any areas in Indiana that are rural but liberal? (Indianapolis: property taxes, houses)

[leafy]

originally from indiana, now live in vermont.

I would only live near bloomington. and maybe in brown county. I wouldn't go back. EVER. escaped with my liberal soul. even those areas are FAKE liberal in my opinion. and the tornados. omg. sorry to be so negative. we lived in northern indiana for a bit and it was like being in the movie pleasantville before it changed to color. SCARY. good luck. but yes, you could find a funky farmhouse for good money and the growing season is longer!

[hoosier812]

What if you just don't care about politics? All I care about is playing my music and being able to live peacefully. What if you just want to take it easy and not worry about all that establishment stuff?

[lutherbfree]

Originally Posted by X-Greensboro Resident

As I said earlier, most of this is true but it really is what you make of it and what kind of vibes you put off. This sort of stuff can be found anywhere really. I felt exactly like this when I first moved to Indy but in a few months, I knew a bunch of cool places and people. There are good non-chain restaurants if you get to know the city. There is very good Italian places in Broad Ripple as a matter of fact. I found a place called Mama Corolla's and it's awesome. Indy is not exactly Rome or anything but it's not a bad place either, you can find patches of coolness. If you think negative thoughts and put out negative vibes, ofcourse you keep seeing negative things and meeting negative people. With an open mind, Indy is a fabalous city, you just have to learn it. Cheers!!

One might have a better chance of coming home from Iraq without a bullet in their ass than with Indy. Lived on the West Side and have no need for visting Mexico City. If I were to travel Washington St. from west to east I want one of those armoured Hummers.

[ekrz44]

I can only speak for Lake county.
I'm a South Side Chicago/Lake County In mix mutt.

The armpit of the country. Weather, scenery, industry, economy.
The only thing good about this area, is that no matter where you move to, it's going to be nicer there!

[josie u]

Originally Posted by PaperTrail

It's probably a bit overboard to call Indiana a big Red state (side note: I hate the red/blue state terms).

In the 2004 election, the vote between Bush and Kerry was split 60%-39%. Not what I'd call a landslide, but to each his own. You want something more like a landslide....take a peek at some of the western plains states, where Bush was getting 68%, 69% or 72% of the vote. The margin of victory in '00 was even smaller by a few percentage points.

Other things worth mentioning regarding the liberalness of the state: several cities there have (gasp!) Democrats as mayors. Indy's Democratic mayor is on his second term; every mayor except for one since 1979 in Fort Wayne has been a Democrat; at least the past two mayors in South Bend were Dems; and we can add Evansville's mayor to this list. Also, I didn't pick these cities just to fit my argument, these were actually the first four cities that I looked up. I'm batting 100 percent here

I think all but one state governor since the late '80s has been a Democrat, too. And there's one Democrat and one Republican from the state in the U.S. Senate. Shall I go on?

I don't think any of this answers the orginial question that started this topic. I lived in Indiana my whole life up until two years ago. Most recently, I was in Fort Wayne, which for someone my age, has a wonderfully large hippie/earthy population and even puts on a well-recieved gay-pride festival. There are lots of churches in that city, but I've never seen a protest or heard anything that would make me consider the city to be anti-gay rights. It is a big Christian town, but most of my friends didn't go to church at all, and I don't think there was any scorn about that. Where I live now, I have more people knocking on my door to preach to me than I ever had living in Indiana.

Lastly, I'll end with the housing situation. For most of the area, as someone mentioned, housing prices are pretty stagnant. "Flippers" won't make any money in that state. That said, the average housing prices are way more inexpensive than much of the rest of the U.S. I remember reading a couple years ago that South Bend had the cheapest housing prices of any mid- to large-size city in the nation. Rural areas are even better than that. For the price I paid for my house in Virginia, I could've gotten 2500 square feet in a nice region on at least two acres. Right now, I live in 1100 square feet in a lower middle income area on about an eighth of an acre. If I could bring the Indiana housing situation with me to Virginia, I would've done it, because Indiana has some ideal prices.

We are relocating to Fort Wayne very soon (2 weeks). The house we wanted in the country fell through so I'm reconsidering neighborhoods. I would love to find an artsy/hippie/earthy area in or near Ft. Wayne where there are some good schools. Any advice? I'm not really a development/sub-division person.

[timincal]

Having been born and reared in the Hoosier state and having left 34 years ago by joining the military just to get the hell out of there, I have been amused by the many comments posted on this forum. I am now in my 50's my children are grown and I am retired from the military and living in California. I and now planning my escape from this God forsaken place before 1.It falls into the ocean during the next earthquake.2.They make Spanish the official language.
People complaining because the houses don't appreciate? That is a good thing, people you're buying a home to live in not an investment. I miss Indiana and all it has to offer so bad. I envy my brothers and sisters so bad at this point in life. I live in a 1800SF 4 bed 2 bath house valued at 650,000 and it is a piece of crap. Your monthly payment is like 3000 a month .Who makes that kind of money? In Indiana that is a mansion. This same house is 120,000 in Hendricks County and my monthly payment is maybe 500 a month Heck I wouldn't have to work if I didn't want to.
Yes everything is cheap in Indiana because it CAN BE. Tired of the rat race go there. Any place is what you make of it. Unfortunately our little brown brothers from south of the border who have come across the border without paying the toll at the gate, but now want to be treated as if they did, have turned California into a slum. You people on this forum dissing Indiana are IDIOTS. Indiana is what this whole country used to be like before the liberals got a foot hole in national politics. Most legal immigrants, professionals mostly love Indiana because that is the United States they heard about growing up in their countries and dreamed about being a part of.And they are warmly excepted in the community.
And in case any one was wondering the Islamic Society of North America has been located in Plainfield for over 20 years.

