Relocating to Dover... help!? (Smyrna, Camden: buying a house, neighborhood, buying)

[hmariel]

My husband and I will be moving to Dover within the year and we are coming from Tampa, FL. We're going to be buying a house and while we are looking I just have a few questions that I hope someone can help answer.

We have a 3 year old so the first concern we have (besides safety of the neighborhood) is school districts. What area has the top rated schools? Second, we are a young family- we're both in our mid 20's and hope to be in a young-ish family neighborhood as we love to entertain and hope to make friends with children our sons age. I'm not sure if price is relevant but we are looking up to 250k with at least 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms.

Also, what are the winters like snow wise? Any information that you feel could help us would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[ArizonaGirl]

I only lived there one winter, and Superstorm Sandy was enough to send my bags packing, even though it didn't hit us. We didn't see much snow last year, but a lot of cold wind and rain. As for school districts, Caesar Rodney is better than the Capitol district, although Dover is building a new high school which is set to open next year.

Check out Camden-Wyoming and Woodside. Both are quaint areas and in a good district.

[westbound n down]

Anything in Caesar-Rodney school district.

[TopCat19]

I can't help with the school questions, I'm retired and the kids are long out of school. I currently live in Wyoming DE, which is right outside Dover, moved back here in Dec 2011 after living here from 1988 to 2004. Some of the winters can be raw, but a lot of times, it seems like we don't get hit quite as hard as some, for instance a lot of times there would be snow in the DC/Baltimore area, or Philadelphia, and we would only get rain. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it will back off and snow quite a bit, but by the same token, you can also easily go for an entire winter without seeing any significant snow whatsoever. When I lived here before, thick fog early in the morning could be a major problem, don't know about now, since I don't have to get up early and go to work anymore. The last two winters have been exceptionally mild. Now, having said all of that, coming from Tampa, the winters will still be a lot colder than you are used to. But it's not terrible. I was born and raised in south Georgia, so it took me some getting used to, but overall, not bad, weatherwise.

[disom]

My wife and I moved to Dover from Syracuse, NY a little over two years ago and have since moved to Smyrna which is about 20 minutes north of Dover because my wife is a teacher for Smyrna School District.

As far as Dover schools, Caesar Rodney is the better of the two districts according to most here on the boards and by the people in the area.

Winters are very mild here especially compared to we are from. The first winter we were here recorded less than an inch of snowfall. It did rain from time to time but it never got really cold. Last winter we had a few snowfalls but nothing too crazy. If there is enough snowfall, the city will shut down entirely, businesses and all.

Your budget should be more than enough to purchase a newer home with nice finishes or even a brand new home with mid level updates. I would agree with the other posters that the Camden area is nice, it is also growing quite a bit retail wise.

I hope this helps.