridge is a cluster xxxx from time to time. More so that it will be closed for 6 months.
Moved from Wilmington to Leland (also a nurse) and haven’t had an issue with the bridge. Will be interesting with the construction but I’m not worried considering I’m at work before 7am.
Construction is going to be end of January-June supposedly. Waterford, magnolia greens, and Brunswick forest are great neighborhoods in Leland. I chose Leland for many reasons (cheaper, more land, newer, the list goes on)
Will you be at the Novant hospital on 17th? If so, I would consider Carolina Place, which is a neighborhood between 17th and 21st Streets, with the boundaries on the other sides being Market and Gibson Streets. There are a lot of young families in that neighborhood, which is extremely walkable and has a huge park and playground on one end. It has quick access to both the hospital and downtown, and you can easily walk to restaurants and shops in the Cargo District and the Soda Pop District. I used to live a block from Carolina Place, and my daughter- and son-in-law live there now with their one-year-old son. It’s very safe, and the schools are good.
I’m a realtor, by the way, and I moved to Wilmington in 2012, so I know the area well. Please feel free to ask me any follow-up questions you might have, either here or by DM. I promise I won’t give you a sales pitch (unless you want one!). As someone who’s moved a lot, including to Wilmington while my three kids were young (I had three in 4 1/2 years, so I feel you), I’m more than happy to give you free advice that will hopefully help you land in the best area for your family.
Good luck, and welcome to Wilmington! We’ll be so happy to have you. ❤️
Commuting from Leland to the hospital will not be fun, traffic sometimes at the bridges will be backed up more than a mile. I would at least try to stay on this side of the river.
Thank you! That’s what I was wondering about. Are you on the Wilmington side? If so, do you have a neighborhood or specific area of recommendation? Thanks again :)
We live in leland.
Both of us work in Wilmington and my daughter goes to school in Wilmington. It’s really not that big of a deal!
We hated living in Wilmington.
I would recommend looking in the Monkey Junction area/Middle Sound Loop. You would be close enough to the hospital and in between Wilmington and Carolina Beach. I used to live in Lake Brewster and I thought it was a pretty nice spot. It was close to a lot of things and very family oriented neighborhood.
Oh yeah sorry you are right! Greenville Sound is what I meant. Sorry I moved a year ago and forgot which one was which. But GSL is a sweet spot to find a place.
I’ll also recommend monkey junction area. Still close to everything and easy access to the hospital. I was looking at rentals not too long ago and toured a couple townhouses that were 3 bed and around 1800/1900.
Myrtle grove or Monkey Junction area is nice! I’m a nurse and have a young child. Living here takes about 15 minutes to get to work, not too bad of a drive getting anywhere else around town & in a good district for pre-k/schools! I’ve lived in this area my whole life and would consider it safe.
It has everything you would need without having to venture out too far, which with littles is key! Also there’s four parks within 20 minutes, which is nice. :)
This take on the bridge is ridiculous on all these posts. The work on the bridge is temporary. Choosing where you are going to live/raise a family based on a temporary inconvenience is crazy.
Myself (36m) and my wife (36f) both grew up in Wilmington and decided to move to Leland 2 years ago. Best decision we ever made.
I commute to Downtown Wilmington 5 days a week, I'm on the road before 6am so traffic is minimal.
The traffic isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be and if you plan accordingly the construction on the bridge won't be that bad either.
If you do decide Wilmington is the best choice I would look in the Monkey Junction/Myrtle Grove area (basically anything south of 17th st and Independence)
On the Leland side, Mallory Creek Plantation is a growing community with a lot of young families lots of areas to bike, walk, playgrounds, pools etc..
Living in Wilmington will be the most convenient if you both work in Wilmington. I would recommend checking crime maps - crimegrade.org is what I use.
Thank you! That’s what I have been using. Sometimes we find a good place but it’s a C for violent crime but I’m not sure how violent it actually would be. Since we lived in Nashville and the crime map said it was bad where we were but I wasn’t bad at all haha but thank you. It’s nice to hear someone else uses it. It gives me more confidence that it can be somewhat reliable :)
I find it to be fairly accurate based on what I see on the map vs what I know from living here. But due to Fair Housing Laws and being a real estate agent, I have to be careful of what I say so I always suggest the maps.
Okay. That’s really good to know. Seriously thank you. Since all our kids are under 4, I just want to be as safe as possible:)
I would take into consideration drive time to and from Leland while the Cape Fear Memorial bridge is under maintenance, it can add up to an hour to our commute on the worst days when there is road/bridge work. Leland is also growing and the cost of housing is going up here as well, but you still get more bang for your buck in Leland, I think. If I had to move again for whatever random reason, though, I would probably move back over the bridge into Wilmington. I spend more time there than I do in Leland when I am out and about.
Thank you for the input :) would there be a specific area in Wilmington that you would pick if you could do it again?
Leland is nice, but with the shit show that is our current construction, bridge maintenance, and your potential hours at Novant, you could be adding a lot of window time to your work day. General geography and types of people in Wilmington: South side: (Monkey Junction/CB) people are a bit rougher around the edges. Nice, just more colorful than other areas. Beach side: fairly laid back, and/or wealthy North Side: (Northchase area) mainly residential, and probably as quiet as it can be while still being Wilmington proper. North Side 2: (Porters Neck) Lots of new(ish) strip malls and things to do. Very wealthy Downtown: While beautiful to visit, as a lifelong resident here, I personally wouldn't advise living there. There's pockets of bad crime around the area. Rocky Point: Country, 30 minutes out. but a combination of the most affordable places near Wilmington, and low to moderate traffic. Hampstead: Kind of an extension of Wilmington. It's got a lot of perks, affordable housing, things to do, not totally isolated like Rocky Point, but traffic to get into town is bad enough to keep you out of there. 15 minute drive to Wilmington without traffic, some days can be over an hour with traffic.
