Best place to raise a family ?? (Fort Wayne, Huntington: relocating, property taxes, houses)

[rmrt]

We are relocating to Indiana I work in the medical field with 4 home schooled kids, can someone give an opinion on the towns around Fort Wayne both the good and ones to avoid.
Rick

[domergurl]

I went to college near Fort Wayne. North Manchester (where I went to college), is a very nice small town. I also liked Huntington (there is a college there too). There are a few posters here who will be able to give you good info on Fort Wayne itself.

[kristendrew]

Leo , Grabill, outskirts of Fort wayne are nice. Very simple and still country feel. Close to everything yet far enough away.

[mbuszu]

Originally Posted by rmrt

We are relocating to Indiana I work in the medical field with 4 home schooled kids, can someone give an opinion on the towns around Fort Wayne both the good and ones to avoid.
Rick

I think SW Fort Wayne is where you should aim to be if it is convenient for work. You'd be very close to the highway 69 (exits 102 or 105), 15 minutes from the airport, very near route 14/Jefferson blvd which cuts straight through downtown). You'd be in the most affluent section of town in the vicinity called the Aboite Township. You'd also be very close to Lutherin Hospital and the best Fort Wayne Public Schools (and private School - Canterbury) if ever you considered putting your children in school. In Fort Wayne in general there are many activities and places to bring your family it is truly awesome. Off the top of my head (in no particular order):

- It's Playtime
- Science Central
- Botanical Gardens
- Children's Zoo
- Main Library (new and palacial)
- GlenBrook Square (large indoor mall)
- Jefferson Pointe (large outdoor mall)
- Indian Trails Park (largest free outdoor play area I've seen, great for kids)
- Jorgensen YMCA (most impressive YMCA I've seen with a very large kid friendly walk-in pool with waterfall & water slide, rock wall, and giant work out facilities)
- Many additional parks and a couple nature preserves
- More restaurants of any ethnic cuisine than you could ever need
- The Golf Dome (indoor & outdoor putt putt, driving range, batting cages)
- Crazy Pinz bowling alley (and several others) - new bowling alley/fun center
- The Coliseum - annual shows plus kid-friendly traveling tours stop here
- Multiple family-friendly annual festivals and fairs run nearly every weekend of the summer
- The Roller Dome (honestly never been as my kids are still too young, but seems to be popular locally)
- Several large glacier formed lakes easily within 1 hours drive southwest, West, and North of Fort Wayne (great for weekend get aways or a second home - boating, water skiing, fishing, or just sitting and eating while watching the sunset)

I've been here many years and love it/know a bit about it. If you have other specific questions feel free to message me or post a question here. I would also recommend scanning through previous posts I made (starting in late last year) about this vicinity. If I don't know an answer to a question, I'll try to find someone who does for you.

Good luck with your decision

[cruisincarrie]

I am also a homeschooling mom. I live in the northwest area of Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne is a wonderful city for a homeschooling family. We have a thriving network of homeschooling families with lots of opportunities for play groups or enrichment (FWAHS - Fort Wayne Area Home Schools). I would recommend looking at Leo, Grabill or Huntertown if you don't want to be in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne city taxes will be higher than the other cities. We used to live in the SW area of Fort Wayne, but once we were annexed by the city, our property taxes more than doubled. I would take into consideration where you will be working and how long of a drive you want. Good luck with your move!

[mbuszu]

Originally Posted by cruisincarrie

I would recommend looking at Leo, Grabill or Huntertown if you don't want to be in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne city taxes will be higher than the other cities. We used to live in the SW area of Fort Wayne, but once we were annexed by the city, our property taxes more than doubled. I would take into consideration where you will be working and how long of a drive you want.

The tax bills have just been issued to the annexed Aboite Township residents... a 57% increase from the previous un-annexed bill is what everyone is going to see. Before this all sorts of crazy estimates were gossiped about and people got really concerned (and many put their homes up for sale immediately).

It's a huge % increase but that said for those of you unfamiliar with Indiana and Fort Wayne especially ... the increased property taxes here are still much cheaper than that which people pay in NY any many other places (~$2600.00/year for 1/3 of an acre with a nice 2300 sq foot home on top of it - just doesn't seem unreasonable compared to other places I've lived). It's still a heck of a deal to live here. That doesn't mean I'm happy with the increase, but I'm one of the many Aboite residents who are not jumping to move outside the annexation because quite frankly you still get a good bang for the buck here (in particular I like the convenience to highway 69 and being within 5-10 minutes drive from it and the rest of Fort Wayne).

Additionally, not all of SW Fort Wayne vicinity was annexed. There are a massive number of new and old neighborhoods alike that are still un-annexed (and which will remain so for years to come because of the quantity of undivided land there - annexation requires certain criteria be met and indeed, the unannexed areas out to "County Line Road" are safe for quite a while). For those of you seeking a tax deal and who are willing to drive 15-20 minutes to get to highway 69, then looking into the un-annexed neighborhoods of the SW Fort Wayne or Roanoke vicinities may be a good option.

[sweetana3]

I have a good friend who raised three kids while living in the country south of Ft. Wayne. She has now expressed to me that it was a mistake. Her kids did not have a diverse variety of friends or activities because it was so far away from anything. She thinks they would have done better and gotten in far less trouble if they had been closer to Ft. Wayne and a wide variety of activities.

[flowergal]

If you are in the medical field, there is dupont hospital and parkview, both large and growing. for homeschooling purposes, the dupont library is great.
there is a large and family friendly catholic church in st. vincent's. houses range $140,000 and up -- we have 3 bedroom ranch with full finished basement, fm room with fireplace, large three-season room, lr, dr and ultramodern kitchen and two baths, two car garage and 2/3 of a wooded acre -- for about 160,000 two years ago. we are in manor park. houses come up infrequently, but they do come up. good luck.

[scorey2002]

My fiance and i are going to be relocating to indiana shortly. He will be working at the airport and I will be coming there unemployed. We were looking for a safe town to livein ( start a family) and also i was curious about the job outlook, since I will be looking for a job when i get out there. I have a bachelors degree in business with about 5 years experience