Moving from cali to indiana (Richmond, Columbus: public schools, living, moving to)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks domergurl and grmasterb. On google maps it says it takes about an hour to get to Richmond from Greenfield. Is that pretty accurate? I know google can over-estimate it at times. Although w morning rush hour traffic, it may be longer. And the great news is that I will have a 4 day work week, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm just worried about the childcare situation. Thanks for your time, guys.
Thanks domergurl and grmasterb. On google maps it says it takes about an hour to get to Richmond from Greenfield. Is that pretty accurate? I know google can over-estimate it at times. Although w morning rush hour traffic, it may be longer. And the great news is that I will have a 4 day work week, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm just worried about the childcare situation. Thanks for your time, guys.
An hour may be about right, although I'd think you could get there quicker by going 75 or so on the highway, which you can generally get away with with the speed limit at 70. Rush hour traffic shouldn't be an issue as you'd be heading in the opposite direction of it.
yep ... he'll be reverse commuting it ... traffic will be a non-issue, but weather related delays will be. Another thing, and this may be a bit of an "oh brother" issue, but he'll have to drive into the sun both ways ... that could get annoying sometimes too.
__________________
If there won't be dancing at the revolution, I'm not coming.
Emma Goldman
I am in the same boat. Living in Southern California now and relocating to Indiana this summer for lower cost of living. I was born and raised in Chicago so I don't mind the snow and the hot summers. My husband and I have great job offers in Richmond and Hagerstown, but not sure where to live. Would living in Fishers ( I say Fishers just because it sounds like everybody is recommending it) and then commuting to Richmond and Hagerstown be realistic? We also have two small children, one 7 years old and the other 13 months old. We currently have a nanny that brings the 7 year old to school and takes care of the 13 month old during the day. What kind of daycare options are there? At my 7 year old's school, they have a childcare on site where you are able to drop off your child before school starts and also they can stay behind until 6pm. Do any of the schools offer that type of set-up?
We currently live in a suburb of one hour north of San Diego. Conveniences abound here as far as shopping, groceries, and a great variety of restaurants. While I don't expect IN to be the same as CA, it seems like I am reading a lot of recommendations for the Noblesville, Fishers, and Carmel area. I am just bummed that it is so far from Richmond and Hagerstown.
Another thing for you to consider with Greenfield is that you are going to be at least a 25 mile/30 minute drive from any shopping opportunities like it sounds like you have nearby you now. There are a few chain restaurants and stores on the east side of Indy around Post Rd or on Washington St, but while fairly safe it's still not the nicest area in town.
Greenfield is much more like a rural town outside of Indy than a suburb. It pretty much sits in the middle of a sea of open fields as well, so you're not going to be seeing hills or mountains like you may around San Diego and you won't have nearly as many choices for places to eat or shop without driving as I mentioned above.
If you took the job in Hagerstown, you could feasibly get there in 1 hour +/- 5-10 minutes depending on how fast you drive if you lived in the right part of Indy. I have friends that live just inside I-465 and just south of 71st street on a lovely little street off of Johnson Rd. This area or the neighborhood just east of there along Fall Creek Rd near the nature preserve is nice enough and would put you within 10 minutes of the Castleton shopping area as well as many many more things to do with your kids than if you lived in Greenfield. These areas would also put you in the 1 hour area to Hagerstown and probably 1 hour 15 minutes to Richmond.
Just a few things to consider depending on what aspects are most important to you. And I'll echo as well that you definitely should consider the weather as a factor in your commute. The interstates are usually kept pretty clear in the city, but along I-70 you get wind blowing pretty hard with no hills or buildings or trees to block it. This combined with snow and/or ice could be a major inconvenience for about 2.5 months out of the year. Also, don't underestimate how irritating driving into the sun both ways can be.
Here's a directory of some of the businesses in Greenfield. It has a lot of the necessary conveniences, but it's true to say that for major shopping, one would have to drive to Indy.
Thanks domergurl and grmasterb. On google maps it says it takes about an hour to get to Richmond from Greenfield. Is that pretty accurate? I know google can over-estimate it at times. Although w morning rush hour traffic, it may be longer. And the great news is that I will have a 4 day work week, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm just worried about the childcare situation. Thanks for your time, guys.
