Community Chat

[Elbelle]

I've been looking online, and it seems as though Christiana Hospital in Newark, DE is very highly rated.  There seem to be a lot of adult communities being built in the Wilmington area, so I'm thinking that might have better access to healthcare.  In addition, if you live in the northern part of the state you can go to the Philly hospitals.  Even living in NJ, we are accustomed to doing that.  For major surgery or cancer care, many of my neighbors will go to NYC or Philly. And I live in central NJ. 

So do we have any "yeas" or "nays" for the Wilminton area?

[sunshine45]

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@kaydee50 wrote:

@sunshine45 

I agree that a few responses one way or the other shouldn't sway someone from checking the area out in person.  However, you are a part time resident and IMO the availability of good hospitals and doctors nearby would be very high on my "musts" list.

I'm finding this discussion very interesting since some relatives are seriously considering moving there and I'm passing along the gist of these comments.

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@kaydee50

i agree, but you cannot paint all of delaware as being a "poor" healthcare state. it really depends on the area you are living in and how populated it is. in general, the ocean areas are not highly populated. just because i am a "part time resident" doesnt mean i dont know what is going on.

my mom was with me one week and she was having heart pains. she was rushed to beebe medical center where they took very good care of her. if there had been a major problem she would have been sent from there to a hospital that specializes in cardiac care.

but, of course, everyone has to decide on many factors, including the status of their health.

believe it or not, delaware ranks #16 on a list of best states for affordable healthcare and access to healthcare.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/health-care/healthcare-access

the overall national healthcare ranking is #25.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/delaware

[SahmIam]

I want to jump back into this because I want to make something clear:

Delaware has many wonderful things about it. Sunshine and others are absolutely correct that you need to make your decision not on what one person says but after doing research and listing your priorities about the area you want to live.

In MY situation as well as family members and close friends, ALL of us are looking at it from a medical perspective first. We are NOT looking at it from the beaches, the shopping, the availability of houses (which there are a LOT to choose from) but from the ability of finding doctors locally who we/they plan on seeing weekly/monthly/yearly from the time they move in until death. Yes, it's common to drive out of state to see a specialist or have a specific procedure performed; who wouldn't go to the best and then travel where they are? I'm talking Primary Care, Cardiologist, GYN, etc....your regular check up doctor. There is a serious issue with this and retirees and most don't find out until they've moved there and are stuck. You want to drive to another state to see your dentist, to have your yearly checkup? You want to drive an hour plus away in your 80's and 90's ? Heck, I wouldn't do it NOW and I"M in my early 50's. This is what I'm talking about. The quality isn't the issue. it's the availability of the doctors and why it's getting worse.

In the end, every person has to do the research for themselves. The more I talk to friends living in Delaware, the more I can see the positives but what's important to me isn't offered/is almost impossible to find. Also, there is only one county I would live in and that's New Castle. Delaware only has 3 and each are unique; you have to research that as well and see which would fit your needs the best.

[Kalli]

Issues with medical care would be at the very top of my list. No matter where retirees choose to live, if you don’t have easy access to quality healthcare within a reasonable distance it’s not realistic to consider living in that location. 

As a recent retiree, I find my peers and I are more hyper aware of the passage of time and its effect on our health, than any other age group.  

[loisp]

My husband and I retired and moved from NJ to southern Delaware.  Splurged on a brand new house thinking this would be the last home we would buy.  Within a couple of months, I knew I could not live in this state. My suggestion is to rent a place for a few months before you purchase anything. Off season vs vacation season is different.  Summer is very beach oriented--lots of visitors--crazy traffic.  Shopping year round is very limited unless you want to deal with vacationers going to the outlets. For example, the nearest Target was 40 miles away.   Finding a decent hair stylist was a problem.  Forget finding doctors.   Restaurants are generally overpriced with mediocre food.  So within a year of our move from NJ to Delaware we moved to Tennessee--where we are very happy.  Very little cultural activities in Delaware.  I joined the historical society, paid the dues and never heard from them even though I reached out to them numerous times. My development had activities which my husband and I attended.  We found that people were friendly at an event and beyond that no further contact.  Same with neighbors--everyone said hello and waved and nothing beyond that.  My opinion only--do not consider Delaware.  

[Hooty]

@loisp, Nothing like living in the South, being a southerner is maybe why DE was not for me either!

As far as Newark/Christiana/Wilmington, you might as well be living in Philadelphia, you are only minutes away!

We Air Force wives had a special name for it Dela-Where???

[software]

I'm curious why you chose Delaware anyway.

Is it because you would still be close to family in NJ?

[maestra]

I lived in Newark, DE for 4 miserable years and sang a hallelulah chorus when I left that 'wide spot in the road' for good.

[viva923]

I am a 30 year transplant to Delaware.

live in mid state.  Southern New Castle county and Kent county are 2 best areas to live in now. Sussex is south Delaware. Rehoboth beach is lower Delaware.  I will warn you roads are very congested here. Many transplanted that have moved her.  Cost of living is lower than NJ but still very high. Average house runs about 350,000.00 Taxes, as far as I am told, retirees are not taxed as heavily as NJ. We do pay a fair share of taxes for seniors.

there is little in mass transit. I do mean little.!!!!  If you don’t own a car you do need transportation for doctor appointments and dental and anything else.  

You should come and just pick a town and stay for a couple days and explore. 

[BAYC]

I also agree that the people are not friendly at all, actually quite snobby, especially in Historic Lewes area. No variety in restaurants, most are owned by SoDel so they feature the same overpriced seafood. As far as variety you have seafood and craft brewery pubs and that is about it. High utilities, taxes include a library tax so we can pay for big new library historic Lewes just built, yes we have a Library tax included in our school taxes and you pay school taxes for every school in your county. So other than no sales tax they get you on high prices for groceries and fees for everything. Need to drive 45 minutes to Dover or more to Christiana Mall for shopping. Sussex County only has Tanger Outlets and in the Rehoboth Lewes are there isn’t even a Super WalMart because the town councils don’t want it to compete with the few grocery stores they do have. We have a very small WalMart. They also won’t allow chain restaurants so agin SoDel has the lock on restaurants, county Council must get kickbacks from SoDel and the Ryan and Schell home builders because every new home are cookie cutter homes and they all vote NO to anyone that wants to build a shopping center, probably because they get money from Tanger to not have competition and also from the home builders as that is the only thing they approve. Also as one poster commented their is zero cultural attractions. Boardwalk and beaches and housing developments and not much else.