Another Delaware relo request (Dover, New Castle: house, job market, neighborhoods)

[tarrat]

Have been searching/reading the forum last few days, and getting some great information, thanks.

I'll just throw out my scenario and see if anyone reads it and says, 'Aha! I know exactly where to send this guy!'

Looking at Delaware and Virginia for relocation from New York.
Do NOT want to be in some suburb of DC (Should I consider parts of Maryland too?)

Looking for something that is the typical grass-is-greener concept of small city/large town and thriving area surrounding it.
Priorities are:
-school system (have 3 young kids, 6,5 &4 so this is a biggie)
-High speed cable internet access absolutely required
-3+ BR , 2+ BA
-Some land 2-10 acres , yet still some neighboorhood type feel)
- Low taxes (though this is relative. I pay 13 thousand for a 2300SF 4BR, 2 1/2BA on one third of an acre now , so I'm guessing most anything will seem cheap by comparison - in fact it's one of the reasons I'm leaving).
Price preferably below $400k, but there may be wiggle room there for something we really like.

I'm self employed and work from home, so job market is not a deal breaker , though don't want any decaying area obviously. Wife is school teacher , on sabbatical to rasie the kids, might like to go back in couple years when they're all in though.

I'm not that interested in huge subdivisions all over and highway strip malls.
I visited a friend in a certain area of NC and this is all it was. It was depressing.
Like a house with some personality.
Like an area with outside activities.
Like Festivals, parks, some nightlife (though we won't take much advantage of it for a while at this stage in life). Arts and crafts stuff is big with the Mrs.-- Fishing is nice for me. Maybe some golf.
Good library system.
College type town would be okay.
Like somewhere where there are farmers markets , and/or farms within reasonable proximity where I can buy locally grown food and see where they come from.
Like good soil as I grow some of my own now (as much as you can on a postage stamp anyway) and would like to expand on this activity, and would like to put in some berries/fruit trees as well.
Like a nice downtown type environment closeby and don't really care much about proximity to big box stores (they are always closer than they need to be for our uses).
My wife and I are both beach people (Jersey shore), so we would really prefer something near the ocean, but again, anything in Delaware is close enough I think.

Looking to come down in March to start looking around closer with eye towards late spring/early summer move hopefully.
Folks in the Virginia forum have been recommending Charlottesville, so it's on the list to look at there.
Delaware would be much closer to family and friends remaining in NY though, so we'd like to look here too.

I know we're asking the moon, but you weigh the good and the bad and hope to get as much of your dreams as possible!

If it's okay I will edit this post as I think of any other pertinent info , unless that's considered bad form?, in which case I will add it in additional replies.

Still have a lot of info to go through here in the archives, but just figured i'd throw my own situation out there and get the ball rolling a little faster as well.
Thank you to all who offer insights and opinions.
Much appreciated.

[maryCh]

I read your post earlier today, but did not have time to reply then. You did post a good bit of information, and I'm having an "aha!" moment.

We have roots in NY, on hubby's side, and I grew up in Va Beach, so I can relate to that part of your situation. We recently moved just south of Dover from central NC, so I understand where you are coming from THERE as well. Kinda eerie, in its own way.

Given our similarities, I would say central DE (the "greater Dover" area, if you will) may be a great fit. There are several newer neighborhoods that are great for young families, and we are quite happy with the Caesar Rodney school district. We have one child in elementary school, and another in middle school. Our older 2 kids stayed behind in NC, as one is a junior in H.S. and the other is in college.

In our short time in DE (just since Sept '07), we have settled right in... in schools, the neighborhood, etc. Although we are just coming up on 5 months here, it feels like we've been here much longer. I say that on a positive note, by the way.

March will be a good time of year to come explore... and your wife can check out various school district info both as a parent and a future teacher. The one down side I can think of is that your wife will find salaries for teachers are NOT what they are in NY. But if that is the worst you find, IMHO, that's pretty darn good.

If you are beach kind of folks, I personally would not recommend Charlottesville, VA. While it is a beautiful town, it is too far inland for a day trip to the beach. That area of VA has some beautiful lakes and river areas for some beach experiences, but if you are looking for more sand and surf (AKA ocean or bay), a day trip, especially with kids, will not be easily do-able. I know... we were just outside of Greensboro, NC for almost 15 years and ended up visiting family in Va Beach for our fun in the sun.

Let me know if I can help you any further... and good luck with your search! Keep us posted, as I believe more than just retiring NY'ers are considering DE.

Mary

[Laural]

I'm originally from NY, currently living in CA and moving to DE. I've been researching DE for the last 1 1/2 yrs. Dover like Mary say's sounds like the place that would fit your needs. We are looking at northern Delaware because of hubbys job. Otherwise we would definitely be looking down in Dover. You can get more for your money down there. We wanted an acre or more and a house that's less than 10 years old for under 400k. Right now there isn't much on the market for that in Northern Delaware, which is New Castle County. I would look in Kent County which is where Dover is. Kent county has more farm land, farmers markets, I hear they have some cool festivals. I don't know about nightlife. I don't do much nightlife stuff these days. If you haven't done so check out this site. Visit Delaware