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Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,177,862 times
Reputation: 2925
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrooklineBiker
How are Wilmington's public schools?
Surprisingly good/moderate to terrible, honestly. Not sure about elementary to middle schools, but high schools range from pretty good Concord High to pretty bad McKean. But the charter, private and public magnet schools are the best in the state,and fare well nationally.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,177,862 times
Reputation: 2925
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrooklineBiker
How does it compare to Hartford CT?
Never been to Hartford, so I can't speak from first-hand experience. But from I've read, fairly comparable, I guess, with Hartford/CT simply being larger and a little wealthier. Bad inner city cores surrounded by very wealthy and picturesque suburbs. Not sure if Hartford is connected to NYC via commuter rail like New Haven, but Wilmington is to Philadelphia, and is a direct stop on the busiest Amtrak corridor in the country.
I have heard Savannah has a lot of crime and that Charleston is a nice city but a tough place to get by on a bike. What is Lexington KY like?
Lexington really isn't what you think of when you think of small town southern. It's got a quite built up urban downtown. Lots of new development going on. Great local food scene. It's almost a spill-over situation from the food scene in Louisville which is always seen as one of the best food cities in the country or a very underrated food city.
Lexington itself has a little over 300k people, with a metro area of around 500k. I know that's a little over your population range, but it's because Lexington is a consolidated city county government with Fayette County so it's not exactly 250k right in the city. Additionally, being the largest city in this part of Kentucky, there are a lot of great amenities and shopping for the city itself, but also built there to serve as a hub for the rest of that area of KY. So you get a lot of big city amenities in a smaller town. One example is not many cities its size or college towns have Apple Stores.
While there are a lot of new lofts and apartment buildings going up, there are also tons of older historic homes being completely revitalized. If you decided to live somewhere near or downtown, you would be able to accomplish nearly everything on foot. While it is definitely a college town for University of Kentucky, there is still plenty of business going on that doesn't deal with the university. With the horse industry and the capital city of Kentucky nearby, there is a pretty strong and diverse economy. It's also a very liberal city unlike the stereotype you would believe in Kentucky. Louisville and Lexington are actually very diverse and the gay communities are widely accepted as well. In fact, Lexington has a gay mayor even.
Change of season definitely occurs. Winter get pretty cold and snowy, it's still better than the Midwest. Summer can also get hot and sticky, but not as bad as the south. Kentucky is right between the midwest and south in terms of weather I'd say.
The area around Limestone and Maxwell as well as Broadway and Main and the couple blocks surrounding each has a lot going on.
With the state's flagship university and other universities nearby or in the city such as Transylvania University, it's also one of the most educated cities in the country. WebCite query result
Keeneland is the horse racing track just outside Lexington. While Churchill Downs is famous for the Kentucky Derby, Keeneland is arguably the more upscale and intimate venue. Even if you're not into horse racing (I wasn't before I moved to Louisville and still it's nothing too special) you really get into it and it's a great party and a great time with friends and new people. Everyone dresses up and just goes to the track for special days and has a great time.
Here's a few articles grabbed from Wiki citations on the economy in Lexington:
As of August 2015, the unemployment rate is only 3.7% Lexington-Fayette, KY Economy at a Glance
Four Fortune 500 companies do business in the city: Xerox, Lexmark, Lockheed-Martin, and IBM. A&W is headquartered there.
Honestly, there's tons more I could write about for Lexington. Honestly, if I wasn't such a big city boy and needed the Chicago/NYC/London type city life around me, Lexington would be a great place to live. For a city its size, there is a lot to do. And being in Kentucky, you can always do bourbon tours and be close to tons of nature.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,177,862 times
Reputation: 2925
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport
Newark, Delaware (15 miles west) is going to have better schools than Wilmington (Newark still has SEPTA train service to Philly).
Newark, Delaware is going to be safer than Wilmington.
But Wilmington has cooler architecture, neater neighborhoods, and more to do in terms of cultural amenities.
Newark, outside of Newark Charter School, is actually fairly low on all Delaware rankings, with the middle/high schools scoring near or at the worst. There's my alma mater the University of Delaware at the collegiate level, which is a good school (Public Ivy), but the other public schools leave a lot to be desired.
Newark is much safer than "Murder Town, USA", but it IS a college town, and stuff still does happen. Safety can be found in other areas of Delaware.
And Newark is on SEPTA/Amtrak, but it's limited service (nothing outside of work hours/no weekends). Unless you're a college student, or work DIRECTLY on Main Street, you'll need a car much more in Newark than Wilmington--much more suburban layout/strip mall vibe in Newark outside of the immediate central campus.
OP, what is it that you are looking for in a smaller city? Is it a smaller city with a dense urban core and with good public schools in a warm climate?
OP, what is it that you are looking for in a smaller city? Is it a smaller city with a dense urban core and with good public schools in a warm climate?
Hi ckhthankgod,
You summarize my needs very well: warm climate, dense urban core, good public schools, walkable and/or bike-friendly. (I am neutral on the local political ideology.) I should add that I am also curious about what small cities may have to offer that is competitive with big cities.
Perhaps places like Auburn AL and Athens GA could work as well.
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