love/hate delaware? (Dover, Newark, Middletown: sale, real estate, car registration)

[ALTINOVA]

I used to be stationed in Dover and more recently commuted to work in Middletown. Delaware has some of the best beaches around. My favorite bar in the entire world is Smithers in Dover, lots of good times there. On the otherhand drivers in Delaware are some of the WORST drivers I have ever come across. On Route 1 they're either doing 90 or 45 mph..no happy medium and I cringe whenever I'm behind a Delaware driver here in PA or even on some of the backroads in Delaware because they drive around like they're lost on Sunday. Not to mention, as recently as last month I was rearended by a Delaware driver at a toll booth on the NJ turnpike of all places (very nice lady). Seriously though Delaware has some very nice shore points and oh I almost forgot the best of all..no sales tax!

[armx]

The 45 MPH drivers are the locals - farmers who are not in any hurry (hence sLOWER Delaware) and who don't quite appreciate - and needle them by driving slowly - the outside, unruly traffic coming into "God's country". Plus they feel they have a right to mosie (sp?) along in their own backyard.

As to 90 MPH drivers, they are the current or former out-of -staters -commuters from larger metro areas - who haven't lost their old habits (lol)

[mjk2374]

I live in Pike Creek in New Castle county and work in Dover. I'm originally from the Saint Louis area. I can tell that I enjoyed the Saint Louis area much more that Delaware.

If I had to do it all over again, I would probably move down state a bit more. The job market is pretty limited down state though.

The pros:

1) Cheap living compared to NJ, PA, and MD. No sales tax, property is cheaper in most cases.
2) Commuting to Philly is doable. SEPTA trains are ok driving can be a bear.
3) Within 2 hours of Philly, Baltimore, DC, and 2.5-3 hours to NYC.
4) The beaches are pretty nice.
5) The DMV kicks rear. Fees are cheap and service is very good. (Compared to IL/MO)


The cons:

1) The public schools are a train wreck in New Castle county. I hear they are much better in Kent and Sussex.
2) Above the canal, expect graffiti everywhere. Even in the "good" neighbors.
3) Police are extremely lax in enforcing the law.
4) Pollution is really bad and there is a very high cancer rate in Delaware.
5) Roads are poorly designed due mostly to the population boom (New Castle Mainly) not keeping up with road construction.
6) Don't expect to rent an apartment in a decent neighborhood in New Castle county. They are all in dumps!
7) Land developers own the state and get whatever they want/need from the local and state government.

[armx]

mjk2374:

New Castle Co. provides a little more urban living compared to downstate. That is perhaps why you choose to live 50 miles from workplace and feel justified in complaining about traffic or roads.

Do you have any children attending schools - first hand experience - anywhere, or you are just parroting what you "heard"?

New Castle Co. over the years has been recognized by U.S. County Govt. Association to be one of the best managed - including growth - so what is the basis for your comment about the Govt.? Road network almost always lags the traffic in any area. e.g. For decades, there were subdivisions planned and approved along U.S. Route 40 but the buying public was not ready to move in the area. So U.S.Route 40 - a 4-lane highway - was underutilized. But after exhausting other desirable areas, people started moving in droves to those subdivisons. And widening U.S Rt 40 is not within the jurisdiction of the County or the State.

Apartments tend to be for transient people in the main. Generally, out of staters who intend to move in, tend to rent temporarily, get the feel for the area, then settle down in an area of their choice buy buying a home. It is surprising and unfortunate to read that you had a bad experience where you chose to live.

[Sandee1213]

Mjk

I am not trying to be argumentative, but I disagree with you on some of your points. I just moved to De., so I am no expert either.

1. DMV fees are not great. We just registered two cars and it cost us $1600. I am not saying that other places have cheap DMV fees though.

2. My children go to school in New Castle (Appoquinimink) and I absolutely love it. I think it is just as good as the schools we were at back in NJ. I think it is very wrong to say that it is a train wreck, you can just look at the numbers and that proves you are wrong.

3. I am having a house built "above the canal" in a wonderful neighborhood. I have never seen graffiti.

4.We are renting a really nice apartment (Rockwood) The neighborhood is not the dumps at all. The other people living there are very nice. I know that there are other neighborhoods in New Castle that are nice too.

[mjk2374]

When I say the fees are bad. I base this on the fact that it's $100 per year to register a car in IL. MO has personal property taxes. They cost about $600 a year on a $10,000 car. I realize the one time shot of registering from out of state is bad, but once you are here it isn't too bad.


My wife works in Red Clay at a high school. Drug dealing isn't uncommon, gang members are everywhere, and the administration is clueless to it.

I'll have to do some googling for the stats, but Delaware has more private/home schooled kids than almost any other place in the US. They also have one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates. Pretty pathetic for such a small state.



