Anderson Indiana- Population, Jobs, Housing, Economy etc (Indianapolis, Muncie: for sale, crime)

[crayola110]

Hey what do you all think of Anderson, Indiana. Any locals here?

I was wondering about think about the future population of Anderson. I know it's been declining

How about Jobs? There are some new factories and hospitals being built.

What do you think about the future of the economy, housing prices, and just the overall population?

[Serious Conversation]

Not from Anderson, but ex-girlfriend lived in Anderson, so I spent most of the past year there and read into its history.

As you know, Anderson has seen better days. There are many old buildings that aren't maintained, overgrown houses, roads aren't as maintained as it should be - it's even losing its Target. The mall has very little left in it.

Still, I think it has the essentials - there's a Kohl's, Meijer, Walmart, Kroger, Petsmart, Lowe's, chain restaurants like Red Lobster, Applebee's, Cracker Barrel, and some good local eats like Nile, and my favorite, The Lemon Drop. Other than Sam's/Costco, the average person really wouldn't need to run back to Indy often. It's also a lot less hassle to do any shopping in Anderson.

The casino, university, and local medical facilities probably power the local economy. Almost none of my girlfriend's family worked in Anderson - most commuted to Indy. It may kind of putter around where it's at, I don't see the situation getting much worse.

The good thing about Anderson, IMO, is that housing prices are extremely low and will likely remain so. There is a surprising wide variety of housing in the area, some of which has been nicely rehabilitated at a fraction of what you can find something similar in the north side suburbs of Indy for. Many homes have good "bones," but will need updating.

This is an absolutely beautiful home with lots of updates.

1908 Northshore Boulevard, Anderson, IN For Sale | Trulia.com

A cheap home with lots of potential.

202 Cottonwood Drive, Anderson, IN For Sale | Trulia.com

Anderson is really a satellite city around Indy. It's too far and separated by too much open space to be considered a suburb, but is still reasonably close enough to commute to Indy, especially if you work on the north side or off I-69. The big catch is that traffic on I-69 is worsening up to milemarker 210 seemingly by the day, and the first Anderson exit is at 222. If you have kids, the schools aren't great. Crime in Anderson is far, far lower and more tame than in Indianapolis proper.

Still, I think it's a fine place for budget-conscious people working on the north side.

[indy_317]

My wife and I purchased a lot and had a home built in SW Madison County. The Walmarts and Meijers in Noblesville and Fishers (96th Street) are just a couple of miles closer than the ones in Anderson, but I actually like going to Anderson to shop because traffic is usually lighter. Traffic on I-69 is a lot heavier than I would have thought. They are making it three lanes to at least Hamilton Town Center, but originally I read they wanted to make it three lanes to Stare Road 13. It really needs to be three lanes up to and past Anderson. Anderson does have some issues. There is just not a lot of income in the area, and I'm sure there is a lot of UAW pension income keeping some of the store afloat. When that 70ish baby boomer generation passes away and the disposable pension income is gone, who knows what happens to the city. If there are additional factory jobs built along I-69, and they pay halfway decent, that could help Anderson to some extent. I do wonder if places like Honda and Toyota shy away from previous UAW strong cities and towns. My guess is that they fear the locals might make hard pushes to unionize the plants.

Overall Anderson is good in some things, bad in others. The basics are definitely met, but the local economy is stagnant. My guess is that you will see Pendleton, Fortville, and even Ingalls grow before Anderson might finally start going up. The metro area still needs to gain people, gain jobs, etc., but the economy is really iffy and things will mostly depend on the younger generations. Will they want a more urban living situation? Will the marriage rate continue to decline and if so what does this mean for family formation? What will happen to the price of oil over the next decade or two? Higher gas prices definitely might stall growth in the far suburbs.

[FlyHighEagle]

Everyone's responses so far are pretty accurate and about as much of a positive spin that you could put on the city.

I'll add something else even that will bring a positive spin. If I had no choice but to live in Anderson or Muncie the rest of my life, (since the two cities are often compared to and spoken of in the same sentence) I would live in Anderson.

Muncie is the meth capitol of the nation and Anderson doesn't have near as big of a problem. Not saying that meth isn't present in Anderson, because it is everywhere in Indiana, but it's not near as big and Anderson is kept up with better than Muncie when speaking about housing, store fronts and streets, etc.

However saying a place is better than Muncie isn't saying a whole lot. I think most Hoosiers root for Anderson to make a comeback and I wouldn't be surprised if Anderson regains a good reputation before Muncie does.

[Serious Conversation]

Muncie at least has Ball State anchoring it to some extent. Yeah, Anderson has AU, but it's not big enough and not leveraged as well IMO.

I don't think either of these towns will ever be anything like it was, but Anderson is at least commutable to Indy. Muncie really isn't.

