Late middle age w/family moving to DE (Wilmington, Newark: real estate, to rent)

[aztojersey]

Hi all, I was destined to go to NJ but things shifted and it appears that DE is the destination. I am in the Southwest currently. I will be working in what appears like Wilmington on border of Mid-Town Brandywine on Walnut Street.

We are late 40's have have kids who need to finish High school. It appears that there are many options and I have done quite a bit of reading but many posts are from 09 or so and things change with time. I am hoping folks with knowledge can shed some insight in top 3 places to pick given the criteria.

I am hoping I can do a frequency analysis of top 3 most frequently cited places and then hit online realty sites and find a house. No time to rent and browse for months, will need a house pretty quick, dogs three of them. Hoping I can narrow down townships.

• Good high school - this one is key
• Looking for something not Rural but yet not west coast suburban strip mall hell
• Definitely not looking for old folks quiet retirement place, more family oriented wold be good
• Low crime and safe what ever that means due to family and nervous wife
• Decent shopping and stores restaurants, not overly far say 3 miles or so is fine
• Housing at 350-400 is fine, do not want a large house if we can avoid it 1800-2500 sq ft tops.
• Not a lot of property, about sick of lawn work and maintenance
• Pretty would be very nice, about sick of brown desert. I heard there are things called trees there.
• Perhaps slightly snobby or snooty is fine, even preferable
• Diversity is quite fine
• Not a huge commute anything 40 min or so is fine, less is better obviously
• Not in a flood zone
• Fence yard would be great due to dogs, but not a huge deal there
• Not near a nuclear power plant or anything such as that

Thanks and regards!

[aztojersey]

Seems middletown or south newark is nice. The high school districts seems good in south Newark by Appoquinimink High. Bear seems fine as well good high school St, Georges.

Middletown seems kind of rural, Bear maybe too. Any thoughts on south Newark or Middletown or Bear? Hows the commute to Wilmington?

[Pocopsonite]

You didn't specify, but I assume you're talking about public schools. There are several excellent private high schools in northern New Castle County, but they're very expensive.

I would suggest Hockessin, Greenville, or Centreville for Alexis I. DuPont High School (Red Clay Consolidated School District). That high school serves the Delaware communities most likely to be described as "perhaps slightly snobby or snooty." Hockessin is more new money, the other two more old money. Budget might be a problem, but at least you're not looking for 4,000 sq. ft., so perhaps not.

Also check into north Wilmington -- Brandywine School District. Not sure school quality is great, but housing/ambience/amenities are probably spot on. There are dozens of developments, many dating back to the 1950s. Generally 1/4- to 1/2-acre lots, many with small-ish houses by today's standards -- 3-4 BR, 2.5 BA, but rooms are not huge. Lots of beautiful landscaping.

(Note that north Wilmington is an unincorporated area that's part of New Castle County. Has no governmental/administrative relationship to the City of Wilmington.)

I think either of these areas meets many of your criteria better than the places you mention above. They're in a beautiful part of the state, with a little bit of rolling hills instead of completely flat. The landscaping is more mature because the developments have been around quite a bit longer. The tradeoff is that not every house has been updated regularly, but many, many have been.

However, I also should note that if mall shopping is important, Newark and south is much more convenient to Christiana Mall, which is a very nice, very large regional mall that also has considerable additional retail growth going on around it. North Wilmington's Concord Mall is pretty pitiful.

Also, BTW, there aren't "townships" in Delaware, that's Pennsylvania. There are incorporated areas (cities, towns) and then there are unincorporated areas that are governed by the county for policing, zoning, etc. You'll occasionally hear the term "hundreds," which dates back to colonial times but is used only in real estate these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ds_of_Delaware

Hope you're able to find something that feels "just right."

[aztojersey]

Sorry, charter or Public schools correct. It certainly looks pretty and houses are not 4500 sq ft on 1 acre lots so no need for a riding mower. North Wilmington looks good, much obliged.

[aztojersey]

Geez, that Appoquinimink High School is just SO much better than Brandywine and North Willmington. South newark has houses that have that zoned for it.

In addition that St. Georges Technical High School in red (it does not have boundry info) is also good and has IT related curriculum.

Any thought on those ares, thanks. Lots of stress shopping x-country.

[Pocopsonite]

Sorry, I don't know those areas at all. South of the City of Newark is just drive-through-on-the-expressway country for me on the way to the beach.

[Kristin730]

We live in the Appoquinimink district north of the canal. Fantastic area -- one of the best school feeder patterns in the entire state, with the conveniences of being north of the canal. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else in DE.

[NYJoe]

Originally Posted by aztojersey

Hi all, I was destined to go to NJ but things shifted and it appears that DE is the destination. I am in the Southwest currently. I will be working in what appears like Wilmington on border of Mid-Town Brandywine on Walnut Street.

We are late 40's have have kids who need to finish High school. It appears that there are many options and I have done quite a bit of reading but many posts are from 09 or so and things change with time. I am hoping folks with knowledge can shed some insight in top 3 places to pick given the criteria.

I am hoping I can do a frequency analysis of top 3 most frequently cited places and then hit online realty sites and find a house. No time to rent and browse for months, will need a house pretty quick, dogs three of them. Hoping I can narrow down townships.


List[*]Perhaps slightly snobby or snooty is fine, even preferable!

I have to admit, I don't get this one