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Old 01-04-2013, 06:24 PM
 
51 posts, read 92,883 times
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Hello, My family is considering a move to N. West Indiana this summer and we need some advice. Our story is that we live in the south 800 miles away. While my inlaws live in the area they don't have any kids and most of our relatives have older kids now in college so we need help with school. Our kids will be 4th and 1st grade next fall.

My husband will be keeping his job working from home but traveling via airport. Our oldest daughter has some specific needs at a school. She has anxiety and sensory issues (but not autistic) and does have a 504 plan here but receives no services except minor adjustments on her 504 plan (i.e. extra time on tests, study guide in advance, preferential seating etc.)

School criteria for me is 1) small class sizes 2) any math remediation programs 3) any sensory resources or activities to help with emotional regulation 4) peer buddy programs 5) social skills group and of course 6) academics.

Some areas we are considering are St. John, Schereville, Crown Point and maybe Munster or Dyer.

I've been researching schools and concerned about growth in the St. John and Schereville areas. I saw one school class size was 28. Right now we have 20 kids which is nice.

Price range would probably be somewhere from $200-$300k. An older home would be fine but not a major fixer upper.

I'm wondering about property taxes, traffic, cost of living, schools, amenities (shopping, hospitals, activities for kids like sports venues or art programs) etc.

If you can give any advice, I'd appreciate your help narrowing down the areas.

Thanks so much.
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Old 01-05-2013, 07:02 PM
 
811 posts, read 2,326,353 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhunt View Post
Hello, My family is considering a move to N. West Indiana this summer and we need some advice. Our story is that we live in the south 800 miles away. While my inlaws live in the area they don't have any kids and most of our relatives have older kids now in college so we need help with school. Our kids will be 4th and 1st grade next fall.

My husband will be keeping his job working from home but traveling via airport. Our oldest daughter has some specific needs at a school. She has anxiety and sensory issues (but not autistic) and does have a 504 plan here but receives no services except minor adjustments on her 504 plan (i.e. extra time on tests, study guide in advance, preferential seating etc.)

School criteria for me is 1) small class sizes 2) any math remediation programs 3) any sensory resources or activities to help with emotional regulation 4) peer buddy programs 5) social skills group and of course 6) academics.

Some areas we are considering are St. John, Schereville, Crown Point and maybe Munster or Dyer.

I've been researching schools and concerned about growth in the St. John and Schereville areas. I saw one school class size was 28. Right now we have 20 kids which is nice.

Price range would probably be somewhere from $200-$300k. An older home would be fine but not a major fixer upper.

I'm wondering about property taxes, traffic, cost of living, schools, amenities (shopping, hospitals, activities for kids like sports venues or art programs) etc.

If you can give any advice, I'd appreciate your help narrowing down the areas.

Thanks so much.
All of the towns you are considering are nice family oriented towns. Regarding your specific requests for your children's needs, I would recommend contacting each school corporation and the head of the special Ed personnel for each. Dyer, Schererville, and St John all flow into the Lake Central School Corporation. Munster and Crown Point each have their own districts. For special Ed, Munster and Lake Central both use the Westlake Coop. Crown Point is part of the Northwest Indiana Special Ed Coop.

Regarding your other questions:

Schools - All three, Munster, Lake Central , and Crown Point are very good school districts. Although I don't think 28 students per class is the norm in any of these districts, the state has considerably cut the out of funding to public schools since 2008. This has caused many schools to cut costs including teachers and aides, resulting in slightly higher Student/Teacher ratios.

Property taxes- In Schererville, Dyer, St John and Crown Point, you can expect property taxes of about 1% of the assessed value of your home. Munster's taxes will be a little bit higher.

Traffic - In this area, there is significant traffic around the 30/41 intersection and in general along Indianapolis Blvd (same road as 41) from Rt 30 to 45th St.

Shopping - The only real mall in Lake County is Westfield in Merrillville. However there are a good amount of shopping options on Indianapolis Blvd on either side of Main St along the Schererville/Highland border. Also worth mentioning that there is a good size shopping center called Shops on Main which is also on Indianapolis Blvd just south of Main St in Schererville that they've just started construction on after being delayed for several years. It is planned to be an upscale shopping center, but to my knowledge the list of tenants has not been released.

