Family Considering Relocating to Delaware (Dover, Newark: sale, rentals, townhouses)

[swnichelle]

My parents moved to Camden - Wyoming Delaware a year ago and they absolutely love it. BUT they are a retired couple, with no small children. My husband and I are both 36, we live in New York City and I have two children 11 and 15. The rent here is ridiculous, Thank GOD for rent stabilization, schools here suck and although we are considered middle class according to our income we dont want to spend 400k for a house here on a dilapidated block. . Delaware is very nice to visit but Im wondering year round what to expect. My parents just want us close but I want to make a smart decision for my family. Any info would be helpful from anyone who has lived there for more than a year! Im basically looking for a family friendly area, I dont need a huge house, we just want something bigger than our 2 bedroom apt, good schools... etc. My husband is a MTA bus driver here but he is willing to drive a school bus or truck if anyone has any info on that. Im a freelance writer so I can stay home with the kids I can basically work from computer from anywhere , so basically thats my story any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Georgia to Northeast PA]

Originally Posted by swnichelle

My parents moved to Camden - Wyoming Delaware a year ago and they absolutely love it. BUT they are a retired couple, with no small children. My husband and I are both 36, we live in New York City and I have two children 11 and 15. The rent here is ridiculous, Thank GOD for rent stabilization, schools here suck and although we are considered middle class according to our income we dont want to spend 400k for a house here on a dilapidated block. . Delaware is very nice to visit but Im wondering year round what to expect. My parents just want us close but I want to make a smart decision for my family. Any info would be helpful from anyone who has lived there for more than a year! Im basically looking for a family friendly area, I dont need a huge house, we just want something bigger than our 2 bedroom apt, good schools... etc. My husband is a MTA bus driver here but he is willing to drive a school bus or truck if anyone has any info on that. Im a freelance writer so I can stay home with the kids I can basically work from computer from anywhere , so basically thats my story any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi, I have not lived in the area for 6 years but my parents live in Dover along with my brother, sister-in-law and niece. I think it was a good place to grow up and I guess my brother feels the same way since he moved back to raise his family. I am not sure how it would be moving from New York City to Delaware wow talk about culture shock. You are moving to the boonies and your kids would probably kill you. I think I got a good education in Delaware. I went to college in Philadephia, moved back to Delaware now I am in Georgia just south of Atlanta getting ready to move to Northeasten PA. I would say to move if your kids were younger but man they will be "Bored"! I was not bored but I think honestly, I love Delaware but if I were to move back, I would have to live in Newark no further south than Middletown because my husband said he would go nuts if we lived there now. I don't know if I helped. When your kids visit Camden what do they say now?

[swnichelle]

Culture Shock Indeed!!!I laughed when I read that. Thanks for your reply. To be honest even though my girls were raised in the city we always have a good time when we go to Camden, I asked them about Delaware, when we were considering locations and they both agree it would be a nice place to live. However I am keeping in mind we dont actually live there. I dont know how long that would last once we are finally there but I feel like its important to get feedback from them as well before making a big decision like that. My family is from the Catskill region in New York State, we moved to Brooklyn when I was 5, I went back upstate after high school to go to college, and after a few exhausting years battling treacherous snowstorms, I came back to the city to work and I raised my girls here for the last 8 years. They do have some recollection of growing up in a boonies like area, especially my oldest, but it wasnt totally unpleasant except for the heavy snows that lasted till Memorial day!! Camden seems nice and very quiet, but again my parents are retired and they can totally appreciate that, Not that I wouldnt mind a fresh outlook and quiet myself. I'm not familiar with the Newark area is it more city like with more things to do for the kids or just less "boonie"?

[Georgia to Northeast PA]

Originally Posted by swnichelle

Culture Shock Indeed!!!I laughed when I read that. Thanks for your reply. To be honest even though my girls were raised in the city we always have a good time when we go to Camden, I asked them about Delaware, when we were considering locations and they both agree it would be a nice place to live. However I am keeping in mind we dont actually live there. I dont know how long that would last once we are finally there but I feel like its important to get feedback from them as well before making a big decision like that. My family is from the Catskill region in New York State, we moved to Brooklyn when I was 5, I went back upstate after high school to go to college, and after a few exhausting years battling treacherous snowstorms, I came back to the city to work and I raised my girls here for the last 8 years. They do have some recollection of growing up in a boonies like area, especially my oldest, but it wasnt totally unpleasant except for the heavy snows that lasted till Memorial day!! Camden seems nice and very quiet, but again my parents are retired and they can totally appreciate that, Not that I wouldnt mind a fresh outlook and quiet myself. I'm not familiar with the Newark area is it more city like with more things to do for the kids or just less "boonie"?

