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We are looking into possibly making a move and are now considering Crown Point, Indiana. We are not 100% sure we are moving or not but ran across this subdivision and thought we would check it ou. Anyone have any information on it good or bad?? From what I understand it is incorporated and has Crown point schools etc. Some areas of CP are unincorporated but this area seems to be ok. any, advice on this would be appreciated as well as any other areas within CP that are recommended is appreciated. We are kind of looking to build as long as we can within a decent price range . even property would be nice
Have gone through all the onlne sites :trulia, realtor, zillow etc to scope out area and property. but mainly looking at advice from those that know the cp area well as to good and bad areas or problems.
schools are important
thx
I don't know the specific subdivision, and there are a few here that likely do, but I do have some advice to offer based upon your post.
In terms of schools, it doesn't matter if an area is incorporated or unincorporated. If a property lies within the school district children living in the property attend that school. The difference is one of taxes and services. Within the incorporated area (or city/town limits as I call it) you will pay more in property taxes and receive more services. Generally these services include the local police force, park districts perhaps, water and sewer connections (although in some cities, including Indianapolis, not all are connected to a sewer system and still use septic), street lights, maybe trash pick-up, and perhaps others. In the unincorporated areas (the county as we call it in Southern IN), policing is handled by the sheriff's office, we pay slightly more to use city park district services, we don't have a city sewer systems, we contract for our trash pick-up, and don't have street lights in most areas.
After spending most of my life living within city/town limits and the last 11 years or so living in an unincorporated area I see advantages to living in an unincorporated area. I don't have a monthly sewer bill (and the septic works great), I can see the stars at night, and my taxes are lower. My biggest concern is the policing issue, but an alarm system and monitoring provides some extra security. The cost is still lower than higher city taxes.
Having spent 20 years in the Region, and visiting a few times a year, I can't think of any "problem areas" in terms of safety in Crown Point.
As I said, there are a few people on this forum that may know something about the neighborhood that is a red flag.
rrah pretty much hit everything regarding incorporated vs unincorporated.
One thing to add is that northwest of Crown Point is "unincorporated Schererville"...they have a Crown Point address but since they are in Saint John Township, they go to Lake Central Schools (which are very good as well...excellent/competitive athletics by the way). Other than that, when it comes to south/central county, the primary indicator of school district attendance is what township you live in.
Center Township & Winfield Townships = Crown Point Schools
Saint John Township (all of Schererville, both Dyer & Saint John north of 101st St) = Lake Central Schools
Hanover Township (all of Cedar Lake, both Dyer & Saint John south of 101st St)
I think the main thing you need to watch out for is in Crown Point, make sure you stay south of 101st street. North of 101st is Merrillville schools which do not have a very good reputation (and getting worse).
Crown Point schools are very good and are seen as amongst the top school districts in nwi (Munster, Lake Central, and Valpo being the others).
Now, regarding the The Regency subdivision. I have been in that area but I am not familiar with it. The one thing I do notice is that it seems like a neighborhood that has a home for everybody. starter homes to more executive level homes.
As far as safety, Crown Point is regarded as a safe community. You may have heard about the stabbing death on The Downtown Square, but this was an ISOLATED incident and should not spark worry about the safety of the town. I, personally, would have no issues living in Crown Point.
Some residents say that the north end of town is "bad and ghetto" ONLY because it is zoned to Merrillville schools and a little more diverse. But in all honesty, it's not a BAD area. It has pretty much the same styles of homes as the rest of the middle class areas of Crown Point except slightly lower property values, but that is it.
If you need any more help, let us know!
If you don't mind sharing where you are moving from, maybe it can help us draw some comparisons and contrasts.
Thank you so much for all the information, it really helps a lot. We are currently in Tinley Park, IL. I absolutely love it here. Very family oriented, the mayor does an excellent job at keeping this city fun and functional. Convienence of many local business and stores nearby. everything is close. Illinois has grown increasingly expensive. our taxes are outrageous and home values are dropping. we are in need of a bigger home with a growing family and haven't been able to find what we are looking for here.. we have lived here for 15 years and it breaks my heart to have to leave but we need more house for our dollar, less taxes and better schools to make it work. husband has his eye on CP as he feels it is close to comparison (family wise) to what we have. Very nice community and great schools for the kids. the travel works well for him at work so we are looking seriously at CP. Just trying to get a feel of things.
thank you again for all your information especially on the incorp vs unincorp. I've been looking at zoning maps etc to try and sort it all out. we wiill be driving up there again this weekend and get a better feel of the town.
