Want to move to Indiana (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne: appliances, house, public schools)

[seasection]

MBK - we are in three village; considering Orchard School, public Fishers or Carmel. Why personally aren't you happy? Are you bored there?

[mbk]

seasection,
If you are in the three village, then I think you would be quite happy here. Life if very suburban and therefore very car oriented. I'm personally having a hard time with this. Indianapolis is very much a car oriented city, there is no real downtown to speak of, you just can't compare it to a real city like NY, SF, or Chicago. It lacks the cultural aspects of NY that I miss the most. If you're ok with this than you will be fine. I highly recommend Carmel, I think within the next 10 years it will really have a terrific downtown.
check out this site
http://www.ci.carmel.in.us/services/DOCS/DOCSCUDI.htm
watch the video.
Plus the Monon Center just opening is really cool:
http://www.carmelclayparks.com/index...ncntr_overview
I hope the mayor here will stay, he's really been great, he actually has vision.
Also, before making such a big move, I also think that it would be wise to come here, stay for at least a week and just hang out and talk to as many people as possible. I don't know much about Fishers, and private schools were not an option for us with 3 kids, so I can't comment there.

[domergurl]

Carmel is very nice. We almost moved there instead of Fishers, but we chose Fishers because of the school system. Carmel is fine, just way too big for my taste. Fishers builds new schools, just opened a new high school due to overcrowding at the original one (Hamilton Southeastern). They are now fast tracking a third high school. Carmel doesn't want to risk losing their sports prowess by splitting up sports teams.

The Monon center looks fantastic, but from what I hear, they aren't selling as many memberships as they want in order to pay for salaries ... watch out Carmel, your taxes are going to go up! I don't know, as a taxpayer of Carmel, paying over 1K for a family membership to something that is considered a Carmel Park .. just wouldn't sit well with me. I just hope the other city parks don't suffer as a result.

Fishers does lack a downtown, that's for sure! But honestly, with 3 kids and living out by Geist Reservoir ... I don't know how much use I would get out of a downtown anyway.

I do hear you about cars here though. I get the funniest looks when I bike to my grocery, or walk (gasp!) to my daughter's softball games. I miss my public transportation that I loved in Chicago. The Indianapolis downtown is ok. There's just not enough residential to sustain much more than what's there now.

[time2move]

I have been looking into Santa Claus Indiana... I live in CA now and have two young boys. I visited last summer and from what I can see, the schools seemed pretty good. Well funded (as opposed to Cali) and good curriculum (based on other families I know there). Also, the real estate was awesome!

I have to admit though, I am freaked about tornados

Anyone know about Santa Claus or Dale?

[30apples]

To Dan and Carmella. Mold allergies can be truly horrible and people who don't have it can't imagine how awful it is. Is it possible that mold in your house is the main problem. i lived in Illinois and we discovered there was mold growing in the ductwork. The house was on a cement slab and the ductwork was in that. when it rained, you could here water dripping in the metal ductwork. this was in the bedroom. Yuk!
I live in NM and the first house we moved into had an odd heater which resembled a car radiator in the shape of a V . at the bottom was a large pool of water and black slime mold! Had to have that and all the duckwork (in the attic) replaced. Also, if you have an old evaporative cooler in NM, the ductwork can sometimes have mold in it. so if you move to NM, those are some things to watch out for. I live in a newer house w/ AC and have no mold problems.
I was in Peru,In. last July and didn't notice any mold anywhere except in their old historical museum, which was otherwise a nice little museum w/ very helpful people. However in La., you CAN smell the mold everywhere including on the highways!!
NM might be a good place for you.

[Dan and Carmella]

Originally Posted by mbuszu

LOL - all I can do is laugh at this post. Allergies in this area seem hardly as bad as what my family experiences in other parts of the country... For someone to suffer as much as described, I think there must be something other than allergies going on. Have you considered a 2nd opinion by a doctor before you pick-up and move your family 2k miles?

Mold issues? You know that mold is everywhere it rains right? - everywhere. 99% of it is harmless. Some contractors (I've met them) who sell moisture removal systems for residences claim like you that it is extremely bad for your health, but they're trying to sell you something, and even they will admit that their snake-oil technology doesn't get rid of mold (nothing can completely). As far as airborne toxins are concerned, mold is not the one most people should be concerned about. VOC's from wall and ceiling paint and wood finishes more likely to cause health issues in just about everyone's home. As will dust and dust mites living in unclean carpets.

In closing, the above dramatically written post seems like it was made to annoy people like me - people that know better and who cannot stand seeing ridiculousness posted on a board others read to educate themselves.

If you smell fungus from the Interstate as you arrive in Indiana then you must be regularly sniffing something other than mold spores.

First off, I said you can smell the fungus when you get off in the town I live in. Second, I am sorry, but you have no idea what you are talking about. MOLD IS DANGEROUS!!!! My daughter went to our old house that is full of mold, trying to save some of what we walked away from. My daughter suffers severe allergies as do I and now she is very sick, and is covered in a horrible red burning rash. 99% of molds are NOT safe, no mold is safe for anyone, especially someone who has allergies as bad as we all do. Allergist? sure they are good if you are not allergic to everything they try to give you. My family has suffered greatly from what molds can do to you and we continue to suffer everytime we get around a moldy building. The Midwest is full of mold, and Shelbyville, IN is the worst! My family has suffered more than once, and my daughter who was in high school during a bad mold issue is on file with the CDC, because of how sick she got from her school. Oh, BTW, the school was closed for 6 weeks, by orders of the CDC for clean up! You think mold is so safe, then why does the CDC make such a big deal out of it? And why wear a space suit to clean everything up, and close the school down? My family is very sick, has been for over 4 years now, and I know for fact it is due to mold, and qite frankly I am sick of people belittling what we have been through. Mold is everywhere, but it is 1000 times worst in the Midwest than in the Southwest, and that is a fact you can google.

