What's Evansville like? (Fort Wayne, South Bend, Muncie: how much, houses, subdivisions)

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Berteau

Again. How is it a good thing to be 200+ miles from The cities mentioned that are admittedly better and you like to travel to? You can have the same lifestyle and cost of living 30 miles from said cities. The answer is few people which is why cities like evansville are stagnant and declining. I also wouldn’t call evansville a small town, so you’re changing the comparison.

I personally don't want to live in a large city. I like being 90 minutes from Chicago and 2 hours from Indianapolis. For the day to day stuff the South Bend area has everything a major city does. Even for leisure, pleasure, and travel there is still plenty to do, then there's the big city for traveling to for special events and unique and highly renowned sights. Small cities have almost all the same day to day amenities as large cities, in my opinion.

[Berteau]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Well, I don't know what to tell ya. There's all kinds of reasons somebody might think it's a good thing to live within 200 miles of several 2 million plus metros. It's a good thing to have a choice of several metros to choose from if you wanna get away on a spur of the moment for a few hours, or an overnight or weekend trip. To have several metros to choose from is an advantage. I don't understand why anybody would think it's not a good thing. Most places 30 miles from most 2 million plus metros are suburbs.

Evansville is a big city by Indiana standards, but a small city or a big town by national standards.

Indy is close to Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, St. Louis, Chicago. The same with all the larger better cities in the Midwest, so that comparative advantage doesn’t hold up.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by RICKYY

Yes, I too think Evansville has gotten a bad rap and I think "stagnant" is the wrong word to describe the Evansville area. I think a better description would be "stable". My family moved from Grayson County, Kentucky to Evansville in 1963 when I was 10 years old. I was raised in the inner city and have lived on the west side (Red Bank Rd) and now live in Newburgh so I feel like I know the area pretty well. I have also lived in Southern California for 30 years and Portland, Oregon for 4 years. So, I've been around a little and have bought real estate in all three states.

For example, in 1986 when I moved to the Portland area, it was a pocket of very cheap real estate on the West Coast. The Seattle area was super expensive and was pushing high prices south and the crazy prices of Southern California and the Bay Area of California was pushing higher prices north up the West Coast through Oregon to Portland. That pocket started to disappear during the 4 years I lived there as swarms of Californians loaded with equity money bought up everything on the market. They drove prices up so fast, the locals were priced out of the marked and turned the whole area into a giant construction zone that became a nightmare of a place to live. I was so glad to leave that area, but the real estate prices in Portland are now in balance with the rest of the West Coast.

I see Evansville and the whole SW area of Indiana being in a somewhat similar position. It is currently a pocket of beautiful real estate on the Ohio river that is incredibly under valued. Nashville which is just 150 miles south of Evansville has literally exploded, as has their real estate prices. While it is true that Tennessee has some tax advantages over Indiana, the extremely low real estate prices will easily overcome any tax advantages. Money always flows to where the best deal can be had and I am thinking eyes will eventually turn toward the gently rolling hills of Southern Indiana.

Evansville residents have a inferiority complex because they think there is nothing "special" about the area, ... grass is greener on the other side type of mentality. Even on City Data other residents and people who have lived here make negative comments about it. Since I moved back, people say things like "I can't believe you moved back here from California"?? That's because many locals don't have a clue and still think California is the same as it was in the 1960's with the beach boys singing around the campfire on the beach and that it is heaven on earth. Believe me...just no! When I think of California, I think of massive freeways with 10 lanes on each side packed with thousands of cars all creeping along at 10 MPH!! Talk about living a stressful life!

So to answer the OPs question, yes, Evansville is a nice, quiet, relaxed, safe place to live and I hope it never changes but, I fear that it will and it won't be long in coming. In addition to being a pocket of cheap real estate, the people are great, friendly, down to earth and unassuming. The COL is one of the lowest in the nation.

If nashville development spills out...and it will...why in the world would it go to Evansville over Louisville...or even Birmingham or Memphis? And Louisville development and growth is a good clip ahead of all of these already.

For one, those two cities have everything Eville has and ten times more...are still cheap,...and directly connected to nashville by interstate.

