Best and worst areas around Wilmington?? (Newark, Pike Creek: top neighborhood, sales, 2015)

[Chellabree]

Please note that this thread is from 2015

My husband may be getting a job in Wilmington. I'm currently from northeast PA and will have to relocate. Where are the best areas around Wilmington and the places I should avoid. I'm looking for safe neighborhoods in good school districts. Thanks!

[Mimidae]

Most of North Wilmington (the suburb 10 minutes north of the city) is nice, and is in the Brandywine School District, which is decent. Not perfect, but decent. The mod on this forum will tell you to live in nearby PA because the schools are better, but that's because those schools are some of the best in PA. It doesn't mean the schools just to the southeast are bad, because they're not. I had many friends in the Brandywine School District who went on to Ivy league educations and professional careers.

Within Wilmington, the areas usually cited as good places for young people and young families to move to are Trolley Square, Cool Spring, Brandywine Village. Alapocas is a rich area just outside of the city limits. The city school districts are not terrible (not like in Philadelphia), but not great. There are several very good private schools in and just outside of the city, if you can afford that.

There are a lot of areas to avoid in Wilmington. Downtown is safe and getting more interesting every year, but you want to avoid the east side, south Wilmington, the Hilltop neighborhood to the west, and near north Wilmington (the good areas are mostly in the northwest quadrant, and also directly downtown).

Claymont to the northeast is a little ... not block by block, but 'neighborhood by neighborhood'. Some of Claymont is very poor, some is perfectly nice. Elsmere to the southwest of the city is blue collar. New Castle to the south is generally not a great area, except for the tiny confines of Historic New Castle. Hockessin and Pike Creek to the far southwest are nice suburbs.

[Chellabree]

Thank you so much. How about Bear DE? Is that a safe area??

[youngprodigy21]

Bear, for the most part, is a decent area. There are more lower income sections the closer you get to the Texas Roadhouse down RT 40. For quality apartments/townhomes for under $2,000 a month, look into St. Andrews or the Rockwood apartments. I know people at both those locations, are both of those places are very safe, family friendly communities.

For elementary schools in the Bear area, you should be fine. Several decades ago, New Castle County underwent school district desegregation in which kids from the roughest areas in Wilmington were bused into the suburbs. The forced busing is still in affect today, mainly at the high school level.

[Jazzman11]

Since you are accessing the huge amount of data here on City-Data.com.....you've made a great move from the get-go!!!

I lived for 22 years in Greenwich Village NYC. Now looking to get out of Manchester NH after 7 years....with 5 brutal winters and a couple of springs too.....Wilmington's average overnight lows come winter are 20.....only 3 citywide snow emergencies in 25 years.

I've been acquainted with Wilmington since 1990 and it has improved decade by decade.

The bus system is one of the best in the nation. Buses tie into SEPTA and AMTRAK with ease at the Wilmington Rail Station. My husband and I and a friend spent 4 days checking out the neighborhoods in June.....we returned for 4 days mid-August and we set up showings of several rental properties.

What we've found is a vibrant city with great architecturally historic neighborhoods and a friendly multi-racial community. For someone looking to retire....not only the transit system makes it easier.....but the area's healthcare facilities are among the best.

We've found a new apartment home in the Trolley Square/Brandywine Creek Park neighborhood.

As a former New Yorker.....our new neighborhood....gives the West Village a good run for it's money.

Don't forget the State has no sales tax.....the price you see is the price you pay!

Apartment hunting??? Check out 1303Delaware.com (1303 Delaware Avenue) Nice....very nice!

Good Luck to all looking to make a move.

PS: Mention the new residents from NH recommended 1303 Delaware Avenue Apartments.....I hope perhaps I might qualify for referral prize.....don't know just putting it out there......

[rdlr]

Jazzman...glad that you're happy with your Wilmington, Delaware choice. Center City Wilmington has had lots of problems, and still has a long way to go. A put off, is the many articles citing Wilmington as one of the most dangerous small cities in the U.S.A. Local police reports indicate that could be true. I've been in Delaware a lifetime, and remember Wilmington being a vibrant city in the 40's. I rarely visit Center City anymore, mostly because of the crime problems. We did go to the Riverfront for dinner once last winter, and were very close to a shooting incident. It's going to take more time for the City to turnaround. I will concede that lots of areas in Delaware have had increases in crime. It's this day and age, I guess.

[youngprodigy21]

Originally Posted by Hallouise

Claymont to the northeast is a little ... not block by block, but 'neighborhood by neighborhood'. Some of Claymont is very poor, some is perfectly nice. Elsmere to the southwest of the city is blue collar. New Castle to the south is generally not a great area, except for the tiny confines of Historic New Castle. Hockessin and Pike Creek to the far southwest are nice suburbs.

I always consider Claymont "a poor man's North Wilmington." This is not to say that everyone who lives in Claymont is poor. But in the idiomatic sense, it appears to be a step down from the adjacent 202/Concord Pike area.

History New Castle is quaint with picturesque colonial architecture, but compared to Main Street Newark or Trolley Square Wilmington, it reeks of a ghost town. It's as dull as a butter knife.

[Actime]

Hi I feel the information in this post is very useful except this is from 2015. Is there anyone still on this site that would have undated 2017 information. We are being told Newark is the place to move to. Need a safe area for my 25 year old who is transferring from Long Island Thank you

[Richard qin]

How about concord pike?

[Icarus7]

Originally Posted by Actime

Hi I feel the information in this post is very useful except this is from 2015. Is there anyone still on this site that would have undated 2017 information. We are being told Newark is the place to move to. Need a safe area for my 25 year old who is transferring from Long Island Thank you

More information is definitely needed here.