From California to Indiana? (Indianapolis, Valparaiso: best city, foreclose, wedding)

[acoday]

Hello there,
My family and I live in a wonderful small town called Walkerton, Indiana. It is a great place to raise kids. The school is wonderful and there are many more small towns around with their own school district too who need teachers.
Due to my job, we are selling our house and moving. (don't want to, but it is must) We have 14 acres mostly wooded with a 3 bedroom, 2 full bath home. ALso, a pool, 2.5 garage, and more room to add on. Beautiful land and close to schools. Very quiet and peaceful place. If you are interested, please reply and I can give you more info. We are asking $180000 for 2001 built home, 14 acres, 2.5 garage, shed, pool, woods with walking trails and stocked pond.

Good luck with your decision with moving to the midwest. You wont regret it.

[TraderJack]

Boy do I emphathize!
In 2004 we picked up lock, stock and barrel to leave wonderful, peaceful, and very pleasant Sacramento, CA for the Tampa Bay area of Florida! It was a family necessity, or so we thought at the time - (later the necessity evaporated with an untimely death) - but we girded our loins and headed to the SunShine State. I hated to leave Sacramento.

Florida was a pure nightmare! Rude people, unbelievable traffic problems, incompetent local government(they had to rebuild 2 brand new local bridges!) and of course the oppresive humidity! Then we were shocked to discover that the Cost of Living in Florida was even higher than the COL in CA! Nothing was cheap! We couldn't get out of there fast enough! Unfortunately we had purchased a "fixer" home to give me something to do, so I had to complete repairs and such before we could market the home - but we were lucky - the home sold in 30 days and the market didn't hurt us too bad. Two years in Florida was enough for me!

The daughter was in Fishers, so we thought why not go there? Bought a small house and started to enjoy the grandkids. We couldn't be happier. Great neighborhood, close to malls and freeways, yet it has a country flavor. And the COL is significantly less than either CA or FL.

We're still discovering the area, but we've found a couple of good fishing holes, a few decent restaurants(we love Ruth's Chris), and met some quality people. All in all, Indiana is not too bad. It sure ain't Sacramento - being 2 hours from Tahoe and 2 hours from San Francisco and great weather - but it's not bad.

I'll know more after we've experienced a winter here, but I suspect we'll soon become real Hoosiers!

Regards and best of luck.
TraderJack

[domergurl]

I just moved from Fishers. It's nice and growing like crazy! I'm glad you are enjoying it. If you want a good non-chain meal, go over to Casler's on Olio & 116th.

[cyberdol]

Hi I would really appreciate information on homes in the country as we will be moving within a commutable distance from Indianapolis. We are looking for 5-20 acres with a nice home. My husbands company in Palo Alto, CA is relocating to the main plant in Indianapolis. I would like to know about local veternarians(greyhound rescue person) shopping, banks, Frys, Target, Walmart pet food stores and jobs in the nearby areas for my self. We only want a small commute unless the house is dynamite. A 30 to 45 min commute would be great.Also how in the world to drive in the snow! I am a native Northern Ca person I am a little scared of the black ice I hear about. What is the best climate in the area? Is it more towards Shelbyville or to the west or east?
Any help for a newbie as this is an adventure for two people in their fifties and greyhounds to do.

[domergurl]

Frys is in Fishers, but it's easy enough to get to from Noblesville, Carmel, Westfield. You may want to look into Pendleton for land, but you may be able to find some acreage in Noblesville too. the commutes might be yuck though, but not coming from P.A.

I'll be able to speak about black ice tomorrow as we are expecting an ice and snow storm tomorrow! Driving in snow is easy. The worst thing you can do is white knuckle it or make sharp turns. Just be defensive of the person in front of you.

You may also want to look into the eastern burbs of New Palestine or property in the Mount Vernon school district (Fortville, McCordsville, Mount Comfort). I'm not sure how much property is left in Brownsburg, maybe someone from out there can speak to that.

[cyberdol]

Thanks for the post...I think the commute from Modesto to Palo Alto that takes 2 hrs one way is still the worst here. I understand it is not like that there from the people that are training here that are from the Indianapolis area. What area gets the harsher weather? I would figure northern vs southern part of the state but what about the east the west?

[cyberdol]

Originally Posted by EricSteph

My cousin moved to Plainfield, IN from Southern Cali about 9 years ago. My aunt, who also lived in So. Cal, moved to Avon, IN about 6 years ago because she loved it there so much. My parents and siblings moved to Avon about 3 years ago and my husband and I are moving there Oct. 1st. We have been to many different places in the US: Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Nevada, Seattle. We are so excited about the change of pace from So Cal. We have lived in the Orange County/Inland Empire part of California our whole lives (we are now 26) and welcome the change. There is NO traffic like the traffic here. People are rude. They can't drive and don't care. They are inconsiderate. They don't care whether they can speak English or not and now it has become OUR fault if we can't understand them. The housing prices are OUTRAGEOUS! We pay $1700 a month for a one bedroom apartment. We are newly married with no children and our desire is to make the move to a slower paces environment before we do so. In Indiana we can buy a house, finish college, and have a lot less stress than we have here. If anyone says to stay in California because the price of living is worth it, then they are a minority. My family that currently lives in Indiana have never once regretted making the move. The embrace everything that comes with living in Indiana. My parents live in Avon, IN down the street from Avon High School (one of the best in the state) and paid $175,000 for a 3,000 sq. ft. home on about half an acre in a very nice neighborhood. I would not say that Avon is pricey. They have great schools and lots of shopping without the traffic of Carmel. Carmel is also very nice, but much more expensive. Those of us from California jokingly refer to Carmel as "the Orange County" of Indiana. Anyone who has lived in So Cal knows what I mean.

I agree people in northern ca are rude also. I cannot wait to leave here. Groceries are way to high and the gas!!We want a better life not one like lab rats ..I am tired of nosey neighbors we want the country life like we had before...no more crazies running through the neighborhood and stealing our car or stealing my purse out of the car.

[domergurl]

Weather is relative in Indiana. 2 weeks ago, my parents in the northern part of the state has .25 inches of ice, while I rode bikes in 60+ degree weather 3.5 hours south. This morning, it's snowing beautifully everywhere. I'll try to post some pics later. Basically, it CAN get hot and humid in the summer and it CAN snow some. Southern Indiana tends to get more ice though, but again, it's all relative. Just be prepared for every type of weather, except for hurricanes.

We're here for more questions!

[domergurl]

It was beautiful this morning, but now it's raining ...

[cyberdol]

Thanks that was a terrifice picture. You have a great camera!
How are the jobs there also?