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Old 06-07-2011, 12:21 AM
 
10 posts, read 16,269 times
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After many hours of internet searching, I'm turning to City-Data Forum for help on trying to gleen more information about several areas. We don't like where we are living right now, so we have been looking for jobs elsewhere. So far, we have found good job matches in 3 places. Houston, Delaware City and Shreveport. We are a family of 5 with a house budget of around $300,000. Schools are really important since my kids are all school age. Things to do is also important. We really enjoy outdoor activities so that's also something to consider. Can you tell me what you like about the area you are from and what you don't like? I'm also posting this to the Philadelphia forum because I really liked the look of West Chester and the commute is doable.

All responses are really appreciated!

Oh and I want to live somewhere where people are nice and accepting of transplants.
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Old 06-07-2011, 06:45 AM
 
Location: Greenville, Delaware
4,726 posts, read 11,925,762 times
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Westchester is beautiful, though I don't think I'd like to commute back and forth between there and Delaware City every weekday. Also, Westchester is quite pricey overall. Good schools there, though.

If you want to be in a giganctic megalopolis, obviously go to Houston. You also get the horribly conservative politics of Texas and the endless heat. Shreveport: much smaller, overall poorer, in north Louisiana that lacks the unique regional culture of south Louisiana but still has the same crappy government. Delaware City: very small, in a very small state with a total population much smaller than that of Houston alone. You get four proper seasons, only three months of summer heat and humidity, a decent state government, easy proximity to major points in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic, the beaches just an hour or so down the road (much nicer than Galveston beaches, and nicer than South Padre with the exception that the water isn't bath water warm in the summer), and you have a host of more urban amenities spread out over Wilmington, Newark and the surrounding burbs. Plus far more history here in Delaware than in Texas. And you won't have a silly governor and legislators yammering on with threat of secession and nullifying federal law; we also lack the plethora of Bible-bangers who try to run public education in Texas (and probably in northern Louisiana for that matter).

PS -- I've lived in both northern Louisiana (Monroe) and all over Texas: I know those places well enough.
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Old 06-07-2011, 07:51 AM
 
Location: Long Neck,De
4,792 posts, read 8,152,621 times
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Going to Delaware City the Middletown area is just across the canal offering many housing options and a good school system. That would be an easy commute to work and very reasonable driving distance to the beach , Wilmington or Phila for activities.
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Old 06-07-2011, 07:55 AM
 
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I commuted to West Chester from Elkton, MD (close to Glasgow/Bear, DE) area for 5 months, 4 days a week when I was finishing up school...definitely not something I would want to do again, especially during the morning/evening work commute! I lived in West Chester for 4 years during college and I loved the town! Downtown is great, lots of little boutiques & restaurants. The main drags are Gay St & Market St. And it is close to Exton, which has the mall, Kohls, Target, Walmart, more restuarants, grocery stores, etc. BUT! since we are in the DE forum lets move on to that!

If you take a job in Delaware City there are many ideal places to live around there. Depends what you are looking for! Do you want to be more towards the city, or a more rural area? If you are looking at schools, from what you can read on some other threads on here, the Appo school district is the best in New Castle County. I personally love the Middletown/Odessa area. Close to the beach (an hour or so depending which beach you go to and the time of year you go!), convenient to restaurants and shopping. Close to waterways so you can fish, boat, swim.
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Old 06-07-2011, 07:59 AM
 
Location: Center City
7,528 posts, read 10,198,991 times
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Politics aside, you are looking at three very different places. I just moved back to this area after over 25 years in Houston. Houston is booming and sprawling. If you want big city amenities, you'll get them there. On the other hand, you'll find yourself in lots of traffic trying to get from one place to the other and you'll have anywhere from 5 - 6 months of unrelenting heat and humidity. Shreveport is a medium size city. I know less about it, but you will have access to bog box stores without the traffic and congestion of Houston. You will have the heat and humidity, however. Delaware City is a very sleepy little town. You may or may not choose to live there, as Delaware itself is very compact so you could easily commute from someplace else. DrJef provided a good succinct rundown of Delaware.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
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Old 06-07-2011, 08:20 AM
 
Location: Greenville, Delaware
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If you are buying, DE has much lower property taxes than Texas and Pennsylvania. No sales tax in DE. There is a state income tax which is at about the median level nationally for state income taxes. PA and LA both have state income taxes; only Texas doesn't, but Texas makes up for it these days in property taxes and a million fees tacked onto all sorts of things. DE overall is a cheaper place to live than TX or PA, although the real estate market here has been rather over-priced IMO. This is a good window in which to buy, however -- definitely a buyers market, assuming you can qualify for a mortgage.
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Old 06-07-2011, 10:55 AM
 
10 posts, read 16,269 times
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Thanks for all the suggestions! So, maybe too long of a commute to PA I was worried about schools in the Delaware City area, but I will check out the places recommended here.

Just some more information about us. We are rather liberal, care very much about organic food choices, are very active and believe in keeping our ecological footprint small. We don't need a big house, just one that is in a nice community with kids. I hate to be dependent on a car to get everywhere, so someplace that has a bus system or train system is great. A bike friendly community is also a plus. Are people in DE welcoming of new people?

The pictures of Delaware are beautiful! We are planning a visit in a couple weeks to get a better feel for the area.

Thank you once again! All of you have been a great help!
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Old 06-07-2011, 11:13 AM
 
Location: Greenville, Delaware
4,726 posts, read 11,925,762 times
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Middletown, in decent driving proximity to Delaware City, is covered by the Appoquinimink school district, generally considered to be the best in the state. Intra-state public transport in Delaware isn't the best developed in the world. Although there are buses, as well as commuter trains between Newark (the DE town is pronounced New Ark) and Philly, this really is one of those typical American places where you need a car to get around, even if your immediate community is walkable. The northern third of DE is moderately liberal-progressive; the less populous southerly two thirds of the state is relatively more conservative in varying degrees for the most part. State government at the present is moderately progressive. The General Assembly this session passed a same-sex civil unions act that provides gay and lesbian couples with all the protections of heterosexual marriages that are within the purview of the state, signed into law with much celebration by our governor; also a medical marijuana act. Organic produce: lots of farmers markets in the state selling local produce. I think you'll find DE generally quite welcoming of newcomers. Apparently this isn't the case in some of the more isolated rural bits of southern/southwestern DE, but you won't be living there anyway.
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Old 06-07-2011, 02:48 PM
 
Location: Lewes, Delaware
3,490 posts, read 3,772,572 times
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As usual dr.jef has done a fine job of explaining Delaware, except one little, tiny, hitch. I believe Colonial School District covers Delaware City.
It goes down to Augustine Beach/ Port Penn all the way West to rt72.

Colonial is not one the better districts in the state.

My info comes from the Colonial School District website, click on new residents, and then click on feeder patterns.
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Old 06-07-2011, 03:02 PM
 
Location: Greenville, Delaware
4,726 posts, read 11,925,762 times
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I didn't what district included Delaware City, but I knew they weren't in Appoquinimink, which is why I suggested Middletown. Colonial also covers the City of New Castle, if I'm not mistaken, and there are lots of problems there, although much of it may derive from the demographics of New Castle. All these details can be sorted out with a real estate agent in any event. If working in Delaware City, I wouldn't exclude any of New Castle County as a possible place to live, except on criteria of quality of neighborhood and schools. None of the distances would be prohibitive. Wilmington burbs within the Red Clay and Brandywine school districts would be do-able, though a longer commute than Middletown.
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