Retirement in Indiana.... (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville: amusement park, home, school)

[wvnd]

Ft. Wayne vs Evansville vs the rest....

Pros vs cons vs whatever. No wrong answer but I have to admit that the drug problem reputation of Evansville from around ten years ago is a bit of a concern.

[Always Needmore]

https://www.wowo.com/niche-names-for...ty-in-the-u-s/

I grew up here, left for a career, and came back to retire. I really can't say it's a place to be if one is looking for excitement. But, the air is clean, it's quiet at night, and the water is above average. So, the bennies outweigh the drawbacks.

If "innercity" dilemmas concern you, one of the nearby 'burbs should give you comfort. Huntertown is growing quite popular

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by wvnd

Ft. Wayne vs Evansville vs the rest....

Pros vs cons vs whatever. No wrong answer but I have to admit that the drug problem reputation of Evansville from around ten years ago is a bit of a concern.

I've been to both of these areas in recent years. Actually did a small vacation for a few days in Evansville. Ft. Wayne stops were just day trips for sporting events. I still haven't made it back up to Ft. Wayne to explore more. Most of my comments come from either my visits or what I've read on various forums.

The biggest difference will be the weather. Ft. Wayne will likely be one or two levels colder and get approximately three times the amount of snow Evansville will get.

The next issue would be population. Within the corporate limits, Ft. Wayne has about 150K more people than Evansville. The Ft. Wayne MSA population is 409K where as the Evansville MSA is 358K.

Drugs are bad all over the state, from larger metro and suburban areas to the rural areas. Some areas with significant poverty will likely have worse numbers for drug related issues, but I don't think the economy of Evansville is significantly worse than Ft. Wayne.

I hear better things about the economic outlook of Ft. Wayne than I do Evansville. Evansville recently demolished their tallest office building in their downtown area. While getting rid of eyesores is great, the fact that the building could be used for business isn't. That being said, Toyota was expanding their Princeton, IN plant last year, which would be a benefit to the Evansville region. I've read more on-line about people asking about Ft. Wayne relocation than Evansville relocation.

Both areas will have smaller towns near them. While both cities have riverfront areas, I hear Ft. Wayne has really made their riverfront nice. Evansville had an OK riverfront, but they had a decent downtown area when I visited a few years back. Being on the large Ohio River, Evansville feels more like a true "river city" and many of the smaller cities and towns in the region also have nice riverfront areas.

Northern Indiana is known for being flat with a lower tier of outdoor offerings if one is looking for forested areas and varied elevation topography. S. Indiana is hilly. Ft. Wayne has a lot of areas to the NW and N with small lakes. Evansville isn't too far from the larger Patoka Lake in S. Indiana and the Land Between the Lakes area in W. Kentucky is just south of Evansville. The Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest is just SW of Evansville and is a nice wilderness place. Evansville is also close to Indiana's best amusement park, Holiday World.

Neither city has a decent sized airport. Both have direct interstate access to Indianapolis. Evansville has I-64 directly to both St. Louis and Cincinnati. Ft. Wayne has access to Chicago and Detroit, though the direct route to Chicago is a US highway and the interstate route to Detroit isn't a straight shot.

[Variable]

Ft Wayne or some of the outskirts. Stay home during snowy or icy days. Not bad otherwise.

[Always Needmore]

One other suggestion that I'll offer, only because I know several people who are happy with this choice, but live in a small town in the south east quad of Indiana, within whatever you consider to be a reasonable drive to Cincinnati. That way you have all the pleasantries of small town charm, yet have access to big city necessities? Shop wisely to make sure the area you choose has broadband internet is about the only warning I can think of.

The concerns mentioned by Indy_317 about the difference in winters are valid. Lake Michigan at times acts like a funnel, bringing Canada to the Midwest, in all it's glory....

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by Always Needmore

One other suggestion that I'll offer, only because I know several people who are happy with this choice, but live in a small town in the south east quad of Indiana, within whatever you consider to be a reasonable drive to Cincinnati. That way you have all the pleasantries of small town charm, yet have access to big city necessities? Shop wisely to make sure the area you choose has broadband internet is about the only warning I can think of.

The SE area of Indiana down toward Cincinnati is pretty nice. If traffic is moving, Batesville to downtown Cincinnati is only about a 45 minute drive. The drive from Greensburg is only about fifteen minutes longer. Greensburg has the Honda plant, but due to the mentality of many people today, I'm not sure many who work there even live in the area. My relatives who work there drive from SE Indy and they said they work with a lot of people who make the drive from the Cincinnati area. Lawrenceburg is also an option and is a much quicker drive into Cincinnati and N. KY.

[jimwen]

I'm a hospice chaplain/substance abuse counselor living in a city and can't stand it anymore. I grew up in Podunk, and am thinking about a small Podunk city in Indiana to retire to. Any small, nice towns near the NE end of Indiana?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by jimwen

I'm a hospice chaplain/substance abuse counselor living in a city and can't stand it anymore. I grew up in Podunk, and am thinking about a small Podunk city in Indiana to retire to. Any small, nice towns near the NE end of Indiana?

Chesterton, Granger, and Valparaiso are all nice enough smaller cities. If you're talking about the NE corner, Angola isn't too bad either.

If you want a somewhat larger smaller city, Lafayette/West Lafayette area has a good amount of amenities as well.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by jimwen

I'm a hospice chaplain/substance abuse counselor living in a city and can't stand it anymore. I grew up in Podunk, and am thinking about a small Podunk city in Indiana to retire to. Any small, nice towns near the NE end of Indiana?

The trend of urban core and urban centers growing still seems to be where things are heading. As such, I would avoid moving to a Marion, Wabash, or Warsaw type area. There are just too long of distance if one needs specialty shopping, specific healthcare needs, etc.. A hospital in a small town on the east side of the state closed their ER this year. This hospital is part of a large healthcare provider network, so it wasn't some local hospital trying to compete with a larger healthcare company. Many years back Walmart closed up a store in a smaller town that could be considered a far off suburb of Indianapolis. I think these types of closings are just a sign of things to come.

Someone already mentioned Angola. I've never been there, but have heard good things about it. However, I think it is too far away from the anchor metro area and subject to issues noted above.

I never did get back up to explore Ft. Wayne since my original reply to this thread a little over ago. Maybe sometime soon. I still hear positives about Ft. Wayne and the nearby suburbs.

I visited Bluffton three years ago to check out the state park up there. The downtown was decent given it was only like five months since the start of the 2020 pandemic. I went to a coffee shop that was doing a very good business. Lots of traffic moving around. The state park had a beach with a decent crowd. I really liked the town's riverfront area. It isn't a massive river per se, but they had some nice pedestrian walks along bridges, the river/park areas, etc.. I know two young people who moved to Indianapolis for school (where the couple met). They were from that area of the state and end up moving back and settled in Bluffton.

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by jimwen

I'm a hospice chaplain/substance abuse counselor living in a city and can't stand it anymore. I grew up in Podunk, and am thinking about a small Podunk city in Indiana to retire to. Any small, nice towns near the NE end of Indiana?

I would also say Angola. It's a nice town and the downtown square is pretty unique. A couple other nice smaller towns in northeast Indiana are Auburn and Garrett if you want to be a bit closer to Fort Wayne but away from that hustle and bustle. Auburn is bigger and has a bit more going on than Garrett but it's still pretty nice.