Bear vs. Middletown (Newark: hotel, houses, neighborhood) - Delaware (DE) - City-Data Forum

PANJ · 02-01-2010, 03:21 PM

We are in the process of moving to the Appo School District area and I wanted to get opinions of the three main developments we are looking at right now:

Parkside (Middletown)
Belden
Clear Creek (Bear) - (going to see it this weekend)

My daughter is not yet school age but I really would like to keep within the new Appo school complex. Not sure if it will eventually be re-districted due to the recent growth of the area.

We are moving from Philly and so far really like the areas we've seen in Delaware. You really get so much more for the money than the homes we've seen here in PA or NJ. We thought we were moving to NJ and looked for over a year .....until we discovered this area of DE. I know some NJ schools are excellent but to pay $800 per month - at the low end - just in taxes....just seems too much.

Anyway, any insight on these areas would be helpful. My husband works from home and I will be commuting to Philly for as long as I can stand it.

Sandee1213 · 02-01-2010, 03:55 PM

Obviously I am biased to Belden. I just love the neighborhood so much and Anderson is a great builder. It is also nice that it is new construction. I can't say enough good things.

Clear Creek is nice, I think they are Handler homes. Handler is one of the builders in Belden. It is part of the same feeder pattern as Belden too, which is a plus.

I absolutely love Parkside. Anderson is one of the builders. I love the colors. The houses are very close to one another though and many of them have back garages. It does have a nice clubhouse and pool. The feeder pattern is different than Belden though and I am not sure if I would recommend it the way I do Belden's schools.

raven302 · 02-02-2010, 05:31 AM

For commuting I'd say Bear, but stay away from Rt40 if you can. I do Philly to Newark daily myself...

PANJ · 02-02-2010, 02:04 PM

Thank you both for the info. Sandee - you were kind enough to point us to Belden several months ago and were correct- it's gorgeous! Raven -I'm glad I'm not the only one commuting - LOL. It sounds like you doing an opposite commute though (living in Philly - working in Newark?). Mine would be reverse - my co-workers think I'm crazy for taking on that commute on but I want to see how it goes.

PANJ · 02-02-2010, 02:05 PM

by the way - we just added Bay Pointe to our list of homes to see this weekend. They seem a little older...but nice sized...

Sandee1213 · 02-02-2010, 02:19 PM

We almost bought in Bay Point. They have septic tanks though, which was a huge turn off for us. They do have big lots though.

I really loved the houses when I looked at them online, but then when we went to see them we were not as impressed. The houses we would have bought cost more than having a house built in Belden and needed work. They also have a lot of wasted space in them. They look huge, but when you go in you see that they have a lot of hallway verse bigger bedrooms.

I would have preferred to find a house that was already built that I loved the decor, and did not need anywork, but that did not happen. All the houses were over 5 years old and needed work.

camrynh · 02-02-2010, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PANJ

Thank you both for the info. Sandee - you were kind enough to point us to Belden several months ago and were correct- it's gorgeous! Raven -I'm glad I'm not the only one commuting - LOL. It sounds like you doing an opposite commute though (living in Philly - working in Newark?). Mine would be reverse - my co-workers think I'm crazy for taking on that commute on but I want to see how it goes.

I will say this -- my husband's job is in SE PA (near West Chester). He got a lot of flack for deciding to buy in Delaware and commute an hour and five minutes. He was told the commute would be unbearable, the traffic awful. We decided to look in Middletown anyway, as we could get alot more house for our money and live in a community vs. extremely rural (important to me as a SAHM).

Well, we bought in Middletown. This was after my husband stayed in the area for a few weeks and commuted to work from a hotel in Middletown. He said the "traffic" was laughable. I think it's all relative to where you're coming from. We live in NoVA now. He said if you can get a speeding ticket during your commute, it doesn't count as bad traffic.

raven302 · 02-03-2010, 05:26 AM

Haha that came out wrong, I live in Newark- commute to Philly. Really the traffic is not really bad unless you hit: summer beach traffic, Sporting events or snowfall. Expect to hit random objects on I-95, I jokingly call it the highway to hell because of all the objects and strange experiences I've seen in my commute.

daboywonder2002 · 02-03-2010, 04:03 PM

Please don't drive from delaware to philly. If i were you, i would drive my car to the newark train station and hop on the r2 to philly. its the best way. Have you looked at brennan estates? my dad and stepmom have lived there for well over 5 years now and they love the area? its a school right in the development. its right off 896 before you go over the bridge to go to middletown.

jdoll · 02-03-2010, 09:39 PM

Here is the SEPTA schedule. From Middletown the most logical stations would be Newark or Churchmans Crossing. http://www.septa.org/schedules/rail/pdf/nwk.pdf