any Philly transplants to Kent County De? (Dover, Camden: house, neighborhood)

[sassylassy]

Calling anyone from the Philadelphia/South Jersey area that has moved to central Delaware. My family and I are looking to move out of the city and head to De. for cheaper taxes and a little peace and quiet. We have looked at the Camden-Wyoming area as well as Magnolia. One house in particular is in a development called Countryfeilds. If anyone knows this neighborhood and could provide any additional info that would be helpful and most appreciated. We have 2 young children and have heard that Caesar Rodney is the best school district. My husband and I do take an active roll in our daughters education and volunteer as much as we can with school functions. Do the schools in the area seem to welcome parent involvement and what are parents reactions to the schools? We are in search of family entertainment ie roller skating, bowling, movies, parks, indoor fun centers that the area may have to offer. We are somewhat familiar with Dover and feel being close to the Dover area may not be too much of a culture shock for us. Just really want to know if our lifestyle would really be all that different leaving the city for that of small town suburbia.

[from PA]

[quote=sassylassy;12707160]Calling anyone from the Philadelphia/South Jersey area that has moved to central Delaware. My family and I are looking to move out of the city and head to De. for cheaper taxes and a little peace and quiet. We have looked at the Camden-Wyoming area as well as Magnolia. One house in particular is in a development called Countryfeilds.

Hi Sassylassy,

My husband and I moved to Magnolia from Montgomery County four years ago. We are self employed and can live anywhere but we chose the area because Collegeville was getting too congested and taxes were causing our payments to escalate every year. We love the openness here and closeness to the beach. Collegeville has lots of farmland and beautiful fields but numerous farmlands were quickly sold off to developers and the traffic in the area, especially on 422, had become impossible. I wish I could be 5 minutes from the new Wegmans but between that shopping center and the Outlet malls, 422 is worse now when we go back to visit relatives.

We like this area in Kent County because it is convenient to the stores in Dover, yet removed from the traffic congestion we faced several times a day where we lived in PA. We now live in Jonathan's Landing. Our homes back up to open space, in fact the kids in the neighborhood now have a place to sled as the fields behind our homes used to be the cape course associated with the Jonathan's Landing Golf course.

We are in a family neighborhood but it is relatively quiet here. If it's country feel you want, you will find it here. Oh and might I just mention the magnificent sunsets? There are many nice families here as I ran out of treats for Halloween. I was prepared for between 60 and 75. I had no idea there were that many children in the neighborhood until they were all out at once.

So, if it's a family neighborhood you want, in CR school district, quiet yet many children with a safe place to play, you should give our area a look. Most of my neighbors are in healthcare, are teachers , are retired or in the Air Force . We have all ages and when the economy took a downward turn, many families have bought the homes they rented.

What we do not have is a public pool closeby. There is a country club in Dover and an indoor pool at the YMCA. They could really use a swimclub in the area though. Other than swimming, my neighbors next door have two active boys who are very involved in all kinds of sports. Hope this helps.

[rdlr]

For swimming, Killen's Pond State Park, is centrally located and has a very nice pool with water slides.
Killens Pond State Park Water Park, Felton, Delaware

Kent Swim Club in Dover is also a popular choice for swimming, and that's been there more than 20 years. Location is on Rd. 104 AKA Dover Kenton Road, off of Forest Avenue.

Maple Dale Country Club and Wild Quail Country Club have swimming pools and you can join, just for the pool, I believe.

Lake Forest High School has a swim team, and very nice indoor pool. That high school is next to Killen's Pond State Park. Don't know if that's open to the public.

Schutte Park/John W. Pitts Center, in the City of Dover has more activities for youth and adults than I could ever mention. Here's the first link just to get started. There's so much going on there. http://www.cityofdover.com/?c=/depar...uthactivities/

[sassylassy]

Thanks so much Pa for your input. My husband knows of Collegeville and 422 so we feel your pain. It sounds like you are much happier living in Delaware. We will put our house on the market in March and will begin our home search then. I have called the local school and have spoken to the principal as well as the church we will be joining and have felt very welcomed during those conversations. We look forward to those magnificant sunsets you speak of. The information from rdlr has us looking forward to some of the activites there for our children as well as ourselves. With only an hour commute to visit family and friends in Philadelphia and only a ferry ride over to the Jersey shore we think this move will best suit our family's needs. Once again thank you both for your input and suggestions.