NC's Port City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably top two "urbanity-wise" in North Carolina, along with Asheville.

Interesting, elements of Appalachia/Midwest.

 

I always pictured Wilmington would look like the typical, sprawling low-rise East Coast beach community.

Nice photos.... I really enjoyed walking around Wilmington.... their riverwalk is great.

Never been to Wilmington. I've been to Charlotte (not impressed) and Asheville (impressed). Wilmington seems to have retained some of the charm some other southern cities lost during the Civil War and post WWII boom.

one of my very favorite places. at least in theory.

Great looking city!

Awesome photos! I was stationed bout 90 miles north of Wilmington in Goldsboro,NC. Wilmington is definitely one of the better cities in North Carolina.

Wilmington isn't too bad, but compared to the other two old Southern coastal port towns of Charleston and Savannah it doesn't hold a candle.

 

Still better than 90% of North Carolina which is one gigantic sprawling suburb.

^Yeah, I was floored by the sprawl in NC, especially Charlotte which felt like a big mega-suburb with some skyscrapers in the middle (like Mississauga, Ontario or something).

 

It looks like Wilmington would be my city there. I always prefer port cities, and the downtown looks nice in these photos, though I agree not to the level of Old South port competition like Savannah or Charleston. It looks sleepy compared to them (I'm guessing it doesn't get the same level of tourism), but I see a lot of potential. Overall, it doesn't look bad for a city of 100,000 people.

Nice buildings, no people.

 

 

Nice buildings, no people.

 

These were early in the morning, before a rainstorm. The evening before there was a good amount of activity around the core of downtown (6 or so block area).

^Yeah, I was floored by the sprawl in NC, especially Charlotte which felt like a big mega-suburb with some skyscrapers in the middle (like Mississauga, Ontario or something).

 

My experience of Raleigh and the surrounding suburbs mirrors that as well. My brother in law and his family( NE Ohio transplants) live near Cary and let me just say every time I'm there I drive by a new large section of forested area that has been decimated for some sort of exurban subdivision.They rave and rave about the area but in all honesty I have not been impressed.

My experience of Raleigh and the surrounding suburbs mirrors that as well. My brother in law and his family( NE Ohio transplants) live near Cary and let me just say every time I'm there I drive by a new large section of forested area that has been decimated for some sort of exurban subdivision.They rave and rave about the area but in all honesty I have not been impressed.

 

Ditto, when I was there I felt like the old Wendy's commercial:  "Where's the city?"

 

Even more "urban" cities like Durham and Winston-Salem aren't very impressive either, maybe a low rise neighborhood or two that was pre-war with ugly 1 story shotguns, and 1 story commercial buildings and that's it - most of NC is literally smallish 50,000 people towns that became big cities after 1950, making them all feel very weird.