North Indy from Chicago suburbs (Indianapolis, Anderson: renting, custom home, neighborhoods)

[LIChick]

We're contemplating a move from Western suburbs of Chicago to north Indy. Hubby's job would be in Fischers and we'd like to keep commute to 30 min or less. Two kids - 4 & 7. Budget in low $400s.
We LOVE our current town and I'm heartbroken that we might have to move (no offense Indy!)
Things I currently love include:
- small town feel in the suburbs (Wheaton - about 55,000 people - close knit community)
- fantastic park district with so many facilities and classes for kids and adults. Not to mention all the great forest preserves nearby! We love the outdoors.
- top notch schools (such a great elementary school - small, active PTA, great opportunities)

Thinking of Zionsville or Westfield for small town feel. Anyone who can help me compare these towns to my current area? Any other towns within 1/2 hour of west Fischers taht we should also consider?
Thanks for any thoughts and feedback!!!

[ischyros]

I would look into Noblesville. It has about 57,000 people but it is growing. Not seemingly as fast as Fishers and Carmel, though. It has a very nice town square downtown with little shops, antique stores, and restaurants around it. It's pretty compact around the downtown core but spreads out a lot as you get east of SR 37. It would be a pretty quick drive in Fishers. It has Forest Park with is a nice, heavily wooded park with a couple playgrounds, picnic shelters, mini golf, carousel, and aquatic area. And it's not far from Cicero who's little downtown has some nice local restaurants popular in the summer since Cicero is located on Morse Reservoir. There's a very popular YMCA in Fishers that has a lot of programs. The Hamilton East library, which has branches in Noblesville and Fishers, also has a lot of programs. But if you get a library card at Hamilton East library, you can use any library in Hamilton County, so even libraries in Carmel, Westfield, and Sheridan.

Forest areas are hard to find due to the fact that much of what is the Indy suburbs used to be farmland. Nearby Strawtown Koteewi Park has zip lining, bike trails, horse trails, and an areal adventure and treetop trail, and an archery range. If you head into Anderson, not too far way, there is Mounds State Park which is a wooded area with trails and ancient Indian mounds. Or down in Lawrence just outside Indianapolis is Fort Harrison State Park with a lot of hiking trails back in the woods.

Noblesville schools may not get the attention Carmel and Fishers schools get, but they are still very good schools.

[Henderson59]

I would just live in FIshers. Its a nice suburb and you will be close to work.

[rrah]

I lived in the western suburbs for 15 years so am very familiar with Wheaton although I never lived there.

Personally, I think Zionsville and Westfield will put you at more than a 30 minute commute to Fishers--depends on where in Fishers though.

Overall Zionsville maybe most like Wheaton, but it's much, much smaller and some of the areas that feed into the schools are more rural. Housing is pricier here than some of the places in Hamilton County.

Carmel's downtown will be most similar to Wheaton. The big downside to Carmel in terms of schools is the size of the high school. It's over 5000 students now. Personally I would never want my kids in a high school that size. I realize your years away from that, but it's worth considering. I don't see them splitting it anytime soon.

Westfield--don't know a lot about it, but it's kind of just a suburb with no real sense of place--my opinion.

The Noblesville suggestion is a good one I think. It's a little, not much, farther from the kind of shopping you're used to in Wheaton, but it's a nice little town.

Fishers downtown, although improving greatly, doesn't compare to Wheaton's. I also feel like Fishers is really spread out, and except for the size (larger) is a great option.

My top 3 suggestions for you: Fishers, Noblesville and Zionsville.

[Serious Conversation]

If you're working at the 116/69 intersection (exit 205), it is an absolute mess. I worked there last year, and it would sometimes take me 10-15 minutes to get out of my office onto 116 over to the Target. I could see the Target from my office. Don't underestimate traffic in this area. With IKEA construction going on, anything along that area is worse.

Zionsville has a quaint, charming downtown area, but is quite expensive. Out of these, it retains the best small town feel IMO.

Noblesville also has a nice downtown, with quite a bit of big box shopping (Meijer, Best Buy, etc.) along 37 going back toward Fishers. You won't need to leave Noblesville/Fishers for essentials on a daily basis. It feels slightly less affluent and more "real" than all the new development in Fishers/Westfield.

Westfield is kind of blah. No real "there there."

