[mandalin24kd]

We just found out tonight that my dh is being transferred to South Bend in 2-3 weeks. I currently live in Washington State and have never been really been away from the West Coast. I've read alot online that suggests NOT living IN South Bend. Where do we go? Anyone? Please?

 

[Midwesterner04]

Where to live in the South Bend area really depends on the type of housing and neighborhood you are looking for. Do you know what sort of setting you have in mind?<br><br>
I moved to the South Bend area recently as well, and wish I had looked into my options in nearby Granger. It has both homes and apartments in traditional suburban layouts and neighborhoods (some within walking distance of shops, restaurants, etc), and also homes that are a bit farther out and include more land and proximity to farms. The area is safe and features a Suzuki music school, a farmer's market, and some locally-owned healthy restaurants and natural foods-and-goods stores. From what I can tell, houses and apartments are available at a range of price points.

 

[mandalin24kd]

That is exactly what I'm looking for. I want a quiet, non-commercial, neighborhood kind of place. Do you know anything about the schools in Granger?

 

[NolaRiordan]

I don't really know the area that well, but I would also suggest looking at Goshen.

 

[Midwesterner04]

I don't have any school aged children and am planning to homeschool my young daughter when the time comes, so I unfortunately do not have much direct knowledge of Granger's public schools. I do know that people living within the district can enroll their child in any of the district's schools, and that interdistrict enrollment is also permitted in this area (if you really liked a particular school in South Bend, for example, you might be able to send your child there. I think tuition is sometimes required of out-of-district students, though). I also hear that Granger schools do well on the state's academic proficiency tests. Some statistics on test scores, student-teacher ratio, school diversity, etc are available here: <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/in/district-profile/220" target="_blank">http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/...ct-profile/220</a>.<br><br>
Similar numbers for South Bend can be found at this link: <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/in/district-profile/256" target="_blank">http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/...ct-profile/256</a><br><br>
Statistics for Mishawaka are here: <a href="http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/in/district-profile/172" target="_blank">http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/...ct-profile/172</a><br><br>
Quite a few private and religious schools are also within reasonable driving distance.

 

[temporaryloginid]

I live in South Bend.<br>
We have a chapter of Holistic Mom Network, and some dececnt MDC-style stuff here, farmers markets, food co-ops, health food stores, midwives, homeschools, babywearers, extended breastfeeders, etc. But..it's the midwest. Very different frrom pacific NW, lol.<br><br>
Are you looking to buy or rent? Planning to be here long? Do you care about schools?<br>
Commute distance?<br><br>
The thing is...*I* can look at a real estate listing and know exactly where it is and what the neighborhood is like. The problem is..it's literally impossible from the outside..the neighborhoods flow and like, for example, where i live.....7 blocks east of me is 1/4 million dollar mansions.......7 blocks north of me are $10K dilapidated ghetto houses in gangland....7 blocks southeast is a subsidized housing complex, and my few blocks is decent lower to middle class family homes.<br><br>
The NW sidee of SB, the whole Granger area, and some places S of SB, as well as Eastern Mishawaka has nice little self-contained style subdivisions, if thats what you're looking for.<br>
Housing is so much cheaper here than PNW, so I'm not sure your means or what you're looking for...a $50K house? $250k house? Rent of $600/month or 1600/month? Do you want land? You can live 10 minutes into the ciourntry and literally live on a farm here..lol. Wanna live on a lake? the river?<br>
Schools...basically you have Penn, Mishawaka and South Bend public districts, plus a ton of private..obviouslt the CAatholic chuirch has a HUGE presence here, but we have Montessori schools, charters, and other edu options, as well as a big homeschooling community.<br><br>
Honestly, I think the best option is to get an apt for a month or 2, come here, and then go real estate hunting.<br>
We have a studio plus hotel/apt place you can rent by the week or month...and last time i checked, PArk Jefferson had 3 month leases....plus, since its a huge college town, tons of people just fled the city, asnd have apt for sublease and stuff right now...<br><br><br>
Welcome! I'd be happy to chat with you more. I've lived here almost 15 years now! yikes.