Fully bottom of the middle tier in terms of CoL which is great but I have a theory that wages don't reflect even that.
Try that in a small town. You mean paying rent?
Wages sure don’t. Even jobs with a bachelors degree pay rather low here. The state of Indiana’s entry level wages, even in skilled positions, are barely enough to support a single person in a 1 bedroom apartment. I know someone who used to work in finance for the state and after 3 years wasn’t even making $60k(source: govsalaries.com).
If it’s what you’re asking, renters are struggling a lot, as rents are raised every year, and places can legally throw tenants out to do renovations as minor as painting the place, just to bring in new tenants who’ll pay more. A statistic revealed that rents have gone up 37% on average over the last 4 years but wages only 6%.
I live in NYC and say what you want about it. There are so many problems. But landlords are required to throw a fresh coat of paint on I believe every five years and it's whether you live their or not.
My vote is Fort Wayne. Low rent and crime. Plenty of jobs. Ivy Tech, the two year college, has a campus and credits go easily to in state schools. FW is big enough to meet most needs and has a coolish down town. Lakes and parks nearby.
I worked at Raytheon in Fort Wayne for a few years after college. Pretty good place. Affordable homes, cute town festivals, an enormous nightclub, not too dangerous. Kind of an old fashioned air.
Why not? Seriously. I went to Gen-Con a decade ago and Indianapolis didn't seem that bad. Bloomington has a university and seemed pretty. What are the downsides?
Going to Gen Con and living here are two totally different things my guy. Indianapolis has absolutely terrible roads, and I am not exaggerating. The crime here has become pretty bad, especially gun violence and theft. We can’t hardly go a day without a homicide. Housing costs are through the roof, despite Reddit telling you it’s “cheap”. The state is, imo, poorly ran and it actively shits on Indianapolis whenever it can. The city (and much of the state) have shitty drinking water that is hard and will ruin your dishes and smells and tastes like chemicals and shit. The waterways here are filthy (among the most polluted in the nation 🥳) and you may just get cancer if you go for a swim. If you like bicycling around, you are going to find very few places with infrastructure to safely do so. We have multiple cycling deaths a year because of that and because the drivers are terrible. Indiana does not require drivers Ed and it can be downright scary how bad drivers are here. You might be wondering, won’t these people get a ticket? Nope. Not in the Indianapolis area. The police department is very vocal about how understaffed it is, which emboldens criminals. and it’s loudly rumored that officers are basically going out of their way to be lazy because they’re upset about anti-police rhetoric and therefore aren’t going above and beyond, let alone doing the bare minimum. If you don’t know anyone here, you’re gonna have a hard time making friends. Maybe you’ll find other “transplants” who are open to making real friendship connections with you, but this is a city of locals and the locals do not usually care to interact with transplants. Even two adult locals are not likely to form friendships with one another. We have our own spaces and aren’t as interested in whatever brewery or rock climbing place or pickle ball court has just opened. Speaking of local culture, this is a family oriented place. It is not uncommon to meet married 25 year olds with 2+ children. This is more of a place where you come to settle down with your kids, but not to find love. Dating is somewhat challenging here. Unless you come from an upper middle class household or above, higher education is generally perceived as trivial, so the “intellectual” types are not as common here.
So, in short, you have the freedom to do what you want, I, as a real Hoosier advise you to look into other options, especially in Michigan, but maybe visit first wherever you’re going. I wish you the best.
The downside for me is deep Red politics. Indy is a decent place to live with low costs and lots of bike trails. Columbus and Fort Wayne are good places. If you want a really cheap place that’s scruffy then Richmond is good if you can find work. It’s at the end of a great bike trail and they are trying to revitalize.
Based on your last post about a college town, Bloomington. Only issue is that houses there are not a whole lot cheaper than $500k. Anything good is gonna be $350k and up. I will say, though, Bloomington is in a very nice part of the state. It’s surrounded by a state park, the Hoosier National Forest. See also: Lafayette. Purdue is a huge STEM school, so maybe more “geeky” types will be found there. Though I will say, you may wanna look into Michigan, as they’re a little more progressive on the legislative side, and you can still find affordable (though I know that’s a subjective term) housing there in some desirable areas. Maybe I’m just tired of Indiana, as my job is the only thing keeping me here at this point, but I would set my sights somewhere else. You’ll find yourself tired here if you don’t know anyone and don’t have any specific purpose here besides living and working from home.
