Retired, live in Columbus, thinking about a move.... (Bloomington, Lafayette: fit in, apartment complex)

[clc08]

We're retired and both have spent the majority of our lives here in Columbus, Indiana. Both IU grads. Have boomeranged from SWFL since 2011, coming back here in 2022. While Columbus is nice, it has changed, and we miss Trader Joe's and better restaurants, etc. and moving back to FL would be crazy. The traffic, the overbuilding in SW Fl, the price of insurance...just can't do it.

We definitely need no-maintenance apt living...

Bloomington is a great town. But.....we don't want to end up living with a bunch of college kids. Been there.... Any suggestions of a complex catering to people like us?

Want a nice, walkable downtown. Close to some kind of entertainment options. Not party animals. Maybe a concert type of thing. I'm hearing Carmel is getting overbuilt for their infrastructure but Fishers might be an option? Zionsville? Brownsburg?

The problem with Columbus...there really isn't much to do here...I admit I miss watching waterfowl, etc, at the beach but financially moving back to FL would be a no.

We lean towards liberal. I'm babbling, but thought of Foley, AL as a warm weather option, but am concerned we wouldn't fit into the culture.

Our son did his undergrad at Purdue, so I was also thinking of Lafayette/West Lafayette but the darned lake effect makes winters awfully cold.

Ideas????

[Veniceman]

We left Florida (Sarasota area) a year ago and moved to Bloomington. So far we like it here. I'm a native Hoosier and my GF is a native New Yorker. So far we like Bloomington and the college kids don't bother us but we do not live in an apartment complex either. Moving back to Florida would never be an option for us. Living there year around is intolerable with the constant heat and humidity plus all the hordes of people. The daily way of life here is much more laid back. We can't stand being stuck in traffic daily and shopping is a much more pleasant task here in Bloomington. Living in coastal Florida is much like living around NYC because most of the people you'll be around there nowadays are New Yorkers. Some are decent people but there's just too darn many of them. If you move back there you'll be amazed at how things have changed in Florida.

Also, almost any place you move where it is warm you'll be surrounded by retired Boomers. We visited several warm weather places before winding up in Bloomington and all of them had problems. I liked Asheville NC but the housing costs were very expensive there. I liked Marietta GA too but housing costs are also expensive there as well. Also, traffoc is murderous too. It's not easy getting anywhere there. We stayed in Northern KY around Independence for a few days. We just couldn't get a feel for that area.

Columbus is a place I had thought of moving to before we left Florida. Had we not liked Bloomington that was gonna be my next stop. Good luck to you on finding your new home. I know it's a difficult thing to contemplate. 13 years ago before I bought my Florida home I had contemplated moving to the Vegas area. I visited there about 10 times before deciding against that. We do have friends living out there who moved from Florida to Henderson NV. They seem to like it but they are retired physicians and have plenty of dough to afford the cost of living out there.

[WestsideMac]

Zionsville/Brownsburg could be good options.

Zionsville will be more expensive for comparable home in Brownsburg, but has a much better downtown than Brownsburg (still a work in progress). Zionsville can get busy, but their downtown feels small town, hidden away a bit. If you get over towards Whitestown (which is separate but also sort of the same) it gets much busier. Both towns have A TON of development and traffic starting to come their way to keep in mind. Both have most of the shopping you'll need but aren't far from other stores if needed.

Zionsville could also put you closer/easier access to getting to Carmel or downtown Indy for concerts or other entertainment options. I-65 is one of the busiest and most prone to traffic accidents in Indiana though so again there will be good and bad to both.

Brownsburg is developing but it's downtown only has so many options to speak of when eating/shopping. Zionsville has many more options and many small business fronts. Both have access to their town's main park/Town Hall areas for farmer's markets, etc.

Fishers is also a really busy area. Noblesville or even Morse Reservoir living could be options to look at.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by clc08

We're retired and both have spent the majority of our lives here in Columbus, Indiana. Both IU grads. Have boomeranged from SWFL since 2011, coming back here in 2022. While Columbus is nice, it has changed, and we miss Trader Joe's and better restaurants, etc. and moving back to FL would be crazy. The traffic, the overbuilding in SW Fl, the price of insurance...just can't do it.

We definitely need no-maintenance apt living...

Bloomington is a great town. But.....we don't want to end up living with a bunch of college kids. Been there.... Any suggestions of a complex catering to people like us?

Want a nice, walkable downtown. Close to some kind of entertainment options. Not party animals. Maybe a concert type of thing. I'm hearing Carmel is getting overbuilt for their infrastructure but Fishers might be an option? Zionsville? Brownsburg?

The problem with Columbus...there really isn't much to do here...I admit I miss watching waterfowl, etc, at the beach but financially moving back to FL would be a no.

We lean towards liberal. I'm babbling, but thought of Foley, AL as a warm weather option, but am concerned we wouldn't fit into the culture.

Our son did his undergrad at Purdue, so I was also thinking of Lafayette/West Lafayette but the darned lake effect makes winters awfully cold.

Ideas????

I'm in Columbus too and are looking forward to moving away when we retire.

We are looking at moving to Wisconsin, Madison area.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by domergurl

I'm in Columbus too and are looking forward to moving away when we retire.

We are looking at moving to Wisconsin, Madison area.

Speaking as someone who used to live in Dane County for a number of years, Madison offers a number of very nice things, but would be one of the more expensive places to retire to in the Midwest, especially in terms of property taxes. I prefer the Northwoods of Wisconsin, lots of excellent lakes to access, national and state forests, and locally owned shops and restaurants.

[indy_317]

I think Bloomington is a nice, somewhat larger college town. Lots of newer complexes around campus into the downtown area. I think your concerns about college students would be warranted in Bloomington. W. Lafayette would likely have the same issues. Neighboring areas such as Ellettsville just NW of Bloomington and Lafayette east of W. Lafayette might provide options.

I just drove through parts of Carmel I haven't been through for a while. Lots of apartments and/or condos have gone up. The infrastructure issue is exactly why Carmel is OK with these 3-4 story units. More density, more user income (taxes, user fees), so infrastructure doesn't eventually bankrupt the city. Fishers and Noblesville are doing the same thing. Noblesville has at least three recently completed apartment complexes. There is a very small condo row home type complex just NE of the square that might be rentals, not sure.

Also, if you don't care for winter weather, I wouldn't go any further north than the Indy metro area. After living my whole life here, I am over the winter weather. I don't mind seasons, but some streaks of constant subzero temps are getting to me. We don't see to get as much snow as during my younger years, but I can't even stand any snow anymore. The metro area has basically doubled in population with minimal road growth outside various key roadways. Thus there is a higher chance for weather related auto crashes. Plus rush hour, while really not that bad compared to other cities, has gotten worse over the decades due to the growth.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I always thought Columbus was the nicest and cleanest looking of the Indianapolis satellite cities. (Lafayette, Kokomo, Marion, Muncie, New Castle, Richmond, Columbus, Bloomington and Terre Haute.)