Well, my position has been eliminated here in southern IL. If I want to stay with the company, I may be able to move to the Ft Wayne area, or the Anderson/Fishers area (I could live up to 50 miles or so from these cities, so I'm also interested in the surrounding smaller towns). We have two boys, ages 6 and 8. We've been searching the internet for info, but would also like to hear what my fellow sledders have to offer. Obviously, I would prefer the Ft Wayne area for it's proximity to our favorite pastime, but I also need to consider what's best for my family. Looks like the A/Fishers area has better schools according to the net??? Any info you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated at this time.

P.S. I looked in Michigan and Wisconsin, and we don't have any openings in those areas, LOL.

Well, my position has been eliminated here in southern IL. If I want to stay with the company, I may be able to move to the Ft Wayne area, or the Anderson/Fishers area (I could live up to 50 miles or so from these cities, so I'm also interested in the surrounding smaller towns). We have two boys, ages 6 and 8. We've been searching the internet for info, but would also like to hear what my fellow sledders have to offer. Obviously, I would prefer the Ft Wayne area for it's proximity to our favorite pastime, but I also need to consider what's best for my family. Looks like the A/Fishers area has better schools according to the net??? Any info you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated at this time.

P.S. I looked in Michigan and Wisconsin, and we don't have any openings in those areas, LOL.[/b]
Anderson is pretty good I have relatives in that area. It seems to be kind of laid back. Real nice place with good people. and from what I hear from my cousions, that the schools are really good. Just my 2 cents, if it's worth it. But ask MXZWFO. he lives in IN. and could tell you better then I could which place is better.

You might also ask jtkennedy as I believe he is from the Ft. Wayne area. I used to work there as a police officer. I lived in the county south of Ft. Wayne in a smaller town called Bluffton. Not a bad area. A lot of the Dr's and Lawyers from Ft. Wayne live in that area to get out of the big city. The Fishers area and towards Carmel near Indy is some of the richest parts of IN. I think I saw that this area is actually one of the fastes growing areas in the country. Either way you are close to two of the biggest cities in IN so you are always gonna have something to do. I chose to move out of the Ft. Wayne area only because my family was not there and I got sent there for my 1st two years of work. If you are the type of guy who likes the city life there is more of that around Indianapolis. If you like to live in the country there is a lot of rural areas immedialtey outside of FT Wayne, in my opininon you have to get a little further from Indianapolis to get into a more rural environment. Let us know what kind of area you are looking at. Big city, smaller cities, or out in the boon docks. What company do you work for if you dont mind me askin?

You might also ask jtkennedy as I believe he is from the Ft. Wayne area. I used to work there as a police officer. I lived in the county south of Ft. Wayne in a smaller town called Bluffton. Not a bad area. A lot of the Dr's and Lawyers from Ft. Wayne live in that area to get out of the big city. The Fishers area and towards Carmel near Indy is some of the richest parts of IN. I think I saw that this area is actually one of the fastes growing areas in the country. Either way you are close to two of the biggest cities in IN so you are always gonna have something to do. I chose to move out of the Ft. Wayne area only because my family was not there and I got sent there for my 1st two years of work. If you are the type of guy who likes the city life there is more of that around Indianapolis. If you like to live in the country there is a lot of rural areas immedialtey outside of FT Wayne, in my opininon you have to get a little further from Indianapolis to get into a more rural environment. Let us know what kind of area you are looking at. Big city, smaller cities, or out in the boon docks. What company do you work for if you dont mind me askin?[/b]

Thanks. That goes with what I was thinking too. When comparing our city to the Carmel area, they are nearly identical by numbers....same median income, avg house pricing, growth, etc....they could be the same town almost. I don't want to live "in" a big city, and I can't get my wife to live in the country, so something in the middle is where we will end up. I lived on the northeast side of Indy (Orchards apartments) back when I was single and working at Ft Benjamin Harrison. I really liked Indy then. Now we live in IL, but just about 20 minutes from downtown St Louis. It's nice because we don't live "downtown", but it's very easy for us to enjoy what the city has to offer.

BTW, I work for Capital One (you know, "What's in your wallet?").

P.S. Should I really live close enough to JT and let my family be influenced by his behaviors?!?!?!

