Possible relocation due to job (Hammond, Valparaiso: house, to buy, theater)

[Tara515]

Hello my family of 6 currently resides in Orlando fl. I have to say we are very happy here. My kids were born here (most of them have only lived in our current house) we have 4 kids that will be relocating to new schools..9th grade 6th grade and second grade (oldest is in college) We are excited to have the opportunity to live somewhere with 4 seasons. None of my kids have ever seen snow. As exciting as the change is I do have some fears leaving Orlando. My daughter is heavily involved in musical theater, she's part of a theatre school that travels to competitions with their Sr troupe as well as performing shows. Wherever we move to should be a quick drive to the theatre since she will practically live there. ALSO we are in an amazing school now so school is another TOP priority. My boys play rec baseball. We are very family oriented. The job is in Illinois but we would rather look in Indiana. We are looking to buy because we think we will be in the job for quite some time. Where do you suggest we look. Theatre baseball and good schools it's a short list.

[gemstone1]

Indiana and Illinois share a large border, where is the job located, and what kind of commute are you willing to endure.

[Tara515]

My husband is willing to drive over an hour since he doesn't need to go into the office everyday. The job is downtown Chicago near Madison St. We aren't familiar at all with either area. In order for my 15 year old daughter to feel comfortable with this huge change in her most formidable years she needs to feel like she isn't losing the theatre and because of how often she's there we want to be very close to thar. Especially because I'm the one driving and I've never driven in snow. I'd like to be close to a good theatre and in a great school district. I'm thinking of valpriso they have a theatre called Chicago street theatre company but again I know nothing about anything in any of the area's. We are flying blind right now

[Ditto97]

Originally Posted by Tara515

My husband is willing to drive over an hour since he doesn't need to go into the office everyday. The job is downtown Chicago near Madison St. We aren't familiar at all with either area. In order for my 15 year old daughter to feel comfortable with this huge change in her most formidable years she needs to feel like she isn't losing the theatre and because of how often she's there we want to be very close to thar. Especially because I'm the one driving and I've never driven in snow. I'd like to be close to a good theatre and in a great school district. I'm thinking of valpriso they have a theatre called Chicago street theatre company but again I know nothing about anything in any of the area's. We are flying blind right now

Hi Tara! Welcome to NWI. My family is similar to yours -- working in Chicago but living in NWI. Will he be driving or taking the train? The commute will likely be at least an hour, so he should prepare for that. Valparaiso will definitely be over an hour by car.
There are so many wonderful communities to research. Munster has an arts program that's very highly-regarded. So does the Tri-Town (Schererville, Dyer, St. John). As you mentioned, Valparaiso has great access to theater companies. Crown Point would be another option that has theater programs. The Indiana Education site has excellent information about school systems.

Keep in mind the train line is the South Shore, so I'd recommend checking the map to see where the Chicago stop would be in location to your husband's job. Millennium Station will likely be the most convenient, depending where on Madison St. he's working. The train line currently runs to Valparaiso (and farther east) with an expansion coming to Munster and Dyer in the next couple years.

Hope this is helpful!

[Tara515]

He's open to travel by car or train. We live in Orlando now and the driving here is crazy. We are used to the commutes. Disney is 45 minutes away and tourist traffic is insane especially when most people are lost. Lol
I'm going to look at the places you mentioned. I said before I prefer that I not be the one to do alot of driving because I do not know how to drive in snow. My husband is fine but I've never done it. Where we live now (no snow) but I live in a community called avalon park. We have our own schools theatre Dr's dentists grocery store. It's a live work play community I don't drive more then 5 to 15 minutes to any of our daily activities. I know I'm not going to find exactly like this in fact Florida only has 3 communies that were built on this concept ( celebration Fl is the most widely known) i know its a long shot but if we couldlocate an area somewhere that everything is clustered together and I'll look for a house in the middle of it all if that is possible.