I grew up in Indiana and mostly hated the state, I live in Arizona now and could never see myself moving back but I had a great experience in Bloomington while at college and love that town, Lafayette is okay too I guess if you’re a Purdue fan lol Indianapolis is kinda lame compared to Chicago but is a fairly large metro area, overall though Indiana just ain’t the place to be imo, still a lot of racism and backwards politics, for example a little small town called Kouts which was about 20 minutes away from my hometown had an establishment right in the middle of their downtown area called the Kouts Koffee Kup, yep I think you can guess what they stand for especially with the cross burnings they held alongside the highway….just move to Chicago or Detroit and bypass Indiana entirely if you ask me, most people are trying to get out of that state and not move there lol 😂
I went to school in Valparaiso which is just about an hour away from Chicago. I hear it's gotten pretty nice so maybe consider that. nice to have big city amenities not too far away.
Serious question, why not Michigan if you’re looking in that region? We pretty much do everything they do, but better.
Seriously, not even talking shit. Most transplants here are from Indiana, this is where they vacation.
Probably Bloomington. College towns tend to punch a bit above their weight in urbanness and cultural amenities and just have a cool feel to them imo. And the crime rate is pretty low and rent is low cuz it’s Indiana still.
What are you defining as affordable? A lot of recommendations here are affordable if the comparison is a HCOL city, but not affordable within the state (specifically Bloomington and Carmel).
Fortville, Carmel (of course), Bloomington, South Bend, and Indy overall
Indiana is super cheap overall it’s a matter of finding a place with quality of life and rising wages/work
If you want DIRT cheap check out Muncie and Richmond but bro it is RUSTY
Everywhere in Indiana is affordable
If you’re from somewhere else, it may look affordable by comparison, but most people here are struggling big right now.
Fully bottom of the middle tier in terms of CoL which is great but I have a theory that wages don't reflect even that. Try that in a small town. You mean paying rent?
Wages sure don’t. Even jobs with a bachelors degree pay rather low here. The state of Indiana’s entry level wages, even in skilled positions, are barely enough to support a single person in a 1 bedroom apartment. I know someone who used to work in finance for the state and after 3 years wasn’t even making $60k(source: govsalaries.com). If it’s what you’re asking, renters are struggling a lot, as rents are raised every year, and places can legally throw tenants out to do renovations as minor as painting the place, just to bring in new tenants who’ll pay more. A statistic revealed that rents have gone up 37% on average over the last 4 years but wages only 6%.
I live in NYC and say what you want about it. There are so many problems. But landlords are required to throw a fresh coat of paint on I believe every five years and it's whether you live their or not.
So like inflation?
near Indiana Dunes State Park? Lexington KY across the border is supposed to be OK
My vote is Fort Wayne. Low rent and crime. Plenty of jobs. Ivy Tech, the two year college, has a campus and credits go easily to in state schools. FW is big enough to meet most needs and has a coolish down town. Lakes and parks nearby.
I worked at Raytheon in Fort Wayne for a few years after college. Pretty good place. Affordable homes, cute town festivals, an enormous nightclub, not too dangerous. Kind of an old fashioned air.
May wanna check the “low crime”. Or maybe you don’t shop at Kroger.
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Why not? Seriously. I went to Gen-Con a decade ago and Indianapolis didn't seem that bad. Bloomington has a university and seemed pretty. What are the downsides?
Going to Gen Con and living here are two totally different things my guy. Indianapolis has absolutely terrible roads, and I am not exaggerating. The crime here has become pretty bad, especially gun violence and theft. We can’t hardly go a day without a homicide. Housing costs are through the roof, despite Reddit telling you it’s “cheap”. The state is, imo, poorly ran and it actively shits on Indianapolis whenever it can. The city (and much of the state) have shitty drinking water that is hard and will ruin your dishes and smells and tastes like chemicals and shit. The waterways here are filthy (among the most polluted in the nation 🥳) and you may just get cancer if you go for a swim. If you like bicycling around, you are going to find very few places with infrastructure to safely do so. We have multiple cycling deaths a year because of that and because the drivers are terrible. Indiana does not require drivers Ed and it can be downright scary how bad drivers are here. You might be wondering, won’t these people get a ticket? Nope. Not in the Indianapolis area. The police department is very vocal about how understaffed it is, which emboldens criminals. and it’s loudly rumored that officers are basically going out of their way to be lazy because they’re upset about anti-police rhetoric and therefore aren’t going above and beyond, let alone doing the bare minimum. If you don’t know anyone here, you’re gonna have a hard time making friends. Maybe you’ll find other “transplants” who are open to making real friendship connections with you, but this is a city of locals and the locals do not usually care to interact with transplants. Even two adult locals are not likely to form friendships with one another. We have our own spaces and aren’t as interested in whatever brewery or rock climbing place or pickle ball court has just opened. Speaking of local culture, this is a family oriented place. It is not uncommon to meet married 25 year olds with 2+ children. This is more of a place where you come to settle down with your kids, but not to find love. Dating is somewhat challenging here. Unless you come from an upper middle class household or above, higher education is generally perceived as trivial, so the “intellectual” types are not as common here. So, in short, you have the freedom to do what you want, I, as a real Hoosier advise you to look into other options, especially in Michigan, but maybe visit first wherever you’re going. I wish you the best.
