Young family possibly moving to Indianapolis (Fishers, Carmel: apartments, crime, homes)

[Jriddy5000son]

Hi everyone! I am a 34 yo male in the IT profession, and my family and I wish to move to somewhere new. We have lived in Upstate NY our whole lives and want the combination of the city with the nice feel of country living not far away.

My children are 5 and 2, and we obviously want somewhere safe. I have been a Colts and Notre Dame fan forever so obviously as a sports fan Indy intrigues me. I have been to the city and loved it after watching the amazing Colts vs Seahawks game last year.

I have been reading a lot of gloom and doom online. High homicides, #1 pedestrian deaths, etc and wondered how dangerous this city really is? I know there is bad parts and I have researched a lot, but all of the information is a bit overwhelming.

I would love insight on everything, and while people mention Fishers and Carmel a lot, all of our searches (for 3br 1.5) are around 1500-2000 for apartments/homes. We would be looking at 1000 or less or maybe a bit over.

Thanks for the help!

Joe

[indy_317]

I've lived here my entire life, growing up in the suburbs on the east side. Indy traditionally has been a lower cost of living city, but I see that changing to some extent. Home prices have rebounded, and local governments continue to push for higher fees and taxes. Not sure how this will play out. We suffer from not having a draw like a huge lake, mountains, oceans, etc.. The metro area is mostly flat unless you get to the SW side, meaning the more popular places to camp, ride mountain bikes, hike, etc. in a woodland hills environment is going to be a decent drive from the city. We do have plenty of smaller lakes and reservoirs that are popular for boating/weekend getaways.

Crime is bad, but the types of crimes that unattached victims are part of are bad everywhere in the country (burglaries, theft, etc.). The chances of being a victim of a home invasion robbery, mugging, carjacking, etc. is much lower, and even lower for homicide. But, the higher the crimes and the more of them, then there become a need for additional jail/prison space, more prosecutors/courts, and maybe even more police. This all translates into higher taxation. Best thing you can do is just figure you will be spending $30/month for an alarm system. If you won't spend the money for that, don't be surprised if your stuff ends up taken at some point in the future. Some areas are safer than others, for now. Heroin is getting bad here and the addicts steal to feed their addiction.

Zionsville, Fishers, Carmel are all going to be costly places to live. Under them I would put Brownsburg, Center Grove area (NW corner of Johnson Co. south of Indy), Noblesville, and Westfield. Other places that might be more affordable are Avon, Plainfield, McCordsville, Pendleton, Greenfield, Shelbyville, New Palestine, etc.. Depends on how far out you want to live. There are affordable places in Indy as well, though I don't think I could ever live in the county/city with all the pay-to-play political stuff and calls for higher taxes on all fronts.

I have three relatives in IT, all do well, seem to be plenty of jobs. Typical basic help desk stuff likely won't pay that great, but advanced knowledge of database stuff usually gets decent to great pay. Two of them actually work for companies located in Cincinatti and Louisville, they get to work from home or travel every so often, so don't limit your job search to just Indy.

[Jriddy5000son]

Thanks for the replies! Yeah we have decisions to make. I love the country, but would also like to experience the city side of things and its ease of use (shopping, entertainment, restaurants, etc). I have heard Avon come up a lot lately.

[Jriddy5000son]

It's just frustrating, because every time I find a "good" area, I see someone say something bad about it, then another says something good.

[UsernameAlreadyTaken]

Originally Posted by Jriddy5000son

It's just frustrating, because every time I find a "good" area, I see someone say something bad about it, then another says something good.

Consider any place in the world. People will say good things and others will say bad things. It doesn't mean either one is wrong, you just have to prioritize your wants and needs and go from there.

[Jriddy5000son]

Originally Posted by UsernameAlreadyTaken

Consider any place in the world. People will say good things and others will say bad things. It doesn't mean either one is wrong, you just have to prioritize your wants and needs and go from there.

Good point. I hear good things about Traders Point, Avon, Washington Township, and Irvington, and even Westfield came up outside of the city in awesome rankings.

Thoughts on these?

[Jriddy5000son]

Brownsburg looks like a nice balance of everything too.

[ruascott]

Originally Posted by Jriddy5000son

Good point. I hear good things about Traders Point, Avon, Washington Township, and Irvington, and even Westfield came up outside of the city in awesome rankings.

Thoughts on these?

These are all vastly different. Any would be just fine, but depends upon what you think is important. Irvington is more of an urban feel than the others. Westfield is about a 180 from Irvington in every way. For some that could be a positive or a negative.

[Jriddy5000son]

Yeah I realize some are more suburban than others. I don't want to be completely in the middle of nowhere, which Westfield seems like, not yet at least. Brownsburg seemed to have that balance of both, and Irvington looked nice but I heard it's surrounded by "bad" areas.

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by Jriddy5000son

Yeah I realize some are more suburban than others. I don't want to be completely in the middle of nowhere, which Westfield seems like, not yet at least. Brownsburg seemed to have that balance of both, and Irvington looked nice but I heard it's surrounded by "bad" areas.

Brownsburg feels more in the middle of nowhere than Westfield, in my opinion. Westfield is growing very quickly and is close to all of the shopping areas around Carmel. If I were searching for suburban rentals other than Carmel, Fishers, and Zionsville, which you said are more expensive than you'd like to pay, I would make Westfield and Noblesville my top two choices. When it comes to the suburbs, I am biased towards the north side. It just has much more to offer than any of the other counties surrounding Indianapolis.

Irvington is much different than any of the communities I mentioned above. It's in an urban area, so yes there is crime around, but the neighborhood itself is safe. You may also want to consider the areas around Broad Ripple and Nora. Broad Ripple is a younger area with a lot of nightlife along Broad Ripple Ave, but all of the areas surrounding the center of Broad Ripple are pretty nice. There are also excellent restaurants in Broad Ripple and along College Ave to the south. Nora is a more suburban area of Indianapolis centered around 86th St. on the north side. I mention it because it has the best public schools in Marion County, Washington Township Schools. It is also much more convenient to get around the city than any of the suburbs in the surrounding counties.