Indiana is GREAT! We are an hour from Indy but you could get closer. Real estate is very inexpensive here. Taxes in our county are unbelievable. We have 8 1/2 acres with a 2000+ SFT house and a barn and pay less than $300 a year in property taxes. Our house recently appraised for $130K in our re-finance. We have many, many retirees who have moved here in the past few years from Chicago and points north because it is so cheap to live here. We get all 4 season here but it's not too bad in either summer or winter. Up in northern Indiana they get a lot of lake effect snow in the winter that we don't get here in west central Indiana. Can you tell I love my state? Now if we just had a different governor it would be perfect!