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Well it makes you fat as much as watching TV all day does. So if you go outside and enjoy the world you probably won't get fat. But if you plant your butt in a couch and eat Cheetos, then yeah I'm sure you'll get fat regardless of pot. Every day I'm surprised how little people know about marijuana.
I am pretty excited to be leaving Delaware. I grew up in New Castle County, worked in Wilmington, Newark, and New Castle. For the last 16 years I have lived in Dover. Spent much time at my parents homes in Sussex county, including the beaches. I have many customers in Delaware, and I have a pretty unique perspective on the area. I feel like I have seen it all.
Want some subjective observations? Sure.
1. When you ask locals about why Delaware is a good place to live, the number one answer is its geographic proximity to other areas (Philly, Baltimore, DC, and NYC). That should be a warning sign to you. In my opinion, living NEAR other areas is not a feature.
2. The three counties have distinct characters, and even sub-characters to them...
New Castle County
It has the city of Wilmington. It USED to be a banking center and chemical center when duPont and Hercules had their headquarters there. The banks moved out. MBNA was sold. Wilmington Trust went under. Chase Bank went out. The big banking center of Wilmington is not as huge as it once was. The duPont buildings there are pretty much empty.
Wilmington has some very bad areas around it. West side is where a lot of crime is. East side is where a lot of poverty is. Center and south central has some high rise apartments and condos that are decent, near the waterfront and baseball stadium. That is an improving area. Northwest is nice. North (Claymont) is bad. I lived in Claymont as a kid and still have bad memories.
Greenville is the "rich area" of the state. It is small, and northwest of Wilmington. Its where the duPont family and heirs are.
Hockessin is one of the nicest places to live in the state, but it is next to PA Mushroom country. Meaning that it smells awful there in the summer time. True story.
Overall traffic in NCC is awful. No doubt about it. Not just the volume, but the danger and the construction.
There are some nice parks around NCC, but they are spread out.
Newark is where I grew up. It is home to the University of Delaware. There are more people from NJ in that university than locals. The University is not just a school. It is an enterprise. As such, it has BOUGHT UP most of the real estate in downtown Newark. This has good and bad effects. It has transformed a neat, charming place into a plastic place. I really don't go there anymore. It feels very empty to me.If you aren't a student, I don't see much value in being near Newark.
Christiana Mall - one of the best things about living in Delaware is the low taxes and no sales tax. No place better to see this than the Christiana Mall, which is the best mall in the state. You will find better malls in other metro areas, but this mall is pretty fantastic for this area. It is one of the few nice things about Delaware. And there appears to be continued investment in the mall.
Middletown - grew very rapidly leading up to the housing crash. Development there now has halted. It is an immense bedroom community. Meaning, many people live there, but they travel from there to work in Wilmington. So it is a suburb that doesn't have much to do other than strip malls. Like all of Delaware, it has no culture, charm, arts, good restaurants, or geographic scenery.
Smyrna - It is where the state prison is. That is all locals think about it. It is growing. But yeah.
Dover
Where I live now. Don't recommend it. There are many retirees here. If you are under 40, you will hate hate hate it here. A major employer was MBNA/BOA - they left. Aetna left. All that is left now is the State of Delaware (the largest employer) and the Dover Air Force Base. You have big, loud planes flying over you. A lot depending on where you live in Dover. It has a NASCAR track and a casino. If you are a redneck you will be in heaven. Locals leave town when races come to town and there is a reason for that. I could go on and on. With businesses closing left and right, the economy has taken a toll on this area.
If you must be in Dover, get into the Caesar Rodney School District. It is one of the best in the state. Choosing the capitol school district could be a mistake.
LOWER, SLOWER DELAWARE
Anything below Dover is LSD. You have the beaches, and the rest is rural farmland. That is it. It is Hicktown, USA. Milford isn't too bad, and is one of the better non-resort areas to live. Harrington has a huge drug crime problem.
Georgetown is one of the largest cities, and it is where the corporate courthouse is. Other than that, Sussex County is a wasteland. The beaches are a different story, but most property owners are from DC and PA. You will see MANY Pennsylvania license plates when you visit the beach. And PA drivers are the WORST when they come to Delaware Beaches. Don't know why they lose their minds, but ask any Delaware local about it. Beach traffic is terrible in the summer. You have one way to go north, and that is Route 1. Multi-mile backups are not uncommon. Going west to DC, there is one bridge over the bay that gets backed up many miles as well sometimes.
REHOBOTH BEACH
The beaches have the outlets for shopping, that is decent.
