Downtown Indy with Kids? (Indianapolis, Washington: crime, day care, houses)

[PhillyIndy]

We might be moving from Philadelphia to Indianapolis. Right now we live in Center City Philadelphia (Downtown) in an area with a fair number of kids (We have a 2 year old). You can walk to places to eat, parks, and the Museums and can get away with not having a car, although we do have one. We would like to have some of this available to us when we move to Indy.

I lived in Indy about 6 years ago and have some vague familiarity with the area although it seems much has changed. We are interested in St. Joseph's, Old North Side, Chatham Arch, Lockerbie and Fletcher. We would consider Meridian Kessler/Butler Tarkington, but wonder if those areas are a bit more suburban (less walking and more driving to stuff. Nothing wrong with that, just not for us.)

Can people comment on these areas and the "kid friendliness"? Do many people live in these areas with Kids? Where should we live if we want to walk to breakfast and then a park on Saturday mornings?

[sweetana3]

There are only about 2 teenagers living in St. Joseph. The family next door with two little ones left last year. They "imported" kids since she did some limited day care at home to get some kids for hers to play with and make a little money.

There are a few more in the old Northside and the other neighborhoods but the emphasis is on few and far between. There may be more in the new Fall Creek Place. But you will need a car and it is too new to have many of the commercial items you mentioned. I would suggest somewhere near 49th and Penn, 56th and Illinois, some of Broadripple although not right next door to restaurant and bar row. These locations have a nice breakfast spot, small groceries fairly close, nice sidewalks and churches/schools/etc. , walking trails, library, parks, etc. They have really improved the walk along the canal from Butler to Broad Ripple. Lovely place to walk. The Monon Trail goes right thru Broad Ripple and houses that are close are quite desirable now.

We used to live at 56th and Kenwood and it was about the most perfect spot in town. The canal, a grocery and two blocks of nice stores/restaurants plus a bakery were around the corner. We could walk to the Butler Campus along the canal, walk to Broad Ripple for coffee or an organic grocery, etc. Neighbors were of the mid range several with kids and dogs. A range of income and age. Get a map from Mapquest and go to mibor.com and you can check out Washington Township for info. But it goes way up north so keep the map handy.

I personally would not have kids south of 65 in some of the gentrified neighborhoods. You will not have the yards, easy access to friends or schools, more traffic, etc.

[DataEast]

Downtown Indy has changed a lot for the better. It wasnt too good about 15 years ago, but its much nicer and has a lot of neat parks and great museums. The Children's museum is one of the best in the country. I think you'll like it. I suggest taking a trip to visit and see for yourself though.

[domergurl]

You may want to check out Meridian Kessler. That's where I would live.

[billman5000]

I lived downtown til recently (Old Northside) and there's about zero kids living there, plus you can't walk to anything except maybe a crack house.

You'll want to look into private schools too.

Downtown and walking and children is not something people talk about in Indy, unless you're so poor you don't have any choice. The gangs and crime are atrocious.

[benjaminooo]

Originally Posted by billman5000

I lived downtown til recently (Old Northside) and there's about zero kids living there, plus you can't walk to anything except maybe a crack house.

You'll want to look into private schools too.

Downtown and walking and children is not something people talk about in Indy, unless you're so poor you don't have any choice. The gangs and crime are atrocious.

Crack house, in Old Northside? WHAT? I mean, unless you're talking about a rich man with a coke addiction. There is plenty to walk to from the Old Northside, when I lived there I walked/biked to Mass Ave and the city center constantly.

[benjaminooo]

Originally Posted by PhillyIndy

We might be moving from Philadelphia to Indianapolis. Right now we live in Center City Philadelphia (Downtown) in an area with a fair number of kids (We have a 2 year old). You can walk to places to eat, parks, and the Museums and can get away with not having a car, although we do have one. We would like to have some of this available to us when we move to Indy.

I lived in Indy about 6 years ago and have some vague familiarity with the area although it seems much has changed. We are interested in St. Joseph's, Old North Side, Chatham Arch, Lockerbie and Fletcher. We would consider Meridian Kessler/Butler Tarkington, but wonder if those areas are a bit more suburban (less walking and more driving to stuff. Nothing wrong with that, just not for us.)

Can people comment on these areas and the "kid friendliness"? Do many people live in these areas with Kids? Where should we live if we want to walk to breakfast and then a park on Saturday mornings?

I wouldn't choose St. Joseph for a child, but I would definitely consider Chatham Arch, Lockerbie or Fletcher. Those neighborhoods have an "enclosed" feel to them and are definitely close enough to places to walk/bike.

Merdian-Kesller/Butler Tarkington are really great areas, if you choose the right area you can have places to walk to, but to get downtown you'll have to hop on the Monon or take the bus (some "indy" folks will tell you that those are both DANGEROUS!!!@!@), but obviously, they are not. Considering you're coming from Philly.

I think if I was in your position I would heavily consider Lockerbie considering the proximity to downtown, stores and grocery. There is also word on a Target store going up by 2009/2010 basically 2 or 3 blocks away. There are at least 3 parks within walking distance and definitely places to grab breakfast. (I recommend the City Cafe).