Moving to South Bend, Indiana

January 20, 2008 5:27 AM

I am looking for a good area of South Bend, Indiana to live. I am moving for a new job (which I got thanks to mefi help!!) and am looking for apartments. I do not know the area whatsoever. I have around $700 a month to spend and need it to house two people. Any thoughts on locations and what areas to avoid? I know I can browse online but do not even know what are the better (safer) areas...
posted by snap_dragon to home & garden (4 comments total)

I went to college in South Bend. $700 is pretty cheap, but you should still be able to find something decent. Overall, it's sort of run down, but a very safe small city. There are several apartment complexes that cater to Notre Dame students, so definitely avoid those unless you like rowdy keg parties.
posted by emd3737 at 8:04 AM on January 20, 2008

Try the Maple Lane apartments, its over by the airport....I loved it. The buildings are set up like houses with four apartments in each building. There's a pool and weight room and washer and dryer in each unit.

It is nice and quiet and on a huge lot...I used to walk my dog around the back...but its still easy access to the highway and its close to shopping.

http://www.apartmentcities.com/indiana/d/maple_lane_IN.asp


STAY AWAY from Castle Point. Its overrun with ND students, and when I dispatched PD we spent a TON of time there. I so wanted to live there because it looks SO cool with round living rooms and all castley looking :)
posted by legotech at 9:55 AM on January 20, 2008

Castle Point and Turtle Creek are overrun by ND/SMC students. So stay away from there (they're not in that great of shape and they can be very rowdy).

Generally, and this is VERY generally - Granger is wealthier, Mishawaka is more middle-class. I have a few dear friends from college who settled in the South Bend area in Mishawaka. It's very friendly and family-oriented.

In this market, if you have a down payment, you may be able to purchase a home in Mishawaka and find a mortgage for about $700 a month. You'd have to look a bit but it is not unheard of to find inexpensive housing in that area.

When you move there, I highly recommend CJ's Bar (which recently reopened after a construction accident) for great hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Go there when the school year's over to avoid the students. I loved that place so much I had my graduation party there when I got my BA.

Let me know if you need any more suggestions or recommendations. :)
posted by MeetMegan at 10:18 AM on January 20, 2008

I'm a law student, and I own a house in south bend. Real estate is cheap, you may want to consider buying (my house is a 3 bedroom and my mortgage is under $700/mo.). Generally speaking, I wouldn't live south or west of downtown. That said, a lot of the good/bad areas are very block-by-block. I live on a great street, but you don't have to go very far to get to some seedy areas. Mishawaka is pretty safe, but the whole grape road area is all big box stores and strip malls. Some apartment complexes popular with the grad students (mostly because they're not popular with the undergrads) are Indian Lakes and Mainstreet Village, which are nearly identical to each other. I also like The Pointe, which is right on the river, though its proximity to downtown makes some people nervous about safety.

MeFi mail me if you have some more specific questions
posted by craven_morhead at 2:23 PM on January 20, 2008