Moving from Seattle to Delaware... help (Wilmington, Newark: short sales, foreclosures, lease)

[jcanon81]

My wife, 1 year old son and I are relocating from Seattle to Delaware in about 6 months, and I'm stumped on which area to live. I'm a 27 yr old web developer that will be commuting everyday to central Philly. Long drives do not bother me, but I'd still like to keep it less than an hour and a half.

My wife and I are originally from West Virginia, so we both love a rural setting. We'll be renting for 12-18 months while saving to buy a house. We're looking around a 250-275k price range. Can anyone suggest some family friendly, safe, rural areas with a decent commute to Philly? We love quiet, boring open spaces, farm land, and basically being hermits.

I was looking in Bear, Smyrna and Middletown, but I'm not sure what the drive will be from those places and how quiet they actually are.

[doctorjef]

Have you bothered to look through any of the recent threads having to do with relocation issues of northern DE/Wilmington vs. SE PA? Why don't you check out at least the most recent three pages of this forum first and then ask more focused questions if you still have any. I really don't mean to be unkind, but these same questions get asked over and over again, each time creating a new thread. There is plenty of existing information on this board already covering your topic.

[jcanon81]

I actually looked through the first 16 pages of the forum before posting. Most people on here seem to want to be within close proximity to some sort of a night life or something to do.

I'm really wanting a rural setting close to Philly. I've only been to Delaware twice, and only to Rehoboth beach. I'm not able to come look before I move and every area I research seems to have problems with bad spots or is a little too pricey for me.

So here's a specific question... which of these 3 areas have the most rural and safe setting: Bear, Smyra, or Middletown. I don't want to move to a bad area, be locked into a lease for an entire year and feel that my family isn't safe.

[doctorjef]

I would think Smyrna would be your best bet for rural, exurban life. Definitely not Bear. Middletown IMO is in a precarious position. There have been numerous foreclosures and short sales there due to giving subprime mortgages to people who couldn't afford their McMansions thrown up by crap developers in what used to be productive farmland. However, I am concerned that you will not find a long drive to Philly to be quite the same thing as a long drive in the Pacific Northwest (or out West generally). The price of petrol is almost sure to rise again in future, as will heating oil (if you are far enough out to be off the gas pipelines). DE certainly has tax advantages, but you may be more likely to find what you are looking for somewhere in SE Pennsylvania. It seems to me that you might do better to rent a home initially in the greater Wilmington area and search for what you are ultimately looking for whilst actually living in the area; otherwise you may find that you have made a considerable mistake that will be difficult to correct.

[doctorjef]

Just to clarify my previous post, I'm concerned that both Bear and Middletown may become increasingly blighted. Both already have some bad elements residing there and that may only increase with the economic deterioration that we are currently facing. The more traditional small town Smyrna scene might prove more resilient, but I think the commute you would be undertaking would likely prove a very sorry grind over time.

[jcanon81]

Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for.

[jdoll]

Originally Posted by jcanon81

Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for.

I reside 1-2 miles south of Odessa off Route 13 and would recommend you look east of Odessa or Smyrna; or Townsend to the west. Along Route 9 is very rural and you can get an older home or there are a few developments that may now be priced in the upper 200's.

As a point of reference from Route 299 (Middletown-Odessa-Townsend) to PHL airport is 50 mins with no traffic and 1hr-10 to Center City. Or 25 min from the same starting point is the Septa (Philly commuter train) stop at Churchman Crossing. Septa to Philly is the stress free option for any office type work IMHO.

I would not worry as much about Middletown as the DR might. It has fewer bad neigborhoods than Smyrna, but both are good towns. Feel free to contact me with specific questions. I'm an old farm kid from the Midwest thats spent the last 30 years in Chicago, Salt Lake, etc and love it here. It's country like, but has the just enough to make life comfortable. The only neg I'll give you on DE is ---- bring your own coffee.

Hope that helps you.

[toobusytoday]

I'm surprised you are not looking at small towns in Pennsylvania or in Delaware on the northern edge near the PA border. The prettiest part of Delaware (IMHO) is the beach area but that's not within commuting distance of Philadelphia.

However, within an hour of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania you'll find small towns with rolling hills and good schools. Just for the heck of it, I would suggest you look at the areas of Hockessin, DE and Kennett Square, PA. Having lived in West Virginia myself (and rural Delaware) I think you will find the rural areas of the very northernmost areas of Delaware and the PA towns just over the border are nicer then the sprawly areas South of Newark. You will have to drive miles to find a hill....

[doctorjef]

You would probably like Unionville, PA, which is a few miles from Kennett Square. Recently there have been some more modest homes in the 500K range, give or take, in Centerville, DE, which is at the tip top of DE and a lovely little village. I must disagree about the beaches being the prettiest part of DE. Of course, it's up to ones own aesthetics, but I much prefer this little micro-environment of far northern DE -- rolling hills, woods, rocky outcroppings, little farms on extemely hilly and uneven land. This is the appalachian piedmont and is just lovely IMO.

[toobusytoday]

I agree with you about the area you've described doctorjef, but when I think of the drive on I-95 heading southwest through Northern Delaware and then heading South towards Middletown and Odessa, that is NOT what one sees. You see cars and houses pretty darn close to each other. I LOVE the area you described ("rolling hills, woods, rocky outcroppings, little farms on extemely hilly and uneven land") which is pretty much what I have up here in Lehigh County PA, but I don't think that describes Odessa, Smyrna or Middletown. They're all small compared to Philadelphia(!) but are they rural?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm just thinking about what the OP asked for and it occurred to me that if I had a choice between say southern New Castle County or Chester County, I would much prefer Chester County. And if they want to stay in Delaware, I think the areas to the North are preferable then heading South.