Relocating to the Fort Wayne area. (Indianapolis, Warsaw: fit in, transplants, for sale) - (IN) - City-Data Forum

genxfam · 12-26-2009, 07:30 PM

My family and I will be relocating to the Fort Wayne because my husband will be working in Warsaw. What part of FW would be practical... NW or SW? Any insight would be great.

cdr18 · 12-26-2009, 11:13 PM

Let's see..if he commutes to Warsaw daily the most practical place to live would be either in the Northwest or Southwest areas of the city. With that being said, both have great access to US 30 (which runs directly thru Warsaw) via I-69. Northwest Fort Wayne tends to be where the families from the city have moved out to the suburbs and the southwest of the city is new transplants that hvae relocated to Fort Wayne. This is more of a stereotype than anything but there is some truth to it.

Where are you guys moving from? Both have great schools.

The northwest and southwest sides of Fort Wayne are actually the most desirable parts of Fort Wayne to live in and both feature a significant amount of new home construction as well as older charming homes. In addition, the southwest area tends to have bigger homes but there are medium priced ones as well.

Let me know if you have any more questions! Welcome to FW! I think you will like it here!

genxfam · 12-27-2009, 10:03 AM

Thank you cdr18...we are relocating from Florida after 13 years here but my husband was born and raised in the mid-west. We cannot wait to leave the perpetual summmers and all the heat and humidity that comes with it. Our school district is great but Florida schools on the whole are not very good in our opinion. I've already researched the NW/SW area schools and find them both to our liking. I would absolutely love to have a basement again, is this possible with new construction in those areas?

cdr18 · 12-27-2009, 11:10 AM

Yes, yes! The schools in Northwest and Southwest are by far the best school districts in the Fort Wayne area. Both of these areas have a suburbia feel but are actually included in the city of Fort Wayne. As far as having a basement in your home, are you talking about having a finished basement or just a basement in general. If you are talking about having a basement in general, absoultely you will be able to find that in new home construction.

Another thing that you will probably enjoy is that Fort Wayne has one of the lowest living costs of anywhere in the nation. This means you get a big house for a low cost! Trust me, you will see that Fort Wayne has a LOT of big houses in the NW and SW areas. A 200k home in California/NY will be very small and not desirable, a 200k home in Fort Wayne will give you land, a great location, and a decent sized house.

Also, for new home construction you might also be competing with other buyers because by April 2010 the local GM plant is bringing 700 families to the Fort Wayne area from Michigan (GM plant is 5-10 minutes southwest of Fort Wayne on I69) and the Parkview Regional Hospital in north Fort Wayne is hiring 700 staff for the expansion of their hospital. Just a heads up!

Any other questions as far as hospitals, restaurants, malls, etc.?

genxfam · 12-27-2009, 11:40 AM

We surely appreciate the lower cost of living and the lower home prices. No basements here in Florida which means our garage becomes our storage which then means we have to park our cars in the driveway... so just a basement of any kind would be great. Our kids play soccer and would like them to continue with that. I'm sure there are indoor leagues up there like many northern cities.

As far as the GM workers... I've read that these jobs are temporary and that it is unlikely that these 3rd shift workers would put there house up for sale in Michigan and move their family to Allen County because of GM's track record of layoffs.

So correct me if I am wrong but are these the zip codes I should be concentrating on:

46804
46818
46814

Thanks for all your help cdr18!

cdr18 · 12-27-2009, 12:23 PM

As far as zip codes are concerned, for the SW, stay with the 46804 and 46814. The zip code 46818 would fit your description, however, it might be hard to find a home in that area with new home construction because the part of Fort Wayne has not been developed yet. However, it surely is looking like the next "big" area to be developed for residential purposes.

Also, if you are looking in NW Fort Wayne look at the 46845 zip code. A LOT of new home construction is taking place in that area West of Interstate 69. In fact, they have new elementary schools, middle schools, and the expansion at the high school is nearing completion (Carroll High School). However, SW Fort Wayne also has new home construction as well.

Be careful though when you are looking for houses because when looking in the 46845 zip code, make sure the house is in the NACS school district. I say this because unlike many other big cities, the FWCS boundary is huge. In fact, FWCS is projected to be the biggest school district in Indiana wihtin the next five years, passing Indianapolis. So be careful! To avoid any confusion look more for houses West of Coldwater and north of Dupont.

As far as indoor soccer leagues, two places come to mind for kids. There is The Plex, which is located right next to the IFPW campus. This place features I think six state-of-the-art soccer complexes and then two indoors. This is on the northern side of FW. For SW, there is a massive structure called The Dome, which has about any sport imaginable, all indoors. So soccer would definitely fit into this category. It is located off of Engle Road I believe.

Despite GM's track record, I do believe these jobs are permanent but who knows. Nobody knows what GM is doing! Luckily, the local GM plant is rather new so that is why they chose not to close this location.

Any other questions let me know!

genxfam · 12-27-2009, 12:45 PM

46845, thank you very much... We'll be relocating spring/summer 2010 once the kids are out of school, I'll be doing more research in the meantime. BTW, how are the FWCS? Are they awful?

wh15395 · 12-27-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genxfam

46845, thank you very much... We'll be relocating spring/summer 2010 once the kids are out of school, I'll be doing more research in the meantime. BTW, how are the FWCS? Are they awful?

I would not consider FWCS to be awful, but they are not too great. If you compare them to other school districts like IPS in Indianapolis they look like Harvard. Many of the elementary and some middle schools are good, but none of the high schools really compare to Carrol or Homestead. If I were you though, I would stick to NW and SW Allen County Schools.

genxfam · 12-27-2009, 02:11 PM

What do property taxes run in these areas?

cdr18 · 12-27-2009, 02:18 PM

For being a city school, FWCS are not that bad. Compared to other sized cities, they actually do pretty well. Some of the schools within the FWCS are actually located in the suburbs somewhat.

I think you can always tell the pulse of a school district by their population. Is it steadily declining, increasing, or staying stagnant. In FWCS's case, they happen to be growing which is bucking the trend for Midwestern cities.

With that being said, FWCS do have some sore spots and generally this will be found more in the inner city. I think poverty has a lot to do with it. Some schools that you might want to consider in the FWCS are the areas surrounding Northrop High School, Elmhurst High School, and Snider High School. Also, there are some good private schools in the area as well. Bishop Dwenger, Concordia, and Bishop Luers are all high schools that are known to be above average. Just a consideration.