Cost of living - Munster and St John seem to have a bit higher cost of living than Schererville and Dyer, which are a bit higher than Crown Point.

Hospitals - Community Hospital in Munster is the best in the area in my opinion. The Dyer campus pf St Margaret's and St. Anthony's in Crown Point also are known to be good hospitals.

Amenities - From what I've seen, Schererville and Munster have the best Parks Departments in Lake County with countless options for kids and families. Both also have well kept parks with nice running and biking trails.

Overall I don't think you can go wrong between the towns you're considering.

Last edited by svillechris; 01-05-2013 at 07:11 PM..
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Old 01-06-2013, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Turn Left at Greenland
17,763 posts, read 39,615,140 times
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I think you are going to get the same advice as you are getting about Indianapolis ...

Best of luck to you!
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Old 01-06-2013, 05:02 PM
 
51 posts, read 92,883 times
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Thank you both. Domergurl, thanks as you can tell we are trying to narrow down a few parts of Indiana.

I've never been to any of these towns. Only really drove through Crown Point once years ago.

I'm not familiar with a corporation running a school. What does that mean?
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Old 01-06-2013, 05:17 PM
 
811 posts, read 2,326,353 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhunt View Post
Thank you both. Domergurl, thanks as you can tell we are trying to narrow down a few parts of Indiana.

I've never been to any of these towns. Only really drove through Crown Point once years ago.

I'm not familiar with a corporation running a school. What does that mean?
It's not really a business or company like it may sound like. A school corporation is the same as a school district.
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Old 01-06-2013, 09:06 PM
 
51 posts, read 92,883 times
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Oh, ok. I got confused by the word corporation. Thanks for clarifying that!
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Old 01-10-2013, 10:14 AM
 
51 posts, read 92,883 times
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Alright, more information. I found a really nice clinic in Dyer to help my daughter. My husband may opt to continue to stay here to fix up our house and sell. I have family in Hobart and Illinois (3 miles from Indiana border). So Crown Point is 1/2 way in between everyone and the clinic.

Any thoughts on a subdivision that is safe and good schools near Dyer? I don't have to live in Dyer but I've narrowed it to Dyer, Schereville and Crown Point. St. John looks expensive but still on the list. My husband is concerned about Dyer and Munster being close to Chicago Heights, Ford Heights for safety.

If I could find a small 3 bedroom house between $150-$200k that would be ideal. Or what about rentals? A neighborhood with middle class families with kids would be ideal. Any diversity in those neighborhoods?

Right now we are looking at this move as temporary 2 to 3 years at most.

Thanks!
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:44 PM
 
2,155 posts, read 5,458,631 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhunt View Post
Alright, more information. I found a really nice clinic in Dyer to help my daughter. My husband may opt to continue to stay here to fix up our house and sell. I have family in Hobart and Illinois (3 miles from Indiana border). So Crown Point is 1/2 way in between everyone and the clinic.

Any thoughts on a subdivision that is safe and good schools near Dyer? I don't have to live in Dyer but I've narrowed it to Dyer, Schereville and Crown Point. St. John looks expensive but still on the list. My husband is concerned about Dyer and Munster being close to Chicago Heights, Ford Heights for safety.

If I could find a small 3 bedroom house between $150-$200k that would be ideal. Or what about rentals? A neighborhood with middle class families with kids would be ideal. Any diversity in those neighborhoods?

Right now we are looking at this move as temporary 2 to 3 years at most.

Thanks!
Munster is about 14 miles from Chicago Heights and Dyer is about 8 miles. In addition, the area in between is pretty sparsely populated and have forest preserves as buffers. The Heights do not really have an affect on the safety of these towns as they have one of the lowest crime rates in the region. You rarely here of problems from the Heights spilling into Indiana. I would be way more concerned about issues in Gary and Merrillville affecting Crown Point since there is much more continuity in those areas (no buffers) and crime in Merrillville is increasing rapidly.

