SperlingViews - Mishawaka, Indiana

In Northern Indiana the Summers can get very warm and humid, often producing thunderstorms or tornadoes. Unfortunately, the Summers seems to go by so fast, sometimes not getting really warm til late June with temps up in the 90's with high humidity. Then Fall has arrived by October, where the scenery can be very beautiful colors that come with the change of the season. Temps can vary, it could be in the 80's and then it has been known to snow on October 19th many of years past. Next is WINTER, where it can produce very cold temps and very high snow totals. The city is situated in South Bend, which is the South Bend of Lake Michigan. With this we get Lake Effect snow often, because Lake Michigan is so huge and takes long to freeze that when a system passes over it and picks up all the moisture from the lake and then it dumps the snow on us. In the winter it can get as cold or colder as minus 15 below zero and has been a part of the history behind the Blizzard of 78' where we received A LOT of snow. Don't remember the total exactly, just when you looked out the window of your home you could not see across the street. It could have been as much as 4 to 5 feet of snow with drifts of snow higher. I was in 5th grade and school was closed for 2 weeks, which was great. Spring is next and that can produce thunderstorms and tornadoes, and this part of Indiana was included in the great tornado outbreak of April of 74 and also the Famous Palm Sunday tornadoes where my grandparents house and farm was destroyed as they were safe in the basement in Wyatt, Indiana. The storms come from the warm weather moving back into the area and mixing with the cold that is still here from winter. [read more...]

There is no growth. Through construction there is the appearance of growth, but no real growth. There are many new building laying vacant. Many old ones that are losing tenants. Businesses constrict hours to cut costs. Many are closing. There are good solid facilities that are just derelict. It is a sad thing to see.[read more...]

I just gotta get away from the in-laws, only reason I am looking for a place to move![read more...]

Having moved here from Canada, I can say this is a wonderful area. The winters are shorter than up north and not as cold - but they do get lake effect weather from Lake Michigan - lots of snow, thunderstorms and the occasional tornados. The people are friendly and all the conveniences of a large town are here and what you cannot find you can travel 2 hours to Chicago and 3 hours to Indianapolis for the large city feeling. The one concern I do have is the medical is not up to standards. My wife is diabetic and while visiting several diabetic doctors in the area we did not get the assistance we required. We eventually started seeing a doctor in Indianapolis. Other than that the mainstream medical facilities are up to date and nice.[read more...]