Best place for family to live if working in New Castle? (Wilmington: real estate, homeowners association)

[smallbrit]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum and looking for help! We currently live in Dallas, and my husband has just been offered a job in New Castle. We know nothing about Delaware at all, but I have been looking to leave Dallas (and leave working!) for a while, so this may be the right time.

We have a little toddler girl and another baby on the way, and are looking for somewhere family friendly but not as spread out as Dallas. I come from London, England, so I like cities, but I'm also used to things being within reasonable walking/driving distance. We're not fans of gated communities or strong homeowners associations, although if asked, we are looking for a similar "safe" kind of feeling. From vague looking, I'd been concentrating on Wilmington but then saw things like high crime rates etc, and realized I need local knowledge about specific areas/zip codes to hone in on, rather than just statistics. Or am I wrong for thinking about the Wilmington area at all and should I look at different areas?

We have until Monday (!) to make a decision, so I'd really appreciate help!

Thanks!

[Joe84323]

Hey, we get this question a lot, so I took a few minutes to outline the major different areas. This isn't total or absolute, as, obviously there are rich areas in Wilmington, and poorer areas in Greenville, but it gives you a good idea of what is rich, what is higher crime, and what is generally accepted as family suburbia in the area. I left the gaps between the outlines for a reason. They are transition points.



The area between Pink and Green are going to be the areas where expensive mansions and properties give way to newer and older developments aimed at families. Likewise, the area between Green and red is where decent suburban developments give way to poorer urban areas, and higher crime rates. The area I did leave out is Middletown and Townsend, which would fall under green category (safe and suburban,) but are cheaper because they are farther away from the metro, and are cheaper due to more plentiful land being currently developed.

You'll also see that Elsmere and Newport fall into both decent and less desired categories. They are very transitional urban/suburban as well.

As far as your density concerns, unless you pick an isolated nice townhouse neighborhood in either old New Castle or Wilmington, you're going to be driving no matter what. Fortunately, if you pick the right area, you can have everything you need within a couple traffic lights such as where I'm living for the moment, by Kirkwood Highway and Limestone Road. I have everything I need except for nightlife within a mile radius.

Good Luck

[maryCh]

Hi smallbrit,

Joe has given an excellent map for you to review... a great start to your fast search! Depending on how your husband is with commuting, you may even want to consider a bit further south towards Dover.

We targeted central Kent County when moving to DE a year ago. We have children in school, one with autism, so we were very careful in selecting the area to move to. We ended up in the Camden Wyoming area, and recently bought a house in the same school district.

As others have posted in other topics, the further south you go, to less expensive real estate is. AND, the less crowded too, which I like. I find Dover to be convenient to where we live, and if we need more than Dover has to offer, we can get to the beach area or northern DE in about an hour. And that is allowing for some traffic either way.

Good luck in you search; and let us know how the job offer, etc. turns out!

Mary

[Baconator]

For convenience to shopping, entertainment, and restaurants, you can't beat North Wilmington. Everything is just minutes away. Concentrate on 19803 or 19810 zip codes.
Another great feature about North Wilmington is rush hour traffic. If your husband is working in New Castle he will be traveling south in the morning and north in the evening; avoiding most of the traffic which typically runs opposite of the way he would be traveling.
That being said, the State flower is the orange traffic cone (followed closely by poison ivy), which pops up quite frequently on the roadway. Traffic, which is unavoidable, is a combination of volume, construction, and DELDOT's infinite wisdom.

Other areas to consider are Hockessin 19707 and Pike Creek 19711. If you like it a little more urban look at the "40 Acres" area of Wilmington (19806).

