Thinking about House Hunting

Don and I have begun the first stage in house hunting: trying to figure out where we want to move to in retirement. We are not ready to actually move, but it took us five years to shift from asking ourselves where should we live to actually moving. Our standards have only grown more finicky in the past quarter of a century. We know both what we do want and what we don't want in the next stage.

It could be summed up as we want to live in a town that most resembles a Hallmark movie or the setting of a cozy mystery series (without a bunch of murders, of course). The type of place where everything is within walking distance, there are lots of small businesses to support, everyone is friendly, and the place is affordable enough for the starving artist to be able to afford a mansion. It also needs to be within a short drive of family, our favorite businesses, and New York City. As Garrison Keillor famously said about Lake Woebegone "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

The big problem in New Jersey are our property taxes. Go to Zillow and look up any home in the Garden State, and unless you are from here or Southern California your eyeballs will pop out of your head, like ours did when our mechanic told us her MONTHLY car insurance bill in Philadelphia is about what ours is for A YEAR. 

Towns visited thus far in the quest to find Utopia:

Westerville, Ohio

Newark, Delaware

Arden, Delaware

Middletown, Delaware

Delaware City, Delaware

New Castle, Delaware

Milford, Delaware

With the exception of Westerville (which is near cousins), the others are within two hours of my parents. We don't want to be too far away.

Simple litmus tests:

What options are there for ice cream?

What is the library like?

Do the parks have lights at night?

What is the walkability score?

Is there a Presbyterian Church (or a similar denomination)?

Where is the nearest theater?

Is there a locally owned coffee shop on the main street?

Bonus: is it near a college or university

Don suggested adding: how far to the closest Wegmans? The first choices all fail that test. Most even fail the basic ice cream test.

We have found some great local restaurants. Sully's Irish Pub in Middletown, DE is a must if you visit. In addition to delicious gourmet food, the owner will tell you about the history of every item in the pub. The salmon was only $21 and the best I have had.

We have found some great trails, such as the path on the waterway in New Castle.

The total package is still lacking. Next on our list of places to explore is Lancaster, PA. We went there a couple of weeks ago for First Night, but we were still thinking we wanted to move to Delaware so we didn't look at the city through the lens of is this a good place to live. A quick Google search finds it has the highest walkability score of any city in Pennsylvania, and was recently voted the best place to retire to in the United States. The property taxes are much lower than in our town, and they have a Wegmans. I see another field trip in our near future.

Once we have a destination in mind, we will take our time finding just the right house. If you think our wish list for where to live is fussy, our dream home is even more particular. May we find that dream home by 2028 and enjoy at least a quarter of a century in that home.