I relocated to Wilmington in '94 from the RDU area. I had spent 12 years working reliably at various high-tech institutions in the RTP making good money and living pretty well. I gave it all up to come to the beach, a place I had wanted to live since I was a child. It has been a struggle until just recently when I finally landed secure employment with a great area company. 13 years was very "iffy". Most employers will not pay decent wages as there is an endless supply of "educated" people that want to live at the beach that will subdue themselves to 7-10 clams/hr. I endured this and paid my dues, but it wasn't easy. It is a struggle to live in this town, work and prosper. I couldn't even imagine being in shape of a homeless person here and I have a lot of pity for them. As for the rest of us...well, somebody has to pay for the view, right? I love this town so much, I'd likely do it all over again!!!