Terre Haute... A "Cut" Above? (Fort Wayne, Muncie: travel, jobs)

[chbartel]

I agree with your sentiments on this. Others mention it's not run very well, I agree. Here is an example

I own a 3 bedroom 2 bath rental home in Terre Haute. Fortunately it's in a decent area, worth about $100k(that's a good area in Terre Haute!) I got a letter from the assessor a few years ago that stated my taxes on this little house was going to go from $1,800/year to over $3,900/year! What! In this town with nothing to offer I am paying almost double in taxes then what I do on a home worth 2x that in Zionsville!

They assessed my little home at around $140k. I had to hire a tax attorney to get involved and get this fixed. I thought this would be easy, I had comps in the neighborhood, I had an appraisal from several years ago showing what it was worth. NOPE. They made my tax attorney go to the highest court in Terre Haute for this tax appeal. They knew they would lose, which of course they did. This took over two years and during that time I was paying these ridiculous tax rates. I guess their goal was to keep the money and collect interest, they knew they would have to give it back to me later on.

Two years later they had to give me a refund for those two years of over paying taxes. My friend owns a rental down the street and he also had the exact same issue. I can only imagine all the others that don't have the knowledge that are still paying these crazy tax rates because the assessor over assessed them.

This is one example of why Terre Haute will never amount to much..In years of buying investments and owning about 80 investment properties, this is the only major home buying mistake I have made

Craig

Originally Posted by blogger1776

I've been living in TH for almost two years now. I've lived in several states and cities throughout my life. I'm writing this today to hopefully warn others who may be thinking of moving here to STOP, TURN AROUND and move ANYWHERE else! Unless your idea of a "cut above" is horribly maintained streets, dubious local government, shady government, meth suppiers on every corner, prostitution usually a block away and the STINK! I don't know what they pump into the air here, but there are days when it stinks of rotting maggot crap that I can hardly see the road because my eyes are so watery. There are no decent jobs here. I work online thank GOD! When I first came here the only job I could find paid $6.50 an hour. I came from a $45,000 a year income. What a shock. But then again it led me to find my own way online. I've even had other people tell me they can feel the blackness of this town as soon as they arrive. I agree. I'm not sure what or why, but there is some sort of weird black cloud thing in terms of feeling. There is a very clear and defined line between the two types of people living here. There's the rednecks "hoosiers" as they liked to be referred to and the whitenecks. Hmm... whiteneck would be the people making $19,000+ a year "somehow" and driving the biggest SUV they could beg the dealer into letting them buy on credit. Apparently 98% of the population is on meth and/or crack. I'm telling you, it is this bad. I lived in St. Louis for YEARS and never seen so much filth, disgust and drugs. Terre Haute is just a cut above hell itself. Besides, in five years the population has seriously DEcreased. What does that say? Either people are moving or the cancer rate is as high as they say... probably from the toxic crap they pump into air. A few years ago they had a Mayor that wanted to clean the town up, beautify it, get rid of the 600+ crack houses, get rid of stink and just try to improve things. They ousted in from office! That's what Terre Haute thinks about improvements. They want to stay in the 70's ere but will allow all of the crankers in the world to come here. Revenue reasons? Who knows? I can't wait to get out of this town and away from all of it's BS crap! What a nightmare!

[domergurl]

Lake County Indiana went through the same thing. My mother in laws house in Whiting's taxes are through the roof, at least double of what we pay here in Fishers. It's sad too. She's a retiree, lived in that house for her entire life ... she never even had to file her exemptions because Amoco, pre BP merger, paid a majority of the entire city of Whiting's property taxes. It was a double whammy ... the merger, then the reassessment.

Good for your stick-to-it-ivness CHB .. good work!

[lillygirl]

where are all these drugs people are talking about?

[lovethebigcity]

I lived in TH for 2yrs while in grad school at ISU. For those 2yrs I was pretty much depressed the whole time. I couldn't stand the place. I used to fly home (to NC) once a month on a weekend to get away (I booked in advance & found cheap tickets). My friends didn't believe me. One friend didn't think it could be that bad. Well, she drove back with me & stayed for a week. She was depressed by the time she left. There are some nice areas of TH....& those I liked. I also lived in the ISU student apartments off of HWY 41....which is not the nicest area. I just found the city to be very grey & depressing.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by lovethebigcity

I lived in TH for 2yrs while in grad school at ISU. For those 2yrs I was pretty much depressed the whole time. I couldn't stand the place. I used to fly home (to NC) once a month on a weekend to get away (I booked in advance & found cheap tickets). My friends didn't believe me. One friend didn't think it could be that bad. Well, she drove back with me & stayed for a week. She was depressed by the time she left. There are some nice areas of TH....& those I liked. I also lived in the ISU student apartments off of HWY 41....which is not the nicest area. I just found the city to be very grey & depressing.

