TOD
We live in an unincorporated area of Sussex County (entire county has a population about equal to Burbank CA; the entire state has a population (900,000) less than most major cities
Rehoboth Beach, itself, is an 1.25 square mile incorporated beach community of about 2000 permanent residents. In summer, the city population swells to about 25,000 and last Fourth of July the beach/boardwalk had an estimated 100,000 viewing the fireworks.
The city proper has a couple of dozen nice owner-operated full-service restaurants, some with near-celebrity status chefs
The entire area has only one motion picture theater -but it is a 14 screen (about half are 3D) multiplex which shows the latest film releases (weekend block busters openers get a special Thursday evening midnight preview). Tickets are $7.50 matinee, $10.00 evening. The theatres are spotlessly clean, the staff friendly and attentive, the patrons well-behaved. I suspect the fact that the complex draws viewers from all over the area holds down the type of gang-related peer pressure we find in many urban areas.
The download/boardwalk area is a very pedestrian friendly (but you do have to pay up to $1.50/hour to park meters are universal (they are the cities major source of income).
The area has a few very active little theatre groups and a couple of popular cabaret-type venues and a downtown church was recently converted to an arts center, including a good sized auditorium that hosts children theatre and a variety of direct-from-vegas acts like:
The downtown is filled with lots of specialty stores and art galleries; the highway is lined with one of the east coasts largest Outlet Malls (and no sales tax!). We have a major craft brewery, a local winery, and we host a majestic tall-ship.
The area lacks for two things no major bookseller, and no major electronic store outlet (we have to make do with WalMart).
The area does have its downside as a major tourist location we suffer through humongous traffic jams at certain times and do have to learn to tolerate some pretty rude visitors at time. Unfortunately, there is only one thoroughfare and it does double duty as a major six-lane highway and the only road through town. It is a major choke point god help us if we ever have to do a major evacuation there are only four ways off the entire Delmarva peninsula and two of them to the south (The Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Annapolis, Baltimore, Wash), and the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel to Norfolk) are both subject to closure in heavy weather, so that leaves only two exits left, one to the west and one to the north.
der Brucer
