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35 great towns: How does yours rate? Plus, check out our exclusive chart that shows home sales in more than 200 Delaware neighborhoods from 2006 through 2010.
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25 Wilmington
Safety 27
Property tax: 3.59 22
Median home: $145,000 5
SD: Brandywine, Christina, Colonial
and Red Clay 10
Commute time: 24.9 18
Shopping-Dining 4
Arts-Culture 5
Nightlife 4
Like any mid-sized city, it has depressed areas, but it also has neighborhoods with real esprit de corps, where entire communities organize yard sales, as in the Highlands, and progressive dinners, as in the Triangle. Even as the Riverfront ascends, Market Street sputters as an all-day, all-night destination, but investors hope to change that with the coming Live at the World Café at the renovated Queen Theatre. The city gets culture points for the Delaware Art Museum and Grand Opera House. Beware of school feeder patterns: Your child could end up in a poor performing district—or in highly rated Brandywine.
26 Bear
Safety 11
Property tax: 2.52 7
Median home: $166,000 10
SD: Christina 15
Commute time: 27.8 24
Shopping-Dining 3
Arts-Culture 1
Nightlife 2
Bear may be loaded with cookie-cutter subdivisions, but that’s OK with the many families who call it home. Parts of it can still feel rural. U.S. 40 has long been as commercialized as Kirkwood Highway and Concord Pike, so though there is no downtown to speak of, there is plenty of convenience on the Pulaski strip. Just watch the drivers.
27 Leipsic
Safety 2
Property tax: 2.67 11
Median home: $121,000 1
SD: Capital 9
Commute time: 27.8 24
Shopping-Dining 1
Arts-Culture 1
Nightlife 1
Your downtown: an antiques shop and Sambo’s Tavern, which is closed for a third of the year. Leipsic is for watermen and those who appreciate its relative isolation.
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