Wilmington is near the bottom of a new list ranking cities on the best places to raise a family. (Fabian Centeno photo from Unsplash)

Wilmington, Dover called poor places to raise a family

Ken MammarellaCulture, Headlines

Wilmington is near the bottom of a new list of America’s best cities to raise a family. It’s 173rd out of 182 cities on the list from WalletHub, a personal finance website. Dover is 139th. In a stunning contrast, WalletHub a few months ago ranked Wilmington eighth on its list of best places to retire. Dover ranked 36th on that …

Wilmington has been called the most affordable city in America. (City of Wilmington photo)

Wilmington called America’s most affordable city

Ken MammarellaCulture, Headlines

“Wilmington, Delaware, is the cheapest city to live in the U.S.,” some new number crunching has concluded. Scholaroo reached that conclusion in ranking 151 cities in eight qualities to come up with the Best Places to Live. Wilmington “has one of the lowest rent costs, and the city has no sales taxes,” the site continued. It does have an income …

Fireworks over Rehoboth Beach. (Butch Comedy's photo courtesy of Rehoboth Beach)

Where you can have a blast at fireworks across Delaware

Ken MammarellaCulture, Headlines

Most Delaware places known for Fourth of July fireworks and other Independence Day activities have announced their plans. Organizers consistently ask for people to arrive early and leave late, and the Delaware Department of Transportation warns that many events close roads, too. In other words, traffic could be bad. Dusk is about 9:05 p.m. on the Tuesday, the Fourth, but …

St. Anthony's Italian Festival. (File photo)

Another St. Anthony’s Festival, another debate on parking

Ken MammarellaCulture, Headlines

  St. Anthony’s Italian Festival has been drawing the crowds to Wilmington since the 1970s, and it’s likely that there have been parking issues all along. “St. Anthony’s has gone too far for this Festival,” Christine Ciccone began her post on nextdoor.com. “Starting tomorrow we are not able to park on 8th & N. Scott St. for 2 weeks due …

Market West is the new name for five blocks that go from Market to West streets and Delaware Avenue and 12th Street. (Buccini/Pollin Group)

Market West is Buccini/Pollin’s new downtown Wilm. brand

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

The Buccini/Pollin Group, which has been called Wilmington’s largest private landowner, has rebranded its downtown holdings. Market West is the new name for five blocks that go from Market to West streets and Delaware Avenue and 12th Street. It features five buildings BPG bought from the DuPont Co. in 1999 and 2017 as the company downsized and moved to the …

The Wilmington community celebrated the topping off of its first new school building in decades. (Jarek Rutz/Delaware LIVE News)

First new Wilmington school in 50 years topped off with joy 

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Dozens of Wilmington elementary school students chanted “raise it up” and a drum team played while the ceremonial last beam on the first new city school in 50 years was lifted into place by a construction crane. The new $84 million Bancroft School in Christina School District, which will span several blocks in Wilmington, is expected to open for students …

Incyte needs various government approvals to expand its campus along Augustine Cut-Off, just north of Wilmington. (Julie Zorach photo)

Neighbors to Incyte: Don’t expand in Alapocas

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

Neighbors opposing expansion by Incyte have raised the typical concerns about nearby development – increased traffic and decreased property values – if the biopharmaceutical company gets approval to expand its Alapocas campus. Uniting as Neighbors for Responsible Land Use, they’re also concerned about the noise and dirt during construction, the trees that would die, the wildlife habitat that would be …

Limen will serve 600 more Delawareans per year with the purchase of the ABC building. (Limen Facebook)

Limen purchase to help 600 more people get sober each year

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Health

Limen Recovery + Wellness hopes its recent purchase of the Aloysius Butler Clarke building on Washington Street in Wilmington will allow the recovery program to help an additional 600 Delawareans each year get and stay sober. Buying the ABC building also will allow Limen to offer in-house rehabilitation for the first time but not detox. Until now,  most Limen clients …

Wilmington is 14th on The Hartford’s list of America’s riskiest cities for home fires. (Photo by Dave Hoefleron Unsplash)

Wilmington at high risk for home fires, insurer says

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

    Wilmington is one of America’s riskiest cities for home fires, a new analysis of federal data has concluded. The Hartford 2023 Home Fire Index places Wilmington 14th out of 150 large U.S. cities with the highest home fire risk. Requests for comment from Wilmington Fire Department Chief John Looney and State Fire Marshal Michael G. Chionchio were not …

Wilmington has told a dozen build that they don't qualify for city trash collection. (Shane Rounce photo from Pexels)

Wilmington drops trash collection for a dozen buildings

Ken MammarellaGovernment, Headlines

Bureaucracy moves slowly, sometimes taking years to act. Online complaints, on the other hand, take just minutes or days to raise a ruckus. Both trends came together when Wilmington recently told the owners of about a dozen buildings that the city would no longer collect their trash or their recycling. City code, as revised in 2014, limits trash collection to …