Relocating???? (Indianapolis, Lafayette, Carmel: low crime, Home Depot, buy)

[thewhitehouse]

My husband is thinking about taking a job in Crawfordsville. What type of city is it? How close is the nearest big city (shopping). We currently live east of Dallas Texas. Would this be culture shock for some semi city dwellers?

[sweetana3]

From downtown Crawfordsville to downtown Indianapolis is 55 miles. It is closer to shopping located on the Northwest corner by 10-20 miles. And it would probably be about 50 miles to Castleton where a lot of shopping is located. Depends on what kind of shopping you want and how often you need it.

It would be culture shock to come from Dallas to Indianapolis so I can imagine coming to a much smaller town like Crawfordsville. But the cost of living should be low, the benefits of small town life are there and it should be fine.

[bookworm2768]

Hey there! We just moved to dallas two months ago from Carmel Indiana (just north of Indy)
Culture shock?? You will find it in spades.
1. Traffic. Its practically nonexistent compared to Dallas. Rush hour is just a bit crowded unless you are in Geist and commuting to downtown.
2. Shopping. You will probably need to drive a bit to find any decent stores. The northern suburbs are very nice and there is a large mall in Carmel called Clay Terrace where you can find most of your standard mall stores. No dept stores though. Wal Marts and Targets are all over the place.
3. Ethnicity : Northern Indiana is not very racially mixed. I was dreading moving to Indy from NY 10 years ago but never encountered any racist attitudes.
4. Prices : you're going to have state taxes which Dallas does not but everything is so much cheaper in Indiana! Electricity, Water, property taxes - you are going to feel your budget grow!
5. Schools : I don't know if you are in Dallas ISD or one of the suburbs but schools vary in Indiana. If you are looking for good schools you should probably do a bit of research on this one. I know Carmel and Westfield schools are good but am not sure about others.

In short, if you are not to go into complete withdrawl from city life, I'd live closer to the Northern suburbs and commute to Crawfordsville. That way you can still drive into town for things.

Oh and don't forget to check out the Children's library in downtown Indy. Its the best in the midwest if not in the nation!

[domergurl]

There's a Children's Library? I think you mean the Children's Museum and it's a must must must for membership! Well worth it. Next year, I'll have my third child enrolled in their preschool classes! My first 2 kids loved them and it really took the edge of the worthlessness of half day kindergarten in this state!

[familyvalues]

My husband also was considering relocation to Crawfordsville, we were there about 2 weeks ago. I found the town to be very friendly. Housing was incredibly reasonable just not a lot of options with our requirements.

Wish you all the best, this has been the hardest couple of weeks we have had to face. Uprooting a family is a very tough decision.

[bookworm2768]

Originally Posted by domergurl

There's a Children's Library? I think you mean the Children's Museum and it's a must must must for membership! Well worth it. Next year, I'll have my third child enrolled in their preschool classes! My first 2 kids loved them and it really took the edge of the worthlessness of half day kindergarten in this state!

Jeepers! Yup I meant the Children's museum. We had a membership for 6 years until we moved
By the way, I don't know about the rest of the city but Carmel Elementary had moved over to fully funded full day kindergarten when my son started attending. It was wonderful!

[theycallmeoj]

Hmm, Crawfordsville....

I've looked into moving there before.

Nice town. Good people with values it appears.

Totally different from the DFW area. Your in for a shock, but perhaps in a good way.

Shopping? Who cares? Spend the money on quality time with the kids. Buy a frigging pony! Literally, buy a pony, learn to raise it.

Invest the money. Buy a Chia Pet! Heck, buy a pet rock.

Why waste money on the mass media materialistic things? Invest in your childs future.

[Pickettj]

I've lived in Crawfordsville my entire life (all 26 years of it) and I think it's a wonderful place to raise a family. We are a small city (about 15-16,000 according to the 2000 census) with the normal retailers such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Staples, etc. and it's really worth the drive to get to Indy during the weekends to live in a peaceful, low crime community. I have never felt unsafe in any part of Crawfordsville at ANY time of day. I'll walk down any street at 2 AM and not think twice.

Also, no one seems to mention that Lafayette is a short (about 30 miles) drive north on US-231 and they are incredibly saturated in the restaurant department, there is no excuse for coming home hungry and there is plenty to do there. The Tippicanoe Mall has a large variety of stores, unfortunately there are no real upscale stores in Lafayette so if you need Burberry handbags, better stick to the Indy/Keystone area.

In the end, I really don't think you can find a place with a nicer group of people. We're big enough that everyone doesn't know everything about everyone else, but small enough that we have managed to maintain the small town charm and an ability to stop and help someone in need.

[Pickettj]

oh, and a traffic jam in Crawfordsville is virtually non-existant. Last time I saw one was when downtown was burning last summer and it was only because they closed the main drag to put out the fire. It may be a culture shock at first, but I think you'll quickly adjust to and love the slower pace that C'ville has to offer.

[familyvalues]

Just curious, did you make the move?