Another plea for help about Warsaw (Fort Wayne, South Bend: houses, school, tornadoes)

[sofitang3]

Hello! I have read all the informative answers everyone has shared and we are now in the same boat! Some of the questions and answers make me giggle too! Some people! I hope I would never insult anyone with my questions, lol!
I do have some priorities and questions that are a little different (IE: we dont have kids and dont need school data) and I wonder if anyone will be so kind as to address them!? Here are some topics I wonder about:

I read some areas have more snow than others? Is that true? how bad are the winters? How hot are the summers?

We would love to live near some kind of water (lake, I guess?) BUT:
1) we really would like trees and greenery and nature without being in the boondocks.
2) I am fearful of moving into a place that we later find out has a monster mosquitoes or similiar buggy problem?
3) would we be sorry to find out the commute is awful by the water in the summer due to tourist traffic or just high volume?

My husband would like to be anywhere from a 5-30 minute commute from Warsaw (with traffic). Maybe in-between Ft Wayne & Warsaw?

We need a good set of doctors and a hospital for my dad.

And of course shopping and civilization! Thanks sooo much!
ps...We promise not to upset any locals, natives or relocators when we get there!! :-)

[cdr18]

Originally Posted by sofitang3

Hello! I have read all the informative answers everyone has shared and we are now in the same boat! Some of the questions and answers make me giggle too! Some people! I hope I would never insult anyone with my questions, lol!
I do have some priorities and questions that are a little different (IE: we dont have kids and dont need school data) and I wonder if anyone will be so kind as to address them!? Here are some topics I wonder about:

I read some areas have more snow than others? Is that true? how bad are the winters? How hot are the summers?

We would love to live near some kind of water (lake, I guess?) BUT:
1) we really would like trees and greenery and nature without being in the boondocks.
2) I am fearful of moving into a place that we later find out has a monster mosquitoes or similiar buggy problem?
3) would we be sorry to find out the commute is awful by the water in the summer due to tourist traffic or just high volume?

My husband would like to be anywhere from a 5-30 minute commute from Warsaw (with traffic). Maybe in-between Ft Wayne & Warsaw?

We need a good set of doctors and a hospital for my dad.

And of course shopping and civilization! Thanks sooo much!
ps...We promise not to upset any locals, natives or relocators when we get there!! :-)

If you stay south of the Elkhart/Goshen area, the winters are not near as brutal than if you were up by the lake. Basically, those places (i.e. South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart) get hammered because of lake enhanced snow. Some areas can pick up a good 20+ inches within a day. It makes for a long winter. Generally, the Warsaw area averages roughly 40 inches a year, give or take ten inches. Summers in the area are mildly hot. Humidity can really put a damper on some days, but generally the area doesn't suffer from some of the major heat that the south does. Rarely do temperatures reach over 90 degrees. It will seem hotter some days though because of the humidity.

You mention living near water. You are looking in the right place Plenty of lakes in the area, especially in between Warsaw and Fort Wayne. As far as traffic, that should not be a problem. It doesn't get that busy. The only time you would traffic congestion is during rush hour, and that is minimal.

I would recommned looking around Winona Lake, Tippecanoe Lake (up by North Webster) or even south of Warsaw by Silver Lake.

Fort Wayne has two major shopping malls that would be within an hour's travel if you live in Warsaw, so that you can get your shopping fix

[sofitang3]

Thank you so much! That gives me a great starting point! :-)
I am still wondering about hospitals though, as I dont want something to happen to my dad (he is not in the best of health) and we are a half hour ambulance ride away from a good hospital, any advice?

[cdr18]

Well, Warsaw does have Kosciusko County Hospital, but that is not really recognized or distinguished. It is a hospital though. In terms of other hospitals in the region, to the north you have IU Health - Goshen, Elkhart General, St. Joseph Regional, and Memorial of South Bend. To the east, you have Parkview Regional, Lutheran Regional, and Dupont Hospital. In terms of closeness, Goshen would be the closest besides Kosciusko County.

[sofitang3]

Thanks so much again! Maybe just for that reason I will have to look into the Fort Wayne area...I imagine that would have the best health care/hospital options!
Do you have any opinions on 'living' in Columbia City? it seems almost exactly 1/2 way btwn Warsaw & Ft. Wayne? Any ideas about the geography, "landscapes" "quaintness", industry, etc ?

[cdr18]

Yes, I drive through there frequently. Columbia City actually thrives in industry because of it's proximity to a major east/west thoroughfare in US 30. Warsaw is the orthopedics capital of the US, so naturally expanding companies will look at Columbia City for new manufacturing plants. These are highly skilled, high paying jobs. Come to think of it, Parkview Health is in the midst of completing a hospital near Columbia City. However, the major hospitals with the highest quality care will reside in Fort Wayne for sure. Especially Parkview Regional Med Center which is slated to open in 2012. The price tag is a whopping 536 million for that sucker Sure a pretty penny. Landscapes, as common with Indiana, is primarily flat with a few rolling hills here and there. But there are lakes within ten to fifteen minutes of the Columbia City area, just not as popular as some of the other ones. My one major downfall that would keep me from residing in Columbia City is the term you use as quaintness. It definitely lacks this as the city has spread onto US 30 for commerical reasons (makes sense from a business standpoint). However, with that comes the loss of quaintness. However, I am sure there are plenty of ranch style houses or country houses outside of the city that would be ideal!

[sofitang3]

Thanks so much again!!...all great info! It does sound like I am going to give up "quaintness" and 'lakes', which I might find in Winona Lakes, for 'easy accesible and fast' health care in Ft. Wayne. At least I can probably get a nice house and the most "action" in/near FW! Maybe I can get something just outside FW proper, like the SW corner(?) to be as close to Warsaw as possible!?
ps...are you guys having lots of tornadoes/warnings lately? Do you have any bad mosquito issues? THX!!

[domergurl]

Southern Indiana got slobberknockered on Monday and Wednesday and I'm hearing northern Indiana got it today (Sunday) ...

get a house with a basement.

[sofitang3]

Uggg...thats what I thought! Thanks!

[cdr18]

The southwest side of Fort Wayne is clearly the nicest part of Fort Wayne. Lots of wealth in that area, but also affordable too. Indiana typically from April - June has a lot of severe weather. However, the northern portion of the state (Fort Wayne area) hasn't dealt with too much besides one or two storms.