Thank you so much for all the information, it really helps a lot. We are currently in Tinley Park, IL. I absolutely love it here. Very family oriented, the mayor does an excellent job at keeping this city fun and functional. Convienence of many local business and stores nearby. everything is close. Illinois has grown increasingly expensive. our taxes are outrageous and home values are dropping. we are in need of a bigger home with a growing family and haven't been able to find what we are looking for here.. we have lived here for 15 years and it breaks my heart to have to leave but we need more house for our dollar, less taxes and better schools to make it work. husband has his eye on CP as he feels it is close to comparison (family wise) to what we have. Very nice community and great schools for the kids. the travel works well for him at work so we are looking seriously at CP. Just trying to get a feel of things.
thank you again for all your information especially on the incorp vs unincorp. I've been looking at zoning maps etc to try and sort it all out. we wiill be driving up there again this weekend and get a better feel of the town.
You are very welcome! I am very familiar with the Tinley/Orland area so I will be able to help you draw some comparisons for you. Hopefully this will help to ease this uneasy transition to a new area!
Just a quick note. If you are looking for a direct comparison to Tinley Park, I think the one town in nwi that is THE MOST similar is Schererville (in terms of demographics, and amenities).
Here are the primary similarities and differences between Tinley Park and Crown Point:
Cost of Living
You pretty much know the deal on this. Crown Point will be less expensive for sure than Illinois. However, some things you should realize: car registration here may be more expensive as it is based on the value of your vehicle, not a flat fee.
Population Density/land
In terms land size of city limits, Tinley and CP are roughly the same. However, nearly every square mile of of Tinley is developed whereas Crown Point is still growing and still has A LOT of space to grow. Tinley feels much more "busy" than Crown Point does. When Crown Point does become fully developed, it will probably be similar in population to Tinley's current population.
Schools
In terms of school quality, both Crown Point and Tinley have good schools. However, Tinley is in multiple districts (with some better than others) while MOST of Crown Point is in the Crown Point School District (with the remainder being in Merrillville Schools). Since Crown Point only has one high school, it is big and growing. Now, it is about as big as Victor J. Andrew High School (in population). Realistically, there probably won't be another high school built for at least 10 to 15 years so if you are worried about school size, this is something to think about. The schools still score well. Imagine if all of Tinley Park had just one high school and that is how big the neighboring district (Lake Central) is. But they score very well also! But like I said, something to think about.
Shopping/Amenities
This is probably the biggest difference between areas. In Tinley/Orland, you have loads and loads and loads of shopping and dining options for all incomes (mainly middle to upper). In addition, you have easier access to other places like Oak Brook and Naperville for additional amenities. The main area to shop and dine in nwi is on the Rt. 30 corridor in Merrillville. They have been attracting more businesses, but most of them are just places that "we should have had a long time ago and are just average places"...there is not much we have in terms of shopping and dining that really make our area a destination for out-of-towners. The mall, Southlake Mall, is the areas only mall and it serves the primary needs. However, many of us do go to Orland/Tinley to shop.
By far, the BIGGEST complaint of nwi (which I am a self-admitted complainer on this) is the lack of UPSCALE shopping. Our mall just got a Coach store, a store that seems to be a staple in most Illinois malls but was a "stretch" to get here.
The most affluent areas of nwi (Munster, Saint John, Dyer) have been struggling to attract high-end shopping. There were supposed to be two malls built in Schererville (on the border of Highland and Schererville near Munster) and due to the economy, have yet to see anything. There is ongoing redevelopment in Munster that promises upscale amenities so we shall wait and see what is coming.
Crown Point has set strict standards on how their portion of the Broadway corridor can be developed. They are trying to attract upscale options to that area and with mandatory "Colonial Williamsburg styling", they hope that the physical attractiveness of the corridor will woo stores and restaurants there.
This, of course, is of different importance to people and you may not care about it. But I am a firm believer that active redevelopment of an area that attracts quality tenants strengthens a town against potential blight.
Transportation Options
Even though Tinley and CP are both very suburban in nature, Tinley has more city-like amenities: "train into the city", bus service, etc. Crown Point is VERY car-dependent. The only train into the city is the south shore (for which the nearest station would be in Gary for CP riders) and buses only go as far south to Merrillville for the most part and are not very extensive bus systems at all.
The South Shore is supposed to get extended south into Munster, Dyer, and Saint John. IF that ever happens, the Saint John station would most likely be your best bet.
Demographics
The area of Tinley Park that is south of I-80 is probably the area most similar to Crown Point. Still developing, newer schools, newer homes, middle class. It borders Matteson which is probably the most equivalent to Merrillville (except Matteson is slightly more middle income than Merrillville -- a tad lower middle income).
Also, racially/ethnically, Tinley is predominantly Middle-Class White and so is Crown Point. The primary difference is that there is a little more racial/ethnic diversity in Crown Point (and growing) than in Tinley. Another slight difference is that as you go east from Tinley, the racial/ethnic demographics change but the income demographics do not change as much. In Crown Point, both change as you go further north in town and into Merrillville, and eventually, Gary.