I prefer Ocean City Maryland's beaches, or the Delaware State Park beaches (below Dewey Beach) to Rehoboth. Rehoboth lost a lot of sand years ago due to storms, and they dredged up sand from offshore. This RUINED the beach. It now has a ton of pebbles in it. I am not kidding - I don't go there anymore. The south end of the beach is known as "Poodle Beach", and is nationally known as one of the largest gay beaches in the world. There is a huge gay business owner contingient in Rehoboth. If you are not a liberal, you should stay away. You WILL see gay couples hand in hand on the boardwalk. IT doesn't bother me, but at the same time they can't promote themselves as a family resort.
LEWES
Nice, small, near Rehoboth, good school system down there.
DEWEY
Party town. Disfunctional government. Upside down tax revenue, cutting police force, is very ugly. Not a place to live. Hotels are now bullying them and getting around ordinances. Not good.
CANCER HOTSPOTS
There are some cancer hotspots in Delaware. Mainly around the refineries in Delaware City. But there are also other chemical dumping grounds in central Delaware that the chemical industry created. You can search online for where these areas are. As a whole, I don't think Delaware ranks very well with cancer risk (going from memory, but research it).
If you move here, you will miss:
*Name brand chain stores
*Restaurants
*Having a sports team
*Good roads
*Scenic roads (route 9 doesn't count)
*Large parks
*The Arts
*Good movie theaters
*Wide range of employers
*Hills (it is all flat)
*Good economy (there are many states better)
I am leaving because my kids are grown, and I am moving to a state that isn't missing all of the things that Delaware is missing. Don't move here to save on your NY, PA, or NJ taxes. Many people do, and that is not a good enough reason to be here. There are many parts of NJ that are terrible, so that would be a good reason to come to Delaware.
If I offended anyone, I am sorry. Just being as honest as I can be.
Here's the OP ^^ Let's get back on topic please. Off topic posts after this will be deleted and infractions may be issued.
Been a long time since my original post, but I thought I would drop by with an update since the website keeps pinging me to tell me that my post is popular. I am happy to answer any questions and provide additional feedback about Delaware, and my choice to leave Delaware and move to Colorado. Thanks for all that gave me praise and reputation bumps on the site - much appreciated.
We have been in Denver for over a year now, and we are building a new house in Parker, Colorado. What a fantastic little city Parker is. Money Magazine rated it #12 in the top 50 cities to live in the USA. 12. Parker, Colorado It is an amazing little place. Close to the city, an amazing little main street, every shopping and entertainment convenience that you could hope for, its just amazing. And there is a huge reservoir that was just built 5 years ago that is about to be open for recreation. Just perfect.
So here is an update on life here, and more Delaware information.
The good and bad about Denver so far from the last year here:
Sunshine - it is sunny most days of the year. And when I say sunny, I mean.. close to ZERO clouds. This definitely has a positive affect on your quality of life. In Delaware, it is cloudy MOST of the time. Sure there are sunny days, but here in Denver its sunny more than 300 days of the year with clear skies. That part is amazing. The bad part about this is that the sun is much more intense with the higher elevation. So you sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and even sunblocker clothing is a MUST. You WILL get burned out here if you are not careful. Its subjective to say this but.... you can tell who is a local from their skin condition. I work indoors, so it isn't an issue so much, but sun is pretty intense.
Dryness - Denver is not what most people think. Most people think cold wet winters. It is, in fact, a high, flat desert with the mountains nearby. With the high elevation, low humidity, and constant sunshine it is a VERY dry desert climate. This is good and bad. The good - very few bugs. In Delaware, when you are near non-moving water bodies (many places in Delaware where there are marshes) you get a bad mosquito problem. Depending on where you are in Delaware it is a very big deal. To sit outside on a warm night and not have any bugs is a revelation. So amazing. But you need lotion all the time.
Cultural Makeup - I like that the area is culturally diverse, without the black vs. white tension I got from living in different areas in Delaware. There are a lot of Mexican, asian, and Indian people here. Very few black people. More people are educated with a higher and more expensive standard of living here. There is a weird vibe that I do get from a lot of people that have grown up in this area. A friend of mine that has been here for over a decade said to me "Yeah, i know what you are taking about. I call it 'Sketchy People'". That is the perfect word for it - "Sketchy". Its like you are talking to someone that isn't as intense, present, rude, or brutally honest as you would get on the east coast. Sketchy because they are guarded, hard to get to know, and generally avoid meaningful conversation. Not everyone, but a lot of people. You can tell a transplant that is new to the area right away because they open up and have a nice conversation with you.
