Newark/Wilmington Area (Bear, Glasgow: low crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[templeowl36]

Hello all, thinking of moving to the Newark Area and have some questions. First, I realize the location is great! We have family in Philly and I would be traveling the Mid-Atlantic states, so this works great. I have done some research for homes on Realtor.com and saw the school system in Newark is rated 5 out of 10 by great schools. The high school is rated a 2! I also have seen crime mentioned a lot in the threads. Any thoughts? What would be some good areas to drive around or at least check out on the internet. Zip codes would be great. I have seen some nice houses in 19702 and 19711. I really appreciate any feedback

[katreese]

I don't have anything positive to say about Newark. I'm a grad student at UD and have been living on campus for a year. Newark is a dump. As they say, "There is no there there". It consists of a tiny, dull, student-dominated Main Street and a bunch of crappy, outlying strip malls with dirty, old stores. The traffic is ridiculous. I once drove from one end of Main Street to the other during rush hour and it took ONE HOUR - for a town with a population of about 20,000, that is insane.

I would take a closer look at Wilmington. Wilmington has its own issues, but at least there is a town, and lots of cute neighborhoods and good private schools (perhaps good public ones as well). You might also check out the Bear/Glasgow area.

[Sandee1213]

I am having a house built in Newark and it is a beautiful area. I just moved here, but Newark seems very big. I would not say that Newark is a dump (unless you are talking about Newark, NJ) Maybe where you live in Newark is a dump, but not all of Newark. I will be living no where near the college. It is a nice suburban area with good size houses and lots. The people are very friendly and what I hear is that there is a low crime rate.

[armx]

What Newark or Wilmington is like is fairly relative to which colored glasses you are looking through!!Just to put it in perspective here are my 2 cents:

Kat.... is from Chicago, so if you are coming from NYC, SF, DALLAS, LA then you MAY feel the way Kat feels if and when you get here. Kat is a grad student, pretty much univ. bound where Main street is the only show in town. But if you come from areas where majority of remaining (other than Kat) people live, you may agree with Sandee. And although she plans to live near Newark her children will be attending Appoquinimink district schools....

And from afar all you can do is read the statistics but quality of schools depends on the students and parents interest in schooling than how many dollars per student are being spent or what the scores at different grades show....... because with "no child left behind" some teachers in bad schools have learned to teach students with the test questions in mind or preparing the students a week before the test - all week long - with questions very similar to what is on the test. Bad performance has a punishment of fund withholding. So students are not learning what they ought to but just what they are going to be tested on.

[katreese]

Originally Posted by armx

Kat.... is from Chicago, so if you are coming from NYC, SF, DALLAS, LA then you MAY feel the way Kat feels if and when you get here. Kat is a grad student, pretty much univ. bound where Main street is the only show in town. But if you come from areas where majority of remaining (other than Kat) people live, you may agree with Sandee. And although she plans to live near Newark her children will be attending Appoquinimink district schools....

Mmm...I don't know if you're "trying" to talk about me here, but I'm not from Chicago, and I'm not "pretty much university bound". If you are talking about me, I don't know why you felt compelled to make assumptions or to make up random details about me.

I do agree with Sandee that there are some very nice neighborhoods in Newark, and lots of very nice homes. I just would rather live in a place that has a "town" and that every time I have to go to a store, post office, bank, etc. it isn't in some dirty, disgusting old strip mall. But I do understand that many people aren't interested in the town aspect of where they are living - everyone has different interests!

[armx]

I was just alerting the OP about perspectives of residents and transients.

Fortuanately, all our past posts are still available for anyone to see by clicking on our handles. OP can satisfy himself as to whether you claimed to grow up in Chicago suburbs or not.

I did not and do not intend to make it about you but to give OP a caution as to transient person's opinion as against persons who have made a decision to live or actually have lived in the area. ..AND if he chooses to give more importance to transient person's blurb that is his choice.

[katreese]

Originally Posted by armx

I was just alerting the OP about perspectives of residents and transients.

Fortuanately, all our past posts are still available for anyone to see by clicking on our handles. OP can satisfy himself as to whether you claimed to grow up in Chicago suburbs or not.

I did not and do not intend to make it about you but to give OP a caution as to transient person's opinion as against persons who have made a decision to live or actually have lived in the area. ..AND if he chooses to give more importance to transient person's blurb that is his choice.

I never "claim" to grow up anywhere. Just because I spent a few years in the Chicago suburbs doesn't mean I am from there - and you did say Chicago, not Chicago burbs - I haven't lived in the burbs since 1992, so that hardly qualifies as "coming from" Chicago to Newark. I'm not going to go back and re-read my posts - thanks for the useless tip by the way - but you are hardly qualified to do it for me or anyone else, as your facts are way off.

You are making my point for me. Just because I am a grad student does not mean I treat Newark as a transient. I have friends, a job, and do community service in Newark. So again, you're making assumptions.

You're also assuming the OP is a man. Apparently you're really good at making things up about people. Maybe you should write novels.

[templeowl36]

Thanks so far for the help, can we just move on? Not to be rude, but I get both of your points, and the OP is a man.
Are there any crime issues in the Newark area? certain areas to stay away from when looking for homes?
Thanks again!

[katreese]

[armx]

There are no crime issues where one could point out to an area to stay away from. If you are buying and lookiing in the price range over $250K you will not be wasting your time while web browsing. When you actually decide to come here and look,...... the areas with undesirable elements (every town/city/locality has some pockets of) can be easily spotted --- you won't need expert advice on that.

Do you have children and if so are they elem. school age or middle? The reason to ask for this question is that your child's school experience depends on each individual school - irrespective of the overall district performance - and its feeder pattern. So if you can get guidance when you are actually looking at the properties as to that feeder pattern which, in the main, remains static then in one fell swoop you are able to avoid undesirable areas and undesirable schools.