Minnesota to Lafayette (West Lafayette, Wabash, Plymouth: best neighborhoods, low crime, new house)

[Tpaka71]

Hi,
I'm a single Black father wanting to move to Lafayette from Plymouth, MN (suburb of twin cities). My cousin from Atlanta attends Purdue university and he said that Lafayette is the best small town he's ever been to. So, what I'm looking for is an area with good schools and low crime. I am looking for a new home from 200k's.

What are some of your suggestions???

[ibydesign]

One of the best neighborhoods in West Lafayette is at nwheights.com. The schools are outstanding. (Not true of all of West Lafayette.. just the ones in West Lafayette School District.) See stats on nwheights.com website, which is for Northwestern Heights. Over and over, graduates of the West Lafayette school system move back when they have kids so that their kids can experience all that is great about the school and the town. The school has theater, music, sports, debate, terrific art program, multi-languages, math, science and more. One thing lots of parents like is that the school is not too small to be ineffective, but not too large, that kids have to specialize in one sport. I remember growing up that the star of the football team, was also the star of the basketball team, and was a swimmer and cross country guy, and played baseball in the summer. Girl's sports are good too. When I went to school there, I played harp in the orchestra, was the editor of the creative writing publication, worked on the school newsletter, was in several plays, also worked on backdrops, and screen writing, I had a role in a student run movie, I ran the scoreboard for the home football games, ran the time clock for the boy's wrestling, and ran the camera for the home basketball games. I took 3rd year German at Purdue, after I finished all the high school classes, while still a high school Junior. I got nearly straight A's, and ended up Phi Beta Kappa from DePauw University, and straight A's through grad school too. The school system prepared me well. And after being out in the world, living in beautiful San Diego and winning international awards, we nevertheless moved back to raise our son, just like a lot of people do.

The neighborhood is bordered by the Purdue golf course, and is one of the closest neighborhoods to Purdue. The town is such a great balance of blue collar and white collar, university, engineering, biomed, etc. There's plenty to do and lots of the world comes to us, through events at Purdue University (concerts, ballets, comedians, executives...). We have a world class women's basketball team, and the men's teams are rebuilding. The theater community-wide is active, libraries are progressive with good lecture series, and there are lots of day trips for hiking, etc. The surrounding area is a little flat, for farming, but where the town is, gets a little mroe interesting because of the river, and hills above the river. Just south 30 miles, there is Turkey Run State Park, and further south of that there are many parks (some of them well-hidden). Sports, of course, in the town, are king, whether campus sports, high school sports, and there are always the Colts. Soccer, Little League, etc. are obsessive as they are in many family towns. Church is important to many people, and there are all flavors to choose from.

As far as additional culture, Indy is a little over an hour away, which has the airport of choice for most people. Chicago is 2.5 hours. The town is right on 65, and Indy hooks up with 70 and 74, so you can get East easily, and go South to Florida easily, or over to Myrtle Beach, etc. and of course go west, either via I 80 or I-70.

As far as retail, we have Old Navy, JC Penney, Macy's, Victoria Secret, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Circuit City, 3 super Walmarts, Sam's Club, and plenty more. There is Border's, Barnes and Nobles, text book stores, and city, county and Purdue libraries, all open to the public. Restaurants include O'Charley's, Panera's, Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, 3 Taco Bells, 3 KFC's, 5 McDonald's, Denny's, iHop, Cracker Barrel, 2 Steak and Shake's, several Greek restaurant's, Indian, Mexican, Thai, and so on. And the best pizza in the world, at a family run restaurant called Bruno's. I've been on flights where I'll meet someone who asks me about Bruno's. Industry includes Wabash National (semi trailers), Alcoa, Caterpillar, Eli Lilly, Ash Access (biomed), Subaru, Purdue, and more. Search on Purdue Research Park to find some of the up and comers.


There are new houses in other neighborhoods, but sometimes the large trees, and larger yards are a bigger calling card, than the cookie cutter, small lot houses, and there's a lot to say about being so close to Purdue without a commute. Many professors walk from the neighborhood.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[royce25]

dont move to the eastside of lafayette. that part of town has a lot of gangs

[Is that rain]

what relevance is it that you are black? A single father would suffice.

[Is that rain]

If you look at other posts by Tpake71 you will find that this poster is full of it.
Some post say, I am a single black father, some say single black mother,
the number of kids changes, and the circumstances change. So don't fall all over yourself to be helpful just because the poster says he's black.

[domergurl]

Yes, indeed, something is amiss here.

'splain yourself tpaka.

[Is that rain]

maybe we have a troll in our midst, hehe, although i dont know what he's trolling for.

[domergurl]

Maybe you're the same people.

[Is that rain]

maybe you're eating brownies laced with mary jane

[ddsmeg]

Originally Posted by royce25

dont move to the eastside of lafayette. that part of town has a lot of gangs

I love it when people say Lafayette has a lot of gangs. I lived in Indy and they thought they had a lot of gangs and they paled in comparison to other cities. Lafayette pales to Indy.

Don't rule out small towns too. They tend to be mostly white, but could use some diversity. There is a small town called Fowler that is about 30 miles from Lafayette, but if you are used to driving that kind of distance in a large city, this will be a walk in the park (you might get a little road tired, but a great way to wind down the day). You get a lot of house and land for the money. Their website is www.townoffowler.com and there is a great private, very affordable school there that excels each year in academics. The school is Sacred Heart and you can see their website at www.sacredheartfowler.org - Sacred Heart of Fowler. They are also about 90 miles from Chicago and you can get there on highway 41 pretty quick.