Pot - Everyone isn't high on pot like you would imagine, but your viewpoint might change if you go to an outdoor concert at Red Rocks, where my wife and I smelled (and saw) quite a bit of pot. I don't smoke it but it didn't bother me. You don't see it anywhere else. You do see dispensaries on every corner in the city and in the poorer areas in town.
Snow - it snows here, but it doesn't stay for weeks on end like it does in Delaware. Its so dry that it is gone pretty quickly. Delaware had a hellacious winter this year, and the winter here was much milder.
Economy - The economy in Parker and the Metro area is BOOMING. The real estate market is up, and there are is still a large influx of people from California and Texas.
The traffic is probably the worst thing out here, but I telecommute so it isn't too much of a hassle.
I am traveling back to Delaware next month for a couple of weeks. I am sure that I will have more to add to this thread based on the changes I see when I go back. One of our properties in Delaware is for sale, and it is about to be purchased by a company that will make it a Heroin treatment center. There is a massive Heroin problem in Delaware at the moment and am interested to speak with people in the know about what is happening with that problem.
The weather here does stink from November to April, cloudy, rainy, and cold.
Right now the entire country has a heroin problem, that's something that wasn't taken into consideration when whomever came down on Dr.s for giving out too many painkillers. Bags of heroin are cheaper than buying illegal prescription drugs, so one problem was traded for another one.
After reading the OP I said to myself, "I bet most of the commenters will criticize his remarks about Rehoboth being a homosexual hotspot." And sure enough, that is the case!
Funny, even 15 years ago his comments wouldn't have turned heads. It's alarming how powerful the establishment is in being able to brainwash or intimidate 250 million into compliance when it comes to acceptance of homosexuals.
OP, I agreed with everything you wrote. I grew up in Delaware and left in the early-90s. The only things i miss are driving through Greenville/Centerville, Granogue, Brandywine River and Brandywine River State Park, parts of Hockessin, Old New Castle, Monkey Hill. I always preferred Concord Mall to Christiana, but Christiana had a good movie theater and arcade. There's not much of value in Delaware. Even the celebrities that grew up in Delaware are unimpressive: Valerie Bertinelli and Judge Reinhold! lol
After reading the OP I said to myself, "I bet most of the commenters will criticize his remarks about Rehoboth being a homosexual hotspot." And sure enough, that is the case!
Funny, even 15 years ago his comments wouldn't have turned heads. It's alarming how powerful the establishment is in being able to brainwash or intimidate 250 million into compliance when it comes to acceptance of homosexuals.
OP, I agreed with everything you wrote. I grew up in Delaware and left in the early-90s. The only things i miss are driving through Greenville/Centerville, Granogue, Brandywine River and Brandywine River State Park, parts of Hockessin, Old New Castle, Monkey Hill. I always preferred Concord Mall to Christiana, but Christiana had a good movie theater and arcade. There's not much of value in Delaware. Even the celebrities that grew up in Delaware are unimpressive: Valerie Bertinelli and Judge Reinhold! lol
No value at all? The beaches, nitwit. What are homosexuals doing wrong? Getting married? How does that affect anyone else but the two who get married?
Btw, if you're a guy and don't like lesbians and you believe the hot ones are just as gross as the creepy ones, well you are gay.
not sure why everyone knickers got into a knot. I appreciate the OP's candor. Cognitive dissonance causes most people to paint wherever they live with glowing colors because...hey, they picked it so it must be great. And honestly, that's not helpful at all because it glosses over the problems. I know that without enormous resources (the 1%) few of us will find any one place that will meet all our wants and needs.
But for someone to spend as much time as the OP did, sharing the down sides to Delaware (which every single place on the planet has some of) is to me, greatly appreciated. If we can deal with the worst of what an area offers and find enough of the good to suit us, that would be a pretty good fit.
We all have preferences and tolerances. This person shared what they find intolerable in Delaware. He didn't name call those who feel otherwise. Yet, some of you went into detecting character flaws in the OP who you don't know one single thing about, other than this person has had enough of Delaware. Those are cheap shots and don't make him look bad at all. Quite the opposite, some of your comments reflect poorly on yourselves.
I for one appreciate it. I'd like to see more posts like this, as a reality check and a much needed response to those refuse to admit where they live isn't perfect (no where is).
So thank you OP for your candor, for the time you spent writing your post, and best wishes to you. Most people, love it or hate it, never leave where they grew up. Good for you!
The OP wrote this in August of 2013, the most recent post was 4 1/2 years ago. Why not start a new thread as so of the material is no longer relevant.
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I appreciate candor
