From California to Indiana? (Indianapolis, Gary: crime, houses, neighborhood)

[digdug]

We're a family of four living in Northern California, about 70 miles north of San Francisco.

Our goal is to leave California within the next few years. I won't go into all the reasons we want to leave, I think anyone who has lived in California or has friends/relatives in Califonia has heard all of ad nauseum.

My wife is a 1st grade teacher and the kids are in grade school. I work for a software company. I'm hoping that I'll be able to telecommute to work; I am currently doing this 2-3 days per week anyway...what would another 2 days be? lol.

We're interested in the mid-west, specifically Indiana or Ohio as we've got family in PA that we'd like to be somewhat close to.

Currently our little town has a out 24,000 people. We'd like something along this size, that is not too close to the big cities while still being a manageable drive if needed.

What's good about Indiana? Is it better in the north, south, east or west of the state? What gotchas might there be?

[digdug]

Come on, what's a guy got to do to get an opinion around here?

[j33]

The city-data forum is pretty slow so answers don't come all that quick. I'm not the best person to answer you, so someone else feel free to come along and correct/lambast me, go for it, as I'm a Chicagoan who went to college in Indiana and have some family that now lives in the northwest part of the state (that is for all intents and purposes, suburbs of the Chicago complete with commuter trains, pollution, and heavy traffic).

The northwest part of indiana is exactly what I said above, a heavy manufacturing part of the state with heavy industry and a history of steel production. Some parts along the lakeshore are beautiful (Chesterson), some parts are struggling (Gary).

The only thing I know about the central part of the state is Indianapolis and cornfields. Indianapolis is an okay city, but it is a driving sprawling city with a very conservative feel to it (which may or may not appeal to you). Housing there is very inexpensive and they don't have much in the way of a crime problem. I have some friends that lived there for years, but left for the northwest west-coast (where they are happier), and while I enjoyed visiting them, there was something about Indianpolis that just never sat right with me (perhaps it was the residual uneasiness of the city having no shoreline, I like my cities and towns to be on or close to water). However, I'll say it again, the housing there is amazingly inexpensive for a city. There are also small towns and surburbs that are so far out they fell like small towns dotting the landscape surrounding Indy.

The southern part of the state is where Bloomington (home of Indiana University, my alma mater). This part of state (outside of the college town of Bloomington) take on a decidedly southern feel and the landscape changes from the midwestern flat to rolling hills (so does the local accent . Some parts of the state down there (such as brown county) are lovely and have that small town feel to it, other parts struck me as oddly provincial and backwards.

There you have it.

[digdug]

Conservative doesn't bother me in the least bit. My wife and I are both pretty conservative. We're living in a pretty liberal area now.

I've heard good things about Avon, Indiana. Can anyone vouch for this town? One thing I am worried about is being too close to a major, sprawling city. I don't want to be close in enough that I am right under a flight path for a major airport.

Another question I would ask is in the newer developments, how close are the houses built to each other? We moved out of our last neighborhood because the houses ( as is typical in California now) were about 10 feet from each other. Our back yard was a joke. The side yards were so small that two people could not stand shoulder to shoulder.

Ideally I would love to find a newer development that has lots which are oversized, do they do half-acre lots in Indiana? That would be very very nice.

[domergurl]

I live in Fishers, Indiana. Just outside of Indianapolis. It's the fastest growing town in Indiana (pop. roughly 50K)... #33 on the best places to live in America. We moved here after living in Chicago for 10 years and NW Indiana (Valparaiso for 2 years). Zionsville, Carmel & Fishers are the 3 burbs topping Indianapolis on the north. Noblesville & Westfield are the next layer north. I can get anywhere I need to go in 20-30 minutes from where I live. The schools are all very good. It's conservative ... which is troublesome for me, but I manage. Very evangelical republican.

You'll be in for some major reverse sticker shock coming from California. Property taxes are low. The roads are pretty good. No public transit. As for culture ... Indianapolis and carmel have symphony orchestras. There's plenty of local theater. A cute zoo, a fantastic children's museum, the Colts, the Pacers ... it's just smaller scale. But be prepared, the food is HORRIBLE here. It's bland. That's about the only major gripe that I have.

Avon, Plainfield ... all very nice, but close to the airport. Fishers has a large lake, as does Noblesville. It gets humid as heck in the summer, but it's not that cold in the winter. It's more icy than anything else.

If you want more rural, check out Mccordsville/Fortville. I don't know if you have kids, but their schools are good as well. Carmel, Fishers & Avon schools are HUGE, but highly rated. Zionsville schools are also very good, but not as big. Not sure what you are looking for in that area.

Anyway ... feel free to pm me if you want more information. I'm giving you the highlights and I can think of them.

Indiana University (my alma mater too!), Purdue and Notre Dame are all very good schools. Sometimes it's hard to believe that those 3 schools are all in Indiana.

[hapaleeretired]

Check out Franklin, Whiteland or Greenwood. They are close enough to Indy but far enough away. We loved Indy because it was big enough without being too big. The minus is the taxes and cost of living. The plus is the midwest has the friendliest people you'll find anywhere.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by hapaleeretired

Check out Franklin, Whiteland or Greenwood. They are close enough to Indy but far enough away. We loved Indy because it was big enough without being too big. The minus is the taxes and cost of living. The plus is the midwest has the friendliest people you'll find anywhere.

Taxes and cost of living? Are you kidding me??? It's cheap as heck to live here!!!

[digdug]

Originally Posted by hapaleeretired

Check out Franklin, Whiteland or Greenwood. They are close enough to Indy but far enough away. We loved Indy because it was big enough without being too big. The minus is the taxes and cost of living. The plus is the midwest has the friendliest people you'll find anywhere.

Cost of living compared to where? Remember I am from CA where the COL doesn't get much higher. Taxes are high too?

[Dragondog]

If coming from California to the midwest including Indiana- there may be some cultural shock. Bloomington is the best place in the state- lots of great places to eat, cultural attractions and a more progressive populace.

[digdug]

Originally Posted by Dragondog

If coming from California to the midwest including Indiana- there may be some cultural shock.

LOL, Dragondog what kind of cultural shock? I would think that the bedroom communities surrounding Indy are pretty progressive.