Moving from Orange County CA to Carmel IN (Bloomington: college, military)

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by rrah

Even if you are used to suburban living, I don't think you would be happy in Carmel. Carmel is very family oriented. I think you would have a difficult time meeting people in your age range there that had time for a single friend.

My daughter frequently runs on the Monon trail in Carmel. While it's humid in the summer there are actually few days one cannot run because of the humidity and heat. She typically will run early in the day on weekends or after 6 or 7. It stays light until 9:30 or so in the summer. Mosquitos won't be a problem when you are running.

There aren't any exclusively vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Carmel, but several places offer vegetarian or vegan options.

If you are serious about moving to Indiana I'd recommend you consider living in Indianapolis--perhaps the Mass Ave. or Fountain Square areas would suit you. Indianapolis is pretty suburban compared to many cities.

Agreed. For what it's worth, I'm around the OP's age and lived in Carmel for three years and moved back to my hometown in August.

OP, first, completely forget Anderson. My ex lived there and it's a dying town 15+ miles from the outskirts of the Indianapolis suburbs. It's not a terrible place - the people there seem quite a bit nicer than Indy and it's less hurried, but the job market locally is awful and I certainly wouldn't move there without ties. It's not the type of place that gets transplants.

Visible tattoos (and anything that makes you "stick out") will be frowned upon in Carmel. Would anyone be outright rude? Probably not, but they'll form an opinion of you just because of that. It's a "country club Republican" atmosphere.

I don't know anything about the vegetarian dining scene in Carmel, but there is a strong slant toward locally sourced and responsibly raised food. The farmers markets in the Indy metro are excellent. Carmel has an excellent variety of grocery stores (Whole Foods, Earthfare, Fresh Market, a terrific Kroger, and a regional chain called Fresh Thyme that is my favorite) where you can get about anything you want. I would assume there would be more pure vegetarian/vegan options in the city proper.

Carmel has a great arts scene for a suburb, if you're into that. Still, it's not an edgy scene at all. Think buttoned up wealthy people taking in a play - more high culture than an edgy art scene.

I don't think it's a good place for singles, or at least singles under 50 or so. I only had families living on my floor at my apartment complex in Carmel. I didn't know anyone at least in my building who was single. You'll very rarely run into other single young adults in the suburbs - Carmel is mostly couples and a handful of middle aged divorcees.

For day to day life, life in Carmel is easy. It's extremely safe, getting around Carmel itself is easy enough, and it has everything you need if you include Castleton and some other shopping close by on the north side of Indianapolis.

If you're interested in going out during the week and participating in a lot of younger-focused activities and meeting people closer to your own age, I'd definitely live in one of the city neighborhoods mentioned. If you're more of a homebody and value convenience and safety over the urban amenities, Carmel might work. I had a coworker who was 29 and owned a townhome in Carmel - he loves it, but only goes out on the weekends. Most of the rest of my coworkers were late 20s - early 30s, and all but me and this one person lived in the city.

Also, keep in mind that Carmel has a lot of "civic pride," and that's being nice about it. There is a decently sized and fairly loud contingent that wants to promote Carmel as the best thing ever, and a small, but also loud, group of people who think Carmel is making all the wrong decisions. It's a nice community, but the hype can be a bit much.

There's also a lot of pressure to keep up with the Joneses.

[WildWestDude]

Per the OP's enquiry, the Lake Michigan beaches and dunes are nice but different from SoCal. First the obvious, you can only enjoy it for some three months and the water is very cold. You won't get the masses that want to people watch and be seen and there are no real boardwalk areas or many businesses so when you go there you go to enjoy the sandy beach. Some light hiking can be done in the woods areas behind the beach of Indiana Dunes N.P. Nearby, Michigan City has a boat casino and some an outlet mall.

Indiana is slower paced and plain compared to SoCal and the people more down to earth. There's some variation in the state not only in geography but also culture. Indy gives you a taste of the south while NW Indiana (the Region) is part of the Chicagoland area.

[missik999]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Lets be real. Many will not be outwardly rude about neck and sleeve tats but they are not going to pay you 65k to manage their office(maybe 45-50k in Indy).

Business owners and artists often can dress however they like, have long bright colored hair, and have tattoos, piercings etc.

Not many banks, medical offices or financial institutions, or schools is going to want someone with visible tattoos.

The banks where I have worked even discourage men from having facial hair and short hair is definitely encouraged. Women are also encouraged to dress conservatively but have a little more leeway.

I agree.

Maybe you could apply at Finish Line corporate headquarters on the east side of Indy. You won't make anywhere near $65K but they do hire employees with tattoos.

I work for a healthcare company that has clinics and offices throughout the Midwest as well as some other states. We don't hire anyone with visible tattoos at all, for any position, even inside sales, accounting and other areas that have no contact with the public.

It's a great company and we have no problem finding and retaining employees with professional appearances. In a recent employee survey we reached 100% job satisfaction and 100% satisfied with pay and benefits, how rare is that?

[masters1]

Check out the Broad Ripple area of Indy. A lot of bars and restaurants out your back door.

[sheerbliss]

Broad Ripple is a neat place to visit (and there are a lot of vegetarian options along College and Broad Ripple Streets), but I wouldn't live there. It's all either on or within a few blocks of a wide flood plain.

[junebug_77]

I was just in SoCal last week. Love the weather I've spent the last year in Denver, but up until that point my whole life in southern IL. We're in the process of moving to Indy for my job. That said, Indy is much much more conservative than Cali when it comes to visible tattoos. It would be difficult to find a job in a professional environment that interacts with the public. If you have a very strong resume, you may have luck in an office environment in a warehouse setting (lots of opportunity in that respect), and shouldn't have an issue at the pay rate you stipulated. Regarding the weather- the winters are a big bummer. The snow is wet and hangs around forever in dirty mounds once they plow it. Ice many times accompanies the snow. The summers are nasty humid. I've so much enjoyed the dryness of Denver, and not looking forward to going back to the awful summer and winter of the Midwest. That said, although brief, the spring and autumn are usually quite lovely. Tons of rain in the spring, however.

[masters1]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

Broad Ripple is a neat place to visit (and there are a lot of vegetarian options along College and Broad Ripple Streets), but I wouldn't live there. It's all either on or within a few blocks of a wide flood plain.

I've lived here for 20 years and cannot remember one significant flooding incident in Broad Ripple since I have been here.

[missik999]

Originally Posted by masters1

I've lived here for 20 years and cannot remember one significant flooding incident in Broad Ripple since I have been here.

Just earlier this year, April, I think, a flash flood shut down some Broad Ripple restaurants and flooded residential basements.

Two of the restaurants that were closed due to flood damage were Petite Chou and Flatwater. I remember seeing on the news that some diners had to be carried out of Petite Chou because the water rose so quickly, although that could have been overdramatized.

Both of those restaurants had to do major repairs and rebuilding before they reopened.

The streets were flooded too, stranding many motorists.

[Humboldt1]

If you are thinking about getting visible tattoo and want a high paying office job, DON'T.

[sheerbliss]

Originally Posted by masters1

I've lived here for 20 years and cannot remember one significant flooding incident in Broad Ripple since I have been here.

Broad Ripple flooded in late August this year and in 2012. It has a serious enough flooding problem that there are plans to build a levee.

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