Could you tell me about Leo-Cedarville? (Fort Wayne, Grabill: sales, rental, houses)

[mmhl]

We are eventually moving to the Fort Wayne area and have recently been considering Leo-Cedarville. We are coming from a smaller school & the size of the schools appeals to us since our kids are used to a class size of around 200, not 800. I worry about our kids making friends (particularly for our high schooler) with the big class sizes on the SW and NW side of Fort Wayne. Can you tell me about this town, is it welcoming to newcomers? Is it seeing a lot of growth? Are there any decent sized grocery stores? Thanks!

[cdr18]

Like the NW and SW, this area is growing rapidly as well, thanks to I69 being close and the massive Parkview Regional Center, which is scheduled to be open in 2012 and bring nearly 4,000 workers with it. The actual town of Leo, which is somewhat becoming surrounded by suburban homes, is a quaint little town with charm. There are some massive houses by this town but also more modest charmers. Leo-Cedarville is part of EACS, which is a massive school district in terms of land area. It covers the entire eastern half of Allen County (including parts of Fort Wayne city limits). The diveristy within the school district can range from Burmese to high poverty areas to rural areas of the county to more wealthy suburban areas. Leo would categorize into the more wealthy sububan area. The schools are great, and Cedarville Elem gets rave reviews. There are tons of nice, new subdivisions out this way around the Dupont area. In addition, there is a nice movie theatre just built and Dupont just extended to four lanes this year.

I recognize your name, are you the family moving from Minnesota?

[mmhl]

Yes, we are the ones, having been trying desperately to sell our house here. My husband is already in Fort Wayne. Rental houses that take dogs are hard to find so we've been kind of stuck!

[hart4july]

Hi mmhl! We wish you all the best selling your home. My husband grew up in Leo Cedarville and I think its an excellent place to raise a family. The options for shopping are better if you are closer to Dupont Rd. There are so many nice shops and restaurants in that area and a mall similar to Jefferson Pt is supposed to go in at Dupont on the edge of Leo. Winsdor homes has an addition they build in there Pioneer something(?) and they build really nice homes for the $$. They built our home in SW Allen and we were very impressed with the quality. If you get closer to Grabill, things can feel more "country" for better or worse. The schools are very good and I have heard that sports are very big there.
The people in Leo are very nice and down to earth but it is more settled than SW Allen, with less new comers. It may be harder to get to know people than in SW Allen, and I would say it is more conservative due to the small town influence, but that adds to the appeal for many people. The Leo- Cedarville Park is just beautiful, and you are closer to IPFW if thats important.

[mmhl]

That is extremely helpful, thank you!

[Power Strokin']

We just moved to Leo in June and we love it! We looked for four months for our place. One of the main things that stood out about this area was the rolling hills and trees. The location is just perfect as you have I-69 and I-469 to access. There is tons of shopping off of Dupont. Our realtor told us they are plans to build a Kroger next to the Walgreens at the Intersection of Tonkel and State Route 1. Downtown Leo is the perfect small town. There is a CVS, Post Office, Dollar General, Coffee Shop, Curves, Gas Station, Furniture Store, Car Wash, Hardware Store, Tire Place, Subway, Leo Cafe, and several other local owned business. The school system is great and has a very hometown feel. I see kids riding their bikes and scooters to school. Lots of sidewalks for walking and riding bikes. Another plus is Grabill is just 5 minutes from Leo and that little Amish town has tons of appeal and wonderful Amish shops and stores. Grabill Country Sales just opened and they have lots of homemade items from pies to cookies to any type of cooking ingredients a cook could want for. Super nice people and great prices! It's also a great place to take visiting family members. A couple of Amish restaurants for entertaining plus the bonus is seeing all the horse and buggies.

There is a great mixture of homes here. You can find a new build in a subdivision or a home on acreage. We purchased an older ranch home on acreage and couldn't be happier. The people here are very friendly and we have had several neighbors stop by and welcome us. A couple of them brought baskets and home baked goodies. In my opinion you just can't beat that!

I wish you the best on your search and sure hope Leo makes your short list! :0)

[hart4july]

Well there you have it! I do think you can have the best of both worlds in Leo if you enjoy small town living and want convenience and shopping. Aboite (Southwest) has more of an upscale,multi cultural ( by compare) modern suburban feel and Leo is more hometown. Both have excellent schools and conveniences and attractive housing. I miss the cookie basket here in AZ, I will try to institute that midwestern tradition here in AZ when we buy a permanent home.

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by hart4july

Hi mmhl! We wish you all the best selling your home. My husband grew up in Leo Cedarville and I think its an excellent place to raise a family. The options for shopping are better if you are closer to Dupont Rd. There are so many nice shops and restaurants in that area and a mall similar to Jefferson Pt is supposed to go in at Dupont on the edge of Leo. Winsdor homes has an addition they build in there Pioneer something(?) and they build really nice homes for the $$. They built our home in SW Allen and we were very impressed with the quality. If you get closer to Grabill, things can feel more "country" for better or worse. The schools are very good and I have heard that sports are very big there.

Do you have any information about that mall? It sounds interesting that they would build that with Jefferson Pointe doing so badly.

[hart4july]

Well it sounds like the same intersection that power strokin mentioned, so maybe it was scrapped due to the economy. It sounds like they have decided to put in a krogers instead.