Might be moving (Indianapolis, Valparaiso, Chesterton: law school, university, casinos)

[REM]

I'm from the Indianapolis area and I might be moving to Valparaiso next year.
Just wanted to know how close is it to chicago, does a train run through to chicago? Are race relation there alright? What's it like in the summer time?

[domergurl]

lived in valpo for a couple years before moving to fishers. There's a train directly north of valpo, Dune Park, that terminates at Randolph and michigan. most people either get off at van buren or randolph for loop office workers. chuckity would probably be a good resource for the new chicago dash bus service from valpo to chicago ... if you're going to work in the city and want to live in indiana, consider chesterton since it's closer to the train.

I liked Valpo. we left in 2003, so i'm sure it's a lot different, maybe not. Even though it has a rather large university within the town, there's really no college town feel.

I think it may take a little over an hour to drive into the city during non-rush.

race relations. the minute I say there aren't any problems, someone will call me on it, but when we lived there, I didn't see or hear about anything. I think there was an african american professor at the law school who wasn't happy with valpo and ended up leaving a couple years ago ... not sure of the circumstances. You can search the local paper at nwi.com

[rvegab00]

valpo is about 45-60 mins from chicago depending on traffic.
you can catch the southshore train to chicago but you'd have to drive a short way (10 mins or so) to get to the station as it is not in valpo.
race relations are ok...valpo is mostly white. But everyone gets along minus your normal dumbasses you'll find everywhere.
summertime is HOT and HUMID. probably mostly like it is in Indy...but at least there is a lake within driving distance (15-20mins) and a water park up the road.

chesterton/valpo are basically the same area...chesterton is closer to the train, and there is some stuckup people that live in chesterton.. My wife works in the chesterton school district she works with these types and meets the kids parents. Very stuck up town in chesterton, valpo is not as bad. Chesterton housing due to the stuckup folks is HIGH!!!!!!! Nice area, but be prepared to pay for it.
Moving from indy be careful because there is NOT a lot to do in NW indiana. at least not without driving 30-40-50 mins... valpo, chesterton are the types of towns that after 9:00 they shutdown. Just be aware of that.

Have you visited here before without doing the normal tourist things (dunes/beach, chicago visit, casinos, outlet mall? It moves a WHOLE lot slower than indy when the tourist attractions get old and you just drive by them on a daily basis and say "ho hum"

I'm some what jaded to NWI since I am looking to move out of the area to phoenix but i think it is important to know the good as well as the bad from various prespectives