10 years from now, Tinley and Orland will most likely still be overwhelmingly White and middle class/upper middle class. Crown Point will be more diverse and still very middle class with some upper-middle class pockets. If you are worried about changing demographics, this is something to think about.
**Personally, racial/ethnic demographics are not on a priority or worry list for me, but because it may be for others, I list it.
Also, just from what I know, the vast majority of Illinois residents that I know of that have moved to CP tend to be from the South Suburbs (Dolton, Glenwood, Sauk Village, Chicago Heights, Steger, Park Forest). I personally don't know anybody from the Southwest Suburbs that has moved here but know there probably are some. You will see a lot of Illinois plates here!
Thank you so much for all the information, it really helps a lot. We are currently in Tinley Park, IL. I absolutely love it here. Very family oriented, the mayor does an excellent job at keeping this city fun and functional. Convienence of many local business and stores nearby. everything is close. Illinois has grown increasingly expensive. our taxes are outrageous and home values are dropping. we are in need of a bigger home with a growing family and haven't been able to find what we are looking for here.. we have lived here for 15 years and it breaks my heart to have to leave but we need more house for our dollar, less taxes and better schools to make it work. husband has his eye on CP as he feels it is close to comparison (family wise) to what we have. Very nice community and great schools for the kids. the travel works well for him at work so we are looking seriously at CP. Just trying to get a feel of things.
thank you again for all your information especially on the incorp vs unincorp. I've been looking at zoning maps etc to try and sort it all out. we wiill be driving up there again this weekend and get a better feel of the town.
Also Northwest Indiana might of mentioned it but Property Taxes are capped at 1% of a homes value in Indiana so depending on the house you may only pay a grand or 2 a year in taxes.
Here is a link to a list of different developments and builders within Crown Point that you may want to check out as well: New Homes (http://www.mccolly.com/company/newhomes.php - broken link) Good luck with your search.
10 years from now, Tinley and Orland will most likely still be overwhelmingly White and middle class/upper middle class. Crown Point will be more diverse and still very middle class with some upper-middle class pockets. If you are worried about changing demographics, this is something to think about.
While I agree with most of your commentary, this part is just pure speculation. The area of Crown Point north of 101st that feeds into the Merrillville school system is demographicly comparable to Orland Hills or the area of Tinley that feeds into Tinley Park HS. The farther south you head into Crown Point, it quickly turns from a busy little city setting into a quiet country area. Crown Point is one of those places people don't leave because of the strong school system and sense of community. From my observations, many of the of people moving into the new homes in Crown Point are current Crown Point residents that have either outgrown their prior home or are retirees looking to downsize or get into something maintenace free. I don't see any reason why this would be change anytime soon.
Last edited by knighthood82; 01-25-2012 at 10:13 PM..
While I agree with most of your commentary, this part is just pure speculation. The area of Crown Point north of 101st that feeds into the Merrillville school system is demographicly comparable to Orland Hills or the area of Tinley that feeds into Tinley Park HS. The farther south you head into Crown Point, it quickly turns from a busy little city setting into a quiet country area. Crown Point is one of those places people don't leave because of the strong school system and sense of community. From my observations, many of the of people moving into the new homes in Crown Point are current Crown Point residents that have either outgrown their prior home or are retirees looking to downsize or get into something maintenace free. I don't see any reason why this would be change anytime soon.
I wasn't saying that people are leaving Crown Point or anything like that. Essentially, what I am trying to say is that Crown Point is a destination for all types of people racially/ethnically. It is one of the newer "flight" destinations for many people in the area. However, unlike before in other towns, it is not just "White" flight to Crown Point. It is also becoming a popular destination for Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, (maybe not as much into the southern reaches of town but definitely south of 101st as well). Some people believe that if you don't want ANY diversity, live south of Rt. 30. That may be somewhat true for a place like Saint John, but the area of Merrillville south of Rt. 30 is more diverse than Highland and Munster which are north of Rt.30 and much more developed.
When I said change, I meant more so the race of the residents, not so much the income. As I have stated before, this really isn't a concern for me, but because it may be a concern for others, I still mention it.
Also, the demographics are not that similar according to the 2010 Census
Orland Hills:
Population -- 7,149
White -- 82.05%
Black -- 7.60%
Asian -- 4.90%
Hispanic -- 11.18 %
IN - Lake County - Census Tract 425.04 [Crown Point: I -65 to Clark Rd (E to W) & 93rd St to 101st St (N to S)]
Population -- 7,346
White -- 74.70%
Black -- 17.82%
Asian -- 2.07 %
Hispanic -- 10.71%
P.S., it just so happens that this specific census tract is convenient and covers 100% of the portion of Crown Point that is in Ross Township
Last edited by Northwest Indiana; 01-25-2012 at 10:02 PM..
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