You should check out the area around Goldie Beacom for grafiti. Go up the road a bit into Hockessin and there's plenty up there too. There are people with $1,000,000+ homes dealing with it there. Just about any place in Bear, New Castle, or Newark has it too.



New Castle has some very rough areas. The only place I would feel reasonably safe is Old New Castle.

[mjk2374]

I've worked in Philly, as well as Wilmington while living in NCC. I left my Wilmington job to work in Dover by choice. My problem with roads has nothing to do with my commute. It has everything to do with general lack of planning and caving to land developers. Rt 40 is an exception, but it's planned by the feds not the state.

The area we will be relocating to soon is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the US (Raleigh/Durham, NC). Getting around is easy because the roads are well designed and I don't have to worry about sitting at lights for 10 minutes to go a few miles. The have roads similar to US 40 with ramps, overpasses, and frontage roads. There might be a light every 4-5 miles. The state has given up almost all property to developers and now they are land locked. Look at the Churchman's crossing "Charlie Foxtrot". A huge one because everything comes together in one very small area. The need some flyovers or something to make traffic flow better.

Originally Posted by armx

mjk2374:

New Castle Co. provides a little more urban living compared to downstate. That is perhaps why you choose to live 50 miles from workplace and feel justified in complaining about traffic or roads.

Do you have any children attending schools - first hand experience - anywhere, or you are just parroting what you "heard"?

New Castle Co. over the years has been recognized by U.S. County Govt. Association to be one of the best managed - including growth - so what is the basis for your comment about the Govt.? Road network almost always lags the traffic in any area. e.g. For decades, there were subdivisions planned and approved along U.S. Route 40 but the buying public was not ready to move in the area. So U.S.Route 40 - a 4-lane highway - was underutilized. But after exhausting other desirable areas, people started moving in droves to those subdivisons. And widening U.S Rt 40 is not within the jurisdiction of the County or the State.

Apartments tend to be for transient people in the main. Generally, out of staters who intend to move in, tend to rent temporarily, get the feel for the area, then settle down in an area of their choice buy buying a home. It is surprising and unfortunate to read that you had a bad experience where you chose to live.

[Sandee1213]

I have heard very negative things about the schools, but they cannot be generalized as all bad. Our school district is amazing, so I am getting annoyed about hearing that new castle schools are not good, because I have first hand experience that our school district is great. I did a lot of research and chose this area over Md. for a reason.

I have not seen any graffiti, we live right off Rt. 40 and have not seen any. I am moving to a very nice area and I would be surprised to see graffiti. I have heard that New Castle has rough areas, but I am above the canal (right above the canal) in Newark and it is a nice area.

Well best of luck to you Mjk and your move.

Everyone just has to keep in mind anything is cheaper than Jersey, glad to be out of there!!!!

[JERSEY MAN]

I'm trying to get an accurate read on car registration in Delaware. I pay about 45 a car in NJ BUT I pay about 15K in property taxes. No thats not a misprint it's 15K as in 15,000 US dollars. We are just trying to get a feel on how Delaware does it. How do they survive on anywheres from 1,000 to 3,000 in property taxes. How do they pay for schools,police,mun.govt,pensions. Please shed some light on how you guys do it, because we are heading your way as soon as I retire. Thanks Jersey Man.

[mjk2374]

I think all in all the schools are less than average. Some are down right pathetic. The way my wife explains it, is it's because of the lack of inner city schools and the thugs busing into the good suburban areas.

I think school choice is a very good thing and lots of inner city kids get great education from it. Bused in kids should be required to be good students and not cause problems. That isn't the case because there is no other alternative.

Your school district may or may not have many bused in kids. Maybe you are far enough South not to get it. That makes a huge difference.

Graffiti is pretty much everywhere North of Kirkwood. Even in the high end neighborhoods. Last time I was down around 40/1/7 area there was quite a bit too.

I'm looking forward to relocating. The Triangle area is very nice, and it feels more like home.

I have no doubts that this area is better than Jersey!

Originally Posted by Sandee1213

I have heard very negative things about the schools, but they cannot be generalized as all bad. Our school district is amazing, so I am getting annoyed about hearing that new castle schools are not good, because I have first hand experience that our school district is great. I did a lot of research and chose this area over Md. for a reason.

I have not seen any graffiti, we live right off Rt. 40 and have not seen any. I am moving to a very nice area and I would be surprised to see graffiti. I have heard that New Castle has rough areas, but I am above the canal (right above the canal) in Newark and it is a nice area.

Well best of luck to you Mjk and your move.

Everyone just has to keep in mind anything is cheaper than Jersey, glad to be out of there!!!!