Seattle native moving to work in Wilmington – seeking relocation advice (Pike Creek: insurance, hotel)

[armx]

Sea_native:

Your North Wilmington (Brandywine Hundred) choice is excellent. Before you decide to think about choosing PA for residence be mindful that it would cost (just in taxes) anywhere from 10K to 15K more to live in PA ... & commuting expenses etc.

There are a few communities in the price range you mentioned that you might find desirable.

[armx]

Just couple of more thoughts, Seanative:

North of Wilmington - Brandywine Hundred (that's what the geographic division is called - age-old reference roughly meant to be "hundred" acres) is a very established area - being the most desirable area for two-earner families. In the price range you are looking for, the housing inventory is of older vintage (probably, smaller {kitchen, bathrooms and closets}).... and more expensive on a per sq. ft. basis. Just something to keep in mind depending on your and your wife's mix of priorities.

I recommend that when you start your search in earnest, it might help to keep areas around (not necessarily in) City of Newark on your radar screen. Newark (Christina School District) has an excellent charter elementary school program (since your children are very young - for foreseeable future your focus MAY be on the elementary school); the catch is one has to live within certain distance (they don't want the children transported for too long) from the school to be eligible to get admission. Plus the proximity to the University - library, cultural programs, health food co-op, people with life priorities similar to yours - as you state - not military etc., is another aspect to think about.

As to living in New Jersey, South Jersey is quite rural, their economy is not in great shape, property taxes and auto insurance rate are exhorbitant - and areas that are desirable e.g. Princeton, the home prices are out of sight.

If you are going to work in Delaware, it is hard to see that there are any - financial or social -advantages living either in NJ or PA.

[doctorjef]

The designation of hundreds in Delaware has nothing to do with acreage -- the hundreds are much bigger than 100 acres. Actually the origin of the term is in dispute, but the idea that this had to do with a political division that was able to field at least 100 men for the militia seems to be the dominant theory. Some other states had hundreds at one point in history. They remained a politically meaningful unit in DE until the 1950s and had to do with legislative apportionment. They no longer have any political significance in DE but continue to be meaningful as real estate locations.

[SeaNative]

Thanks again for all the replies

I recently spent some time in area and explored Northern DE and Southern PA (Chadds Ford to West Chester and east through Media and Springfield). I also spent some time in Philadelphia and NJ. I like the area even though it’s much different than Seattle.

My wife is very outgoing and stopped just about everyone we crossed paths with to ask them where they live, how they like the area, told them we were relocating, etc. Most people were a bit taken aback by her engaging them in conversation but every single person we spoke with was welcoming and took the time to give us an honest opinion. Seattle is just the opposite. People will give you a smile and the time of day initially but not much else.

We’d probably choose Center City if it wasn’t for the city income tax. NJ just seemed more run down and over taxed than Southern PA so that’s off our list. Hockessin smells like $#*! so that area is out as well. Chadds Ford and North Wilmington are really tied to job opportunities in Wilmington. It just makes more sense for us to find a location that maximizes job opportunities in a 45min commute radius. As a result Media & Springfield make the most sense with West Chester and Glenn Mills a close second.

I think we’ll rent for 12 to 18 months even though the thought of moving twice in the next year or two makes me cringe. I think housing prices might have a long way to drop and they sure aren’t going to appreciate at any material rate in the next 18 months. There area a lot of homes on the market in the Philly Metro area with many more likely being added to the inventory this spring. In fact it really doesn’t look like much has sold in the area in the last 5 months so if sales don’t pick up in the spring I’m betting on a major price reduction in the area’s housing market in 12-15 months.

I didn’t get a chance to explore Newark but for Newark or Brandywine Hundred to be an option my wife would have to land a good job in that area prior to the move. In that scenario we’d wait even longer to buy ensuring our jobs and the area was the right fit.

[doctorjef]

Just to clarify, Newark and the Brandywine Hundred aren't particularly close to each other. The Brandywine Hundred is part of North Wilmington, close to the PA state line. Newark, to the south, is in closer immediate proximity to MD. The Brandywine Hundred is well located for everything in suburban Wilmington and Glen Mills, while it's a rather tiresome schlep between Wilmington and Newark.

[armx]

sea-native:

thanks for your post about which area you chose. That (sharing) is quite uncommon. Generally, newcomers wannabes drop off without a trace, leaving other posters to wonder whatever happened to so & so.

Renting for while is an excellent idea when moving to an area that is unlike your old "country" (lol) Keep in touch after you move eastward, so that you may share with us how the move to media-springfield pans out.

[uptown_urbanist]

You could live in Wilmington, maybe Trolley Square area, and be both near the train station or have very easy freeway and highway access. Bus service there is pretty good, too (not great, but depending on your work it could work). West Chester is beautiful, but doesn't have the benefit of the amtrak line, if you need that. There are tons of really nice attractive small towns in southern PA. Southern NJ is close geographically-speaking but in reality isn't so convenient for most people.

[Baton Rouge]

I read this thread hoping that someone would provide some information that would be helpful to my wife and me. I'll be working in Wilmington but we'd like to live in Philadelphia for the arts (dying to see genuine art museums again), quality restaurants (not pricy, just not chains), decent public transportation, and we'll need an older house with the potential for two art studios (barn/oversized garage). We don't have children so schools are not an issue. We've restored two antique houses (1812, 1820 in and around Boston) so our tastes run toward colonials although we've lately gotten interested in arts and crafts architecture and all that goes with it. However, we don't want to live in the sticks (a description, not a value judgment: sticks, as in exurbia). Cleveland Heights, Ohio actually offers all of that but that's not where the job is. I'm only slightly familiar w/Philly and not at all with Delaware. We don't want to or can't spend more than $400-500,000. Any suggestions between Philadelphia and Wilmington?

[uptown_urbanist]

Baton Rouge - while I think Philadelphia is wonderful, don't discount Delaware for the arts. Thanks in part to all that old Dupont money there are some world-class collections in the Wilmington area. Winterthur comes to mind first (just north of Wilmington - make it one of your first stops if you haven't been there!) but there's also places like Nemours, Hagley, Delaware Art Museum, etc.

In any case, I'd take a closer look at Wilmington before you make up your mind. You can still live and work in Wilmington, be close to lots of great Wilmington opportunitities, and still be a pretty quick drive or train ride to Philadelphia and its offerings. Depending on the area of Wilmington there are lots of quality non-chain restaurants, and plenty of interesting old home options.

Another bonus of living in Wilmington and not Philly - you'll be that much closer to DC and Baltimore, making it even easier to make day trips to take advantage of everything those cities to offer.

[thesixth]

Baton Rouge, you could probably find some older homes in your range in & around, Swarthmore, Wallingford, Ridley Park and Media. Swarthmore will be the priciest of the lot & could be out of your range, but as you note, prices should be dropping since things are not moving much at all.
For the much older homes like you restored in Boston, you would have to look into sections of Philadelphia proper to find them. Old farmhouses can be found scattered in the suburbs bet. Wilmington & Phila, but they might cost than you want.