Is Delaware as Boring as people Say it is? (Wilmington: how much, houses)

[Magilla43]

Originally Posted by maryCh

Hi Magilla (& family),

Sorry for the delay in posting, I was MIA most of June dealing with 3 of our kids graduating (not to mention, one being back in NC!). So glad to hear you and your family had such an easy time finding a home here in DE!

I did get your friend request, and look forward to hearing more from you when you get time. I do expect you will be too busy to post in these next few weeks, but will keep your family in my prayers that the move goes without incident!

Mary

Hi Mary,
Glad to see you've back. I totally understand being MIA graduations are wonderful occasions! Congrats! Yes, you are right, I'll be MIA too for the next few weeks (Packing, unpacking, etc.) ...whew lots to do! We're just getting back today (Sunday) to New Orleans our flight was delayed in Philly for 5 hrs. (folks tell me that happens quite often there) due to weather. Then, when we got to Atlanta we missed our connection and had to "fin" for ourselves. So, we made the best of things (with no luggage, etc.) and ended up sleeping in our clothes at the Marriott for the night! (On our dime!) Fun right? NOT!

So much for my adventures I'm about to hit the sack. Oh, yes, thanks for befriending me! You're my first friend on City data! Yay!

Take care,

Magilla & Family
P.S. Prayers accepted and welcomed! Thanks.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

If I were a young single looking to leave NYC for a significantly better cost of living, I wouldn't be looking at any location in the Northeast. Wilmington is tolerable for a 50-something partnered person like me. I've heard some great things about Providence, but the winters put me off and I don't think the economy is very good there at all at the moment. Chapel Hill-Carrboro NC is the most liberal place in the South and the Triangle would be vastly less expensive than NYC. There seems to be plenty going on in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, as well. Austin, TX has a great quality of life, lots of stuff happening and a low cost of living (and has only been lightly impacted by the recession).

Actually Greensboro and that entire corridor along I85/40 between Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro is good, lots to do, a very educated portion of the state, many universities and colleges in that area. Side note here--- I managed to catch up with a person I knew 45 years ago when I lived in Newark, he came down to N.C. we met up in Atlantic Beach, just across the sound from Morehead City and went fishing. It was great (the fishing here is truly first rate, most of the tourists to N.C. come from Pennsylvania, who usually come down here for the fishing) We had a good visit, caught a lot of fish and will probably do it again this coming Sept. As a former dupont brat, I didn't get to know that many people for any length of time, I really enjoyed the opportunity to renew a friendship.

[doctorjef]

Thanks, Dusty -- I'm still awaiting an investigative trip down to the Triangle in late Sept or early Oct!

[amerideaf]

Rehoboth Beach is the Nation's Summer Capital and you can see a great number of visitors from nearby places such as Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania during the summer months

[Precious4960]

Yes, delaware is not for young adult nothing to do. You would have to have a car to get to where your going. Transportation stops running @ 10:30 pm on saturdays @ 7:30 pm. I wished I stayed in NY.

[doctorjef]

Originally Posted by Precious4960

Yes, delaware is not for young adult nothing to do. You would have to have a car to get to where your going. Transportation stops running @ 10:30 pm on saturdays @ 7:30 pm. I wished I stayed in NY.

The fact is that outside a few major cities there is little public transportation in America. Like most places in this country, the suburban sprawl of Delaware is not only designed for personal automotive transport, but is in fact an artifact of the invention and proliferation of the motor car. If you are able to own, operate and maintain a personal motor car, you can get around satisfactorily most places in America. If not, it might be best to confine oneself to the centres of a few major cities, or alternatively to some small towns, where one can rely on public transport or get around on foot.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I'm sorry I don't have time to read this long thread, but like others have already posted it all depends on you and what you are looking for and where you are coming from. I grew up in DE my whole life and thought the same thing that it was boring and that you had to drive everywhere and that I had already seen everything there was to see in such a tiny place. So 3 years ago my fiance and I moved to NC to Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. Supposedly this was the place to be back then. Anyway, long story short we would sell our souls to the devil himself if we could get out of NC and back to DE where our friends and family are. Where it takes less than 2 hours to get to the beach (used to take me 1hr 20 minutes from Bear), where there are fun bars within walking distance of almost anywhere you live and where I feel like there is ALWAYS something to do. Where everything doesn't close at 9pm (for us night owls) and where everything isn't closed on Sunday so everyone can go to church (I attend the church of NFL thank-you). Where you are like 20 to 40 minutes to Philly (oh how I long to go to Philly!!!) or about 1 hour or so from Baltimore. You can take a weekend trip to DC or VA beach.

