Anyone live in North Carolina?

Fryer64

So in March my job shuts down and they are offering relocation to willmington north Carolina. Just wanted to know if anyone lives in the area and what the culture is around that area.

Big life decisions should always be left to random posts on NintendoAge after all right?

Another question would be how the retro scene would be around there, any first hand experience is incredibly appreciated as I've lived in Nebraska my whole life and I feel like it would be similar, but the southern way of life is much different then the Midwest way of life. I would be trying to get a place in Leland which apparently is pretty close to my relocated job.

Any feedback is extremely appreciated, as this at minimum would be a two year adventure.

Thanks and I hope to hear from our friends in Nc

SavePointVG

Hello! NC is a fun state and has a lot to offer. Wilmington is a college town and has a couple retro stores but being on the coast they dont get a lot of new product. It's also the end of I-40 so if you drive allllll the way west you can reach california without taking a detour! Within a few hours of Wilmington you can reach Raleigh, Myrtle Beach , Greensboro and even Charlotte. Raleigh has a few stores as well but nothing very notable. Charlotte has 5+ retro stores all which are worth visiting as we all get different stuff. Enjoy the beach life while in wilmington! During the school year the city is busy and there is lots to do. Even during summer when students go home, the beach is still very active. East coast beaches dont have big waves but the scenery is still very nice.



Hope that helps!

Daniel_Doyce

I used to live near Greensboro but came from near DC originally. Roads in NC are well-maintained. Housing is cheap and I imagine traffic is light in Wilmington, except maybe right by the beach at peak season. For the same price I spent on my condo in a VA suburb of DC, I bought a 9 acre property about a 20 minute drive from downtown Greensboro. I later foreclosed on it when I was 100k underwater when I took an expat job in 2012 and told the bank to eat it with a sh1t sandwich.



You tune out most southern people stuff (NASCAR, biscuitville, country music, etc.) after a few months. People are very interested to know if you found a church yet. I always told them that I saw one, flipped it the bird, and kept driving.



Charlotte is a dump (except for the retro game stores   but the areas near it (Mooresville, Davidson) are nice. RDU is probably too far for you to go unless you really have a reason to. Avoid Greensboro at all costs unless you want to visit Lost Ark or have a hankering for good Vietnamese food. Asheville is the super liberal hippie enclave in the west part of the state. Good place for overpriced food, weed, and watching washed up college grads in drum circles.



Maybe make one trip to the mountains (Boone area) if you want to watch southern people gawking at leaves.



Not sure how old you are, but there should be plenty of hot girls at UNC Wilmington and the beach for you to creep on.



Eastern NC barbecue is mediocre, unless you like dry vinegary strings of what used to be pig. Western NC barbecue is depressing too, but in different equally unappetizing ways. Not sure what the restaurant scene is in Wilmington, but at least there should be good seafood.

gunpei

How do you feel about weather? I'm pretty sure NC is drastically different than NE. I prefer the latter. Beyond that, all I know is you have to visit South of the Border at least once.

SavePointVG

You might see some snow but never really accumulation. I fee like we see more ice than anything. The summers are down right awful. 100% humidity and 90-100 temps = serious swamp ass. Even after 29 years of living in NC the summers still suck. At least by the beach you have a way to cool down easily. I grew up in Raleigh and then moved to Charlotte 9 years ago. A good portion of Charlotte is indeed a dump but it's a big city and feels like a bigger Raleigh with more to offer.

Daniel_Doyce

oh yeah, I forgot about the south sweats for 6 months of the year, and that it never gets cold like it does in the Midwest. A lot of people that move to NC think that's a good thing, though.



The weather should be more temperate during the summer at the beach, though.

Daniel_Doyce

Originally posted by: gunpei



How do you feel about weather? I'm pretty sure NC is drastically different than NE. I prefer the latter. Beyond that, all I know is you have to visit South of the Border at least once.

Not to be overly pedantic, but that would actually be visiting South Carolina  

 

arch_8ngel

I thought Wilmington was nice when I visited a few years ago for a film festival.



Ignore the mention of going to Myrtle Beach, though  

That place is for tourists that don't have much better, less travelled, beaches within an hour drive.



If you want to travel to a beach, once you are in NC, the outer banks are a much better option, IMO.





I grew up in GA, so the hot summers don't bother me, but it is a matter of preference (and likely physique) as to how troublesome you find it.

rlh

I've lived in the South for my entire life and I've lived in NC for over 10, most of which were in Charlotte. A TON of people from the North move to this region and one thing that I've surprisingly observed around here is how many Northerners tend have accidents during winter weather. Since the north receives considerably more snow than we do, Northerners often come expecting to be able to navigate our roads without trouble whenever we do get icy weather. So, when we get the first heavy snowing/sleeting/icing, many Northerners see the minimal accumulation and think they are prepared. However, what they don't realize is that with the lack of the extensive infrastructure to seriously scrape and salt our roads, this precipitation almost always results in ice, not snow, on our roads. This is further compounded by the fact that as snow accumulates on roads and subsequently melts a little and refreezes, it gives the appearance of packed snow but it isn't. It's hard, slick ice and you cannot get any (and I mean ANY) traction on it.



You can get traction in snow, especially if it's coming down heavily or if it's built up on the road and it's cold. I've had to travel frequently for work and I've never had trouble driving in the winter up north. However, it is very different down here because of the ice sheets. This may seem like no-brainer stuff but I know a lot of "yankees" and most of them have at least one story where they had to learn the hard way about being careful while driving around here in the winter in poor weather. The bottom line is it is warmer around here and, no, we don't get "snow" as much as you guys. However, that's the paradox. We're also just cold enough where snow/sleet/ice will usually create streets that could double as ice skating rinks.



The good news is that these type of events often only happen once or twice a year around where I am and I'd assume in Wilmington it probably only happens once every year or two. Just don't get cocky and you should be fine.

theinhumanwretch

Wilmington is a great area! I lived in Durham for a few years during business school, and my wife and I loved going to Wrightsville Beach and hanging out in historic Wilmington. The ocean is warm for swimming during the summers, so if you're interested in a taste of the "beach lifestyle" it's a good spot. However, I'm completely unfamiliar w/ the retro scene there.



Go to the Serpentarium if you move there  



http://www.capefearserpentarium.com/

gunpei

Originally posted by: Daniel_Doyce



Not to be overly pedantic, but that would actually be visiting South Carolina  

 

I suppose so, ha! I was thinking it was on the border.

 

DefaultGen

I chose to move outside Raleigh because the salary to cost of living ratio for my job was much better than other offices in Boston, San Jose, and Austin. I grew up in NY, so can't really compare to NE. The culture shock I had is how much slower everyone is here. People talk slower, eat slower, and god do they walk slower. There are more strangers that will talk to you. Jesus buys more billboards than Apple or Nike. I'll echo that the humidity sucks. My girlfriend and I both prefer the faster, colder life of the Northeast but damn is it cheaper to live here compared to comparable areas so I'm sticking around and doing my part to ruin life the people who want us to go back up.



As far as retro gaming, arcade, and pinball conventions the prospects are dismal in NC. MAGFest and SFGE (~6 hours away each) are the closest worthwhile conventions, I do a lot of long haul drives to get to events. I don't personally have a single game store I like within an hours drive, although there are a few good barcades all around. Save Point and Abari are both super cool but unfortunately a bit of a haul over in Charlotte.