Information on Indiana requested... (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne: hair salon, houses, movie theater)

[brightcopperkettles]

What is the weather like in Indiana; specifically, what is life like in each of the seasons and why?

What are the people, homes, etc., like in general?

My husband and I are thinking seriously about selling our home and moving, but we are not sure where. We have thought about Midwest as it is halfway between WA and SC.

I just got a job (working from home) for a company in Indiana, and I was wondering if this would be a good place for us to live. My husband is retired (he was a Seattle firefighter), and I still work.

My husband and I are looking for a rural home (just a place we can have a large garden and a few chickens) near a town that has a nice small Methodist church, good shopping, a movie theater, hair salons, restaurants, etc. Any ideas?

Is the housing affordable? Anywhere that is nice for retirees who want to make friends and have a garden and a few chickens, etc.?

I personally would love an area that has an annual festival of some kind, a farmer's market, etc.

Any insight you all could give us would be helpful.

[jodyrose]

There are so many places in Indiana that fit your description, it will be hard to narrow them down. I live in the middle of the state, almost to MI state line, close to Notre Dame. I like it because its close to Chicago (90mi), lots of open country, small towns, bigger towns and so on and my family lives nearby. However, if my family up and disappeared, I would go back to Fort Wayne, where I lived for 5 yrs. I loved !

It is the 2nd largest city in the state (after Indianapolis), has several festivals (although none rival what I used to have in Sarasota, FL),a mix of expensive to budget friendly housing and if you drive in any direction for about 15min you are back into cornfields again. Tons of parks, 3 rivers running through the city, a city symphony in a great old restored theatre downtown, nice small art museum, botanical gardens, great people and the best library system...for which people come from all over to do Geneology research in. Its close to Ohio, close to Indianapolis, easy to get around, not huge traffic jams, great shopping...it has it all.

If you want more rural, you could land somewhere between Elkhart/Goshen and Shipshewana..which is the heart of the Indiana Amish country and I would be happy to give you a guided tour here! Look on City-Data too, there is allot of good info here in the databases.

If you want more specific info, I can also email you some home information, just DM me. Welcome to Hoosierland!

[domergurl]

Come on down to Columbus Indiana!!!

[fabumom07]

I researched small towns near my area for a while as I have dreams of rural life and "Stars -Hollow" ( Gilmore s)like charm in an old fashioned town center.

I can tell you that I really like Auburn, here in NE Indiana. They have a nice old town center with a Strawberry Festival ( July), A Mad Anthony Brew Pub, A Vera Bradley store, and nearby the Auburn Deusenberg- Cord Automobile Museum and Festival. It has lots of nice stores and restaurants, without loosing small town charm. Lots of pretty old houses, well kept.

Its also close to Ft Wayne, where you can do more stuff. Shipshewana IS nice, but it feels very rural . I have found that not all country homes with a few acres allow chickens or a few sheep or alpaca( my fantasy) just 3 horses. It needs to be zoned A1 agricultural. Good luck with the chickens it sounds like fun!

[JulieL]

I second that motion....Come on down to Columbus. There is an area that sounds perfect for you all. Georgetown Road or the hills of Brown County. Country, chickens, garden and small country Methodist church by the name of Mount Olive...great people, great place (I use to go there).

Good Luck in your decision making

[brainiac138]

isn't Fort Wayne the second largest city in the state?

[fabumom07]

I believe so. Runner up may be South Bend.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by fabumom07

I believe so. Runner up may be South Bend.

Nope. Evansville is third.

Indianapolis - Population: 781870
- Maps 'n' Stats for Indianapolis, Indiana

Fort Wayne - Population: 205727
- Maps 'n' Stats for Fort Wayne, Indiana

Evansville - Population: 121582
- Maps 'n' Stats for Evansville, Indiana

South Bend - Population: 107789
- Maps 'n' Stats for South Bend, Indiana

Gary - Population: 102746
- Maps 'n' Stats for Gary, Indiana

Hammond - Population: 83048
- Maps 'n' Stats for Hammond, Indiana

Bloomington - Population: 69291
- Maps 'n' Stats for Bloomington, Indiana

Muncie - Population: 67430
- Maps 'n' Stats for Muncie, Indiana

Anderson - Population: 59734
- Maps 'n' Stats for Anderson, Indiana

Terre Haute - Population: 59614
- Maps 'n' Stats for Terre Haute, Indiana

[Future Trooper]

Originally Posted by brightcopperkettles

What is the weather like in Indiana; specifically, what is life like in each of the seasons and why?

