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FeedA Great Place to Live and Work
Newark’s small-town charm and business-friendly climate makes it a great place to live, work and start a business.
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On a sun-splashed weekday afternoon, mature trees cast shadows on the University of Delaware’s mall. Students, some with open books, laze on the grass. Bicyclists and joggers are out in full force on South College Avenue. Over on Main Street, couples push strollers past al fresco diners at Caffé Gelato Restaurant and Homegrown Café.
This is Newark, home of the University of Delaware—and so much more.
Don’t let the tree-lined streets and sidewalks, quaint downtown and UD’s Georgian architecture fool you. Newark is thoroughly modern. The city, conveniently close to I-95, is a major hub for groundbreaking biotechnology and life science industries. Its shops feature fun, cutting-edge fashions, gifts and accessories, and its restaurants offer some of the area’s finest cuisine.
Yet the city, whose roots date back to the 18th century, retains its small-town ambiance and community pride. “College towns are the place to live for all the right reasons,” says Michael Bowman, chairman and president of the Newark-based Delaware Technology Park, which attracts and fosters startups in high-tech fields.
And if Newark is an example, college towns are also a good place to work. BusinessWeek magazine recently selected Newark as the best city in Delaware for business startups, citing its 2.97 business startups per 1,000 people and 32 small businesses per 1,000 people. Downtown Newark is minutes from W.L. Gore & Associates, AstraZeneca, the DuPont Co. and Christiana Care Health Systems.
A History Built on Education
Newark’s fame as a home for education started with a small preparatory and grammar school, which moved to Newark in 1765 and rechristened itself the Newark Academy. In 1833 Newark College received its charter and later renamed itself Delaware College. The school merged with the Newark Academy in 1834. Closed during the Civil War, Delaware College reopened in 1870. In 1921 it became the University of Delaware.
The city’s largest landowner offers Newark a positive economic impact, thanks to the students, faculty and staff, and the businesses that serve them. Yet the city has managed to keep both its residents and the students in mind when planning for the future, especially when it comes to housing.
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