I think people who think DE is boring are people who are boring or unimaginitive. There is tons to do there or around there, you just have to look for it.

I'd give anything to move back to DE. Does anyone want to buy a house in NC??? I'm selling cheap!!!

[doctorjef]

Fun bars within walking distance almost everywhere in DE? Yes, maybe Dewey, Rehoboth or the UD section of Newark. I think you are now idealising DE, rather than accurately portraying things as they are here.

Next question: where in the Triangle are you living? Maybe your exact coordinates explain some of your disaffection there.

The family and friends issue: yes, if you gotta be close to family, then don't move at distance from them; as to friends, you have to make new ones in a new place and that takes time.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Fun bars within walking distance almost everywhere in DE? Yes, maybe Dewey, Rehoboth or the UD section of Newark. I think you are now idealising DE, rather than accurately portraying things as they are here.

Next question: where in the Triangle are you living? Maybe your exact coordinates explain some of your disaffection there.

The family and friends issue: yes, if you gotta be close to family, then don't move at distance from them; as to friends, you have to make new ones in a new place and that takes time.

I see your perspective as far as perhaps my homesickness is slightly idealizing DE. And since I grew up there and almost all of my networks are there, for me there is always something to do, someone having a dinner party, or going to NYC for the weekend and I could tag along. But I have friends who live all over. I grew up in Bear, and while perhaps not within walking distance, within a very short driving distance there are ok enough bars (it's not NYC or LA for goodness sake, but it isn't as expensive as there either). Newark, even if you don't live by UD (which when I lived there I did) you can still get to bars that don't all draw in the college crowd. Of course the beach has bars, but when I go there it is to visit the in laws and there are great bars in the Fenwick area (I don't ever go to Dewey anymore--- I'm too old for that non-sense). Wilmington has many many places to choose from- pretty much anywhere the Loop goes, and up 202 there are hidden places, and not so hidden ones. Plus there are dive/neighborhood bars like Steve's (is that place still around???). Of course bars aren't the only thing I think about. I think of all of the museums and things to go and do from DC all the way to NYC and even Jersey (though Jersey is a last resort I must admit) and there are hiking trails and biking trails. Yes we have those here as well, but you have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to anything decent, whereas when we lived in Newark, you could go out the back door on your bike and be at White Clay Creek in a short bike ride. There are far better concerts up there in my opinion (mostly because I don't care for country music).

As far as where I am living, we lived for a year in North Raleigh. There was a nice bar within walking distance, it just so happened that there were a lot of shootings within that same walking distance. We work in Durham and there are plenty of bars there too I suppose, but again I'm not so young that all I care about is bar hopping (I have to drive to get home). As far as friends go, I don't really know how to explain it to people, but if you relocate here, you understand. We have made "friends" here, but they aren't the same as the friendships we have back home. We've been here 3 years and we are well aware that it takes time to meet people and make lasting friendships, but it is almost as if the people who are from here are extremely reluctant to let people into their circle. Me and my friends back home were never like that. I have friends from all different parts of my life, new ones and old ones. And when someone brings a new friend to a dinner party I'm throwing I welcome them with open arms. It isn't like that here at all. People here stick with the friends they've had since high school or college. At least all of the ones my fiance and I have met (and we have met quite a few people here). Actually, the irony is the people we've made pretty good friendships with are all from somewhere else. Don't misunderstand, it isn't all bad here, we just aren't happy here. This place has some great things to offer, they just aren't the things we are looking for right now in our lives.

I appreciate the fact that I do have a bias, so take what I say, and what everyone on here says with a grain of salt. Like I mentioned before it all depends on the person and what you are looking for. We aren't looking for a constant party, and we appreciate things other than bars. We don't go to church and we don't plan to have kids. That leaves a lot out down here, that wouldn't be left out up there. But I would never tell someone that they should or should not have moved or move somewhere based solely on my experience. I am glad we moved here and had the experience, now I'm ready to come home and sometimes you can't appreciate what you have until it's gone... ok I won't belt out in song.

That being said, I guess to me Delaware isn't really that boring. And for everyone who thinks it is, why not just move out and go someplace more exciting, or more suitable??? That way you can 1) be happy and 2) sell your house to me, for cheap. hehehe. and 3) you can figure it out for yourself. That is the best advice I have, you just have to experience things and see if you like them.

[Sandee1213]

I will say this De, is a hard place to move to when you live in a place that is already very built up. I live right on the Jersey Shore, so compared to where I live now there is not as much to do in De. I think De. might be more neighborhood oriented though. People are much nicer too. I think there are pros and cons to every place.