Crime is relative to where you live. There's a scumbag in every neighborhood and in every city, town, and state. Some neighborhoods have more than there fair share.
Wilmington is central to Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington DC. A lot of drugs run through the State. Most of the violent crimes are drug related and the victims know their assailant. Moral of the story is don't get involved with drugs.
Property crimes occur in just about every neighborhood from burglaries to thefts from motor vehicles. To reduce the risk, keep your doors locked at all times and get a dog.
Keep in mind, Delaware is a small state. So the cluster of crimes makes New Castle County look like a haven for criminals and thugs. The above listed zip codes are what I consider the safe areas. I wouldn't be overly concerned about being victimized. I would guess that the crime rate in Dallas would be equal to or worse that the crime rate here. If you find a neighborhood that interests you, list it here, I'm sure someone can tell you if it's good or bad.

Good Luck

[jskirwin]

Excellent map from Joe.
I might add that the areas in PA just across the border are worth looking into. I recommend West Chester (commutable via route 202), Kennett Square, Chadds Ford, Concordville, and Glen Mills. These areas are a little pricier but have good schools and quality of life.

[jdoll]

The Appoquinomink School District is considered one of the best in the state and you'll get a lot more house for the dollar in that area also. Primarily that is the towns of Middletown, Odessa and Townsend. It's the area my family moved to from Chicago and we love it.

But, if your heavily dependent on more urban living it's not the place to be. Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Lowe's and Home Depot are all here, but areas along I-95 are going to have a more urban feel.

The commute to New Castle (Corporate Commons, near the New Castle Airport) is 20 miles and takes 30 minutes on a standard commute.

Direct message me if you have more specific questions about this area. As I said, I moved here from the Chicago area two years ago and would be glad to share what I learn from my move here.

[smallbrit]

Oh wow. Thank you all so much for your informative and helpful replies. Everyone has given some really good advice and said things I'd never thought about, and that map is a wonderful resource for me, Joe. I can't thank you enough for steering me in such a helpful direction when I look up places I know nothing about on real estate listings.

We are trying to stall (well, more like negotiate terms!) on having to make a decision tomorrow. Right now we're veering towards saying yes, in which case I'm sure you'll see me throwing out a lot of questions here in the near future.

Thanks again to everyone for being so helpful!

[Joe84323]

Chiming in on Baconator's comment, I would also recommend 40 Acres, Trolley Square, Highlands, Kentmere, and Wawaset as great areas of Wilmington City to live in.

Good Luck!

[Baby Boomer Jersey Gal]

Originally Posted by Joe84323

Hey, we get this question a lot, so I took a few minutes to outline the major different areas. This isn't total or absolute, as, obviously there are rich areas in Wilmington, and poorer areas in Greenville, but it gives you a good idea of what is rich, what is higher crime, and what is generally accepted as family suburbia in the area. I left the gaps between the outlines for a reason. They are transition points.



The area between Pink and Green are going to be the areas where expensive mansions and properties give way to newer and older developments aimed at families. Likewise, the area between Green and red is where decent suburban developments give way to poorer urban areas, and higher crime rates. The area I did leave out is Middletown and Townsend, which would fall under green category (safe and suburban,) but are cheaper because they are farther away from the metro, and are cheaper due to more plentiful land being currently developed.

You'll also see that Elsmere and Newport fall into both decent and less desired categories. They are very transitional urban/suburban as well.

As far as your density concerns, unless you pick an isolated nice townhouse neighborhood in either old New Castle or Wilmington, you're going to be driving no matter what. Fortunately, if you pick the right area, you can have everything you need within a couple traffic lights such as where I'm living for the moment, by Kirkwood Highway and Limestone Road. I have everything I need except for nightlife within a mile radius.

Good Luck

Hi Joe84323,

Thank you for posting such a fantastic map. I was wondering if you could share the links to your map or how to create a map with such great information about any area?
I have been looking around at different areas to retire and for my Son to possibly relocate with his family along the eastern coast or nearby coast NC and north. Thanks.

[Joe84323]

Jersey Gal... I just went on Windows Live Local, hit printscreen, then copied the image into paint. From there, I picked diff. colors, and drew on the map, then put text boxes and typed the zips and cities before saving the image, and uploading it to photobucket before linking it on the page.

Sounds like a lot, but it's really not