Moving to South Bend Area (Indianapolis, Mishawaka: appointed, fit in, houses)

[krmama]

My family is relocating to the South Bend area soon. We have two kids so schools are an important factor in deciding where to live. We have heard Granger has a very good school district and would love to learn more about the various subdivisions in that town, as well as any other pros/cons.

Also, can anyone talk about any South Bend neighborhoods that are worth considering? Ideally, we are looking for a neighborhood with young families, kid friendly activities and a good mix of people.

TIA!

[claremarie]

We are also considering a relocation to the South Bend area, and have made several trips there in the last few months. What we found was that the public school system in South Bend itself is pretty bad. Lots of poverty there, which translates to low high school graduation rates. The Catholic school system is also disappointing to someone coming from a major metro area. The physical plants are aging, the classes are overcrowded, many schools have eliminated recess to fit in state-mandated instruction time plus religion -- one school we visited didn't even have a playground! There are two pretty decent diocesan Catholic high schools (Marian and St. Joe's), plus an independent Christian 7-12 gr. school (Trinity) and a secular, rather expensive private grade school (Stanley Clark). Also several Montessori grade schools. There are some nicer residential areas, such as Sunnymede and Erskine Manor.
Your best bets are in Granger. Newer housing at various price points, plus a fairly decent public school system. No Catholic schools, but there is a Christian school.

[domergurl]

Granger people go to the parochial schools in South Bend and Mishawaka too ... they are linked together. It's not as bad as what you make it out to be. I'm not sure what "major metro area" you are coming from, but as far as comparables to cities similar to SB, it's pretty standard.

Yes, Granger has fine schools. The high school (Penn), is an incredibly huge school. If you want to do further research, the Indiana State Dept. of Education has a great website and they recently released a listing of their 4 star schools. I started a thread on this awhile ago under the title "for what it's worth".

Good luck.

[claremarie]

I guess it depends upon where you are coming from. Frankly, we were very disappointed with the Catholic grade schools in the South Bend area (and yes, the Granger kids can go to the SB schools, and the Catholic parish in Granger is building a school for 2008). They just can't compare with the schools in the DC area.
The Indiana education website is a great resource (this is how we learned of the abysmal graduation rates in South Bend high schools)

[krmama]

I'll definitively check out the state website for more school info. If anyone has thoughts on preschools in the area (Granger or SB), that would be great too.

So are all the Granger subdivions basically similar?

Thanks!

RM

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by claremarie

I guess it depends upon where you are coming from. Frankly, we were very disappointed with the Catholic grade schools in the South Bend area (and yes, the Granger kids can go to the SB schools, and the Catholic parish in Granger is building a school for 2008). They just can't compare with the schools in the DC area.
The Indiana education website is a great resource (this is how we learned of the abysmal graduation rates in South Bend high schools)

Oh dear ... you CANNOT compare SB to DC. That's just not fair. If you want comparable to DC metro, then you would have to go as far as Chicago, maybe Indianapolis. Of course you are going to be disappointed CM ... SB is a small midwestern city. You aren't going to have the same demographics and education levels as DC/Virginia. SB is still a pretty blue collar place and it's reflected everywhere in the area. Sorry you're so disappointed, but geesh, no wonder! I don't mean to be harsh, but I've heard so many people complain about Indiana as compared to wherever they came from and it's usually because they came from a completely different part of the country who want Indiana prices, but don't do the further cultural/lifestyle research and end up becoming bitter and blame it on us Hoosiers or the cities they chose to move to. I can't remember what brought you to our humble state, but I am sorry we haven't lived up to your expectations.

[claremarie]

My kids are beyond preschool age, so I can't help with that.

The Granger neighborhoods actually vary a lot. There are older (40 yrs) neighborhoods near the Knollwood Country Club. Lots of trees back there, and nice-sized lots, but the houses are somewhat dated. I think these were among the first real subdivisions in the area. I saw lots of evidence of kids, but the weather was not great so not many people were out and about.

The newer neighborhoods have huge houses, but they are on tiny lots with no trees -- built on former corn fields. Many of the neighborhoods are built around little lakes, and quite a few homes have their own pools. Other than Knollwood Country Club, which is kind of expensive, there aren't any community or neighborhood pools in Granger (at least, we couldn't find any).
One thing to know is that many, if not most, of the Granger houses are NOT on public water and sewer, so you need to ask good questions about the wells and septic systems. This came as a complete surprise to us.

[claremarie]

If you don't have a realtor yet, you might try going to realtor.com and plugging in "Granger" "South Bend" and "Mishawaka" into the search engine in your price range and see what you find. The three communities are really part of the same area.
Another thought is that South Bend neighborhoods are closer, obviously, to Notre Dame and to shopping; however, there is a huge retail/residential development under construction along Cleveland Road, with the nicest large supermarket in the area. There is also every big-box retailer and restaurant chain known to mankind along Grape Road and Main Street (I think that is the name) -- Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot etc.

[domergurl]

Grape Road & Main Street run parallel to each other in Mishawaka off McKinley (US 20 ... which goes to the airport for quick getaways by southshore train to Chicago or by plane). Most every typical suburban store is located between or on those roads.

Have you thought about smaller towns outside the SB area?

[krmama]

Yes, I heard Granger has different water issues, but could you explain more? What questions should we ask about the water specifically?

What are some smaller towns around SB to consider?

Thanks!