What to do in Wilmington, DE?

Question

I have a job offer around the south east corner of Pennsylvania. I am considering living in Wilmington or Newark, Delaware. I need advice on where to live and what things to do around town. I do not like to live in the countryside (love to visit it though), I am more of a city and suburb type person. I plan on renting an apartment/town house or small house. Where is a good place to live for a single thirtysomething (who still looks and thinks she is 27)? I will be working in Lincoln University, PA. I don't mind a 30-45 minute commute, but I would not like anything over that. Also, I would like some information regarding the cost of living in the area.

Please help, I have to decide if I accept their offer in the next few days.

Thanks!

I accepted the offer from Lincoln University, so I really need the info on where to live. As I mentioned, definitely not a small town girl here, more like a big town or city, suburbs are ok. I am divorced, in my 30's, and no children. Of course, I would like a place close to Philly and the airport, and I am ok with a 30 to 40 minute drive to work or airport (my family lives out of the country).
How is the area regarding immigrants and diversity? Usually immigrants and racial diversity make a town more interesting that's why I'm asking. How about politics: liberal or conservative? How is the University of Delaware? How about art? Shopping? (Looooove to shop!) What about single men availability?
Thanks*

Answer 1

The Pike Creek / Hockessin area of Delaware is really nice. It's right over the border from PA, and would be an easy 35-45 minute drive to Lincoln University. It's pretty quiet - residential, and even the strip malls are hidden behind grassy berms.

It's close enough to 95 if you want to do Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, etc, but far enough away that you're not really bothered by the traffic. You're also pretty close to West Chester, another college town that's really jazzing up the downtown with tons of cute little shops and restaurants. Route 202 to North Wilmington is lined with strip malls, so you're never hurting for places to shop, plus it's all tax free, which is nice.

This site will give you some idea of rental units in the area.

http://www.pattersonschwartz.com/search/rntMain.asp

Take a look at this one especially:
Pike Creek Apartments and Condominiums
3603 Hewn Ln, Wilmington $950 Available now
Central to all of Pike Creek's amenities, Linden Knoll is a fabulous location. This darling 2nd floor unit offers 2 spacious bedrooms, 2 full baths, dressing area in owner bedroom, lots of closet space, new carpeting, updated kitchen with tile and large pantry and refrigerator with icemaker, washer/dryer, some window treatments, paddle fan, sliders to porch/balcony and private parking. No pets permitted per Condo Association rules and regulations. No smoking permitted.

NEW:

You will LOVE DE if you love to shop - tax free shopping! There's decent outlets down Rehoboth Beach - in the off season, it's about an hour to an hour and a half drive, but not a bad drive. In the summer, forget it. It gets crazy.

Like I said, the Pike Creek area is nice, but it is definitely suburban. I don't know much about downtown Wilmington itself, but Trolley Square is usually the name that comes up when people talk about hip places to live. But with a hip neighborhood comes a hip price tag.

Newark (pronounced New-Ark in DE, not like Nirk, NJ LOL) is definitely a college town. In some ways that's good - lively atmosphere, lots of shops in the downtown. In others, it's bad - drunken college students.

This is a pretty informative website, put together by a real estate agent: http://www.delawareliving.com/

This is the state's relocation page:
http://delaware.gov/egov/portal.nsf/CategoryPages/Resident--Relocate+to+Delaware

Answer 2

I lived in Wilmington for a while and also in the suburbs near Newark. Wilmington isn't too bad for things to do. There are a couple of decent music festivals and about monthly they have an Art Loop where there are exhibits of local artists all over town. They also have party loops about once a month with buses taking people from bar to bar. Be choosy about your neighborhood. There are vast differences between them. Trolley Square is pretty much yuppy. Hilltop is pretty much ghetto. I lived in a little artist niche between them on 7th St. I paid about 500 a month for 2 bedrooms about 3 years ago.

Newark is pronounced "new ark" and it's a fairly typical college town. If you choose to live there, I recommend living in town. The housing is tighter and a little more expensive but you'll be a lot closer to the coffeshops and concerts and the only wildlife you'll have to deal with is the two-legged type. I don't know about rental costs in that area because I owned my home.

The above answer recommending Pike Creek is also good if you decide to be out in the suburbs. My brother and his family live in that area. It's a little too full of minivans and soccer moms for my taste but it suits a lot of people.

Answer 3

Wilmington and Newark aren't pretty areas. Industrial. There's a baseball park in Wilmington. If you're just renting, why not go into PS and check out Philly or Delaware County. You'd be close to lots of great hangouts and much more people.