Moving to wilmington area (Newark, Pike Creek: real estate, renting, condos)

[MoveToWilm]

Hello all,

My wife and I are considering amove to the Wilmington area - The job is located in Wilmington but from what we hear about crime we think we would rather live outside the city.
Is the city generally a safe place to go into during the work day? We currently live in the SF Bay area and from what the crime stats seem to report, they are worse there than even some of the poorer neighborhoods of Oakland. Does anybody have any advice on this?

Thanks

[SXMGirl]

Coming from California, you might want to look in the Hockessin/Yorklyn/Greenville areas. Pike Creek is also nice, but is getting very crowded. The end of the Bear area, near Lums Pond, is still okay with traffic. I think they have probably built all that they can there except for some private lots. I live in that area and it is still fairly rural. Keep in mind that the local post office is in the deli. If you want to travel a little bit farther, Middletown/Odessa/Townsend has lots of new developments going up. Middletown is starting to build up with stores and new restaurants as it tries to keep up with growth.

[lemcdevitt]

If you'd like to move into the city, I recommend the Rockford Park area which is in the north-west. The problem with New Castle County is that everything is so close together. No matter where you are, you're within 20 minutes of a bad area.
My husband and I are both Delaware natives who just moved to Chester County, PA. You may consider moving to nearby Pennsylvania - Chadds Ford, Glen Mills, Kennett Square, Landenberg.
We tried to stay in Delaware, but the houses were crappy, the congestion is horrible, and even if a neighborhood looks nice, it may not be. It's so spotty. Not even to mention the high cancer rate (still #1 in the country?) from things like toxic waste dumps and the Delaware City and Claymont refineries, and the threat of the nuclear plants.
Delawarians will try to talk you out of Pennsylvania because of the "high property taxes." The real story is that Delaware's property tax is painfully low, which is evident in the quality of life! One of the school districts went bankrupt! If you have kids, you may consider the deterioration of the Delaware public schools.
Pollution aside, here are some zip codes to stick to if you want to be in Delaware:
19803 - North Wilmington - be careful, can be overpriced
19810 - North Wilmington - see above
19807 - Greenville/Centerville
19806 - Rockford Park/Trolley Square
19808 - Hockessin - Don't go south of Route 2
19707 - Hockessin
19711 - Pike Creek/Newark - Stay north of Newark (nice town, but spotty, University of Delaware is there. West Main Street is nice.)
19702 - Bear/Newark - Southern part
19701 - Bear - Southern part
19709 - Middletown

[ado]

I worked in the City of Wilmington for 14 years, it is fine during the day..There are areas, just like other cities, that are infested with crime and drugs. Just north of the city is an area called The Highlands with condos, townhomes, and single family homes priced up to $3 million. Still in city limits, it is one of the most popular and charming areas. I have lived in DE all my life, first in North Wilmington and now in Pike Creek. The beaches are only 1.5 hours away, including Delaware and New Jersey. North Wilmington is another popular locale with numerous subdivisions to choose from. I am sure once you check out what Delaware has to offer, you will be fine. You are welcome to email me for any other questions you may have at: annie1159@comcast.net

[rclement]

MovetoWilm, you're unlikely to encounter any problems __working__ in Wilmington - the city-center business area is fine. The W and NE areas near subsidized housing and rundown/rented rowhomes have the crime rates.

Much of Hockessin feels like CA in architectural style. Be sure to check out the schools and bussing, though. It's only a few miles further to Avondale Penn., with no such worries.

[LorraineB]

We moved here 3 yrs ago from NJ and really enjoy the beauty. I personally work in the City of Wilmington and find it no different than any other city--you take the same precautions you would in any big city, and generally do not walk around the more crime ridden areas alone in the evening. There is a program in the City of W. called "Downtown Visions" - this is a corp of bicycle patrol of security officers that patrol the inner city until around 10PM. We live in a very safe and scenic part of Wilmington (Rockford park area) which is upscale and relatively crime free. Because of some development down at the riverfront some of the less desirable element is moving upward but it is costly in the city and cyclically the poor are moved to other areas. Same problems as everywhere else. When we moved here, we were intrigued with how every is broken into sections that encompass very small areas, unlike Philadelphia where, e.g., Kensington is a large part of the northeast. Here in wilmington, e.g., the Trinity section used to be a lovely old quaint area but is now not considered a safe section in which to live. Same with 'Cool Springs.' But before you move here or purchase anything, be sure to spend some time here renting so that you can learn the preferable areas. We found a reasonable and comfortable place to live that was short-term in beautiful Greenville and that afforded us the opportunity and luxury to investigate the real estate.

[doctorjef]

Just to note, this thread hasn't been active for over two years so I expect the OP resolved their situation. When discussing Wilmington it is always essential to differentiate between the incorporated City of Wilmington and its much larger and mostly unincorporated suburbs.

[Sandee1213]

Is the suburbs of Wilmington the same thing as the Brandywine area? I just moved here (Newark) and am confused about exactly what the Brandywine area is.

[doctorjef]

Essentially all of the Wilmington area might be described as the Brandywine Valley. One of the hundreds north of Wilmington is the Brandywine Hundred. The other hundred north of the city is the Christiana Hundred (Greenville -- nothing to do with the Newark suburb of Christiana). The City of Wilmington occupies its own hundred, the Wilmington Hundred. Hundreds are old political divisions of this state that go back to colonial times but which no longer have any functional political significance. The entire state is, however, divided up into hundreds. There is also Brandywine Village, which is a very old part of the City of Wilmington itself, originally a separate settlement but annexed by Wilmington in the second half of the 19th Century. It has some quite historic structures as well as the 19th Century cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware, the Cathedral Church of Saint John. Unfortunately, it also has some of the worst crime in the City of Wilmington.

[konner3]

Originally Posted by Sandee1213

Is the suburbs of Wilmington the same thing as the Brandywine area? I just moved here (Newark) and am confused about exactly what the Brandywine area is.

Well, "Brandywine" can mean several things. It can mean the Brandywine Hundred area, which is basically the North Wilmington suburbs. When people in New Castle County say Brandywine, there are usually referring to N. Wilm, in my estimation at least. It can, however, mean neighborhoods in the City of Wilmington adjacent to the Brandywine River and the Brandywine Park (ie Midtown Brandywine). There is also the Brandywine Valley in lower Chester County, PA.