I am not sure myself or anyone can see what you do...Evansville is below almost anywhere it's size in growth.

[DillyDilly97]

The Evansville/Henderson area can be summed fairly easily. Met some nice people but the area has a lot of issues for a place of it’s size. Serious drug and gun issues in Evansville and surrounding areas. I’m a gun owner, but I’ve never seen the crazy amount of shootings and high amount of drug use that goes on in that area for it too be no bigger than what it is. All the crime statistics are 70%-80% higher than the National average in Evansville/Henderson. There also is alot of old and run down structures in that area, for whatever reason the powers that be don’t seem to care about cleaning up things like that. There is very little to do in terms of entertainment, just the same couple of little festivals every year that the locals treat like Disneyland. The Ohio River is there but it’s dirty and polluted, I personally didn’t find anything that scenic about it. Most job opportunities are just your typical $20 an hour factory jobs that come and go or hospitality type jobs. Well above the national poverty rate in the area, it is well over 20%. Everything in that area just feels like it has been left behind too an extent and moves very slow. Nearly all of the youth moves away after High School for better Jobs and Opportunities elsewhere. The average age in Evansville/Henderson is 40 which reflects that. I’m in my mid 40’s myself, and when I was there I noticed the high percentage of older people and not much youth or just vibrant atmosphere in general. This past census showed Evansville and Henderson both lost around 1000 in population, the population in both places has been dropping for the past 10 years. I left due to the high crime and just overall lack of opportunity. The history of that area is really fascinating and it has potential. But it’s facing a lot of uphill battles.

[edujop]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

I feel like every city in Indiana has those same bragging rights, central with a lot of other major cities only a few hours away. So far it seems like only Indianapolis has truly capitalized on this. I feel like Evansville shares the same fate as the rest of the state. Things aren't looking bad, but they aren't going to experience an economic boom anytime soon either.

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I am 60 and work from home. I personally do not want to live in a place that is experiencing, or about to experience, an economic boom. I want to live in a place that isn't growing, to be honest. As long as it is a stable city, functional city that's all I need.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by edujop

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I am 60 and work from home. I personally do not want to live in a place that is experiencing, or about to experience, an economic boom. I want to live in a place that isn't growing, to be honest. As long as it is a stable city, functional city that's all I need.

You'll love Evansville.

[RICKYY]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

Travel more. Evansville offers literally....nothing.

Just saw this LOL. Travel more you say?? Well lets see, 24 years U.S. Navy, 16 years were sea duty on Destroyers and Cruisers that included 7 overseas deployments of 6-8 months each. I have lived in Chicago, IL, San Diego, CA., Long Beach, CA, Temecula, CA, Portland, OR. Spent time in every major city on the West Coast, Hawaii, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, etc, etc,. Served in the combat zone during two wars.

After retiring from the Navy, I spent three years driving OTR pulling freight across the great U.S.A. for Werner Enterprises. When I was young, I wanted to live a life of travel, adventure and excitement and I did. It was fun, but I got OLD! When I started looking for a place to retire and take it easy, the beautiful, low cost, boring, quiet, rolling hills of the Evansville/Newburgh area fit the bill. So, yeah, I have traveled some.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I think some people are being way too hard on Evansville. I've seen a few dash-cam videos on YouTube of driving around Evansville, and it doesn't look like it's that bad of a city. It looks nicer than Muncie, Anderson, Marion and South Bend.

[Berteau]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I think some people are being way too hard on Evansville. I've seen a few dash-cam videos on YouTube of driving around Evansville, and it doesn't look like it's that bad of a city. It looks nicer than Muncie, Anderson, Marion and South Bend.

That doesn’t make it good. None of those cities are great, and a few are college towns.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Berteau

That doesn’t make it good. None of those cities are great, and a few are college towns.

Well, I just don't think Evansville is all that much out of line with other cities it's size. Just off the top of my head, I can think of 3 other states that if Evansville was located in one of those states, it would easily be the nicest city in each of those states. So not to rattle anybody's cage or pee in anybody's Cheerio's, I'll refrain from calling out those states by name.