Jim, Fishers is an awesome area for schools. The traffic from Carmel to Fishers to Noblesville is unbelievable though. If you like to sit in traffic, this is your area. Anything from Noblesville north I would pick or the Zionsville area, its a great area too, and a little more small town like. It is west of Carmel.
Staying in the central Indy area gives you a bunch of things to do with the kids. You have the museums, pro and minor league sports and the arts.

Brian
If you need anything, give me a call or shoot me an email

I knew I'd be hearing from you Brian, thanks. I'll definitely call you before I have to make a decision.

jim-if you move to ft wayne you'll like it there.
spent the last 9 years there running a branch of the family business.
it's a good rock solid upscale city.
now regarding the living-we lived in columbia city which is 15 miles west of the fort.
columbia city is in whitley county-the taxes are soooo cheap.brand new middle school as of 1999.
awesome place and education for the kids.
we had a 3 acre place in rural columbia city the taxes were $800 a year!!
you'll find indiana to be very friendly to your wallett'
what's in your's??

Jim, Make sure you get with JT about Ft Wayne, he is currently up north, but should be back pretty soon. What little I know of the town, there is everything there and it isnt a bad town,,, has some rough areas, but what city that size doesnt. I like your thinking on not wanting to live right there, but out of the city life in a smaller town. Being a farm boy, I couldnt handle living there. Heck, there is always Van Wert Ohio and its about 20 mile east of Ft Wayne on 30 and its a great little town. Population around 15,000 (still too big for me) but has a great school system for the boys. If you end up coming this way (Ft Wayne) to look things over, let me know,,, Maybe I could hook up with Ryan and we could head that way and meet you and Jt for lunch or something,,,, good luck with you hunt
Brian

Hey Jim, I'll give my $.02 worth. I cover the northern 1/2 of the State of Indiana, so I know the area your looking at pretty well. Grew up in Carmel, and now live in Souh Bend. The Carmel/Fishers/Nobleville area has a lot of nice places to live, and all of their schools are top notch. I will second the prevoius opinion that traffic is a real bear in those places, so be warned.
Anderson, well let's just say it is economically challenged at the moment. I like the Ft Wayne area too, a lot of nice places to live, epecially on the west side. The Homestead school district seems to be OK too. Columbia City, great small town, so is Bluffton. If you want to get closer to the snow belt, Auburn (Dekalb County) and Angola are nice, but close to that 50 mile limit to the Fort. Angola has a lot of lake properties if you are so inclined. Another place to look would be Warsaw, although that is real close to the 50 mile limit, not too big, not too small, pretty good schools. Of course if you move to Ft.Wayne, you will have to become an IU fan, it's required by law. :whistling:
Just kidding, if you what any more input let me know.

Hey Jim, I'll give my $.02 worth. I cover the northern 1/2 of the State of Indiana, so I know the area your looking at pretty well. Grew up in Carmel, and now live in Souh Bend. The Carmel/Fishers/Nobleville area has a lot of nice places to live, and all of their schools are top notch. I will second the prevoius opinion that traffic is a real bear in those places, so be warned.
Anderson, well let's just say it is economically challenged at the moment. I like the Ft Wayne area too, a lot of nice places to live, epecially on the west side. The Homestead school district seems to be OK too. Columbia City, great small town, so is Bluffton. If you want to get closer to the snow belt, Auburn (Dekalb County) and Angola are nice, but close to that 50 mile limit to the Fort. Angola has a lot of lake properties if you are so inclined. Another place to look would be Warsaw, although that is real close to the 50 mile limit, not too big, not too small, pretty good schools. Of course if you move to Ft.Wayne, you will have to become an IU fan, it's required by law. :whistling:
Just kidding, if you what any more input let me know.[/b]

Thanks again guys, keep the info coming. Basically, my northern territory would be consisted of Ft Wayne being the most southeast town, and Elkhart being the most northwest town. Then the other one would be south of Marion, east of 31, north of 70, and west of Winchester.

