Looking at moving to Indiana, where should we move?

So my wife and I are looking at relocating to central Indiana after I get out of the military, in about a year or so. Trying to do some research well in advance, instead of trying city x, y, or z, and finding we dont like the place.

So a little background: My wife's family is from Indiana, mainly from the Carmel/Fishers area, a few farther north up in Merrillville/Crown Point, so somewhere around there is where we have been looking.

I would love to hear everyone's opinion on the area, as far as quality of schools, cost of living, crime/safety, etc...whatever you think might be applicable to a family(two children as well, ages 5 and 3) looking at the area. Generally from Indy(no idea on which neighborhood, just no ruling Indy out) up to Crown Point. We have looked at Carmel, Fishers, Nobelsville, Zionsville, Avon, Lafayette/West Lafayette, etc, etc.

Thanks

 

http://www.city-data.com/forum/indiana/

Might help

 

Carmel Area..

 

Depends on what you are looking for. Crown Point is close enough to Chicago that you children (if you have any) can see some of the best zoos/aquariums to offer.

I am from Cedar Lake, just west of Crown Point. I would wanna no closer to chicago but no farther either. And if I was moving farther south, I would stay closer to Indy than Lafayette. Lafayette is kinda in the middle...nothing to do...to far away from anything big.

 

Thanks for the link to city-data...never seen that site till then, but looks very useful.

 

I live on a farm just outside Monrovia. 20 to 25 mins downtown Indy and no one cares when I shoot machine guns in the back yard. After living here for 17 years this is where I chose to live. Plenty of hills and ravines, not much traffic, yet close enough to everything.

 

I'm kinda partial to the SE portion on the state. We just moved out here from Cincy (Yep switched states) last Nov. LOVING it. Dearborn County has great schools, still close enough to Cincinnati and Indy for Sports/Concerts or anything else your fancy. Quiet country living not far from the city...

 

LMAO, you have no idea how big a selling point it is for me that I would be able to shoot machine guns off my back porch. Sure, I'm pretty sure my wife would no-go it, but I'm glad the option is still there.

Taco47001-Honestly, if/when we move up there, it is going to be either in Indy, or one of the suburbs just North of the city. One of the main reasons we are looking at the area is being decently close to her family(split between Carmel and Crown Point areas), although I havent heard anything bad about other areas(other than Gary..."The Region" I guess its called), so who knows.

 

Haha..."The region" is a term used for pretty much all of Lake, Porter, and newton counties...much much more than just gary. And FWIW, Gary pretty much keeps to itself, lol.

 

Move to KY it is a lot cheaper to live here. We moved here 3 years ago from the ft. wayne area and we love all the trails to ride on.

 

Spent my share of time in KY, didn't mind the place at all. But it kinda defeats the purpose of moving up there to be closer to family.