[LIChick]

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies! I will definitely consider Noblesville. So glad to hear it has a good library. I forgot to mention that in my post, we are heavy library users. Serious Conv, it's funny you mention that intersection & the target. His office would be just north of that target. Hopefully that would make a commute to Noblesville easier. Thanks again all. This is so helpful to get me pointed in the right direction!

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by LIChick

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies! I will definitely consider Noblesville. So glad to hear it has a good library. I forgot to mention that in my post, we are heavy library users. Serious Conv, it's funny you mention that intersection & the target. His office would be just north of that target. Hopefully that would make a commute to Noblesville easier. Thanks again all. This is so helpful to get me pointed in the right direction!

If he doesn't have to go all the way to 116, then it won't be as bad, especially if coming southbound from Noblesville. He will be going "with the flow" and catch the rush hour jams, but not the mess directly related to 116. 37 can get busy through there, but is not all that bad compared to the interstate, and should not be bad coming from Noblesville.

[erickmoore]

We moved here in 2011 from a Chicago suburb. I worked in Lisle for many years and am quite familiar with Wheaton. We rented on the far east side of Carmel right on the western edge of Fishers when we moved down, and I would strongly recommend renting first to get a feel for the area. We moved to Whitestown/Zionsville about 3 years ago and are very happy here, but we were also happy in Carmel. We have a 4 and 7 year old also, and you won't go wrong with any of the northern suburbs, especially as far as schools are concerned. I think Zionsville is akin to St. Charles/Geneva, Carmel is like Naperville, Noblesville is DeKalb (although much closer geographically, once very rural, but now growing fast), Westfield, maybe like Warrenville?, and Fishers is probably Schaumburg, only with more residential and less retail/commercial.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by LIChick

We're contemplating a move from Western suburbs of Chicago to north Indy. Hubby's job would be in Fischers and we'd like to keep commute to 30 min or less. Two kids - 4 & 7. Budget in low $400s.
We LOVE our current town and I'm heartbroken that we might have to move (no offense Indy!)
Things I currently love include:
- small town feel in the suburbs (Wheaton - about 55,000 people - close knit community)
- fantastic park district with so many facilities and classes for kids and adults. Not to mention all the great forest preserves nearby! We love the outdoors.
- top notch schools (such a great elementary school - small, active PTA, great opportunities)

Thinking of Zionsville or Westfield for small town feel. Anyone who can help me compare these towns to my current area? Any other towns within 1/2 hour of west Fischers taht we should also consider?
Thanks for any thoughts and feedback!!!

Don't set yourself up for disappointment by expecting to find an equivalent to Wheaton in Central Indiana. Not only is Weaton one of the highest income cities in the nation, it's a more well established suburb with a longer history than any of the Indy suburbs outside of Marion County, with the exception of Carmel, most were not even considered suburbs of Indianapolis until the 70's and 80's. .

[indy_317]

For the small town feel, Zionsville and Noblesville will be the best bet. That being said, I really only say this given that their downtown areas have that small town feel. The fact is, the entire area is growing and once you get away from those downtown core areas, it basically feels like the suburbs. Growth has pretty much taken up most of the surround land in both of these areas.

The only other option I would suggest is SW Madison County/Pendleton schools. This area still has a somewhat small town feel, but depending on where you live in the district will determine your lifestyle. Some live closer to the eastern edge of Hamilton County/Fishers/Fortville, so trips to the Hamilton County mall are pretty easy and quick (The mall is technically in Noblesville). However, there has been a lot of single family homes being built since we moved here, mostly custom homes on former farm lots or wooded lots. I'm not sure of any new large neighborhoods going in, all of these are just over the county line in Fishers (mostly due to school choice). Once that area is all developed the SW corner of Madison County or the areas in Hancock County around the town of Fortville (Mt. Vernon Schools), will likely be next. You would likely get somewhat more for your money in the SW Madison County area than you would in Noblesville or Zionsville.

Fortville's library is small. That township for some reason never combined with the Hancock County system and as such, they don't offer as much. Pendleton's library is nice. My wife uses it a lot and also gets downloads to her reader through their website. I've been in there a few times and they have an entire room for teens only. Their town is really nice, with a park and library on the north side (and their outdoor pool) and a nice downtown area that has seen growth since we moved here. Most of the library and park systems in Hamilton and Boone County are going to be very nice as well, as they have the money and don't have to deal with a lot of the social issues larger urban centers have to divert money to.