10 things I hate about Northern Delaware!!! (Wilmington, Dover: employment, private school, college)

[ligo]

Hi everybody...Reading posts with interest. Moving to Delaware but I don't drive. Have read a bit about transportation and am a little concerned. How is Wilmington as a walking/ bike riding town. Like the sound of having a lot of parks and I love to hike in some out of town areas but I also have to get to work, grocery shopping, etc. Can anybody comment on getting around? How safe is it to walk around Wilmington downtown at night? Have spent a bit of time in Atlantic City, NYC, Philly, Ft. Lauderdale so not a babe in the woods about safety. Appreciate any comments.

[doctorjef]

Wilmington is not very walkable overall. The Trolley Square area offers basic amenities like a not-very-good supermarket (an Acme where it can be difficult to find anything you actually want to buy), drug stores, etc that are easily walkable. A small area in the generally fairly pricey suburb of Greenville is walkable for some decent shopping and basic amenities. There are areas of North Wilmington like Fairfax where, if you lived just immediately off 202/Concord Pike, it would be theoretically walkable to some shopping. However, overall Wilmington - like most American cities - just isn't very walkable. A good deal of cycling but more for recreation than for basic transportation. You might want to start a separate thread on your questions, rather than tapping into this one.

[Joe84323]

Wilmington is a very walkable town. The problem is, you have to have to tolerate a bit of crime. If you do not have a
"ghetto pass," you're limited to certain areas. Where I lived in Wilmington (not downtown,) I had, within two blocks, 3 sub shops, 3 italian restaurants, 3 convenience stores, a five and dime, a pharmacy, 2-3 bars, 3 banks, 3 churches, 2 furniture shops, a barber shop, 4 hair salons, a veterinary clinic, cleaners, meat shop, photography studio, chinese restaurant, a law office, appliance shop, and a few other business that don't come to me at the second. This is only within a 2 block radius. I also had 3 bus routes ON MY BLOCK that all went downtown and to the train station for Amtrak and Septa.

The problem is, the area isn't chic, it's somewhat unsafe at night, and there are no hipsters

I would urge ligo to look at Philadelphia, where there is more "safe" walkability.

[doctorjef]

Note: Joe is talking of the City of Wilmington proper -- the rather small area within the City limits. As the city hasn't annexed any territory since shortly after the Civil War, most of what is commonly called "Wilmington" is unincorporated suburbs immediately surrounding the city proper. The burbs are not very walkable and the City is mostly a place you probably don't want to live (there are exceptions to that north of I-95, such as Trolley Square which I mentioned).

[Pine to Vine]

Actaully ligo, I don't feel you need to limit yourself to Trolley Square. Other neighborhoods you might consider include Forty Acres (including the streets around Kentmere Parkway) and Highlands. Years ago, the Triangle and Trinity Vicinity were also quite nice (Trinity being pretty small and isolated, however). If Trinity has changed, it wouldn't surprise me (others can weigh in).

I used to ride my bike all over town and got a good workout riding between Brandywine and Rockford Parks, and when ambitious into the countryside beyond. As for walking, during the day you can walk downtown to a job if you live close enough, but it is pretty empty at night. Rather than safety (which is still a concern), the bigger question is why would you got there since not much goes on in the evening.

In Wilmington, you can make it without a car, but your life will be logistically more difficult. As Joe says, Philly is a much more walkable urban city, and many people would prefer NOT to own a car here. Wilmington is pretty sleepy. This is not a bad thing if this is what you want - just letting you know.

[doctorjef]

The areas that jm02 mentions are largely contiguous with Trolley so I didn't bother to mention areas like Forty Acres, which is immediately adjacent to Trolley. Highlands is lovely and pricey. As usual it's difficult to advise unless you know what the poster is looking for in terms of housing and price range; also rentals vs. purchase.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

As usual it's difficult to advise unless you know what the poster is looking for in terms of housing and price range; also rentals vs. purchase.

That's why I didn't limit my recommendations. The Triangle neighborhood adjacent to Brandywine Park and Salesianum school used to be qutie nice, as well. I don't know if Trinity is still nice - used to be quite charming though isolated.

[justsuppose]

Originally Posted by Iraqvet

Now granted in the summer it will be stinking hot, but I'd rather live in 7 months of spring than 8 months of winter up north.

8 months of winter up north. Ha!!! You must not be talking about Delaware because I don't really even consider Delaware a cold state. I would say it pretty much has a good mix of all four seasons. The winters are not bitterly cold and it doesn't even snow that much in Delaware. Now if you want to talk about 8 months of winter, try living in Cleveland.[/quote]

Or upstate New York, the "Great Northeast". Bah. This winter we had 89" of snow and it still hasn't reached a decent temp and it's Easter. Time to go.

[Minnie Mouse9]

If you hate northern Delaware so much then move.

[ligo]

Thanks all for comments.