[cdr18]

Almost every city in East-Central Indiana has experienced significant decline. I can't think of one medium-large city that has increased their population in this area.?? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think the city will continue to decline in population for the foreseeable future. It sits at 55,000 right now. I'm guessing it will stagnate around 45,000 by 2035 and then maintain from there. It had a population of 70,000 back in 1970.

I always look at the big employers in the area to see how the overall economy is. You never want to see a school system and hospital system at the top of your largest employers. Anderson has both of these at the top. It tells me a couple of things:

1) Schools and Hospitals will always be a public necessity. If people work at large companies or factories, the need for teachers, nurses, doctors, will increase because more people will be living in the city.

2) This will increase the need for other "necessity" jobs which will increase the overall employment base.

3) Without these company jobs, you don't need near as many teachers, nurses, doctors, city employees, etc...

Community Hospital and St. Vincent Health are the two largest employers in the area with about 1,200 jobs. The largest company is Nestle with 700 jobs.

Let me give you an example of another city, with many large companies.

Elkhart County's top employers:

1) Thor Industries (8,500 employees)
2) Forest River (6,500 employees)
3) Drew Industries (5,300 employees)

These are all manufacturing and administrative jobs, which increase the need for more public service jobs in education, government, and healthcare.

It is no wonder why Elkhart County has grown by almost 100,000 people in the last 50 years. Whereas Madison County has grown by 4,000 people in the last 50 years.

There has to be a reason why Anderson is not able to attract industry to the area?

[Serious Conversation]

I'll say this about Anderson, though I don't know if it means a hill of beans.

Before I met my ex, I read about Anderson around two years ago and went downtown photographing the place. A burly looking dude came out of one of the buildings. He was obviously in work clothes and working on a building downtown on a Sunday. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries - he gave me his card and he worked for the city government in a fairly significant role. I told him I'd love to talk to him about the town - added him on LinkedIn, called, and sent emails - none were returned.

I figured someone in the government there would love to talk about the city with someone obviously not from the area, but I got nothing.

There are a lot of kick ass houses in Anderson that could use some TLC to be brought back to life. I don't think it's too far gone to be rehabilitated, but the locals are going to have to acknowledge that it is going to be dependent on Indy, not itself for the foreseeable future.

I love this house. It's near downtown. Another $30,000 and this is a beautiful stone home. You can find gems like this all over Anderson.

222 West 7th Street, Anderson, IN For Sale | Trulia.com

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by FlyHighEagle

Everyone's responses so far are pretty accurate and about as much of a positive spin that you could put on the city.

I'll add something else even that will bring a positive spin. If I had no choice but to live in Anderson or Muncie the rest of my life, (since the two cities are often compared to and spoken of in the same sentence) I would live in Anderson.

Muncie is the meth capitol of the nation and Anderson doesn't have near as big of a problem. Not saying that meth isn't present in Anderson, because it is everywhere in Indiana, but it's not near as big and Anderson is kept up with better than Muncie when speaking about housing, store fronts and streets, etc.

However saying a place is better than Muncie isn't saying a whole lot. I think most Hoosiers root for Anderson to make a comeback and I wouldn't be surprised if Anderson regains a good reputation before Muncie does.

Muncie is alot better town than Andrrson in just about every way. Muncie has Ball State and that makes a big difference. Without a large university, Anderson is just another Marion or Kokomo.

The reason Muncie is called the meth capital of the country is because the cops are putting in extra effort to shut down all those meth labs. I'd almost venture to guess there's alot more meth problems in Anderson than Muncie. The cops just ain't catching them over there.

[Zachj7]

Muncie just built a several story Marriott hotel downtown. They are trying to revitalize their downtown. There are shops, restaurants, and bars in the walkable downtown. Muncie has a much more attractive downtown than Anderson. On top of that, Muncie has BSU which adds a glimmer of light on this old rust belt city. There are plenty of things wrong with Muncie. South side is a dump, same with the east side. There is a huge drug problem. I don't feel that safe walking around. House curb appeal is lacking. The roads are in horrible condition. Thank god for the university.

However, Anderson doesn't have many redeming qualities. Muncie does have a few. The only redeeming quality of Anderson I can think of is being another 10-15 miles closer to Indy. Housing is a tad cheaper in Anderson too.

[♪♫♪♪♫♫♪♥]

Unless you're a successful small business owner or have a thoroughly established career in the medical field, try not to count on a robust standard of living. I was born and raised in Anderson, having moved away many moons ago. Let's just say that my parents are literally the only reason I return for a visit occasionally, and once they breathe their last breaths, I'll pretend that Anderson no longer exists. If I absolutely had to live in Indiana again, personally I'd pick somewhere in or around Indianapolis. Housing in Anderson has always been cheap, but you know what they say about supply and demand.