The more diverse areas of the towns you listed tend to be the newer areas. The Hearthstone and Village Circle neighborhood in Dyer is probably the most diverse NEW neighborhood in Northwest Indiana with many Indian, Asian, Black, White, and Hispanic families co-habitating in the neighborhood. However, you would probably need to spend more in the neighborhood of $275,000 in that neighborhood. In the Crown Point school district, the town of Winfield (east of Crown Point) as actually more diverse than the area of Crown Point itself that is zoned to CP schools. The area is safe and would be less expensive for a comparable home than Dyer. But it is further. The area of CP that is zoned to Merrillville schools is diverse but then...you are in Merrillville schools.

In Schererville, I would look in the Scherwood Forest neighborhood just south of Rt. 30. The entrance is Robinhood Blvd. These homes are in the 30 year old range and is a middle class neighborhood. It is also easily accessible to shopping and other amenities.

There is a subdivision in Crown Point called Waterside Crossing. It is a new subdivison that appears pretty middle class. It borders the northeast corner of I-65 and 109th Ave. It would be very convenient to the expressway obviously as well as shopping in Merrillville and Crown Point.

Overall if you are looking for a new home in that price range, your options would likely be limited to Crown Point. If not, then Dyer and Schererville may work for you.

In Munster, that price range would pretty much limit you to an older smaller home. There are not really any new middle class neighborhoods in Munster (which is why some families do opt to mve further south). Most remaining lots in town average about $150,000
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Old 01-11-2013, 07:11 AM
 
811 posts, read 2,326,353 times
Reputation: 644
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckhunt View Post
Alright, more information. I found a really nice clinic in Dyer to help my daughter. My husband may opt to continue to stay here to fix up our house and sell. I have family in Hobart and Illinois (3 miles from Indiana border). So Crown Point is 1/2 way in between everyone and the clinic.

Any thoughts on a subdivision that is safe and good schools near Dyer? I don't have to live in Dyer but I've narrowed it to Dyer, Schereville and Crown Point. St. John looks expensive but still on the list. My husband is concerned about Dyer and Munster being close to Chicago Heights, Ford Heights for safety.

If I could find a small 3 bedroom house between $150-$200k that would be ideal. Or what about rentals? A neighborhood with middle class families with kids would be ideal. Any diversity in those neighborhoods?

Right now we are looking at this move as temporary 2 to 3 years at most.

Thanks!
ckhunt - It looks like you're from Slidell, LA. City data has pages for each town including a crime index. Based on that measure, the overall crime in Slidell is more than double the crime in all of the towns you listed - Dyer, Munster, St John, Schererville, CP. These particular towns in Indiana are very safe and I can't remember the last time I've heard or read about any crime spilling over from Chicago Heights or Ford Heights to the Northwest Indiana towns. Regarding diversity, you're probably looking at somewhere in the ballpark of 80% white, 12% Hispanic, 5% black and 3% Asian. Obviously this varies slightly by town, with less diversity in St. John and more Asian presence in Munster.
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Old 01-13-2013, 04:49 PM
 
51 posts, read 92,883 times
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Ok, thanks for the information. Yep, Slidell had a murder this weekend. We are having more crime in this area.

My husband really wants a decent size yard not a cookie cutter subdivision. I'm reluctant if he doesn't go with us having to mow and care for a yard for awhile and kids in school and the other errands.

BUT he says he will join us as soon as he can get there. If that's the case, then our price point would jump up to $200-$300k for a house.

We ruled out Munster. Too expensive and crowded. I think St. John is out too. Not enough diversity for me.

So the areas would be Dyer, Schereville and Crown Point. I heard Schereville doesn't really have a downtown. I don't like that.

So I'm thinking Dyer for convenience to where we need to go or Crown Point. I had thought about schools that have a Crown Point address but are in Merrillville.

What about Lowell? I know it's smaller. I don't know anything about the schools or feel of the town. It is further from Dyer but it is closer to my parents which is nice.
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