As stated: Bloomington, Evansville, and Indianapolis are relatively decent; Fort Wayne is not terrible. Terre Haute is just one of those midwestern sinkholes, like Decatur (Illinois) or Jackson (Michigan) ... not exactly a total write-off like Flint or Youngstown, which is bad, because then you say "oh sure I'll try [Terre Haute, Decatur, or Jackson]!" and then you get to regret it.

[Mr.Hoppes]

What a piece of work. TH is no place to live. The areas you mention have all had major Meth problems, the Alleys are like war zones, and Politics is about the standard of the Dukes of Hazard. I have lived in major cities and not seen this much graft going on. The masterpiece of the government is a manager I believe his position was in the Emergency management office a convicted felon with wire taping equipment and more fire power than most police stations, and even though this was pictured in the News and the fact that He had alocohol in His Desk, His buddies on the city board tried to protect him untill it got way out of hand and he started doing more illiegal stuff. That is just priceless. A county worker a convicted felon with guns & alocohol in his office and people stod up for him? Where Else but Terrible Haute.
The smell better yes but still smells like **** ! The wabash river is a toxic soup mixture I wouldn't eat a fish outta. And The Down Town is getting better ? When will they let Downtown just die and move the center of the city south of the mall. Just Start Over. Make a nice Highway out of the old Downtown. BUT SERIOSLY DON'T MOVE THERE It is a DAMNED City. I think God was angry with TH Like Sodom & Gomorrah and cursed the city and all that reside therein.
BUT That's just my opinion, and we all know about them...

Originally Posted by dodeca

I guess I'll have to step in an defend Terre Haute. The posts above certainly refer to the problems, but I think terribly exaggerate the situation. Terre Haute is a poorer, slow growth town. Housing is reasonable, the schools are generally good, and there are two major universities, and two smaller colleges in town or the surrounding suburbs. The government has its share of problems, but that might be changing. Downtown has seen better days, but recently significant new investment has been announced.

For a city its size, Terre Haute has good shopping for the middle of the road. There are good restaurants - chain heavy - but many good local "American" restaurants. It is certainly not as international as Bloomington or other Big Ten towns, but Indiana State does attract a fair number of international students.

The smell is definitely a problem, but not nearly what it was 20 years ago when I was growing up there. The city is actually much more attractive than it was then,and downtown has started to fill in; ISU's campus is also much improved. Meth - it's a problem too, but crime is not bad. I am never afraid to walk outside, though I would be more cautious in some neighborhoods.

Terre Haute would probably not be an exciting place to live for a new college graduate, but for young families, retirees, there is plenty to do. There are excellent neighborhoods around Collett Park, Ohio Boulevard, Farrington Grove is slowly improving, and the surrounding suburban areas - especially immediately south, and the northeastern and northwestern countryside is very scenic. The area is more heavily forested than its northern Hoosier neighbors, and Bloomington, Indy are only an hour away; Chicago is about 3.5 on a very clear highway.

Im not saying that TH is for everyone, but there are opportunities there. If you need manufactured fun, then you might look somewhere else.

[Lisa_from_Debary]

Years ago I visited Terre Haute and they had what I think was a cat or dog food factory and it smelled really really bad...is that still there??

[dodeca]

Originally Posted by Lisa_from_Debary

Years ago I visited Terre Haute and they had what I think was a cat or dog food factory and it smelled really really bad...is that still there??

No, I don't think there was ever a pet food factory. There is a railroad tie manufacturer on the southwest side of the city which, in combination with the outdated sewage treatment plant, contributes to the sometimes foul air in the city. This has improved greatly in the last twenty years, however. But it does hold many of the beautiful, historic southside neighborhoods back.

You know, Terre Haute is not Austin or Ann Arbor or Berkeley - it is what it is. To all those good folks who are tearing it down, I say: wherever you are, there you are. I hope you can find a better place to put down roots.

[domergurl]

I think they make Clabber Girl baking powder in Terre Haute.

[dodeca]

Originally Posted by domergurl

I think they make Clabber Girl baking powder in Terre Haute.

http://www.clabbergirlmuseum.com/