Moving to Notre Dame (South Bend, Mishawaka: fit in, high crime, houses)

[firestorm]

Hi, everyone.... I'm very impressed with all of your comments! I just accepted a job as a new professor in the business school at Notre Dame and will be moving to the area next summer. My wife and I have a 16 month old son and another baby on the way. We currently live in mid-michigan (Michigan State University).

We are interested in all the advice anyone has about the move. For example, I have heard lots of great things about Penn schools and Granger, but I am a little wary of a 3,000 student high school. Also, at some point we would probably be interested in getting some land, but not necessarily right away.

At this point we are open to any suggestions / advice about housing, neighborhoods, towns, schools, the perception / impact of ND in the community, etc. Thanks for your help!

Mike

[claremarie]

We are another ND family moving to the area next summer. Your children are years from school, but if you plan to send them to public schools, you'll probably want to avoid the South Bend Community School district. Abysmal stats all the way around. Many ND families live in South Bend, for various reasons, but most send their children to Catholic or other private schools.

With regard to Penn, I agree that a 3000 student high school is much too big, but there are several Catholic high schools in South Bend/Mishawaka. Many ND families send their children to these schools.
We've found nice neighborhoods in Granger and in Niles, Michigan. Our children will be attending private school, so we haven't researched the differences in public schools in Niles and Granger (Penn).
Coming from Michigan, you probably won't experience the culture/weather shock we anticipate as an East Coast family....

[goldpolkadots]

Hello
I have lived in/near South Bend for over 20 years and I definately recommend not moving downtown SB (near IUSB). There is very high crime in these areas. Like some have said, it seems that at least everyday there is a deadly shooting, or burglary taking place on the streets. And, SB is starting to really look run down. There are way too many boarded up houses, businesses, and restraunts. Although I've only driven through Granger, it looks like a pretty well kept, safe area, you might want to check it out. I'm not sure how far you would want to drive to get to Notre Dame, but I love the little town of New Carlisle. It's about 40 minutes or so away from ND, and has a safe, friendly feel about it. Currently, there are 4 diners, a bank, two gift shops, a dollar store, hardware store, 2 auto shops, 2 gas stations, a cvs, a doctor's office, a vets office, and 2 grocery stores all located in town. This might not seem like much but about 20 miles away from New Carlisle, there is a Wal Mart, Kmart, etc. in La Porte. There is also the well known private high school, LaLumiere, about 15 minutes away. I would shy away from looking at the Hudson Lake area, though. Best of Luck

I'm not too familiar with the schools in SB, but I have heard that Washington and Clay, schools are not very safe.

[Elkman]

I went to Penn and their school system, my daughter does now too. It's the best school system in the area, second best would be the Mishawaka school system. Although 3,000 students is quite a bit but that isn't until High School, so I am assuming by the time your child is ready for High School, they may have another high school up in the Granger area since a lot of kids come from that area. If they don't build another High School soon it will be a huge problem. But as for Elementary Schools, the Penn School system is exceptional.
As far as housing, if you live in the Granger area that would be the best for now and if later down the road you want more room, well there's room outside of the town that should fit your needs.
By the way, ND has a huge impact on this town financially. If ND wasn't here, this would be a very small town.
Your wife will love our shopping here. It's come quite a ways since I was younger. It is exceptional shopping around our area, she'll be happy, like my wife is.
Welcome to the neighborhood!

[domergurl]

Grew up near ND, hubby used to work there. When we looked, we were living in Valpo and believe it or not, there are a few people who commute from Valpo to ND. Schools there are very good. When we were thinking about relo-ing to be closer to ND, we looked in Granger/Penn Harris Madison. Penn won't build another school because they don't want to sacrifice their sports programs (same issue with Carmel). Penn is a great school system, but there are also very good private schools. It's great that you won't have to dive into the school system right away, but in terms of resale value for a house ... I know, boring ... I'd stick with Penn.

[Elkman]

Firestorm take note, goldpolkadots is right about the South Bend area as not being safe. Crime is out of hand and it's not safe in that area. It seems to spreading more East each year also, but don't fret, Granger is the key place to live and I don't see this area being run down anytime soon. The other members listed Catholic Schools or Private Schools as an alternative to Penn which is a great idea. If you are coming from Michigan then you are probably used to our winter weather, though we live in a lake effect snow area, I don't believe it's been bad at all for years now. The local weather folks will make a big deal of lake effect snow when they "think" it will happen, most of the time it doesn't. If weather isn't a concern then I think you will find a nice fit in the community just as long as you know where to avoid going. This area is still growing and ND bring a lot to our area in so many ways.