Bedford, IN? Nice place? (Bloomington, Columbus: for sale, how much, home)

[dreaming4south]

Hi, we are looking at a possible move to the Bloomington/Columbus IN area next year. I have tried to find as much info as I can about those cities and the surrounding suburbs, and we have already driven down there once to look around. My husband is leaning towards Martinsville, he likes the small town feel of it. I am not so thrilled with the school statistics, and saw that Bedford and Columbus schools are rated better.

So, can anyone give me some information on living in Bedford? We are coming from a suburb of Chicago, and can't wait to get away from the congestion and taxes. The taxes down there seem to be so much more reasonable than up here, and much less congestion!

How are the people? I worry that in a town like Martinsville, we will be seen as outsiders and not welcomed, since the town is so small and isolated from the bigger cities. Would Bedford be the same? Or are the people of Indiana welcoming all-around?

Are there areas of Bedford or Columbus (and their suburbs) that we should avoid? Although I am guessing that, unlike Chicago, we can probably walk anywhere at anytime! Still, it would be nice to hear from a local about anything we won't get from a webpage of statistics.

Oh, and my husband says we should concentrate on the Bloomington side (hence Bedford) as opposed to the Columbus side, because there would be more flooding and tornadoes in Columbus since it is flatter than where Bedford is at. Any truth to this? I lived through a tornado when I was very young, and fear them, but yet here I am, looking at an area that probably gets more severe weather than we presently do near Chicago!

I look forward to any information you can give me! Thanks!

[rrah]

Bedford is definitely small. I live in Monroe County, but am only about 20 minutes from Bedford. I go down there for a few things so am fairly familiar with the town. My daughter attended an afterschool activity there. She was never made to feel like an outsider, and I found the parents friendly. Just remember that lots of people have a common history, as in all small towns, so you may feel like you've missed something sometimes. Best advice--don't talk about how much better your Chicago suburb was/is constantly and you'll be fine.

Bedford/Lawrence County is safe. The two things I would watch for are nearby quarries, and know that there is a PCB clean up going on at GM. Here is some info about that.
GM Powertrain Bedford Facility | Region 5 Cleanup Sites | US EPA

Personally I would choose Bedford over Martinsville.

[dreaming4south]

Thanks rrah. I will definitely look into the information you gave me about the GM cleanup. I do remember driving by a home for sale in the Bedford area that had a quarry within site of the back yard, but I did not realize that was common there. I just knew I did not want a quarry, along with the accompanying blasting, in my backyard!

Do you have any preference, weatherwise, between Bedford and Columbus? I know there was quite a bit of flooding in the Columbus area this summer, but those rains were not the norm. I can't find information on flooding in Bedford, though. Is the weather more severe in one area over another?

Finally, and most importantly for my sanity, how soon do you start your plantings down there? Before the end of May? Please oh please oh please?

[rrah]

The weather is not much different between Bedford and Columbus. Bedford might tend to be a few degrees warmer at times. You are correct in that the flooding Columbus experienced is not the norm. Flooding happened in Bloomington also. It truly was flash flooding in that it came up quickly and disappeared fairly fast.

Yes, you can plant well before the end of May! I don't garden as much as I did in Chicago--less time unfortunately, but I'm always comfortable putting flowers in the ground on Mother's Day weekend. Many people do so earlier. True spring is about a month earlier here and fall lasts at least a month longer. (One year my kids were swimming outside on Easter and in early October)

[Uplander]

Many of the quarries in the Bedford area do very little blasting. They produce building stone and worry about damage to the stone. Indiana Limestone has been used on the Empire State Building, the National Cathedral in Washington DC, and the IU Bloomington campus as well as many other building around the country.

The growing season is definately longer in southern Indiana than Chicago whic is a plus, but the soil type is a minus. Be prepared to add a lot of organics to the clay you will find in most places. If you use a cold frame or cloche you can start gardening in mid-April or earlier with the cooler season plants.

Bedford is not immune from tornados. I remember one that went through just south of US 50 on the southwest side of town. A home with a basement and a weather radio go a long way to reduce the danger.

[domergurl]

If you are looking at Bedford or Martinsville, why not put Bloomington in there too???

[dreaming4south]

Oy, I'm confused! Not sure which thread to answer to, but I will go with this one since it was the one I put on the Indiana board (sorry, I just found these boards recently and was confused).

I am so thrilled to have my thoughts on the longer growing season confirmed! The clay soil should not be too much of a problem, our last two moves were to new subdivisions and for some reason, the builders find it necessary to scrape down to the clay and only leave 3 inches of top soil. I am accustomed to working with my soil, and consider it a part of gardening. Not a problem, but thanks for the information so I am prepared!

A home with a basement is a must. The increase in tornadoes and ice storms in that area bothers me, but at least I would know they were coming (unlike an earthquake!). What are the odds anyway that I would be in another tornado?

Bloomington would seem to be the logical place to look, but my husband likes small towns, and when researching Bloomington, we read someone's opinion that it was a much younger crowd there, whereas we are turning into old people (one daughter off to college, the other in 8th grade). A nice, laid back town might be a nice place for when we are even older. I however wish to be near "things to do", so Bedford seemed like a nice place that had what we both were looking for, if we were on the Bloomington side.

Columbus also has its appeal, but I suppose the final decision will be job prospects. My husband is a machinist, so where the work is available, we will go. Me, I have just been a mom for 18 years, so it doesn't matter what job I find.

Indiana draws us because both our girls are interested in Indiana universities (eldest is off to Purdue!), and for Illinoisans, the price is very high (though for the eldest, on par with the only school in IL that offers her major). Since university will be less if we are residents, and taxes less, and housing less, and weather more to my liking, and recreation in that area abundunt, we plan on a move to Indiana in the not too distant future.

The thought of coming to your state is so exciting!

[domergurl]

You could live on the outskirts of Bloomington. It's not a suburb, so there are wide open spaces still within the Bloomington schools ...