Looking to move to DE area that's about 2 hours from NYC,HELP (Dover: relocate)

[cmcoyle79]

We are looking to live about 2 hours from where we are now on Long Island. We are interested in Delaware but don't know what cities to look at that are about 2 hours away from NY. We have a baby and would like a middle/upper class area. We would love to be on or close to the water as well. We have limited time to investigate areas so if you are very familiar with Delaware, specifically the 2/2.5 hour distance from NY pleeeease help.

[maryCh]

We just moved here Labor Day weekend... we are in central Kent County (just south of Dover) and it took my husband 3 hours to drive from Great Neck to here. So far we love it, as we have checked out the area for about 2 years because of schools for our autistic son. I'll help you with any info I have.

Mary

[cmcoyle79]

Thanks Mary. We'll look into that area. I would really appreciate any info you could think of help that might help in deciding where to go in Delaware. If you know of any other areas that you like or that we should steer clear of please let me know. My husband is being transferred there, so we're trying to make a very fast decision as to where to live and we have no clue.

[mikandmari]

If you look in the areas of Brandywine Hundred or Greenville (both upscale), you can travel to NYC via the Commodore Barry Bridge to the NJ Turnpike in about 2 hours. Zip codes to check out are 19807, 19807 (Greenville/Centerville) and 19810, 19803 (Brandywine Hundred). This is the hilly & scenic countryside areas of northern New Castle County. The school districts are decent in these areas (Red Clay, Brandywine) and there is a good selection of private schools. Shopping is convenient, especially the Rt 202 corridor.

Right over the PA state line is beautiful also (Chester County, PA), but property taxes are through the roof.

If living on the water is what you really desire, an extra 1 hour drive will get you waterfront property on the Chesapeake in Maryland (not my area of expertise... yet! I'm planning a move in that direction... it's absolutely beautiful).

An extra 2 hours will get you the Delaware beaches, very cute towns but terribly congested all summer. Many Washington D.C. summer there. But I guess you could just go to the Jersey shore!

Hope this helps...

[maryCh]

What area of DE is your husband being transferred to? One thing you'll learn very quickly... the 3 counties of Delaware are quite different from each other. And the state is long north and south, with limited routes going either way. I would suggest taking the town/city he will be based in, and look in a specified radius (say up to 50 miles). Traffic and the price of fuel can play a huge part in your decision making.

For several reasons, we chose central Delaware. We are VERY new here, and are quite happy with our choice so far.

Mary

[cmcoyle79]

Thanks a lot for the feedback. We actually just got back today after a short trip to look around at some areas in DE. We mostly looked at Trolley Square and Pike Creek. Looking for a rental b/c we aren't sure how long we will be staying or if we'll definitely like the area we first pick. Trolley Sq. was really nice but we have a baby so I'm not sure if it's right for us. We looked at a duplex and townhouses off Limestone Rd. in Pike Creek. Duplex was huge, 2X the size of our house here on Long Island and only a few years old. We also drove to River Walk?? I think that's what the area is called. There was really only one building that had rentals. The others were still being built. Is there a certain area in Pike Creek that we should look at or is it small? We didn't see much of it. Any other suggestions for N. DE ? Does anyone know the names of rental communities/units in Pike Creek or another upscale neighborhood in the vicinity?

[mikandmari]

In Pike Creek, I'm not sure about the apartment complexes, but otherwise any of the townhouse or condo neighborhoods are generally safe & friendly. That's a nice area to raise kids, plenty of nearby parks and good schools.

I'd avoid the River Walk area. It's a major renovation project based on Baltimore's Inner Harbor, but it's way to close to some rough areas to risk it. Also, some out-of-state people have purchased homes there only to find that the property taxes are much higher than anywhere else in the county. It's a mess!

I don't think I can provide links on this forum, but a good website to check out for real estate is Patterson Schwartz's (no, I'm not a realtor! I just like their site the best). Also, the Delaware News Journal -- delawareonline.com -- has interactive maps for crime statistics and another (that is a bit tough to navigate) for waste sites. It's pretty useful info.

I hope you like Delaware!

[cmcoyle79]

Thanks so much

[Xanthyen]

cmcoyle79, I was born and raised in De and had to relocate to NJ due to a job change. I currently work in JC and Manhattan and for the first few months commuted from Newark, De to the Financial District in NYC and JC which is hard to do, but within your time limit.

As for apartments, I lived in the Newark and Christiana areas mostly. I lived in a very nice apartment community called Oak Tree, its rather tucked away from the main campus UofD (Newark is a college town) but close enough to major roads (Rt896, I95, Rt7, Rt4). The 2 best things about Oak Tree is its quiet, and the management staff is wonderful. Anytime I needed to call for a maintanence repair (not offten, maybe 3 times in 7 years)they were always spot on. They are located on Otts Chapple Road just off of Elkton Road.

I have a friend who lives in Barret Run in Christiana and they are wonderful and if I stayed in De, I would have concidered moving there.

I did find a website for them, feel free to take a look.

Apartments.com - Community Glance