I would say Newark is between boonies and the city. When we lived in Dover we would travel to Christiana area to go to Borders Books (there is not one I know of anywhere down state-which is anything in Kent or Sussex Counties +DE only has three counties New Castle, Kent and Sussex). Which is about 40 min away from Dover/Camden area. Your girls would be involved in school so what ever activities they got involved in would be recreation. There is a movie theater in Dover. There is a skating rink and a Drive-in that is open in the Spring and Summer. You can go to the beach but again you are driving 40 min. or more. If you live locally you don't go to the beach after memorial day because that is when everyone else is there.

[Noodles12]

If you are qualified in the $400,000 range in NY, you may not be qualified for that when you move to DE (cost of living is cheaper). But if you are, $400,000 will get you a nice house in a very nice neighborhood.

But, there are plenty of developments on the outskirts of Dover that may be quiet, but not out in the boonies. There are also a few developments in Magnolia that have land around them, but still in a development setting. We have 3 children and decided on a neighborhood for that reason also.

Vacation is different, if it's only for a short period of time. After about 3 months, the kids will probably be bored (just speculating of course).

[Georgia to Northeast PA]

Originally Posted by Noodles12

If you are qualified in the $400,000 range in NY, you may not be qualified for that when you move to DE (cost of living is cheaper). But if you are, $400,000 will get you a nice house in a very nice neighborhood.

But, there are plenty of developments on the outskirts of Dover that may be quiet, but not out in the boonies. There are also a few developments in Magnolia that have land around them, but still in a development setting. We have 3 children and decided on a neighborhood for that reason also.

Vacation is different, if it's only for a short period of time. After about 3 months, the kids will probably be bored (just speculating of course).

Noodles, I guess it is all relative. I think Dover is still the boonies particularly if you are moving from NYC (and I love Dover I grew up there spent all my childhood and most of my adulthood there). I would suggest renting because as far as I know there is still a good rental market in Delaware that way you can try different places and see which you like the best. If you have pets, unless your mom and dad are willing to take them, you will probably need to buy.

[angiei812]

Kids between 11 and 15 are terminally bored all the time. I'm sure even in Brooklyn they are often bored. (I grew up in Brooklyn so I am familiar). Not sure where you are in Bklyn, but I am certain your kids are not going to museums and art galleries all day long. You probably can't even let them go to the movies by themselves.

My point is that times have changed. No matter where you live, you pretty much have to organize activities for your kids or they are stuck in the house. So the fact that you need to drive 20 minutes to get to the movies is not so much an issue. You probably have to drive them to the movies now in Brooklyn too.

But early teens is a tough age to move anywhere. If your kids are OK with it, you're very lucky.

[swnichelle]

Thank you all for this information. We had not considered renting at first, but it is an option to think about,maybe until we find an area we are comfortable in to buy. Angie I totally agree with you, my kids talk about being bored most of the time, but not because they dont have anything to do, they sign up for things at school and it consumes alot of their time, so they dont have time to do all the other things they may want to do. Most of the activities they are into are school based. I would like to get them to go out and do more things like rollerskating and more trips to the movies. When we come down to Delaware to visit it seems like we spend more time together because we all have to find things to do to keep from being bored. Not a terribile thing although. We've been to a skating rink in Dover off of Highway 13, We've been to the movies, a barbecue festival, they love the malls down there, we have malls in the city, but we have to travel almost 2 hours to get to the big ones. Its definitely why we considered it as one of the places to live. Can anyone suggest areas or developments to look for rentals?

[Georgia to Northeast PA]

It depends on what you want to rent. I would probably go with a local rental agency. I could kick myself for not keeping my townhouse in Dover but you know you want that money on a down payment for something else but I put new carpet had it all painted, new lighting fixtures etc. for a quick sale it wasn't even on the market because an invester snatched it up for a rental. It depends on what school district you want to live. I would probably start in Dover or Middletown since that would not be far from your family. There have been so many new townhouses go up around the area I know you could get one of them not sure what rent is these days. You might be able to even go online here and look for rentals. They are not hard to find. It just depends how many sq.ft and bedrooms etc.