New home in Delaware? (Wilmington, Dover: sales, real estate, 2009)

[anni+mike]

Hi there,
my hubby and I are planning on moving out of NY, since taxes are just ridiculous
We considered West Coast, NC or Delaware
But I think West Coast is gonna be too pricy as well

So would you recommend the state of Delaware when your looking for low taxes, good job opportunities, a friendly community, affordable housing, a mild climate throughout the year (not too hot in the summer and not icy in the winter) a safe place to raise your children (well we don't have any yet but are planning on having kids in the near future ) ????

Which are the 'nicest' cities where you have nice restaurants, recreational activities, a beautiful landscape?

You prob answered those questions a million times...sorry
Would still be really helpful if you have any advice or could share your experiences

Thanks a lot
Anni

[oath]

Hi Anni,

I just stopped by to say hi. I can not help you with sugguestion because I am new here, but what I feel in Newark where I live is people are nice and there are many shopping center . I live near downtown about 5 mins drive. I saw many places for kids as school,child cares and also good resturants.

Well, I like where I live now.

PS: I never been anywhere else yet because just here almost a year only.

Nice to meet you.

[doctorjef]

You should be more specific regarding what sort of job opportunities you mean. Obviously at the moment the economy is in the rubbish bin and job opportunities are pretty much crap everywhere. I think it's hard to evaluate what these will look like in DE over the next couple of years, even with economic recovery projected nationally for the 4th quarter of 2009. Otherwise DE is a good choice for low cost of living, at least relative to other places on the east coast.

[phlydude]

Living in a non-incorporated area will save you the most on taxes...different school districts have different tax structures as do the 3 counties.

As far as weather, we do get 90's in the summer, snow and ice in the winter (but not as bad as northeast US) - the closer to the beach areas you go, the less harsh the winters

Newark is a college town and has a variety of things, restaurants and shops. Wilmington caters to the banking industry and people complain that it dies after 6 PM.

Dover is the capital but a small city where the state and military are the biggest employers.

Our industries are banking, chemical and pharmaceuticals, military, state government, education and farming (automotive used to be there but 1 plant is closed and another one could be on its way out)

Housing costs should be less expensive than what you see further north and out west in CA, but I still think NC might give you a better bang for the housing dollar (but I don't know how the taxes are).

As far as scenery goes, it all depends on what you are looking for...I think the state is beautiful. From cypress trees and beaches in the south, farmland, foothills in the north. No matter where you are in the state, you are a couple hours from mostly anything you'd want to see. That is the beauty of this area...metro closeness, small area feel and plenty of nature to explore.

[doctorjef]

I think this is correct that you can get better real estate value for money in NC, as I've been looking at the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill ("Triangle") MLS quite a bit recently. However, I also understand that taxes are signficantly higher in NC, although I haven't systematically investigated this as yet. I have been thinking about a possible move to NC in a couple of years when I can get my money out of our present house in suburban Wilmington. Reasons: milder winter, more of an urban lifestyle with the marked social liberalism of the Triangle, esp Chapel Hill, as well as of Asheville in western NC.

I'd also suggest checking out Austin, TX -- taxes not bad (no state income tax; property taxes somewhat higher than in DE but not as much as elsewhere); good weather, though very hot in the summer; and a really good overall quality of life.

[SXMGirl]

I agree with doctorjef that Austin TX is a great quality of life. Delaware has lower cost housing, insurance, taxes, and no sales tax. Delaware is not the healthiest state to live in. Before you move to any area, please check cancer rates and other health problems that are prevalent. No place is perfect, but we did not look at those stats and I regret it.

[Desi]

Doc Jef: As somebody who has been lurking around on this board, I've noticed a few people have mentioned the triangle area as a great place to live. Maybe it is but here is my take on the area. We moved there from Brooklyn, NY. My husband had retired while in Brooklyn and I retired as a flight attendant for a major airline. Telling you this because obviously I have been around the world many times and lived in Asia and Europe. True it is a beautiful area and pretty nice weather in winter some of the spring and fall. Having said that summers I felt are awful. The attitude that it is somehow a liberal area is mostly true of Chapel Hill. That is not true for the whole triangle area. As far as cost of living, compared to the Boroughs of New York the main difference is real estate. I thought food was very expensive as were all the other little taxes they get you on. Having said all this I suppose it really depends on what YOU are looking for and your needs. Just my two cents for what it is worth.

[doctorjef]

Thanks, Desi. Yes, I do worry about the summers there, although having lived in Austin for many years I can't imagine the summers in NC are worse! As to liberalism, I expect that I would feel compelled to live in Chapel Hill-Carborro if we were actually to make the move. Having said that, some people on the City-Data Triangle sub-forum certainly do seem to genuinely see Raleigh and Durham as tolerant places that are socially liberal relative to other areas in the South. It may be like Austin, however. There are many liberals in Austin, as attested by its voting patterns, but the city is surrounded by more conservative suburbs and there is a contingent of quite conservative - even reactionary - standard issue Texas types living in Austin itself. Generalisations only get you so far when describing a place.