# Moving to the midwest



## bluewillow7 (Feb 25, 2013)

We're finding ourselves sick of the desert, nonstop wind, fields of alkali and a 5th failed year of growing anything! (even grass). We sat down with our kids and asked 'if we could move anywhere, where would you want to go?' Their answers were, anywhere with lots of trees, green meadows, parks and lots of walking paths. (All of which we have none of here). We're ready for a big change but not sure where to look that would suit our interests. Aside from our kids wish list, my husband and I want a safe neighborhood, family friendly, country, rolling hills, and within 10 minute drive to a larger town...we don't need to be anywhere near a huge city! We keep bees and would like to have a few goats. I like western Kentucky/southern Indians area (from what I can google) but am open to suggestions. Does any one out there have any recommendations? Thanks.


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## quietintheland (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi Blue Willow,

Southern Indiana, depending on the community, can have many of the things on your list, or none at all.

Based on your list, I would suggest Brown County, sometimes referred to as the "gateway to Southern Indiana", and in particular the area around Nashville. The folks are friendly, there's lots to do, lots of woods, lots of culture, and a state park. You would be about an .75 hours from Indianapolis, and about 1.5 hours from Louisville. Columbus and Bloomington, Indiana are larger towns about half an hour from Nashville, and have any shopping you could want, and institutions of higher learning. 

http://www.browncounty.com/
http://www.nashville-indiana.com/

Property values tend to be somewhat higher in Brown County compared to the surrounding counties because of the cultural ammenities. You didn't state how much you wanted to spend, though $100K will buy you a home with some acreage pretty much anywhere in Southern Indiana, including Brown County.

What other areas have you been looking at in Indiana that appeal to you?

QuietInTheLand


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## Ras1219como (Feb 9, 2013)

Johnson County Tennesee is one of my favorite places in the U.S. It's beautiful and serene with lots of trees and land rich enough for a garden and your animals. In 2011 there were just over 18,000 in the county (population) and its right in the Cherokee National Forest. There are also plenty of clean water sources and lots of game animals.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

bluewillow7 said:


> We're finding ourselves sick of the desert, nonstop wind, fields of alkali and a 5th failed year of growing anything! (even grass). We sat down with our kids and asked 'if we could move anywhere, where would you want to go?' Their answers were, anywhere with lots of trees, green meadows, parks and lots of walking paths. (All of which we have none of here). We're ready for a big change but not sure where to look that would suit our interests. Aside from our kids wish list, my husband and I want a safe neighborhood, family friendly, country, rolling hills, and within 10 minute drive to a larger town...we don't need to be anywhere near a huge city! We keep bees and would like to have a few goats. I like western Kentucky/southern Indians area (from what I can google) but am open to suggestions. Does any one out there have any recommendations? Thanks.


Monroe, Lawerance, Jackson, Jennings, Bartholomew, Decatur, Ripley counties describe what you are looking for.
Brown County is EXPENSIVE to live in because it is a tourist trap.
The counties surrounding it are much cheaper (taxes, land, etc)
I'd stay far away from Bloomington. College town, has a reputation for partying, and co-eds disappearing and their bodies are never found.
Plus, it's very expensive.
Brown County schools are not worth a poop. 
Most schools down there are very 'country'....laid back..low scores, not real challenging.

Depending on what you dh does for a living, will determine a lot of where you will live / how much you want to commute!


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

We live in Washington county, Indiana. Moved here from Indianapolis after hubby retired and we love it. Not a lot of job opportunities but if you go to the southeastern part of the county you wouldn't have far to commute to Louisville. On our side of the river there's also Clarksville, New Albany, and Jeffersonville which are all pretty much an extension of Louisville. We're in the northwestern corner of the county and it's a little more remote than other areas of the county. Salem, our county seat, is about 12 miles from us and is a small town. There are a lot of state and national forests within an easy drive that have hiking, biking and horse trails.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

www.mainstreetrealtor.com

That's the website to a local real estate company.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I was born in Indiana.. .but we liked the foothills of WV better, so that's where we're moving... 

We all have reasons we like certain areas, and for us, it was how few people are in the area of WV we're moving to...


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## Sturedman (Nov 18, 2012)

simi-steading said:


> I was born in Indiana.. .but we liked the foothills of WV better, so that's where we're moving...
> 
> We all have reasons we like certain areas, and for us, it was how few people are in the area of WV we're moving to...


Amen to that Simi! I live in Wheeling, but just bought a little south of Cambridge, OH. Very rural and very country. 15 mins to nearest Wal-Mart lol.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

It's like 30 minutes for us to the nearest town with any food or wal-mart or anything... We're so far off the beaten path I gotta bring my own machete to get to town 

I better watch out... Darren might take offence to me since he lives in the area too... :bandwagon:

I spent a few weeks in Wheeling a few years back for a trial they were having out there.. man did that feel like the country to me back then being for St. Louis..


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## Jenstc2003 (Apr 4, 2012)

That and the beautiful surroundings are the BEST things about WV! I live outside of Parkersburg- close enough to commute, but the whole county I live in has MAYBE 10K people on its' best day. Sort of a best of both worlds thing. 



simi-steading said:


> I was born in Indiana.. .but we liked the foothills of WV better, so that's where we're moving...
> 
> We all have reasons we like certain areas, and for us, it was how few people are in the area of WV we're moving to...


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## Redbeard (Feb 28, 2013)

If you don&#8217;t like wind and are thinking of Illinois understand that it gets pretty windy out here. Going Southbound on I57 the country is flat. In the summer when the corn is up it&#8217;s not so bad, but in the winter the wind comes out of the West and there&#8217;s nothing to stop it. With regularity it topples tractor-trailer rigs over on their sides.

