Nice places around New Castle DE (Wilmington, Pike Creek: townhouse, school district, places to live)

[renrenbri]

Any suggestions on good areas to live within a 20-30 min commute of New Castle DE? My husband is considering applying for a job there, but we want to know what the area is like first. Our budget for a house is 200,000 max. Thanks!

[Mimidae]

When you say New Castle, DE, do you mean greater New Castle County, or do you mean the town of New Castle (Colonial School District, etc) within the county of New Castle? It does change the answer somewhat. If he'll be in New Castle County but based in North Wilmington, say, you'll get different answers than if he'll be in historic New Castle.

The county of New Castle has a lot of different areas; some good, some bad. The town of New Castle is a strange animal. You've got historic New Castle, one of the most scenic and one of the oldest towns in the US, with some pricy homes. The area immediately surrounding it is poor, however. Very poor.

For your budget, you can get a modest townhouse in a good area. Single family homes in that range won't necessarily be in nice areas.

[youngprodigy21]

Historical New Castle is scenic, but that area is deader than Kelsey's nuts. The rest of New Castle is mostly working poor/industrial. Northern Delaware is such small radius that you can easily commute from much more desirable places to live.

Unfortunately, 200,000 won't get you far these days. If that was my limit and housing size didn't matter, I'd settle for a townhouse in Pike Creek.

[macalan]

Our neighbors lived in Middletown and liked it. That was a few years ago so maybe it's changed. But I know they wouldn't have lived someplace that was "not nice".