town of Dyer in NW--what can you tell me? (Hammond: real estate, insurance)

[VATXLAMOM]

We are considering a move and looking for a good area for a family with a young elementary age child. I'm a former elementary teacher (who would like to go back to teaching again soon) and Dad would be commuting to Hammond. We need a safe, family area. We want a single family home. I was checking out some of the other towns mentioned on this site for NW Indiana as well as some of the south suburbs of Chicago like Homewood. I came across Dyer, IN. I've seen the name mentioned on this site, but not really any information about it. I did find the town website and looked at (online) some houses for sale in the area and price range. Is anyone familiar with this town? What can you tell me about the area, the schools, family activities, health care (asthma), shopping (possible food allergy could complicate the grocery shopping if there are not stores selling foods along the lines of organic prepackaged foods--that could mean Chicago suburbs in IL might be better)....but I liked what I saw on Dyer's town website.

[rrah]

Dyer is adjacent to the IL border so people go back and forth to shop frequently. I know many major chains now sell prepackaged organic foods. There is a large Jewel grocery in Dyer. Places in Munster, Highland, Schererville are also nearby.

There is a hospital in Dyer--St. Margaret's I believe (it's changed names a couple of times) as well as one in Munster.

The school district is Lake Central I believe.

I don't know where you are from, but the hard thing for many to understand about NW Indiana is that the towns are really contiguous. As I've posted here previously, unless you know the exact boundaries or notice a sign, it's kind of hard to tell one town from the next. People don't just do activities in their town but move about the area.

I can tell you that real estate taxes are likely to be far less in Dyer than in any of the IL suburbs.

[domergurl]

rrah is right on the tax situation. You'll get more house for the money in Dyer. And since the towns mush together, doing a house search based on school district is your best bet. Consider Crown Point too. It's a bit more a drive to Hammond, but put it on your list too. Yes, Dyer is in the Lake Central school system and Crown Point is it's own school district, but again, there are some with Crown Point addresses in the Lake Central system.

Post over on the chicago suburban board for more information on the Homewood/Flossmoor area.

There are a lot of south suburban chicago people flocking to the Dyer/Schererville/St. John/Crown Point area.

[Preaching2thechoir]

Originally Posted by rrah

Dyer is adjacent to the IL border so people go back and forth to shop frequently. I know many major chains now sell prepackaged organic foods. There is a large Jewel grocery in Dyer. Places in Munster, Highland, Schererville are also nearby.

There is a hospital in Dyer--St. Margaret's I believe (it's changed names a couple of times) as well as one in Munster.

The school district is Lake Central I believe.

I don't know where you are from, but the hard thing for many to understand about NW Indiana is that the towns are really contiguous. As I've posted here previously, unless you know the exact boundaries or notice a sign, it's kind of hard to tell one town from the next. People don't just do activities in their town but move about the area.

I can tell you that real estate taxes are likely to be far less in Dyer than in any of the IL suburbs.

Beware, certain areas of Dyer, (particulary around St. Margarets) had massive flooding last year.

[artemis]

and traffic can be hellish at times ...

[VATXLAMOM]

Originally Posted by artemis

and traffic can be hellish at times ...

Would you mind elaborating on the traffic comment? Having lived in several different areas of the country, I've learned no one likes the traffic where they are . What is considered bad in one area is not the same as the other. Are there certain roads that back up for miles? Accidents every day? Can you not go out to the grocery store any time of the day without sitting in a traffic jam or is it rush hour? Rush hour in one direction or both? DS would be working days in Hammond so how long would you expect the commute to take? Is the whole way bumper to bumper or parts of it? Thanks for the additional information!

[VATXLAMOM]

Originally Posted by Preaching2thechoir

Beware, certain areas of Dyer, (particulary around St. Margarets) had massive flooding last year.

Were these areas that expected to flood (ie if we check on flood planes (I think that's what they are called?)) would that tell us that a house is in an area that might flood (or may have flooded)? Or were these unexpected, uninsured for flood and therefore not covered for it by regular homeowner's insurance type floods? Thanks!

[artemis]

Traffic ..... Downtown Dyer is very small. There is a major hospital in the midst of all of it, along with the Illinois State line. When you get to the end of the Indiana portion of Route 30 you could go one of 2 ways. And the traffic doesn't flow smoothly.

Dyer has grown a lot to the North. My niece got married in the North part of Dyer a few months ago. I left in plenty of time to get there, but I was late because I got stuck in traffic. I barely made it into the church before the wedding started. Miserable, MISERABLE traffic.

Then you have Route 41 to the East of Dyer. Route 41 is a heavily traveled highway in the area. You can plan on sitting thru 3 or 4 light changes at the intersection of Rtes 30 & 41. I avoid that whole area if at all possible. :-(

[LIS123]

I'm not certain where you're coming from, but I'd hardly call Dyer traffic 'hellish.' It can get crowded on 30 or 41, but it's hardly ever that bad without an accident or really bad weather. Compared to the IL suburbs of Chicago, it's fine. Dyer and NWI in general is MUCH better than the South Suburbs of Chicago (on the IL side), hands down!
The nice thing is that you can live in NWI (which is much better than the South Suburbs) and it does NOT require being rich, nor is it significantly more expensive than those areas. Taxes are likely to be less than Cook County. Parts of Dyer can get pricey, but it's certainly not a place that's only open to the very wealthy. Same goes for Schererville and Saint John, which also feed into Lake Central. I'd highly recommend the move over the South Suburbs!

[artemis]

I am very familiar with Lake County, Indiana & the Chicago suburbs. I have driven in Chicago traffic for years. Likewise on the Indiana side.

If you couple the old roads in Dyer with the amount of people trying to get thru there, it DOES get hellish.

And its always crowed on Route 41, and that is something that will never change.