Friendly Small Town
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10/10/2012
I moved away from Elkhart and returned 20 years later. During my time away I lived in many locations around the west coast - but mostly in Arizona. The last couple of years since I've returned have been just great. I found that most people who complain about Elkhart are the people who never do anything. There are things to do here and plenty of great people to meet. Our family has made more friends faster in this area than any other area we've lived. We've met some really wonderful people and made some good friends. Again, these people do things - they're involved in their community and they're active.
The parks here are beautiful. My favorite is OxBow park - it's gorgeous any time of year (yes you can go to this park all year round, hike, bike, ski, sleigh) , it is really well kept and they have a lot of activities year-round sponsored by Elkhart County parks. Bonneyville Mill is another park my family goes to often. There are plenty more in the area - plus rivers and lakes galore!
There are a lot of the standard commercialized stores/restaurants and a few local gems here and there. The selection isn't as abundant as Chicago, so we try to support those local businesses, and because of this, we've made more friends and found our experience here become richer.
It is a great place because you're so close to many other cute little towns and cities - we frequently go to Goshen, Warsaw, Wakarusa, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, South Bend, and we're just a train ride to Chicago and we go there often to visit all the great museums, restaurants and sites with out paying for living there.
All and all, our experience here as been great! We love how close we've become to people so quickly here - they just seem friendlier than in other places. No, Elkhart is not a sandy beach town on the ocean nor is it a huge city - it's a small town in the midwest full of friendly locals and transplants such as myself, not tourists, so people are truly interested in connecting and getting involved in their community.
Sarsl | Elkhart, IN