I'm only a ten-year Hoosier (a native of San Diego) and I guess I have to ask....what's wrong with Richmond?
Sorry if I'm missing something obvious,like a huge meth problem there or something.
As a parent, I wanted to be as close to my kiddo during the day as possible. An hour + commute just doesn't cut it when the school calls and your kids is sick or hurt.
We do a bicycle ride every year that ends on the Earlham College campus and the town seems pretty pleasant.
One way to "think" differently about living in a small town in the Midwest: think regionally, instead of just "in-state". If you lived in Richmond you'd be close to Dayton OH, and when you need a bigger city fix you are in a triangle formed by Indy, Cincinnati and Columbus (OH).
Sometimes, it's not just about the lower cost of living; it's about trading for a higher quality of life. That means slowing down, cutting your stress level and spending less time in the car (and more time with your family).
I'm only a ten-year Hoosier (a native of San Diego) and I guess I have to ask....what's wrong with Richmond?
Sorry if I'm missing something obvious,like a huge meth problem there or something.
As a parent, I wanted to be as close to my kiddo during the day as possible. An hour + commute just doesn't cut it when the school calls and your kids is sick or hurt.
We do a bicycle ride every year that ends on the Earlham College campus and the town seems pretty pleasant.
One way to "think" differently about living in a small town in the Midwest: think regionally, instead of just "in-state". If you lived in Richmond you'd be close to Dayton OH, and when you need a bigger city fix you are in a triangle formed by Indy, Cincinnati and Columbus (OH).
Sometimes, it's not just about the lower cost of living; it's about trading for a higher quality of life. That means slowing down, cutting your stress level and spending less time in the car (and more time with your family).
IMHO.
Good luck and best wishes, whatever you decide.
Hi Plaidmom!
Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I didn't think anything was wrong with Richmond, it's just that based on previous posts, a majority of the recommendations were for those particular areas surrounding Indianapolis. I don't think anyone recommended Richmond, so that got me a little worried. Like I said, I know IN is not going to be CA. And we definitely appreciate that, especially since we have two daughters. We do not want to raise our kids here, it's so crazy in CA (I guess I'm preaching to the choir being that you're from San Diego!)
And I totally agree, one hour commute away from my children and their schools, I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with that. Especially with the weather factor. Would hate to be stuck at work in the midst of a snowstorm and not be able to get to my kids. That would not be good!
As for the quality of life issue...yes, I am nodding my head with you all the way. That is one of the reasons why we want to leave CA. We feel like we are in a rat race here. Paycheck to paycheck due to prohibitively high cost of living. Barely spend time w the kids. We wanna slow down and enjoy life and eachother.
I have never been to Richmond, so I have no idea what it's like other than seeing whatever pictures that are on their website. As far as a meth problem, I pray there isn't one. The good news is that the company will be flying us out there in two weeks. So I am pretty excited about that and will finally get to see everything in person.
Richmond, IN is a small midwestern city, but not too small to where you won't have anything to do. Granted, it definitely won't compare to the sizes of cities in California, but I think that is something you will enjoy. The great thing about Richmond is that it is within driving distance to many major metros such as Indianapolis, Dayton, and Fort Wayne.
Yeah, there's definitely nothing wrong with Richmond. I personally was recommending the Indy area because I thought you were already set on looking closer to the city and had mentioned Greenfield. Richmond is a smaller midwestern city, probably around 40,000 people. You'll have everything you need for your daily living needs and then a little more. I assume you've probably already seen this website but here it is anyway (Richmond / Wayne County, Indiana). I've not heard of there being much of a drug problem in Richmond and haven't seen many meth heads wondering around when I've been there, but someone else may have more experience with this.
Not that Dayton is that 'happening' of a place, but it's only 45 minutes away and offers a few more options if you get bored. Plus you're only about 1.5 hours from either downtown Cincinnati or Columbus, OH and between 1-1.5 hours from downtown Indy. You could easily do day trips to any of these places. It's a good 2 hours from Ft Wayne though and that wouldn't be the first place I would visit if I had all these other options. Brookeville Lake and the recreation area there are also only about 30 minutes away if you like the outdoors. If you can handle having all these things a little farther away than you do now, it wouldn't be a bad idea to look into Richmond.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