Indiana is a beautiful state but I personally would stay out of the way of the Southern tip of Lake Michigan unless you don&#8217;t mind a steady dumping of lake effect snow in the winter.

If I could get up and go right now I would move to Western PA. I have family who live on forty acres off an old country road that&#8217;s butt up against a National Game reserve about twenty minutes out of Washington. It has everything I would want; rolling hills, quiet, secluded, only a few cars per hour driving by and town is only a short drive away. Washington is not a big town but has everything you could need. And if you ever were in the mood for a big city night Pittsburgh is only an hour away. In a lot of ways the country out there remind me of Vermont, but not so secluded.


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## mikec4193 (Oct 13, 2011)

HI Everyone

I have visited it and Missouri is a very inexpensive place to live. A lot more hills and greenery than Kansas. Oh yeah not a lot of building codes so beware when you buy something.

Just my 2 cents

MikeC


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

You will find everything that you are looking for in Indiana. Everyting. You just need to keep your car doors locked wherever you go when zucchini harvest is in.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Eastern Iowa has a lot of parks, bike paths through north liberty, iowa city, coralville. Not a whole lot of trees outside of the parks though. The scenery is mostly farm fields. Warning the midwest actually has made the same heat records as the south in the summer and all the low records in the winter. It's hot, humid, freezing, and the past few years we haven't had much of a spring or fall. Just straight from one to the other.


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

I'd recommend Michigan as a nice place to live. We have 4 seasons (almost winter, winter, still winter and construction -- not really, just kidding). We have the beautiful Great Lakes and there are all kinds of things to do outside. Michigan has one of the best right to farm acts around. People are generally friendly. The job situation isn't so great right now but hopefully we will rebound soon. The more "farmy" areas are more toward the "ring finger and pinky" area of the state but there are nice farm areas at the base of the thumb toward the wrist.


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## bluewillow7 (Feb 25, 2013)

I have school age kids who'd really love to be able to bike into town and to their friends. I'd like good schools but it seems those are few and far between these days. DH is a diesel mechanic. We have a job prospect in Muncie IN but it's not the rolling hills and trees we're looking for. My husband doesn't want to deal with the cold cold winters anymore. We're thinking maybe kentucky or tennesse...


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## bluewillow7 (Feb 25, 2013)

...tennesee...


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

I'd just recommend checking the drought maps and don't move into the worst areas. The best to you & hope all goes very well with your move!!!


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

Tennessee.


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## SectorSteve (Nov 29, 2003)

Like many people here, my wife and I also live in WV. We have 14 acres about 25 minutes from Charleston. Plenty of shopping and a fairly good job market. Although most of the land is wooded and on the side of a hill, it would be perfect for goats. We also have room for a garden and a year round creek in front of the house. Utilities are very inexpensive. Natural gas is on budget, 42.00 a month (furnace and water heater). Electric is budget too, 97.00 a month. This is for a 1650 sq ft house and I heat and cool the garage. As much as we like it, we will be moving to Maine when I retire in July 2015 and my wife will take a transfer with her job. 
Steve


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## PThomas (May 20, 2012)

We too are veterans of the Desert. Seeking a more sustainable life style we sold our place and traveled 9 months in our travel trailer covering the States of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. We settled in south central Indiana on an 8 acre property. We built a energy efficient home and started raising our own food. We have now decided to move on to be closer to our daughter and would like to find someone to take over our property. Pictures can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/ We have our property very reasonably priced at $219,000. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you would like more information.


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

BLUEWILLOW 
I out of curosity Googled UNITED COUNTRY REALTY 

Went on search by state. Clicked on Kentucky..
This brought a place to push what type property you wanted to look at. I marked residentual of any type. with at least one bathroom and 5 acres..
Marked minimum price starting at $50.000 Maximum at 175.000 ..It came up with 23 places in that catagory. All over 5 acres up to 63 acres. It includes picture of house and property.. These ads come up one after another by price. 
A few miniutes on there will make you go rent a 
U-Haul


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## bignugly (Jul 13, 2011)

Redbeard said:


> If you donât like wind and are thinking of Illinois understand that it gets pretty windy out here. Going Southbound on I57 the country is flat. In the summer when the corn is up itâs not so bad, but in the winter the wind comes out of the West and thereâs nothing to stop it. With regularity it topples tractor-trailer rigs over on their sides.
> 
> Indiana is a beautiful state but I personally would stay out of the way of the Southern tip of Lake Michigan unless you donât mind a steady dumping of lake effect snow in the winter.
> 
> If I could get up and go right now I would move to Western PA. I have family who live on forty acres off an old country road thatâs butt up against a National Game reserve about twenty minutes out of Washington. It has everything I would want; rolling hills, quiet, secluded, only a few cars per hour driving by and town is only a short drive away. Washington is not a big town but has everything you could need. And if you ever were in the mood for a big city night Pittsburgh is only an hour away. In a lot of ways the country out there remind me of Vermont, but not so secluded.


DON"T even consider Illinois!!! High taxes, less than quality state government, and too high priced. Just saving up to get out of this state ASAP!


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## bluewillow7 (Feb 25, 2013)

...for all the advice! We have decided on Kentucky! We really like the area from what we have researched. We're leaning towards (85% sure) Oldham County, but Bowling Green is a second. Now all we have to do is apply for jobs and see where that takes us. DH is a Diesel Mechanic currently working for the state-okay benefits, great job security but low pay. As long as we can make as much or better, we'll be fine. We're used to living on humble means. Wouldn't mind more input on Oldham county if it's out there! I'll look into the real estate sight posted earlier.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Be sure and check your area on the Drought Records and Predictions. I hope you find a great place!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/2013-midwest-us-drought_n_2566189.html


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