Moving from CA to Wilmington, your inputs are greatly appreciated! (Hockessin: 2014, condo)

[wg4dd]

When are you moving? June
Where are you coming from? CA
Why are you moving? Job relocation
Where will you be working? Wilmington
Have you been here yet? No

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? Single family house; 500-700K

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married; 1 child entering K this fall
Do you prefer public or private schools? Open to either option
Do you have pets? No
Do you want or need a yard? Yes
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Calm and quite

What do you want to be closest to?
Work Yes
Shopping Yes
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) Yes
Nightlife No
Train or subway stations A plus



Hi, we are a Californian couple with a little girl who is entering kindergarten this fall. My husband recently accepted a job offer in Wilmington (19880). I hope to focus 1-2 areas before we fly over for a house hunting trip in several weeks. We have never been to DE except for my husband’s one day interview trip.

Following considerations are listed in the order of importance to us, neighborhood safety, easy commute to work, closeness to a good elementary school and convenience to shopping and services. We are Chinese immigrants and prefer to be in a community with higher percentage of Asian population though it is not a must.

I have been researching on this forum and have since learned a great deal about DE. We are very excited about our upcoming big move. Now I have narrowed down to three areas of which I have some questions for each. I would greatly appreciate your inputs.

Greenville: How diversified is this town? Will my little one's ethnic background be picked on in the school? It seems that the private school is the only option, which schools are most Greenville residents send their kids to? What is ballpark range for the tuition/fees?

Is anyone familiar with Toll Brother's new development there called Greenville Overlook?

Hockessin: It seems not far from Wilmington, how is the traffic during rush hour? Any comments on its two elementary schools: North Sar and Brandywine Springs? Is one better than the other? I also saw someone mentioned that the city smells bad from the mushroom farms in the summer. How severe is this problem?

PA cities near DE border such as Garnet Valley and Glen Mill: Again, how is the commute to Wilmington during rush hour? Many people mentioned the higher taxes in PA, usually how much is the difference between PA and DE NCC on a $ 600 - 700K house?

Last but not least, I myself work in biotech/biopharma industry and hope to eventually start working again. Which above area is more commutable to a cluster of biotech companies?

[Freesia Breeze]

I believe most Chinese (and Indian) professionals in northern Delaware choose to live in Hockessin or Greenville, which are more affluent areas. Delaware is relatively small, so it really doesn't matter where you live in New Castle County; you won't have a terribly long commute into Wilmington. When I was associated with the DuPont company some years ago, I noticed that many mid - senior management, research and science personnel lived in either 19807, 19707 zip codes or nearby Kennett Square and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Your housing budget can get you a nice home in any of the areas I've mentioned. There are plenty of Chinese people in Delaware, you will not feel "foreign" or out of place here.

As for schools, I will be blunt. Given the importance of education and high achieving culture of the Chinese, I would enroll your daughter in private school if you can. Sanford, Tatnall, Tower Hill and Wilmington Friends (Quaker) are prestigious college prep schools. Perhaps you could enroll her in private for kindergarten and maybe 1st grade while you get suggestions for public schools from your new neighbors or work colleagues. Again, if you can afford to, go private.

DuPont, Astra Zeneca and Incyte all have facilities along route 141, which is on the way to/from Greenville & Hockessin.

[wg4dd]

Freesia Breeze, thanks for the detailed info. I searched Hockessin and Greenville homes on the internet today, they look very nice. I will certainly check out these two areas during our housing hunting trip.

[doctorjef]

It's important to understand that Greenville and Hockessin are not towns per se. They are both unincorporated suburban communities north of the City of Wilmington. Neither for that matter has exact boundaries, and the area identified as Hockessin is particularly spread out. Delaware is a place accepting - even welcoming - of diversity (with the possible exception of the rural/small town southwestern portion of the state), but is rather small townish and provincial at the same time. Although it is true that there is a fair number of persons from a variety of South and East Asian origins living here, I suspect you will find the area to be much less ethnically diverse than much of California. Indeed, in the north of Delaware, Irish and Italian descendents seem to predominate. I have largely enjoyed living here these past six and a half years, but I do suspect you will experience some real culture shock moving here, depending on where in CA you are coming from.

Not that this would be different from where you may be living in CA, do expect the likelihood of needing to drive everywhere here, sometimes fairly large distances for routine things. In view of this reality, I would say that Greenville is more conveniently located overall than Hockessin. Getting in and out of the Hockessin area can be time consumming, especially in the morning and later afternoon. There are certainly some resources and amenities in Hockessin, but to the extent that you need to drive outside the immediate area of Hockessin, it will be a longer journey with more traffic than you will encounter living in Greenville. Since no place around here is absolutely convenient to everything, I would suggest not excluding other areas such as Alapocas, an older suburb in which Wilmington Friends School is located and which is slightly closer-in to Wilmington itself. For that matter, there are some lovely neighborhoods within the City of Wilmington, including Wawaset Park and The Highlands, both of which would place you within minutes of Tower Hill School (a potentially walkable distance, especially as your daughter gets older).

