Bear ,DE or Elkton,MD (Glasgow, Middletown: for sale, houses, neighborhoods)

[timandlizasmum]

I am a mother of two kids, 11 and 6, thinking of moving to the Delaware area pretty soon.I need to know what town is children friendlier, Bear, DE or Elkton, MD. What town has better schools, public library(they read alot) activities,(baseball,etc).All advice will be appreciated.Thanks!!!

[SXMGirl]

Elkton is an actual town; Bear is really just a large area. Bear does have a fairly new public library, and there are many athletic activities in the area. Bear also has the new YMCA and Glasgow Park is across the street from the Y. I would take a serious look at the schools. There is a new elementary school in Bear on Route 72 and that is suppposed to be excellent. Also, Olive B. Loss School in the Appoquinimink District is in Bear, and it has an excellent reputation.

[timandlizasmum]

Thanks, I will look at Bear more closely.

[mikandmari]

Bear is not in the Appoquinimink school district, that is below the canal (Middletown). Not sure about that "particular" school that was just named, but I believe that Bear is in the Christina school district.

I'll be frank about something... Bear is much more diverse than Elkton. Elkton is still pretty 'white'.

Also, Aberdeen Proving Ground is down the road (an easy drive down route 40) and I just heard that their will be many new civilian jobs located there soon... a local realtor told me that it is expected to revitalize the housing market, apparently these will be good paying jobs for college-grad types. I don't know much more about that... you may want to research it a bit.

Elkton is definitely less congested! Bear is a mass, unplanned suburbia. It is the community often used as a comparison around here (we don't want another Bear) when folks talk about planned communities. You can't walk anywhere in Bear. You'll pull out of your neighborhood onto busy roads... but every store you'd ever need is within 3 or 4 traffic lights!

Elkton is more like an old fashioned community... also, there is the Fair Hill natural area, lots of woods and open space, and the Chesapeake.... just beautiful. There are some rougher-edge areas... but a lot of nice neighborhoods.

Taxes are cheaper in Bear. Homes in Elkton have cheaper taxes if you aren't right in town... the more rural outskirts are better. But they do reassess every few years.

I personally was looking at leaving Delaware to move to the Fair Hill area... but stay close enough to Delaware to do my shopping, since it is tax free. But, my plans have been changed...

Good luck!

[mikandmari]

Forgot to add...Delaware has a larger selection of private schools, if you can afford it (a lot of folks choose this because we have low property taxes). Maryland doesn't have as many. Delaware also has a pretty decent public Vo-Tech District and some magnet/charter public schools.

[SXMGirl]

The 19702 zip across 896 is still Bear but in the Appo District. There are Bear developments that go to both Colonial and Christina. Parents choose; at least that is true where I live.

[mikandmari]

That's interesting SXMGirl... I know that Port Penn is in the Colonial district...... It amazes me that they would ship those kids back and forth across those bridges!

[SXMGirl]

Originally Posted by mikandmari

That's interesting SXMGirl... I know that Port Penn is in the Colonial district...... It amazes me that they would ship those kids back and forth across those bridges!

Not only is Port Penn part of the Colonial District, but also part of Middletown. I am not sure where the boundary is or if those who live in Middletown can go to either Colonial or Appo, but several Middletown areas are Colonial. Likewise, the developments such as Amberwood and Clairborne and that area across 896 are Appo.

[ron del]

In Bear Delaware you have access to three major high schools: Glasgow HS, Christiana HS and William Penn HS. These are large schools about which you can find info on the web. These represent the feeder patterns of the school districts. I live in Delaware and would recommend Elkton MD or Northeast MD. Bear is a large suburban area with varying housing prices and economic classes. New Castle County Delaware schools are still functioning under the federal redistricting rules from the 70s, MD is not.

[Ambull]

Originally Posted by SXMGirl

Not only is Port Penn part of the Colonial District, but also part of Middletown. I am not sure where the boundary is or if those who live in Middletown can go to either Colonial or Appo, but several Middletown areas are Colonial. Likewise, the developments such as Amberwood and Clairborne and that area across 896 are Appo.

SXMGirl,

Speaking of Amberwood and Clairborne, what do you think of those communities? Amberwood seems to never have many houses for sale which I guess is a good sign. I can't remember too much about Clairborne. We also looked at Brennan (not as nice) and Beldin (new construction).

I'll be moving to the area in a few months, and my family and I have found ourselves focusing in the area of those communities, due to the proximity to Route 40 (and my commute to work) and the fact this area is still in the Appo school district (though future rezoning scares me - but living south of the canal just adds too much time to my commute).