Check out Columbia City. Big houses with acres of land for much less $ than ft wayne or warsaw. Great schools within 25 min drive. Oak farm and Canterbury. 25 minutes to Warsaw, 20 minutes to ft wayne. Also avoids the micro economy of Warsaw.
Oh, shit. (can I say "shit" on here?) "Columbia City" is the best you have here????? I just accepted an offer to relocate from NYC to Warsaw and after checking out the 'Columbia City' webpage and seeing Ryan's smiling face, I now know that I am in big trouble...
It aint NYC. If you want the NYC lifestyle, you are out of luck. Some of us, however, really like the smaller town vibe. Practically no crime, good safe schools (kids can go to a public school and you can save for college), low cost of living, etc. If you really miss the crime, crowds, dirt and traffic - you can drive 2 1/2 hours to Chicago and visit.
If you have a family, I'd recommend Ft. Wayne. Better schools, good restaurants, sports events, shopping, etc. Basically much much more to do. Really...the commute is not bad at all.
You can get more acres/sq ft for your money in Columbia City than you can in Ft. Wayne. Columbia city is only 15 minutes away from the shopping/restaurants in SW Ft. Wayne. Property taxes are also lower in Whitley county.
Why don't you actually visit both? You can't really pick a place without visiting. No different than queens people telling you their neighborhood is the best versus brooklyn people. Both blow and aren't manahttan so look at both places and figure it out. By the way, New Jersey relocator...southwest much better than Columbia whatever.