S/F, that's kinda what we've been coming up with too. My wife is really impressed with the education scores around Fishers. Would hate traffic, but I would prob be heading north and east from there most days. I would really like to get to a lower cost of living though. I guess you really do have to pay more for a good education, eh? We'll keep researching the schools in the northern part of the state, and hopefully find an area that scores like the Carmel area. I could possibly live in Elkhart too, depending how long it takes to travel from there to Ft Wayne.

Boss, funny you should mention that. I spent the early half of Sunday researching Columbia City. Looks like a nice enough town. Man, I feel like I would be stealing property up there with those real estate prices :thumbsup:

Brian, I'll let you know when I know. If we can all hook up, that would be great.

If you like to spend your summers on the water the Ft. Wayne area might swing your decision. That area of the state has a lot of water. When I lived i Wells County (Bluffton) almost every house you drove by in the county had a 1-2 acre pond. I had never seen an area with more places to fish in my life. So if one of your passions is wetting a line, more then likey you can buy a house that has water at the back door.

I live in Ft wayne, about 1 mile away from JT...Not sure on the schools here, as i didnt go here...but the areay JT and I live in is very nice and quiet...as far as i know most of the schools are pretty good... just dont move to the "southside" of fortwayne and everything should be swell...

Most of the riding is backroads (unplowed) when there is snow, or go up to Souh Bend for state trails...

Do you guys have to keep saying JT's name???? :ohmy: Everytime I hear it, I get this image.......JT, shorts, hood of police car, snow angel.......SOMEONE STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jim-one last thing i forgot to tell you is not good news about columbia city.
THERE'S A YAMMIE DEALER THERE.
THE CAT DEALER IS IN ZULU,IN. OFF RT.30-YES IT HAS A ZIP CODE.
do yourself and you family a favor and take a drive to columbia city=stay away from allen county-fort wayne.
it's not good for your wallett---yes i have a capitol 1 card.
not that it applies to me-but i got the bill today and it said you're jacking up the late fees.
not your call i'm sure.
got lots of free air miles to spend.
maybe i'll fly back to columbia city.
if you decide to live in northern indiana -you MUST JOIN THE MICHIGAN SNOWMOBILE ASSOCIATION.
they'll give you a membership card and a year subscription to the mag-it rocks.
i've got my membership card in my wallett-
what's in yours??? :lmao:
got ya again pal.........

Hey Jim! Man, you're hurting my feelings....... :p We'd love to have you in Fort Wayne. If you love food, we have more awesome restaurants per capita than a lot of larger towns. As far as school systems, Carroll, Homestead and Leo are great public schools. For private, Canterbury is phenomenal, but so is the cost. There are also some private Catholic and Lutheran schools.
Like flyin-lowe mentioned, there are a lot of lakes within an hour of the Fort. We've got big ski lakes, little fishing lakes, and every other kind of lake in between.
The Hoagland snowmobile trails are 20 min. from my house, and the Potowatomi trails are about 50 min. away. These trail systems are only about 30-35 miles of trail, but they're pretty fun to ride on a weeknight, when we get snow.
Let me know if you have other questions....and don't worry, I'm not nearly as crazy at home... :wink:

nice over my way. couple of great schools here and one of the reasons I choose this district. in that 50 miles range to fishers.

Well, we visited both areas this weekend and would be satisfied in either one. If we end up in Indianapolis, we would prob look for housing in Westfield or Noblesville. Brian, I see what you and the others mean by traffic in the Carmel area. Zionsville looks nice, but that would require more travel time for me to see my clients. Oh, and what do you guys do with those HUGE schools...we couldn't get over their sizes.

Well, we visited both areas this weekend and would be satisfied in either one. If we end up in Indianapolis, we would prob look for housing in Westfield or Noblesville. Brian, I see what you and the others mean by traffic in the Carmel area. Zionsville looks nice, but that would require more travel time for me to see my clients. Oh, and what do you guys do with those HUGE schools...we couldn't get over their sizes.[/b]
pay huge property taxs for them thats one thing we do :)

pay huge property taxs for them thats one thing we do :)[/b]

That's what I figured Barry, but you guys pay only as much or less than we do in IL.

Got the call from my boss, looks like we'll be moving to Indy this summer. Personally it was about a toss up, but felt we would have a few more things to do by living closer to Indy vs. Ft Wayne. Thanks for all the help so far guys.