Moving from Oak Forest, IL to NWI help? (Gary, East Chicago: foreclosures, house)

[captainzombie]

My wife and I have lived in the southwest suburbs of IL all of our lives. We have been living in Oak Forest, IL for the last 15 years. Initially we were planning to move further south to Mokena/New Lenox and even as far south as Morris, but the taxes seem to not get any better. The last few weeks we have been planing to possibly move to Crown Point or Winfield. We've gone to several homes in St. John, Crown Point, Lowell, Cedar Lake, and Winfield the last few weeks to get an idea of the neighborhoods, homes, etc.


We do have some family in Cedar Lake and LOTF, so we are semi familiar with the areas. We have 4 kids, so schools are important, and I work downtown but get to telecommute 4 days a week. I would only need to catch the train or dash once a week. I also have a side business where I will need to move my warehouse from IL to 15-20 minutes of where we are going to be living.


After the last few weeks, we have determined that Crown Point or Winfield would be our best bet to move to as we really like both towns. I understand that some consider Winfield a part of CP. Downtown CP is very beautiful, we have walked through there twice.



Any thoughts or advice about Winfield? We have also been looking at some new construction in the area.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by captainzombie

My wife and I have lived in the southwest suburbs of IL all of our lives. We have been living in Oak Forest, IL for the last 15 years. Initially we were planning to move further south to Mokena/New Lenox and even as far south as Morris, but the taxes seem to not get any better. The last few weeks we have been planing to possibly move to Crown Point or Winfield. We've gone to several homes in St. John, Crown Point, Lowell, Cedar Lake, and Winfield the last few weeks to get an idea of the neighborhoods, homes, etc.


We do have some family in Cedar Lake and LOTF, so we are semi familiar with the areas. We have 4 kids, so schools are important, and I work downtown but get to telecommute 4 days a week. I would only need to catch the train or dash once a week. I also have a side business where I will need to move my warehouse from IL to 15-20 minutes of where we are going to be living.


After the last few weeks, we have determined that Crown Point or Winfield would be our best bet to move to as we really like both towns. I understand that some consider Winfield a part of CP. Downtown CP is very beautiful, we have walked through there twice.



Any thoughts or advice about Winfield? We have also been looking at some new construction in the area.

My biggest advise on that area would be the following:

1. Avoid living in LOFS. Your family members can likely fill you in on the issues there if they are honest with you. If not, I can go into more detail. Two of the main issues there are regarding their “security” as well as the high number of foreclosures there.
2. Not sure what age your children are, but keep in mind that the middle school and high school are quite far away as they are actually in the city of Crown Point and not in Winfield. This will impact drive time in the mornings and afternoons and especially if they take the bus.
3. Make sure that you are within Center or Winfield townships for schools. If you are in Ross township (north of 101st), you would be zoned to Merrillville school which a) are not very good and not likely to get better and b) are far away from the part of Ross Township closest to Winfield.

Bonus piece of advise: for warehouse space, look into Porter County if you can as it will likely be cheaper and still within reach of where you will be living. Otherwise, there should be options in Merrillville/Hobart just down the road from Winfield.

[captainzombie]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

My biggest advise on that area would be the following:

1. Avoid living in LOFS. Your family members can likely fill you in on the issues there if they are honest with you. If not, I can go into more detail. Two of the main issues there are regarding their “security” as well as the high number of foreclosures there.
2. Not sure what age your children are, but keep in mind that the middle school and high school are quite far away as they are actually in the city of Crown Point and not in Winfield. This will impact drive time in the mornings and afternoons and especially if they take the bus.
3. Make sure that you are within Center or Winfield townships for schools. If you are in Ross township (north of 101st), you would be zoned to Merrillville school which a) are not very good and not likely to get better and b) are far away from the part of Ross Township closest to Winfield.

Bonus piece of advise: for warehouse space, look into Porter County if you can as it will likely be cheaper and still within reach of where you will be living. Otherwise, there should be options in Merrillville/Hobart just down the road from Winfield.

Thank you for all your help!



I've heard nothing but bad about LOFS. What other things have you heard as it would be helpful to get several opinions?


My children range from 9 to 16yrs old. I spoke with our realtor in Indiana, she told us that the one area we are looking at in Winfield the kids would go to Crown Point schools. I was reading that the Merrillville schools are pretty bad.


Is NWI a good place to raise a family? We are trying to escape the bad of Illinois, including these terrible taxes. Things do not seem to be getting any better here. When we look at homes double the square footage even further south, taxes double and triple what we are paying.



I will keep an eye out for Porter County to see if we can find a warehouse due to it being cheaper.

[flamadiddle]

IMO, I'd base your search off high schools. I would only consider the following High Schools (in no particular order).

Munster
Lake Central
Crown Point
Chesterton
Valparaiso

honorable mentions -
Lowell
Boone Groove

The problem with NWI is that it's a quilt work of nice areas on the fringe of questionable areas (South suburbs, Gary, etc.). Will those areas remain nice? Probably, maybe, well, who really knows. Considering you're coming from oak forest, I think you'll find any area served by the schools above to be just fine.

[Daze55]

Originally Posted by captainzombie

Thank you for all your help!



I've heard nothing but bad about LOFS. What other things have you heard as it would be helpful to get several opinions?


My children range from 9 to 16yrs old. I spoke with our realtor in Indiana, she told us that the one area we are looking at in Winfield the kids would go to Crown Point schools. I was reading that the Merrillville schools are pretty bad.


Is NWI a good place to raise a family? We are trying to escape the bad of Illinois, including these terrible taxes. Things do not seem to be getting any better here. When we look at homes double the square footage even further south, taxes double and triple what we are paying.



I will keep an eye out for Porter County to see if we can find a warehouse due to it being cheaper.

NWI is certainly a good place to raise a family. All the school districts flamadiddle mentioned above are great, and as for college, Indiana offers better options than Illinois IMO. Purdue and Indiana University are just as good, if not better, than UIUC for a lot cheaper. Taxes also are a lot cheaper, which obviously helps you save more to support your family. When I moved over the border from Lansing, IL, to Schererville, IN, I actually paid less in taxes even though I bought a house that was worth substantially more than the one I sold in Lansing. And this was way back in 2003. Since you only have to commute to the city once a week, I would definitely suggest a move over to NWI. Crown Point and Winfield are both really nice towns, and I think you'd be happy in either one. In addition to parts of CP being zoned to the Merrillville school district, there are also parts of Winfield in Porter County (mainly parts of LOFS and the Falling Waters subdivision) which are zoned to the Boone Grove school district, which is okay but not as desirable as the CP school district, so I would avoid these areas if possible. When you need to commute to the city, you can drive up to East Chicago and take the train from there, and there are plenty of warehouse options within close distance of either town. Hope this helps!