Dover, DE (Smyrna, Magnolia: low crime, houses, schools)

[kewpie1957]

My husband and I are considering moving to Dover. We are not concerned about schools or jobs. Our priorities are low crime and quality of housing. We will spend $400K on the high end. Any honest and rational advice is greatly appreciated.

[Charley]

Hi Kewpie1957,

Welcome to the Delaware forum. You didn't specifically mention that you were looking for 55+ communities, but there is a great deal of data on many of them in the 55+ community thread in this forum. You can link directly by clicking here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/delaw...mmunities.html

There is also much information in many of the other topics that relate to the Dover area, along with many Delaware residents who can provide answers to your questions as well.

Good luck ... and ask lots of questions.

Charley,
who might be a future Dover resident as well.

[kewpie1957]

Thanks Charley. We will be new to this whole retirement thing so I had not considered 55+ communities. We will be relatively young retirees hoping for an active lifestyle.

[Charley]

Me too. The 55+ communities are built for those looking for an active retirement, with clubhouses, pools, game rooms, bocce courts, clubs, trips, outings, etc. After years of researching and asking questions, my wife and I have narrowed our choices down to four communities, two in Dover, one in Smyrna (just to the north of Dover) and one in Magnolia (just to the south of Dover).

The 55+ communities will mow my lawn and shovel my snow while I'm in the clubhouse playing cards, or lounging at the pool, or busily engaged in some other form of socializing. While the ladies have their Red Hats, the men now have their ROMEO assocations. ROMEO stands for Retired Old Men Eating Out.

If you're looking for an active lifestyle, the 55+ community is a great option to consider.

Charley

[JudyLG]

Charley,

Just curious of the names of the communities you have narrowed it down to. We visited Nobles Pond and Champion Club last week.

Judy

[Charley]

Sure Judy. They are Nobles Pond (Dover), Wild Meadows (Dover) , Spring Meadows (Smyrna) and Southern Meadows (Magnolia). And no ... it's not that the word Meadows has any special meaning. It's just coincidence.

We've seen a total of 15 communities in Delaware and reviewed information on many more. These are the four contenders remaining as of today.

Charley

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by JudyLG

Charley,

Just curious of the names of the communities you have narrowed it down to. We visited Nobles Pond and Champion Club last week.

Judy

Hi Judy...............charlie is correct.........55+ communities are not like old age homes.
They are for active adults. One person just has to be 55. We have one woman in here that is 53, her hub is 55.
We have the pool, gym, excersis sessions, games, crafts and parties.
Looking forward to the halloween costume party on the 31st.
Some of the women and myself get together for a treat at the nail salon.
We have a lot of fun but also if you are one to stay to yourself, that is okay too.
We have some that are friendly but choose to go on trips and stuff by themselves.
My hub and I do both.

Also, you need to find out which community suits your financial and social needs.
We live in southern meadows which is one of the less expensive ones. Although, I think they have gone up since we bought a year ago.

charlie has been down and visited just about all on the list and his report has a lot of great information.

some may choose to not to be in a community but we wanted the active lifestyle right where we lived and not have to drive anywhere for the extras so this works out great for us.

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by CMTAD

Sure Judy. They are Nobles Pond (Dover), Wild Meadows (Dover) , Spring Meadows (Smyrna) and Southern Meadows (Magnolia). And no ... it's not that the word Meadows has any special meaning. It's just coincidence.

We've seen a total of 15 communities in Delaware and reviewed information on many more. These are the four contenders remaining as of today.

Charley

Maybe Nobles Pond will change their name to Nobles Meadows.

[Charley]

Originally Posted by elizamary

Maybe Nobles Pond will change their name to Nobles Meadows.

Oh I hope not. I'm confused enough as it is.

Charley

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by CMTAD

Oh I hope not. I'm confused enough as it is.

Charley

Oh no, not you Charlie. got too much on the ball