plainfield/avon? (Indianapolis: real estate market, amusement parks, how much)

[j9ingr]

Might be moving to the area. Coming from Kentucky and have a few questions. I see that the housing is very reasonable, but how much are the taxes? In Kentucky they are low... but housing is more expensive. Are Plainfield and Avon good schools? I have a son in Middle School and is very good at athletics. Also how are the roads in the winter go west out of these areas?

[domergurl]

The property tax situation is in total flux right now. Some counties haven't even sent out bills yet, some are being reassesed completely. So giving a good answer to the tax question is kind of hard at this point.

[DarkEyes]

I grew up in Avon and can say the schools are very good. I'm not shure about housing being reasonable. I think its very expencive to live in Avon or Plainfield, thats why I moved to Indianapolis

[becko]

I'm from Kentucky and believe me looove Kentucky ; it will always be my home . Due to my husband's career, we are in this area. We chose it, since he does a lot of flying with his job. The airport is far enough away it's not an issue, but it is close enough that it's only about 15-20 minutes tops to get there depending on time of day. So that's a perk! We have three children, and Avon/Plainfield are both affordable with wonderful schools. It depends on who you talk to who will say which school is better-- Our particular elementary school in Avon was 9th in the state last year a perfect 10 on greatschools.net (which i encourage you to check out) Due to the growth , there has been a new elementary ( state of the art) built next to the one I was mentioning. There is a lot of growth here, and there has been some redistricting ( sp). So I'm not sure how that will shake out -- I'd like to see the data next year for ISTEP scores etc-- Real estate is going to be much more affordable than say Lexington or Louisville area depending on where you live in KY ( but also may sell slower due to lots of inventory etc etc). Indiana has been inundated even more so than KY with neighborhood after subdivision being built -- some call them vinyl villages. At any rate the real estate market is slow here , if you need to resell quickly you might not break even but could. You can get quite a lot of house for the money for say 250K- for 500K you can get a very nice home here. The taxes are a little higher here than in surrounding counties or so I have heard. Now there's been a huge tax issue (as someone else noted) going on here on property taxes ( check indystar.com for info)-- there's a lot of controversy and the neighboring marion co. taxes were sky high increasing as much as 300% ( but a reassessment has been ordered etc etc) . I dont' understand it all---Hendricks co. ( plainfield, avon, brownsburg, danville etc) didn't increase as much but did see an increase. You will pay more property taxes here than in Lexington or Louisville, but you can get a lot more house for the money. For example a 3000 sq ft house here for 250 might be about 4K in taxes for the year ( 2 k paid twice a year)-- As far as for your children, it's a wonderful place to raise a family at least we think so so far -- There are a lot of amenities to being in a friendly growing community like this. Plainfield has an out of this world aquatic center that rivals some amusement parks with its water park/- Splash Island-- I joined relatively inexpensively as an avon resident, and plainfield residents get an additional discounts. If you live in a neighboring community I believe that admission is free -- It's a glorified YMCA very very nice-- There's the Children's museum downtown which is outstanding offering many programs and exhibits and a very reasonable family membership ( check out their website)-- The zoo is also nice and boasts a new dolphin pavillion as well as a shark exhibit ( which we haven't seen yet but hear good things)-- We have some lovely town parks as well in the avon/plainfield area. in 05 an upscale mall was built called "Metropolis" --- At any rate I've told you prob more than you wanted to know-- good luck in making your decision to move here- I think you'll be happy here hth

[becko]

oh i forgot to say regarding snow- not as big of an issue here- we have a lot more salt trucks than pretty much anywhere in KY lol- and it is a lot more flat here, so that helps too- School doesn't get cancelled too often but does occasionally- you might want one 4wd vehicle in case, but it's not a huge issue really. being from ky, i know it is a much bigger deal there to deal with snow-- here people really do not slow down for it much at all , unless it's really bad-- -- -as far as sports, i'm not a big help on that. Avon HS boasts a nationally ranked marching band which is awesome- I believe the highschool sports are strong as well or so i've heard - not sure on intermediate/ jr high level. soccer- wrestling, football, basketball are all offered i know offhand- check out the avon corporation website for more info and email admin etc-- hth