[Ditto97]

Originally Posted by Tara515

He's open to travel by car or train. We live in Orlando now and the driving here is crazy. We are used to the commutes. Disney is 45 minutes away and tourist traffic is insane especially when most people are lost. Lol
I'm going to look at the places you mentioned. I said before I prefer that I not be the one to do alot of driving because I do not know how to drive in snow. My husband is fine but I've never done it. Where we live now (no snow) but I live in a community called avalon park. We have our own schools theatre Dr's dentists grocery store. It's a live work play community I don't drive more then 5 to 15 minutes to any of our daily activities. I know I'm not going to find exactly like this in fact Florida only has 3 communies that were built on this concept ( celebration Fl is the most widely known) i know its a long shot but if we couldlocate an area somewhere that everything is clustered together and I'll look for a house in the middle of it all if that is possible.

Lol! Sounds like he'll know what to expect then.
Yes, as you might expect, there isn't going to be something exactly similar. I would recommend considering the area around the intersection of Routes 30 & 41 in Schererville. This puts you pretty centrally-located to the commercial centers of Schererville and Highland, and you'll have ease of access to Saint John, Dyer, and Munster. The train station will be up-and-running shortly in Dyer/Munster, and your husband will be able to conveniently access the interstates. Keep in mind that Schererville, Dyer, and St. John share a school system. Hope that puts things into perspective.

Valparaiso and Crown Point (and surrounding areas) are still good options, but they also have more rural areas which you may not be comfortable with in the snow.
Driving in snow can be intimidating at first, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.

[valpofan11]

Something to note about St John is that the northern 2/3 of the town is in St John Township, which is Lake Central School Corporation, a mostly wealthy expensive district that is top notch in school quality. Lake Central HS has about 3300 students, so it's huge. The southern 1/3 of St John is in Hanover Township, which is Hanover Community School Corporation, a smaller but rapidly growing and improving district that is a bit cheaper. Hanover Central HS has between 750 and 800 students and is growing every year.

A very small portion of southeastern St John is in Center Township, which is Crown Point Community School Corporation, which is top notch and in an area that is growing and getting wealthier. Crown Point HS is about 3000 students now and still growing.

[pvande55]

I can tell you now: traffic in NW IN and NE IL is horrible. Don't know how it compares to Orlando but it has an additional hazard in the winter-snow. The good thing is you can take the train. Munster or Dyer are good. For now you'd have to drive to Hammond or Matteson to catch a train to Chicago. But in a few years there will be train service to Munster/Dyer.

[dudenamedric]

Originally Posted by pvande55

I can tell you now: traffic in NW IN and NE IL is horrible. Don't know how it compares to Orlando but it has an additional hazard in the winter-snow. The good thing is you can take the train. Munster or Dyer are good. For now you'd have to drive to Hammond or Matteson to catch a train to Chicago. But in a few years there will be train service to Munster/Dyer.

Orlando has absolutely horrid drivers. She'll feel right at home lol

[dudenamedric]

Originally Posted by Tara515

Hello my family of 6 currently resides in Orlando fl. I have to say we are very happy here. My kids were born here (most of them have only lived in our current house) we have 4 kids that will be relocating to new schools..9th grade 6th grade and second grade (oldest is in college) We are excited to have the opportunity to live somewhere with 4 seasons. None of my kids have ever seen snow. As exciting as the change is I do have some fears leaving Orlando. My daughter is heavily involved in musical theater, she's part of a theatre school that travels to competitions with their Sr troupe as well as performing shows. Wherever we move to should be a quick drive to the theatre since she will practically live there. ALSO we are in an amazing school now so school is another TOP priority. My boys play rec baseball. We are very family oriented. The job is in Illinois but we would rather look in Indiana. We are looking to buy because we think we will be in the job for quite some time. Where do you suggest we look. Theatre baseball and good schools it's a short list.

I lived in Valpo for a stretch. It's very nice. If you've ever been to Ocala, FL, it's got a similar deal but way nicer.