Cool Springs Neighborhood of Wilmington - Opinions? (Dover, Camden: apartments, rental)

[buffettologie]

I searched but didn't find much. I'm looking at a house to purchase near Cool Springs park and wanted some opinions about the neighborhood - safety specifically, but also info about the "vibe" of the neighborhood and the availability of shops/restaurants, etc...

Thanks!

[Baconator]

Cool Springs is on the cusp of the ghetto, so it depends on how "near" you are to Cool Springs. I used to live in the apartments behind the Children's Theater next to the reservoir. Pure entertainment, and I'm not talking about the theater.
There's nothing like watching crackheads smoking up on the park benches or the crack whores rendering services for drugs on top of the reservoir. The park and reservoir is littered with used condoms and drug paraphernalia. It's so bad I think the squirrels and pigeons are strung out and infested with aids. J/K
As a guide, the farther you get from Delaware Ave the worse it gets. I think 7th St maybe the dividing line.

On the positive side, I love the old houses there. They just don't build houses like that anymore. You would pay top dollar today for the woodwork and craftsmanship you see in a lot of the homes out that way. It's also city living. Just keep your wits about you and you should be fine.

Good Luck

[buffettologie]

Thanks for that, similar to some of the other things that I've heard. The house is near the intersection of Jackson and 8th, thoughts?

[mikandmari]

I'd avoid that area... are you planning on renting, or buying? 8th & Jackson is very borderline. Cool Springs borders the highest crime section of the city, called Hilltop. Not safe. Unfortunately, the folks trying to save Cool Springs are fighting a losing battle.

The other side of Pennsylvania Ave is much better, although more expensive. If you're renting, check out the Trolley Square area, not far from Cool Springs. Then you can take the time to learn the good/bad pockets of the city. Good luck!

[buffettologie]

Originally Posted by mikandmari

I'd avoid that area... are you planning on renting, or buying? 8th & Jackson is very borderline. Cool Springs borders the highest crime section of the city, called Hilltop. Not safe. Unfortunately, the folks trying to save Cool Springs are fighting a losing battle.

The other side of Pennsylvania Ave is much better, although more expensive. If you're renting, check out the Trolley Square area, not far from Cool Springs. Then you can take the time to learn the good/bad pockets of the city. Good luck!

We were planning to rent initially like you said and try to learn more about the city. The rental we found is near that intersection. When you say that it's not safe are you comparing that to NYC not safe or small town PA not safe? I don't want to make a bad decision here, but my options are somewhat limited.

[Baconator]

Wilmington's culture of crime and violence is influenced by the major metropolitan cities like New York and Philadelphia. So no, it's not small town petty crime. I believe 2008 was the highest year for homicides in the City of Wilmington.

One thing most people don't realize is that there is a lot of gang activity in Delaware. Even in the suburbs! We do have Bloods and Crips. While I don't have specific figures to quote, rumour has it that DSU has a problem with gangs, as quite a few come from New York City. With the large number of Hispanics in the area, there are a lot of Hispanic gangs as well. If you can read the graffiti tags, you'll notice how prevalent it is.

Does the average law abiding citizen have to worry about gangs? No. Most of the violence is drug related, black on black, hispanic on hispanic crime; however, sometimes the innocent do get caught in the cross fire.

My recommendation, you would be better off living on the other side of Pennsylvania Ave/Delaware Ave as mikandmari stated. If not try to get closer to Padua or Ursaline. Regardless of where you live in the city, just be smart about it and you will be fine.

Here's some common sense tips to reduce your chance of being a victim:

1. Lock your doors and windows even if your home.
2. Keep your car doors locked at all times
3. If you buy expensive electronics or other items, don't put the boxes in front of the house on trash day. You're just advertising what you have.
4. Don't be predictable. Vary your pattern of when and how you come home.
5. Keep a mental note of the ordinary things, if they're out of place that may be a clue.
6. Keep your head on a swivel and always check your back.
7. Never look a stranger in the eye. Watch their hands instead. Look for unusual bulges on their waist line. You can tell if a shirt doesn't "flow" right. There may be an unusual fold or crease in the shirt above the item they're concealing.
8. If someone is carrying a weapon, watch their arms and hands. They will adjust themselves in a peculiar manner. They will also frequently pat themselves down with there hands, forearm or elbow to make sure the weapon is there.
9. Don't let anyone approach you. If you see suspicious person coming toward you, go across the street to a well lit or populated area.
10. Get to know your neighbors.

Anyone else, feel free to add on to the list

[caseyx2]

I want to live in a small town in Delaware ... is there such a thing? I want to retire there. any advice?

[doctorjef]

caseyx2, there are loads of small towns in DE, though I personally don't see why one would want to live in many of them -- they're REAL SMALL and oftentimes rather isolated, even in a small state like DE. There are many threads on the DE forum dealing with retirement communities and housing developments geared in large measure to retirees in such small places -- just look around the threads, maybe with a DE map to help you locate where these towns are. You can also go to the forum called SkyscraperCity and search the various Delaware picture threads, almost all posted by a young DE guy called xxmattzz, including his great Delaware Picture A Day thread on the general photography forum -- you will see innumberable pictures from many small DE towns and he has posted many threads devoted to individual small DE towns.

[Joe84323]

Double Post

[Joe84323]

I'm still surprised to see that people still think New York is a bad city. It hasn't been for a good 15 years. Get out more, people

All the "old post-industrial river ward ghetto cities" have unusually high crime. For some reason, this happens to be the worst in our area. The Delaware river towns are some of the worst in the country for crime and decay (Wilmington, Chester, Philadelphia, Camden, Chester.) Whereas similar towns inland (Media, West Chester, Millville, Dover) don't seem to have been hit the same.

All I can say, is don't act dumb, and don't give people an inch.

Example: Gimme a Dolla!

Person 1: Oh, Well, gee, I guess. "Gimme more" "Let me get 2 dollas!"

Person 2: Ahah <shakes head, no smile> "Alright then"

Be direct, and blunt, but not mean, and not polite either.