Fort Wayne, care to be my backup city? (Indianapolis, Evansville: apartments, renting)

[IndyBound75]

I am a periodic commenter in the Indy forum. I don't live there yet but I am laser focused on Indy as far as relocation. Truth is, there may be zero hiring of teachers or teaching assistants in Indianapolis by the time I am done with my bachelors (it's looking like 2016.). So I need to spread my desired spot to relocate a bit. I know that Indiana is the state I want to move to, so how about Fort Wayne? I did extensive research on Indy and I like {mostly} everything I found so far. I plan on doing the same with Fort Wayne, but in the meantime, can I please get a summary on housing, cost of living, things to do, apartments (rent first, house later), political climate, scale of 1 to 10 on hospitality, etc? Thank you so much in advance

[wh15395]

Housing/Apartments:Mostly suburban housing throughout the area with some older, nice homes closer to downtown. There are a lot of very large houses on the SW side. For apartments and condos, downtown is finally starting to get a decent number with a couple projects nearing completion. There are also other apartment buildings throughout the city and its' suburbs. I'd say average price would be around $600-$800/month for an apartment in a decent area.

Cost of Living:Similar to the rest of Indiana in that it is very low. The only difference between it and Indy is that Indy has a higher food/beverage tax at 8% vs. 7% in the rest of the state.

Things to do:Significantly less than Indy, but I guess that's expected with a metro area that's 25% of the size. With that said, it isn't awful. There are two malls (one indoor and one outdoor), movie theaters, and everything else every city of similar size has. There are minor league sports of every type. Overall, I don't really think there is anything that makes Fort Wayne unique in things to do when you compare it to similar cities. Something I never liked is that most of the city has a very very very suburban feel. Even Indy has this feel, but it's way worse in Fort Wayne.

Political Climate:It's conservative. Well, Fort Wayne is actually moderate. During elections it's pretty much up in the air who people in the city will vote for. With that said, Allen County (where Fort Wayne is located) always votes Republican. This gives the entire city a more conservative feel than most places of similar size. Indianapolis has moved to the point where it pretty much always votes Democratic, so that's the difference. In fact, Fort Wayne is probably the most conservative of all of Indiana's large cities (South Bend, Indianapolis, and Evansville).

Hospitality:5. Yes, people in Fort Wayne will be nice to you if you go up and ask them a question. I just find people from there to be somewhat stuck in their own circles. As in they don't really like to branch out and be friends with people who act differently from themselves. This definitely isn't always the case, and I suppose it's kind of true in every city, but it seems to be a higher than average problem in Fort Wayne than it is in most cities. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that people in Fort Wayne don't celebrate diversity, many of them are scared of it.

[IndyBound75]

Originally Posted by wh15395

Housing/Apartments:Mostly suburban housing throughout the area with some older, nice homes closer to downtown. There are a lot of very large houses on the SW side. For apartments and condos, downtown is finally starting to get a decent number with a couple projects nearing completion. There are also other apartment buildings throughout the city and its' suburbs. I'd say average price would be around $600-$800/month for an apartment in a decent area.

Cost of Living:Similar to the rest of Indiana in that it is very low. The only difference between it and Indy is that Indy has a higher food/beverage tax at 8% vs. 7% in the rest of the state.

Things to do:Significantly less than Indy, but I guess that's expected with a metro area that's 25% of the size. With that said, it isn't awful. There are two malls (one indoor and one outdoor), movie theaters, and everything else every city of similar size has. There are minor league sports of every type. Overall, I don't really think there is anything that makes Fort Wayne unique in things to do when you compare it to similar cities. Something I never liked is that most of the city has a very very very suburban feel. Even Indy has this feel, but it's way worse in Fort Wayne.

Political Climate:It's conservative. Well, Fort Wayne is actually moderate. During elections it's pretty much up in the air who people in the city will vote for. With that said, Allen County (where Fort Wayne is located) always votes Republican. This gives the entire city a more conservative feel than most places of similar size. Indianapolis has moved to the point where it pretty much always votes Democratic, so that's the difference. In fact, Fort Wayne is probably the most conservative of all of Indiana's large cities (South Bend, Indianapolis, and Evansville).

Hospitality:5. Yes, people in Fort Wayne will be nice to you if you go up and ask them a question. I just find people from there to be somewhat stuck in their own circles. As in they don't really like to branch out and be friends with people who act differently from themselves. This definitely isn't always the case, and I suppose it's kind of true in every city, but it seems to be a higher than average problem in Fort Wayne than it is in most cities. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that people in Fort Wayne don't celebrate diversity, many of them are scared of it.

This is definitely a start. Thanks very much!

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by wh15395

Fort Wayne is probably the most conservative of all of Indiana's large cities (South Bend, Indianapolis, and Evansville).

Probably?

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by wh15395

In fact, Fort Wayne is probably the most conservative of all of Indiana's large cities (South Bend, Indianapolis, and Evansville).

This I'm not sure of only because Notre Dame has a huge influence on politics in South Bend and being a Catholic university, it is very conservative. For example, when I lived in Mishawaka about 6 or 7 years ago, I remember South Bend trying to pass a law prohibiting discriminating against someone because they were gay, ie prevent then from renting an apartment, not hiring them, etc just because they're gay. Fort Wayne, Gary, Bloomington, Indy, Evansville, all had a similar law. Notre Dame pushed very hard to prevent that law from passing and it did indeed fail. I think since then South Bend finally did pass that law but still. Notre Dame I think plays a big role in keeping that city very conservative.

Outside that, I think everything he said is spot on about Fort Wayne. I only lived there for 2 years in the early 2000s but I did really enjoy it. I went to school and worked and I also took time to volunteer at the zoo, which is a beautiful place. I also experienced many of the festivals Fort Wayne had downtown during the summer and even after I moved out of there, I would go back the first weekend of the Three Rivers Festival. Once my daughter gets older, we'll probably start going back again.

The only area I'd really avoid is the south side, especially the area around Pontiac Street.

[LateNight]

I haven't lived in Fort Wayne for over seven years, but I'm from there. Some will dog it and say it doesn't embrace diversity and all that business, but that's what Los Angeles is for, and I don't see that as a problem. That mid-western insularity is one of the traits that make it such a stable feeling place to live. And deep down, every place has it's cliques, even the "open minded" cities.

Actually, Fort Wayne is in fear of being left behind if anything. Like many cities in middle America, Fort Wayne is very conscious of being "hip" and modern in it's own way. Quite a lot of new construction has taken place over the last decade. Some of questionable value (Grand Wayne Convention Center expansion, and a baseball stadium when there already was one) And some of real value - the Allen County Public Library is world class, and underwent an expansion of it's own several years ago.

Fort Wayne never struck me as having a particularly thriving job market, but if you have a niche there, it's a nice, safe, comfortable place to live or raise a family. With a reasonable cost of living, and enough to keep you entertained.

If you're thinking of Indianapolis, look into surrounding areas like Carmel also. Which looks as though it was built yesterday, but would certainly be considered prosperous.