What are the people, homes, etc., like in general?

My husband and I are thinking seriously about selling our home and moving, but we are not sure where. We have thought about Midwest as it is halfway between WA and SC.

I just got a job (working from home) for a company in Indiana, and I was wondering if this would be a good place for us to live. My husband is retired (he was a Seattle firefighter), and I still work.

My husband and I are looking for a rural home (just a place we can have a large garden and a few chickens) near a town that has a nice small Methodist church, good shopping, a movie theater, hair salons, restaurants, etc. Any ideas?

Is the housing affordable? Anywhere that is nice for retirees who want to make friends and have a garden and a few chickens, etc.?

I personally would love an area that has an annual festival of some kind, a farmer's market, etc.

Any insight you all could give us would be helpful.

Well as for the weather Indiana definetly has 4 clearly defined seasons. The average temperature for Summer in Indiana is around 84 degrees. Although their are towns in Indiana that experience much cooler and higher average temperatures than that. The average temperature for Winter in Indiana is around 21 degrees and again some towns have higher and cooler temperatures. Alot of towns in Indiana will dip into the negatives during winter. The average temperatures for Indiana in Spring is around 70 and again some towns have higher and cooler average temps. Fall in Indiana average temperature is around 58.Same with towns experiencing different temps.


The people in Indiana are very friendly and down to earth people. Most Hoosiers will gladly lend a hand to a neighbor in need.

As for homes when you get into urban areas like Northwest Indiana or Indianapolis..etc area you will find ridiculously high prices for housing in some areas. But for the most part the price of housing in the State of Indiana is very affordable.

What you have inquired about sounds alot like the town I live in( and alot of towns across the state) only the town I live in(Plainfield) has a population closing in on 30,000 and we have one large Methodist church.

Plainfield is a wonderful place to live with affordable housing, great schools and lots of shopping amenities to keep you busy, a pretty good amount of restaurants( local and chain). Even though Plainfield is quite big it still has that small town charm. Plainfield is a fairly decent diverse place to be.

Plainfield has been ranked among one of the best places for retirees in several magazines.

Plainfield has several farmers markets and several town and religiously affiliated festivals.



You will find that Indiana is a very beautiful state! Just check out the Indiana Pictures Thread.

Hope you will find what your looking for and welcome to Indiana( if you choose to reside here)

[cobolt]

Hey Brightcopper,

I hope you remember me. We were dm'ing last year about our dislike of the gloomy WA weather. I just had to chime in here. I'm still in WA, although it looks like I might be getting a job offer in TX soon. But I have to say as a born and raised Midwesterner that I simply LOVE Indiana. It is on my list of places I've been throwing out the resumes, although nothing is really sticking right now. Growing up in Chicago, many people seem to look down on anything outside of the City, but I must tell you that IN is a hidden gem. Although I have absolutely no family in IN, I travel back every year, right at the end of summer, and explore. I'll usually stay for a day or so in Louisville, KY and then drive around Indiana. I specifically love S Indiana (pretty much south of Indy) although I think Indy is a great city. In fact, I got back on the Indiana forum today b/c I'm torn between moving back to TX and trying for IN. There are so many cool little towns to vist, so much of God's country, brick homes (which are the best) and salt-of-the-earth people. They are really the best. I flew into Indy and rented a car and just jetted around. I met a guy who was from somewhere in N IN and we struck up a convo and ended up hiking together. I met a woman and her daughter in Madison, IN and we became friends. IN people are great. I can't recommend any one place because I kick around more out of exploration, but I just wanted to say that I remember you from the forum and I really hope you get to experience IN. It's so different from WA. It's unpretentious. The more I write this the more homesick I get for the Midwest. Anyway, good luck with your search and I hope you find a great place!