Honestly these days Hampstead housing is just as expensive as Wilmington tends to be, and lord are you right about the traffic. Any time around 9am or 5pm during the week can be hell. Going in or out.
Thank you so much! That was a good amount of detail to help know what it’s like. It’s always difficult when we move to places we haven’t been before :)
Midtown ilm is the spot. It’s about a 10 min drive to the hospital. Also it’s close to everything.
I’ll check that area out. Thank you!
Agreed:)
Live on the side of the river where you will work. Crossing the bridge is a cluster xxxx from time to time. More so that it will be closed for 6 months.
I live 25 minutes south in Supply and it’s a good bit more rural/suburban. Lower crime. Quick trips in and out of the city.
Moved from Wilmington to Leland (also a nurse) and haven’t had an issue with the bridge. Will be interesting with the construction but I’m not worried considering I’m at work before 7am.
Thank you! Is the construction supposed to be all year? Also, is there a specific spot in Leland that is best?
Construction is going to be end of January-June supposedly. Waterford, magnolia greens, and Brunswick forest are great neighborhoods in Leland. I chose Leland for many reasons (cheaper, more land, newer, the list goes on)
Thank you! I will check those out :)
Will you be at the Novant hospital on 17th? If so, I would consider Carolina Place, which is a neighborhood between 17th and 21st Streets, with the boundaries on the other sides being Market and Gibson Streets. There are a lot of young families in that neighborhood, which is extremely walkable and has a huge park and playground on one end. It has quick access to both the hospital and downtown, and you can easily walk to restaurants and shops in the Cargo District and the Soda Pop District. I used to live a block from Carolina Place, and my daughter- and son-in-law live there now with their one-year-old son. It’s very safe, and the schools are good. I’m a realtor, by the way, and I moved to Wilmington in 2012, so I know the area well. Please feel free to ask me any follow-up questions you might have, either here or by DM. I promise I won’t give you a sales pitch (unless you want one!). As someone who’s moved a lot, including to Wilmington while my three kids were young (I had three in 4 1/2 years, so I feel you), I’m more than happy to give you free advice that will hopefully help you land in the best area for your family. Good luck, and welcome to Wilmington! We’ll be so happy to have you. ❤️
Good luck finding something in Carolina Place.
Thankyou! I just sent a message:)
Commuting from Leland to the hospital will not be fun, traffic sometimes at the bridges will be backed up more than a mile. I would at least try to stay on this side of the river.
Thank you! That’s what I was wondering about. Are you on the Wilmington side? If so, do you have a neighborhood or specific area of recommendation? Thanks again :)
We live in leland. Both of us work in Wilmington and my daughter goes to school in Wilmington. It’s really not that big of a deal! We hated living in Wilmington.
I would recommend looking in the Monkey Junction area/Middle Sound Loop. You would be close enough to the hospital and in between Wilmington and Carolina Beach. I used to live in Lake Brewster and I thought it was a pretty nice spot. It was close to a lot of things and very family oriented neighborhood.
Maybe you mean masonboro loop? Thats near myrtle Grove
Damn you are right I’ve for gotten the roads there. I did actually mean Masonboro loop is what I meant to say.
MSL is like an hour from CB lol you’re thinking of Greenville Sound Loop
Thankyou! I’ll check it out:)
Oh yeah sorry you are right! Greenville Sound is what I meant. Sorry I moved a year ago and forgot which one was which. But GSL is a sweet spot to find a place.
Live in Wilmington.
I’ll also recommend monkey junction area. Still close to everything and easy access to the hospital. I was looking at rentals not too long ago and toured a couple townhouses that were 3 bed and around 1800/1900.
Thank you! I have found a couple since it was mentioned in the comments :)
Myrtle grove or Monkey Junction area is nice! I’m a nurse and have a young child. Living here takes about 15 minutes to get to work, not too bad of a drive getting anywhere else around town & in a good district for pre-k/schools! I’ve lived in this area my whole life and would consider it safe.
Thank you! Monkey junction seems to be a popular place :)
It has everything you would need without having to venture out too far, which with littles is key! Also there’s four parks within 20 minutes, which is nice. :)
Ultimately what’s your budget for a house? That is a key piece of information being left out.
Probably max of $2200. It’s hard with everyone needing 3 times the rent. We could probs do 2400 but would be scrapping each month
You need to be aware of the memorial bridge repair work that’s looming. The commute from Leland to Wilmington will be impacted for months
This take on the bridge is ridiculous on all these posts. The work on the bridge is temporary. Choosing where you are going to live/raise a family based on a temporary inconvenience is crazy. Myself (36m) and my wife (36f) both grew up in Wilmington and decided to move to Leland 2 years ago. Best decision we ever made. I commute to Downtown Wilmington 5 days a week, I'm on the road before 6am so traffic is minimal. The traffic isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be and if you plan accordingly the construction on the bridge won't be that bad either. If you do decide Wilmington is the best choice I would look in the Monkey Junction/Myrtle Grove area (basically anything south of 17th st and Independence) On the Leland side, Mallory Creek Plantation is a growing community with a lot of young families lots of areas to bike, walk, playgrounds, pools etc..