Location, Location, Location
When it comes to staying connected, traveling to the big East Coast cities is a breeze. From Wilmington, you can board Amtrak, or the local SEPTA Regional Rail trains, and be in Center City Philadelphia in a mere 20 minutes. Take Amtrak and be in Baltimore in only 45 minutes, Washington D.C. in 80 minutes, and New York in just 90 minutes. That means you can easily make a breakfast meeting in D.C. and be back in Wilmington by lunchtime or even take in a Broadway show and be back home in Northern Delaware for a restful night’s sleep.
Traveling within Delaware is just as efficient with DART First State bus service, Delaware’s intracity transit system with 70 bus routes and more than 2,500 bus stops throughout the state.
What’s more, two international airports are within an easy drive of the northern region. Philadelphia International Airport is just 25 minutes from Wilmington, and you can get to BWI in Baltimore in only 75 minutes.
There’s a beach for every kind of person
Delaware is not only famous for its miles of beautiful, family-friendly beaches along the Atlantic coast, but our coastline is also among the cleanest in the nation. Dewey Beach and Rehoboth Beach have consistently garnered five-star ratings for water quality. In all, Delawareans have access to 380 miles of shoreline throughout the state.
Whatever you head to the shore for — watersports, boardwalk fun, seafood, sunbathing or wildlife watching — there’s a beach for you here, and it’s under a two-hour drive no matter where you are in the state!
Places to Call Home
Living in Northern Delaware is still affordable compared to nearby big cities with a variety of lifestyle choices from urban locales to charming small towns. Median rent is $1,200 and the median home value of $141 per square foot.
Wilmington is the center of arts, culture and activity within the northern region and you will find no shortage of things to see and do here (link to Play/Things to Do), from catching a live music show at some of the city’s most cherished historical venues, like The Queen, The Grand or The Playhouse to discovering new craft beers at Constitution Yards to feasting on some of the best cuisine in the mid-Atlantic.
You don’t want to miss Wilmington’s Riverfront which offers an array of restaurants, breweries, live entertainment, and premier attractions. Grab the kids and visit Delaware Children’s Museum or catch a baseball game with the minor league Wilmington Blue Rocks team at Frawley Stadium. There is also an IMAX Theatre, an indoor trampoline park and, during the winter, an outdoor ice-skating rink.
Culture vultures will head for the Delaware Art Museum and its collection of more than 12,000 artworks in its main building and sculpture garden. Or visit The Delaware Contemporary during the monthly Art Loop. And music lovers must visit the Grand Opera House set in a restored 1871 Victorian theater with an elegant cast-iron façade. More than 75 shows are presented each season, ranging from symphony and ballet to jazz and comedy.
Take a drive northwest of hopping Wilmington, and you’ll almost feel like you’ve journeyed into the English countryside. Stately homes stand at the end of long curving driveways, embraced by trees and gently rolling hills. This is “Chateau Country,” Delaware’s most distinctive region and for generations the home of the Du Pont family and its grand mansions. Today, you can visit many of these spectacular homes and their stunning gardens like Mt. Cuba, Nemours, or Winterthur.
Southwest of Wilmington, close to the Maryland border, sits Newark, a charming town with a thriving Main Street and an abundance of green spaces like Rittenhouse Park, with its trout-filled creek. The University of Delaware campus is located here, and this college town provides a vibrant and welcoming place to study and live.
The picturesque riverside village of New Castle offers a step back in time with its cobblestone streets and immaculate Colonial-era row houses. It played a central role in American independence as it was the first capital of the state (and of course Delaware was the first state in the union), and it boasts the country’s first State House (1776-1777).
Lastly, you may want to check out the town of Arden, a community unique in its founding principles of Single Tax economic theory and arts and crafts philosophy, which continue to this day. All residential land is held in a trust. Leaseholders own their homes and pay one property tax (land rent) determined by elected assessors.
Opportunity
Most of the state’s largest employers, entertainment venues and arts organizations reside in the northern region. There’s a distinct culture of innovation and enterprise here, built on the legacy of long-standing American companies like DuPont. It’s no wonder so many global businesses choose to incorporate in Northern Delaware, including Solenis, Chemours, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Incyte, Adesis, CSC, Compact Membrane Systems, Astra Zeneca and LabWare.
This culture of innovation also provides an ideal breeding ground for entrepreneurism with many start-up ventures launched here like Carvertise and SAS Nanotechnologies. Companies like The Mill have capitalized on this active environment by providing community and coworking space for entrepreneurs, startups, remote workers, and established businesses with their flagship location in Wilmington and a soon-to-open site in Concord.
Healthcare
High-quality healthcare is standard in Northern Delaware. In fact, Christiana Care Health System is ranked in the top 2% of hospitals assessed nationwide, and it serves much of the northern region. Northern Delaware residents also have access to other innovative and comprehensive care for including two hospitals — St. Francis Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health — with world-class research institute and surgical care facilities. There is also a VA Medical Center in Wilmington.