I should also mention in respect to Greenville that the Tatnall School is located there, though the nature of Greenville pretty much makes driving to school mandatory, as opposed to Alapocas especially and Wawaset Park or The Highlands, where walking to the local private schools is more feasible. In any case, all of these schools are quite expensive, if you opt for private school.

I should note that Westover Hills, West Haven and West Park all share the Greenville zip code (19807) and are sometimes thought of as being in Greenville (particularly Westover Hills). These neighborhoods are readily accessible to Tower Hill School, and a fairly short drive from Tatnall; however, even Wilmington Friends would be no more than a 15 minute drive, potentially less.

[Delborn]

If you want to live in Delaware check out the Brandywine Hunt neighborhood on Naamans Road. It is very ethnic and sounds like a good fit for you. I would say the price of homes in Delaware and right over the border in Pennsylvania will be similar but the big difference will be the taxes. Depending on the age of your homes the taxes can easily be double, triple or quadruple.
Top private schools include Friends, Tatnall and tower hill. You should visit when school is in session so you can get a feel for the student population.
There are many companies in your industry all the way up rt 202 right up through Pennsylvania.
It is very easy to drive around Wilmington. Rush hours are not too bad compared to bigger cities.
Welcome.

[doctorjef]

To clarify what Delborn said, it is in Pennsylvania that the property taxes are potentially much higher than in Delaware. The trade-off is that the public schools in nearby PA are considered better than those in DE. It is, in fact, less expensive to live on the PA side, paying the higher property taxes there, and send one's children to the public schools there than to live in Delaware with its lower taxes, whilst paying high tuition for the private schools in DE.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

To clarify what Delborn said, it is in Pennsylvania that the property taxes are potentially much higher than in Delaware. The trade-off is that the public schools in nearby PA are considered better than those in DE. It is, in fact, less expensive to live on the PA side, paying the higher property taxes there, and send one's children to the public schools there than to live in Delaware with its lower taxes, whilst paying high tuition for the private schools in DE.

Nothing here I agree with, and I'm speaking from our personal experience.

Our children received great educations in Smyrna, and Caesar Rodney School Districts, attended good colleges/universities, and have gone on to earn Masters Degrees. And now, 2 of our grandchildren, after attending these same public schools, have been admitted to prestigious colleges, and will begin their journey this Fall.

[doctorjef]

rdlr, I really was referring to the school districts covering the Wilmington area. There is a pretty good consensus that some of these schools are good and some not so good, and that it depends on the school boundaries and feeder pattern. I'm a supporter of public education, but in the Wilmington area districts there seems to be a well-established consensus that private education is preferable, especially for secondary school.

[wg4dd]

Thanks everybody for your great suggestions. I am very grateful to your hospitality.

We are currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area, in a predominantly white community in the suburb. My daughter is the only Chinese kid in her class. It works out fine for now but I think having some Asian friends may help when she is older. Yes, we will definitely check out the schools during our house hunting trip.

I do have a question about choosing private vs. public education in DE. In CA, most people go with public schools which drives up the housing prices in good school districts. Like in our town, most parents of my daughter's preschool classmates are doctors, attorneys, bankers and high tech professionals, yet none of them plan to send their kids to private schools. But in DE, seems most parents opt for private schools. What's the main drive for DE parents doing so? Is DE's public education that bad? Also, will my daughter still be able to transfer to a good private mid school after graduating from a public elementary school?

[Freesia Breeze]

The problem with most public school districts in northern Delaware (Brandywine, Red Clay, Christina) is that inner city urban kids from the most violent and impoverished parts of the city of Wilmington are integrated in the suburban schools. Some of them are very good kids, eager to learn and do not cause trouble. Some are pretty bad, with environment related behavior and learning problems which disrupts the learning of others and lowers overall school test scores. There are no public high schools in the city, except for African American oriented charter schools, which always seem plagued with problems.

Red Clay Consolidated School District is currently having other issues as well. They want to integrate special needs students (autistic, deaf, etc) with the general student population. The parents of these kids are quite upset about it.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...esday/6508717/

In nearby Pennsylvania, the Kennett, Unionville-Chadds Ford, Avon Grove and Garnet Valley school districts do not have inner city/urban students. They do have higher taxes, but you get what you pay for, and it shows in the quality of their schools.