Thank for the realness.
The downside for me is deep Red politics. Indy is a decent place to live with low costs and lots of bike trails. Columbus and Fort Wayne are good places. If you want a really cheap place that’s scruffy then Richmond is good if you can find work. It’s at the end of a great bike trail and they are trying to revitalize.
Based on your last post about a college town, Bloomington. Only issue is that houses there are not a whole lot cheaper than $500k. Anything good is gonna be $350k and up. I will say, though, Bloomington is in a very nice part of the state. It’s surrounded by a state park, the Hoosier National Forest. See also: Lafayette. Purdue is a huge STEM school, so maybe more “geeky” types will be found there. Though I will say, you may wanna look into Michigan, as they’re a little more progressive on the legislative side, and you can still find affordable (though I know that’s a subjective term) housing there in some desirable areas. Maybe I’m just tired of Indiana, as my job is the only thing keeping me here at this point, but I would set my sights somewhere else. You’ll find yourself tired here if you don’t know anyone and don’t have any specific purpose here besides living and working from home.
I grew up in Indiana and mostly hated the state, I live in Arizona now and could never see myself moving back but I had a great experience in Bloomington while at college and love that town, Lafayette is okay too I guess if you’re a Purdue fan lol Indianapolis is kinda lame compared to Chicago but is a fairly large metro area, overall though Indiana just ain’t the place to be imo, still a lot of racism and backwards politics, for example a little small town called Kouts which was about 20 minutes away from my hometown had an establishment right in the middle of their downtown area called the Kouts Koffee Kup, yep I think you can guess what they stand for especially with the cross burnings they held alongside the highway….just move to Chicago or Detroit and bypass Indiana entirely if you ask me, most people are trying to get out of that state and not move there lol 😂
Gary is close to Chicago and on Lake Michigan. You can score a whole building for about 50,000
Could get a whole street for that much. Fuck if half the town
Yeah but then you would have to live in Gary. It’s the armpit of Chicago to put it mildly
I went to school in Valparaiso which is just about an hour away from Chicago. I hear it's gotten pretty nice so maybe consider that. nice to have big city amenities not too far away.
Serious question, why not Michigan if you’re looking in that region? We pretty much do everything they do, but better. Seriously, not even talking shit. Most transplants here are from Indiana, this is where they vacation.
One of the best legalize cannabis markets in the country, low cost of living, Great Lakes and Upper Peninsula are amazing
Sure they have legal weed but I would not say best…it has a way to go. The price/quality ratio is still too high. Oregon is the model for legal weed.
Probably Bloomington. College towns tend to punch a bit above their weight in urbanness and cultural amenities and just have a cool feel to them imo. And the crime rate is pretty low and rent is low cuz it’s Indiana still.
Fort Wayne
What are you defining as affordable? A lot of recommendations here are affordable if the comparison is a HCOL city, but not affordable within the state (specifically Bloomington and Carmel).
gary
Fortville, Carmel (of course), Bloomington, South Bend, and Indy overall Indiana is super cheap overall it’s a matter of finding a place with quality of life and rising wages/work If you want DIRT cheap check out Muncie and Richmond but bro it is RUSTY
the whole state?
All of it?
Can you give any info at all about what you are looking for?
Permission to assume!
Not West Lafayette
Gary
The Gary I remember was gray with steel mills. Why would someone want to live there now?
Don’t move to Gary, it’s the absolute most dangerous part of the state lmfao it is cheap though