Advice for Valparaiso (Gary: construction, living, commute to)

[domergurl]

I think if we ever move back up there, we would look in Chandana Point. Great location. We would want to be as far north as possible.

[Luv4ThePaws]

Chandana Point?? What's that? And, you mean as far north as possible to be closer to Chicago? Or the water? Is it expensive up there? (I know, so many questions! I just don't want to miss anything when we visit!!)

Domergurl/anyone else reading this- I guess my husband and I are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to find the "perfect American city" to raise our kids so we could give them an idyllic childhood. A mainstreet with kids riding their bikes and not having to worry about too much traffic or crime. Does that make sense? Does that exist anymore? I grew up in SoCal and all I took out of that childhood was a low self-esteem and a desire to experience life outside of the beach. I want to be surrounded by good, hardworking people who care about the community but also job opportunities for my husband (he's in sports media- kind of tricky...).

So, anyway... I guess we just don't want to raise our kids someplace that we will regret...

[domergurl]

I find Columbus to be a perfect place to raise my family ... kids ride bikes all over the place!

We would want to live as far north as possible to be as close to the train to Chicago as possible. Chandana Point fits that bill.

[valpo2518]

I think Valpo would definitely fit your 'wants' in a town. I say this as a current resident who is looking to move, only because of the weather! If I've said it once I have said it a hundred times; if only we could move Valpo to a warmer location! The more I read about other towns (on this site) the more amazed I am at what a great town we have here. Great schools, low crime, affordable housing and a fairly high median income. If it's not the 'perfect American city', it's pretty darn close! Btw, I happen to live on the North side of town, fairly close to Chandana. It's a very nice neighborhood. Not exactly my cup of tea, I prefer an older neighborhood but still quite nice.

[Luv4ThePaws]

So, I have heard the "moving because of the weather" thing a lot on here!! And, as someone who has never lived in a cold climate, that worries me. I don't mind cold weather, I much prefer it to the heat and humidity of the south, but I imagine you guys get pretty brutal winters up there by the lake...... And that doesn't sound too fun!! I have never heard of Chandana. I googled it and all that came up is the Chandana Pointe apartments. ??? Thanks everyone!!

[domergurl]

Valpo had a lot of snow this winter ...

[valpo2518]

It was a loonngg winter!!! In fact my kids are still yelling down in the morning,"what's the temp gonna be today?" To see if it's safe for shorts! Hello? It's the end of June?!

[Chuckity]

Luv4Paws ...

I had this HUGE post typed out for you and then it disappeared into the black hole of the internet.

Sigh.

Anyhow, the gist of it was was that my husband and I moved here to Valpo from Illinois (me from Chgo, him the so. suburbs) for a better life for our kids. Our kids have so many more opportunities because of where we live - we're in a community and a school system that truly believes in our children's futures.

It's something we NEVER had growing up.

Hope you enjoy your trip out here!

[Luv4ThePaws]

Chuckity- I am so sorry about your post!! Don't you hate it when that happens? Sometimes when I am writing something long, I will periodically "copy" it and that way if it disappears, I can just "paste" it.... I learned that after many important things were lost.... Do many people commute in to Chicago or do they work locally? I worry about that commute daily and the toll it would take on my husband.... People have told me the South Shore isn't exactly a nice, comfy commuter train......

[Chuckity]

Originally Posted by Luv4ThePaws

Chuckity- I am so sorry about your post!! Don't you hate it when that happens? Sometimes when I am writing something long, I will periodically "copy" it and that way if it disappears, I can just "paste" it.... I learned that after many important things were lost.... Do many people commute in to Chicago or do they work locally? I worry about that commute daily and the toll it would take on my husband.... People have told me the South Shore isn't exactly a nice, comfy commuter train......

I used to take the South Shore for a daily commute from the Hegewisch station for years. Granted that's was a lot shorter of a commute than it would be from Chesterton, but I was always very comfortable on the train. And probably would've been just fine with commuting from Chesterton - but that's just me.

I do have one neighbor who car pools daily to Burr Ridge in Illinois. But our other neighbor's, and most friends work locally here in NWI. But I'm not in the side of town that is necessarily condusive to Chgo commuting either - if I needed to work in the city I would've conducted my home searches to more north and east of the city proper. My guess is that you'll find more Chgo commuters on the north side of town.

And btw, I don't know if this matters to you but Valpo doesn't really feel geographically like a small town. In the sense where we know a lot of people and I'm greeted by name in the grocery store or Walgreens, yes, it feels like a small town. But for me to pick up our favorite Chinese dinner on the north side of town, I'd better give myself 20 minutes to get there. There are only a couple of ways to get easily from Rt. 30 to north of downtown - it always seemed to me that it was never really planned properly. It'll make so much more sense when you come visit.

I have a lot more to say but I'm worried I'll lose this post in cyberspace if I go on too much longer. Let me know if I can help in any way too! I love my adopted home town and I'd be happy to answer whatever I could.