I think before you all sit here and tell me how I am not suffering mold and how safe mold is, you need to do a little research on toxic mold and sick building syndrome, because there are tens of thousands of people out there such as myself who are sick and fighting for their lives daily. And I am sure I can speak for us all when I say, we are fed up with people who are in denial and laugh at what we have gone through. It is no laughing matter. Anyone can become sensitized to mold and become very ill. For many, that is the only way they will believe all of us who are suffering. We were non believers once, now we are paying the price.

Sorry you all don't believe me and think I am a weirdo. If you would just google toxic mold, you would see that I am very serious, and mold really is very serious and deadly. Once you are sensitized, your life will never again be the same. It is so sad, that so many must suffer before they believe.

[domergurl]

Didn't you get a home inspection prior to moving in? Also, since you and your family seem to suffer horribly from allergies ... then why didn't you do you diligent research prior to committing to moving to Indiana? I'm sorry that you suffered, seriously, I'm not making light of your situation, but sorry, you should have known better. Allergies in Indiana didn't start when you arrived.

[Dan and Carmella]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Didn't you get a home inspection prior to moving in? Also, since you and your family seem to suffer horribly from allergies ... then why didn't you do you diligent research prior to committing to moving to Indiana? I'm sorry that you suffered, seriously, I'm not making light of your situation, but sorry, you should have known better. Allergies in Indiana didn't start when you arrived.

We were renters, you do not spend tons on home inspections when you rent. We had lived in Indiana for 7 years before moving to the farm. What I am saying, is that there was so much mold in this farm house, that it would have made anyone sick. The old man that built the house and died there was horribly sick for years before his death, and some of the illnesses he had are ones linked to toxic molds. There are hundreds of thousands of different molds, and each one will fight the other if put together, and in the fight ends up eating everything in the path of these different molds. It's like cancer, only in buildings. Our farm had so many different types of mold, and it was all through the walls, under the floor which caused it to grow into the carpeting. The problem was there long before we came along and rented the house from the old man's son. There had been a lot of damage to the house that created paths for rain to get in and thus the mold growth began.

There was absolutely no reason for me to research anything about Indiana before I moved there. I had lived all my life (other than about 10 years that I spent in California), in the Midwest and suffered the usual hay fever allergies, not real bad, but I also had a sensitivity to most medications the docs would try on me. Other than that though I really did okay for the most part, until we lived in this farm house for 6 years, and now my allergies are so bad I practicly have to live in a bubble! I don't of course, but that is honestly how severe my allergies became after 5 years on that farm.

(insert by husband): The mycotoxins, (newly found by some medical researchers who have named the illness it causes Mycotoxicosis), that mold puts on it's spores to protect them so they can survive, is a poisonous biotoxin, and one of the things some mycotoxins do when they get in the body is to strip away the mylin sheath from your nerves. This causes hypersensitivity to Chemicals, Pollens, other molds, and a whole host of Environmental allergies. We were normal until our exposure for so long in that house, thinking mold was relatively innocuous and just had to be cleaned off the walls, which we did frequently.

I just as you thought mold is everywhere and safe, just clean it up. Well I know differently now, and I appologize for coming off so harsh last night, but if you could live my life just 0ne weelk, you would see mold in a whole new light. The most dangerous thing about toxic molds is ignorance, and until it happened to us, we were exactly that.

God Bless You,
Carmella Dunkin

[SJU]

I'm sorry to hear about your trouble. I'm fairly certain the landlord is liable for this problem, however. They have to make their properties safe for living, period.

Mold is not a midwest problem, however, let alone an Indiana problem. Wherever there is moisture, there's mold. I've even had a friend in LA forced to move from her apartment because of toxic mold (plumbing leak). Her landlord had to let her out of her lease and cover the costs of moving.

Good luck to you.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by Dan and Carmella

I cannot give you any comparrisions, but I can give you a very important warning if you suffer from allergies... Stay away from Indiana!!! My family and I are packing up and getting ready to head to New Mexico. The mold here in Indiana is HORRIBLE!!! We lived in a moldy house for 5 years and we are now all very sick all the time and have so many health problems, that most days we cannot even go outside. It really is horrible here if you are an allergy suffer. I would have given most anything if someone would have told us how dangerous molds are before we moved to this town where you can smell the fungus the minute you get off the interstate. Do a google search on toxic mold and read some of the articles it pulls up, many are written by doctors.



Carmella

I guess I need to throw an apology your way ... from the above message, it sounded like you were new to Indiana. I didn't realize you lived here prior. Again, I also didn't know you rented. Given more information, I guess I wouldn't have been so harsh.

Be that as it may. I wish you and your family the best. I do want to offer some advice regarding mold. It's everywhere and I know you know that. So ... anywhere you move. Renting or buying, since you have serious health issues, get any place you move inspected by a certified mold inspector or environmental hygenist. They will take air samples inside and outside of the home. It may cost a few hundy, but if your health is at risk, that's a small price to pay in comparison to medical bills.

Peace.