Durham. We had friends living locally, the marketing made it seem hip and affordable, the weather looked good. So what was not to like?
Durham delivered on a lot of fronts, but it had a couple of significant drawbacks. We didn’t want to spend more than $400k on an historic in town home and going below 2,000 sf was challenging. Suburban sprawl is not our thing, and the surrounding areas are an explosion of minivan metropoli. The gridlock is getting worse, not better. If you’re looking for a newer home and don’t mind sandwiched between other identical Truman Show-Esque looking homes and aren’t bothered by driving everythwere, then there are a lot of outlying options in that price point. Decidedly more trendy than Raleigh, Durham had significantly more personality than it’s sister city, but still not a lot of soulfulness. It felt like a good compromise on a lot of fronts, but we weren’t sold on merely settling.
Fundamentally, the beautiful in town neighborhoods with larger historic homes were out of our price point. When we discovered that Wilmington had more than 300 blocks of historic homes and established neighborhoods, was easily accessible to the beach and still maintained the funky downtown vibe of eclectic shops and creative eats- it was an easy decision.
Key Stats: According to Sperling’s Best Places as of January 2019, since 2000 Durham has expanded its population base by 88%; Wilmington, by contrast, has grown at an exponential 108%.
One of the few southern-ish cities in the US that was not destroyed during the civil war, Wilmington neighborhoods upon neighborhoods of unique historic homes- most all of which are walking distance to downtown. There is an abundance of green space, great for walking the dogs and letting kids play. Unlike Durham, Wilmington is also close to the water- only 15 minutes to Carolina Beach.
The fun and funky historic downtown has a great variety of coffee shops, restaurants and cafes. Castle Street and the Soda Pop District are up and coming, with cool antique shops, creative spaces and retro clothing boutiques.
Best of all, the prices were so much less than Durham. They are climbing, though, and likely will not stay low forever. Fixer uppers in transitional neighborhoods are still available for under $100k, historic renovated bungalows are under $300k, cute cottages being priced somewhere in the middle. Our neighborhood (where Dawson’s Creek was filmed- remember those porches?) has many former residents of not only NY /DC, but also Raleigh and Durham... ranging from $300k to $500k, these historic homes are gorgeous.
We enjoyed visiting Durham, but found it pricey relative to what was offered. More soulful than Raleigh, but as a friend of ours who recently moved here from Durham said ‘Wilmington is all the best parts of Durham combined, but with a way lower price tag.’
Durham delivered on a lot of fronts, but it had a couple of significant drawbacks. We didn’t want to spend more than $400k on an historic in town home and going below 2,000 sf was challenging. Suburban sprawl is not our thing, and the surrounding areas are an explosion of minivan metropoli. The gridlock is getting worse, not better. If you’re looking for a newer home and don’t mind sandwiched between other identical Truman Show-Esque looking homes and aren’t bothered by driving everythwere, then there are a lot of outlying options in that price point. Decidedly more trendy than Raleigh, Durham had significantly more personality than it’s sister city, but still not a lot of soulfulness. It felt like a good compromise on a lot of fronts, but we weren’t sold on merely settling.
Fundamentally, the beautiful in town neighborhoods with larger historic homes were out of our price point. When we discovered that Wilmington had more than 300 blocks of historic homes and established neighborhoods, was easily accessible to the beach and still maintained the funky downtown vibe of eclectic shops and creative eats- it was an easy decision.
Key Stats: According to Sperling’s Best Places as of January 2019, since 2000 Durham has expanded its population base by 88%; Wilmington, by contrast, has grown at an exponential 108%.
One of the few southern-ish cities in the US that was not destroyed during the civil war, Wilmington neighborhoods upon neighborhoods of unique historic homes- most all of which are walking distance to downtown. There is an abundance of green space, great for walking the dogs and letting kids play. Unlike Durham, Wilmington is also close to the water- only 15 minutes to Carolina Beach.
The fun and funky historic downtown has a great variety of coffee shops, restaurants and cafes. Castle Street and the Soda Pop District are up and coming, with cool antique shops, creative spaces and retro clothing boutiques.
Best of all, the prices were so much less than Durham. They are climbing, though, and likely will not stay low forever. Fixer uppers in transitional neighborhoods are still available for under $100k, historic renovated bungalows are under $300k, cute cottages being priced somewhere in the middle. Our neighborhood (where Dawson’s Creek was filmed- remember those porches?) has many former residents of not only NY /DC, but also Raleigh and Durham... ranging from $300k to $500k, these historic homes are gorgeous.
We enjoyed visiting Durham, but found it pricey relative to what was offered. More soulful than Raleigh, but as a friend of ours who recently moved here from Durham said ‘Wilmington is all the best parts of Durham combined, but with a way lower price tag.’