How is Eastern MD to live in? Considering either Maryland or Delaware...help! (Salisbury: real estate, houses)

[krystalg]

My boyfriend and I are planning out where we want to relocate to from Massachusetts, and are considering either eastern MD or eastern DE. We just need to get away from our New England winters! We are thinking of maybe living somewhere in the southeast section of the state, and would love any input as to how it would be to live there.

What is the weather like, how are the people, how calm/fast paced is it there (we're not really big city kind of people), and how is the job market? I am a dental assistant, so hopefully there are dental offices all over. Also, if you have any Delaware info to consider as comparison that would be great! Thank you so much!

[Kimmers333]

We moved to MD about 8 yr ago from NJ. We hated the brutal northern NJ winters. We live on the eastern shore of MD, about 5 minutes outside of DE and love it. We are in Willards, a great little area that is peaceful and safe. We are in between Ocean City resort area and Salisbury shopping. We can get to either in about 15-20 minutes.

If you ask me, this area is the ideal place to live. Winters arent bad. Slightly windy but not a lot of snow at all. Mainland MD gets more snow than the eastern shore does. The schools are good, the people are friendly and the roads are well paved. I would never go back up north after moving down here.

The job market isnt that great since the economy got bad. Funny thing is though, I have seen an ad in the paper for a dental assistant for the past two weeks. LOL

This is definitely not a city area though. We have no rush hour traffic in this area, cows, buffalo and horses everywhere. We are in our late 30's and happy we made the move when we did and wish we had made it sooner. Housing prices are also a lot cheaper than what you would see up north.

Check out Delmarva Properties Online - Delmarva Real Estate® for houses in the area.

And feel free to email me with any questions.

[NYMD67]

We lived in MD for almost 10 years, and we loved it! We spent 4 of those 10 years on the Eastern Shore, both in Talbot County (Easton) and Caroline County.
Both have decent school districts, it doesn't sound as though you have children but if you are looking at the Eastern Shore as a long term residence, I would highly reccomend that you stay away from Dorchester (cambridge) and Wicomico County schools (Salisbury), they are some of the worst districts in the state.
Overall, the Eastern Shore is beautiful ,so nice to be so close to both the Chesapeake and the Ocean areas.
Salisbury does have most of the convenient shopping,big box stores,etc...
Easton is starting to build up a little more,but you still get that nice,quaint Eastern Shore town feeling from the downtown area.

As far as the people,for the most part, there are no problems. It is mainly the local people on the Eastern Shore that have the issues with outsiders or transient people. Of course,there are very,very nice people who are local to the area,but there are many more that don't want to get to know anyone "new". We were lucky to live in an area that was mainly people who had relocated from other areas of MD or other states all together and had no problems.

Housing on the Eastern Shore has dropped dramatically and you can find beautiful homes for much less than on the Western Shore.

Good Luck~!

[oncesir]

I HIGHLY recommend you visit the area first. There is a lot of info on this site with opinions on the eastern shore. Honestly, the area overall is overrated. The many informative(often negative) posts by NYMD67 and Rossc are mostly true and should be considered if you plan to relocate. The threads I posted below express my opinion as well.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...salisbury.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...salisbury.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...salisbury.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/delaw...ible-relo.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...65-easton.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/delaw...-all-info.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...eaford-de.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...isbury-md.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...rates-etc.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/delaw...lford-why.html

Make sure and remember that if someone moved from an area they hated, ANYWHERE will be better than where they came from. Also look out for realtors on this site with ulterior motives. PM me if you need any specific info.

[NYMD67]

I don't mean for my posts about the Eastern Shore to sound negative at all. In fact, we think it is a beautiful area. I am being truthful though if you are referring to my comments about the local people.
We lived there long enough to experience it.
Overall though, I believe that the Eastern Shore is a wonderful place,depending on where you decide to live.
SOME of the school districts are just not great at all,but if that isn't a huge priority, then that is fine.

I apologize if anyone has taken offense to my postings because all in all, I believe that MD is wonderful!

[laminmd]

I notice that nobody has mentioned Delaware, and the OP is looking for some info about that as well. I can tell you that from a tax standpoint, you are better off in Delaware than you are in Maryland. Also, there are a fair number of people now living year-round in the Lewes, DE area and so there is stuff to do all year round in Lewes and Rehoboth---not just a summer destination anymore. If you post your question on the Delaware board you should get some good feedback about how it is to live there. Good Luck with your eventual relocation.

[oncesir]

Originally Posted by NYMD67

I don't mean for my posts about the Eastern Shore to sound negative at all. In fact, we think it is a beautiful area. I am being truthful though if you are referring to my comments about the local people.
We lived there long enough to experience it.

I didnt mean to imply that your posts were negative, more so truthful about issues with life here that rarely gets talked about. It was refreshing to hear that your complaints were similar to mine.

The beach areas of the shore are very beautiful but once you get off the beach you have quite a bit of rundown/unkept homes and chicken farms that arent so beautiful(smelly nearly year round). Infrastructure here is non-existent. If you want a country farm house in the country(where its generally safer) then you will be dealing with well water and all its negatives. Cancer rates are higher here and medical treatment can be hit or miss. These are just a few of the unmentionables that you wont hear about from the locals. hth

[krystalg]

Thank you all so much for your help! I have a better picture of what MD would be like now, and do think I want to come visit soon. Tax benefits aside, I still need to learn some info about DE as well. The last post got me thinking though, because I am not really looking for a well water, chicken farm, rundown homes kind of area...guess I need to figure out which areas I need to avoid. Willards sounds nice though!

[cpterp]

It seems that half the people moving to MD want to move to the Shore. The only things on the Lower Eastern side of the Pennsiula are the beach towns, and out of those I guess I would recommend Rehoboth.

[NYMD67]

I would say Rehoboth is the nicest as well. Great small ,beach town! great for families and pretty low key in comparison to Dewey,etc....