Moving to Indiana (Evansville, Bloomington, Columbus: rentals, house, neighborhoods)

[cabby836]

I will be taking a job at the Naval Surface Warfare in Crane. I realize the city of Crane itself is extremely small, so living there is out of the question. Where would be the best place to live around there? I want to keep my commute under an hour. I currently live in Huntsville, AL and would like to live in a town with similar amenities, i.e. shopping, eating.

[Uplander]

I think the only "Big City" within an hour of Crane is Bloomington. It's population is about 70,000. I don't think there are any other cities within your radius much larger than 15,000.

[mkat321]

I second Bloomington. It has nowhere near the sheer number of options in any area that Huntsville has, obviously. But it does have more than most other cities within your commute limitations. Even that would be an hour and a half give or take. But all the other large cities, Columbus, Evansville, New Albany/Louisville, etc. are two plus hours away.


Are you coming in as a soldier or a civilian contractor? I ask because there are discounts to be had on housing and other things in the Bloomington area that will reduce the sometimes high cost of rentals in Bloomington {due to the presence of IU mostly}

[cabby836]

I will be coming up as a civilian contractor. My family and I will be interested in a location with good schools as we have a six year old. I've been doing some research and found that Childs Elementary in Bloomington is an excellent school. Are there any others? To give a little more info, our price range will be between $250,000 to $275,000.

[rrah]

cabby--there are many people that live in B-ton and work at Crane. Typically you can expect less than an hour commute. I would advise you to not only look at test scores, but to visit schools. I personally know several people that figured the school with the best test scores would be the best school and then visited said school. After the visit to the school you mentioned they decided their children might be better off elsewhere. They didn't like the "vibe."

Test scores are not the end all and be all of a school. I learned that from my own move and search of schools. The grade school my children attended was good. It didn't have the highest test scores in mccsc at that time, but I wouldn't change a thing. My younger child was at this school for longer. He was a part of a middle school gifted program with many Childs students and did as well or better than most of them. My D also did as well or better than many of her Childs counterparts in middle school and high school, but most of her grade school years were spent in another state.

For the best commute I would explore Clear Creek, Summit, Lakeview, Grandview or Highland Park. The Lakeview and Grandview areas will offer the best commutes to Crane.

[YeahMon]

Originally Posted by rrah

cabby--there are many people that live in B-ton and work at Crane. Typically you can expect less than an hour commute. I would advise you to not only look at test scores, but to visit schools. I personally know several people that figured the school with the best test scores would be the best school and then visited said school. After the visit to the school you mentioned they decided their children might be better off elsewhere. They didn't like the "vibe."

Test scores are not the end all and be all of a school. I learned that from my own move and search of schools. The grade school my children attended was good. It didn't have the highest test scores in mccsc at that time, but I wouldn't change a thing. My younger child was at this school for longer. He was a part of a middle school gifted program with many Childs students and did as well or better than most of them. My D also did as well or better than many of her Childs counterparts in middle school and high school, but most of her grade school years were spent in another state.

For the best commute I would explore Clear Creek, Summit, Lakeview, Grandview or Highland Park. The Lakeview and Grandview areas will offer the best commutes to Crane.

I couldn't have said it better.

[cabby836]

Thanks for your input. We are planning on driving up before we make the move so we can get a feel for the area. We had actually narrowed it down to Lakeview and Childs. I want to kind of stay on the south side due to the commute. I want to visit both schools to see if we can get a feel for the atmosphere of each.

[rrah]

Lakeview and Childs have very different feels to them. Lakeview will feel more rural, but it's very cool for the kids. It's actually only about 20 minutes from downtown Bloomington. There are about 50 wooded acres behind the school with trails and a waterfall or two. Students go out there for hikes and science classes sometimes. Lakeview has grown a lot in the past 10 years as the area has grown with expensive new housing (think $400,000 and up) but has retained it's friendly atmosphere and feel. Childs has a more typical "in-town" type feel. It's close enough to the university that many of the children have parents that work at the university in some capacity. After redistricting a few years ago, Childs population has been steadier. Lakeview has much more socioeconomic diversity while Childs has more ethnic diversity.

[YeahMon]

And don't forget to mention that Childs is full of the kids from the high end neighborhoods. The BMW driving - holier than thou - soccer, cheerleading, or gymnastic stickers on their back windows of their SUV's. The families who live WAY beyond their means - the husband works 70 hours a week, and the mom pretends to still be 18 - type of people. These people have triple digit homes with scarce o' furniture in them, because they are house and car broke.

If there is a stereotype to an elementary school, Childs is it.

[cabby836]

We will be able to live comfortably as the cost of living up there is on par with that of Huntsville. I'll be getting a raise to come up. I want my daugther to be exposed to all types of people. I've never been a "have to drive a BMW" type of person. We can afford to be like that, but we choose to not draw that type of attention to ourselves. It sounds as if Childs is a great deal like our daugther's school now. I guess we'll have to get a feel for things when we're up there in October.