[miasheart]

I've lived mostly in Indiana ,but did live in FL about 5yrs. We currently live in central IN (Westfield, Carmel area). Our community has 8 miles of trails which are wonderful for biking, walking, etc. and also has clubhouse with pools and basketball, tennis, etc. You are what you make of yourself when it comes to exercise and eating no matter where you live in this country. Our community is also very diverse ethnically. We, for example, have Bulgarian, Palestinian, Mexican, Japanese, Indian, Russian, all near us. As far as I can tell everyone seems to get along and I walk alot and people are friendly and a LOT of us do walk and bike ride. There is a huge new outdoor mall close if you like that. There is a closed mall, which I happen to like, within about a 20 minute drive. There are plenty of nice places to eat that don't only serve fried food. You order what you like and I personally don't care what anyone else is ordering. We have great schools in our county. Yes, the winters are cold and sometimes snowy and icy. In FL I loved the winter weather, but the people, the traffic, the schools were not good. The schools were overcrowded , poorly maintained and when it came to middle school time downright scary for our children. So, in general, I like most things about our county in IN just not the winters so much.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by timincal

Indiana is what this whole country used to be like before the liberals got a foot hole in national politics. And in case any one was wondering the Islamic Society of North America has been located in Plainfield for over 20 years.

I read all the posts in this thread because I'm from Indiana, my entire family resides there, and I wanted to put in my two cents.

timincal appears to be blaming the liberals for everything, yet Indiana in particular is not run by liberals. In fact, our national government has been run by conservatives for quite a while, and at no point was liberal the main ideology. It is unfair to blame people who never ran things in the first place. It is also unfair to slip in a bit of hysteria by inferring that there is some danger in the Islamic Society of North America being located in Indiana. I'm gently asking you to please reconsider the groups of individuals you are blaming for the demise of Pleasantville. I too lament the loss of small-town America, but the blame is more aptly placed elsewhere.

NWI is the only area I can comment on as I've spent my life coming and going out of the Chicago suburbs in Indiana. I think the area is liberal, but undesirable from an aesthetic and economic perspective. There are wonderful pockets like Valparaiso (Valpo) but they're not liberal to any degree. I have travelled into the farmlands that radiate outward from NWI, but have encountered no town that seemed welcoming for an avowed open-minded liberal like myself. I would suggest that the college towns would be more amenable for someone with a liberal perspective, but it won't approach the level of acceptance one would find in such places as our Coastal states (they know who they are).

My best friend works for the State of Indiana and through her experience, I've seen that Indiana is a supreme example of a welfare state. There is absolutely no incentive to get off of welfare--the state pays them for everything! I believe in helping people, but Indiana goes WAY too far.

Property taxes have been mentioned in prior posts, but the taxes on my parents $180K house are over $3,000 per year! The taxes on my CA condo that I bought for $125K never exceeded half that. My experience tells me that property taxes in NWI municipalities are extremely high. Buy rural real estate is the best advice I can give.

Thanks for the wonderful and insightful posts, fellow Hoosiers.

[X-Greensboro Resident]

Originally Posted by lutherbfree

One might have a better chance of coming home from Iraq without a bullet in their ass than with Indy. Lived on the West Side and have no need for visting Mexico City. If I were to travel Washington St. from west to east I want one of those armoured Hummers.

hehe..hehe..hehe... I know exactly where you're talking about. You are exactly right but I think you were just living in a bad area, every town has that. I got lost the other day downtown DC and ended up on this rundown street with burned up cars and boarded up house but you could still see the capital, couldn't believe it and people were staring me down, I didn't think I was going to make it out of there. Every town has good and bad places.

[Colts42]

Hello,

I was born and raised in Indiana (East Central, Anderson, IN), went to Indiana University (South Central, Bloomington, IN). I then moved to Chicago for 4 years for a job that transfered me back to Bloomington, IN.

I have been reading a lot of these posts and there are some true statements to them, but a lot of exaggeration. Don't buy into all the Indiana "haters" because they are dramatic.

First, Bloomington, IN is a much different place than a lot of cities in Indiana. It's by far the most progressive and "liberal" as cities in Indiana go. It has a lot of great jobs, very educated city with great culture. I love it, personally. It seems like most in Bloomington love it, too. An overall great community.

I loved living in Chicago (I met my wife there) so don't get me wrong, but Bloomington offeres a lot of big city options in a small town: great restaurants (not chains and very ethnic), diversity, and jobs. The university is great to have here because it feeds this even more. Money.com ranked Bloomington, IN the #5 most educated city in the US (%). It's very tolarant of cultures and lifestyles.

Indiana as whole has pockets that resemble this ideology, but overall Indiana is an agricultural, rual and conservative type of place. Don't get me wrong, Hoosiers are very friendly for the most part.

I see Indy as a city going through an elaborate and "long time comming" transformation. It's developing into more of a "city" with more to do and people moving downtown. There is more culture and a bigger city feel, but it's still so convienent and easy to do anything there. The downtown is really quite beautiful and clean.

Just don't listen to all these negative people with their "horror" stories. Indiana is a nice place to live. We have great universities, southern Indiana is beautiful, and if you like sports...Indiana is all the better!