Relocating to the Fort Wayne area.

[genxfam]

Just curious about the city of Fort Wayne... how bad can the inner city be? My husband grew up in Chicago (city), it cannot be any worse than that. Most parts of Florida are nothing to write home about either.

[ShadowCaver]

genxfam - welcome to the forum, and potentially/hopefully to the area

Have you seen this thread: https://www.city-data.com/forum/india...-ft-wayne.html

Don't get me wrong - FtW is great, and as one that travels from Albion to FtW daily don't want to sound hypocritical [but must keep in mind that when I moved to Albion, I was working in Columbia City area, so was a bit more quicker/shorter commute ], however US30 can wear on a person,,, unless they are used to such, and/or don't care much about that kind of traveling, daily. Its a good road, 2-lanes each direction,,, but IMHO getting filled w/ too many stop lights that really break up the convenience of being able to get from point A to B w/o hassle. BTW, not to scare, but there have been too many instances too of accidents at a few of these lights where people didn't stop in time - don't know if more or less than other similar types of highways.

As to the inner FtW city, its not bad, not at all. Most of the police incidents are found in the south/southeastern side. Downtown itself is good, many buildings and restaurants - with many other local eateries around the area too; actually one of my favourite things about this region is all of the great mom/pop local diners.

Might peruse the local FtW on-line papers, to help get a feel for what occurs in and around the city:
JournalGazette.net | The Journal Gazette | Fort Wayne, Ind. - news, sports, business, Indiana, Ohio
The News-Sentinel - FRONTPAGE- Fort Wayne IN
Allen County Government
http://www.downtownfortwayne.com/
http://www.wane.com/
http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/

BTW and FWIW - there are some that prefer not to live in Allen County itself, due to relatively higher fees, taxes, codes, etc.

Again, good luck.

[cdr18]

The drive on US 30 from Fort Wayne to Warsaw generally takes 25-30 minutes, give or take 5 minutes. But the benefits you get from the Fort Wayne area far exceed the benefits living in the Warsaw area, particularly the schools. I know of many people who live in Fort Wayne but travel to Warsaw for work, and vice-versa. It is heavily traveled road with many semis and large trucks traveling on it, as it is a main east/west route across the country.

Sorry, I didn't want to mislead you about the inner city. In fact, the whole city in my opinion is nearly walkable with the few exceptions that every big city has. If you lived in Chicago, Fort Wayne's bad places will pale in comparison to Chicago's. IMO, I would say about 80% of the violent crimes occur in the south/southeastern side of the city. You will definitely be able to see an economical divide in this section. Fort Wayne's crime stats overall are really good.

The downtown is fairly vibrant and has taken many steps to redevelop itself. Many good paying business jobs are located in downtown Fort Wayne. The new Parkview Field is definitely a gem compared to minor league baseball diamonds. There is also a project in the works that could significantly impact the downtown economy, called the North Fort Wayne River development which would include a hotel, and waterpark.

[genxfam]

Thank you all for the info, everyone on this thread has been so very helpful. Fort Wayne here we come!!