What Indiana City should I live it? (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne: homes, job market)

[BUSHDOG14]

I am planning on moving to either Indianapolis or Fort Wayne and have it narrowed down to 7 cities! I was wondering if you could tell me your opinion of each one so I have a better understanding! I have Carmel, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Decatur, Plainfield, Brownsburg and Greenwood as my top 7. Thanks! I am just wondering what each city has to offer that's all!

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by BUSHDOG14

I am planning on moving to either Indianapolis or Fort Wayne and have it narrowed down to 7 cities! I was wondering if you could tell me your opinion of each one so I have a better understanding! I have Carmel, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Decatur, Plainfield, Brownsburg and Greenwood as my top 7. Thanks! I am just wondering what each city has to offer that's all!

Carmel/Fishers ... white collar suburbs, fast growing, newer housing, some older homes, but these were booming communities in the 90's. Conservative politically.

Fort Wayne/Decatur ... blue collar at their hearts, more established, also conservative politcally.

Brownsburg ... a little out there in terms of proximity to Indy. Has an awesome Chicago style eatery ... yum! Little league baseball crazy. Experienced a boom in the 90's as well, recently made a top town in America list.

Plainfield .. gdude ... that's your side of the sandbox!

Greenwood ... mix of white and blue collar. More white collar growth in the white river twp section of town. Has most every big box store and mall that is up on the north side of town.

That's off the top of my noggin ... storms bearing down on us ... electicity has gone out once already ... it's a start.

[mkat321]

Storms have moved through here and kids are eating lunch now that I can get stuff done without worrying about the power going out.

I love Plainfield for the diversity, proximity to the city, shopping, parks system, homeschooling co-ops, walking trail, good schools for those who go that route, and a ton of other things. Gdude will be along shortly to fill in the rest I'm sure.

Greenwood traffic drives me insane. Seriously. It should not take forty minutes to get from 465 @ 31 South to Greenwood Park Mall but it regularly does. Even using South Madison which used to be far easier and lighter on the traffic is getting to be just as bad. I would recommend Greenwood to people who would be living/working there or points south a bit but not to anyone who is going to need to access 465 or go toward downtown Indy at all.

Brownsburg is a bit of a hike, maybe twenty minutes to the west side of Indy from central Brownsburg via Main Street/136. From north of 136 wouldn't be so bad on 74 just dull and it gets nasty traffic wise once you hit speedway. Beautiful town though, okay schools {good academics just a lot of the good old boy mentality}, wonderful park, a Challenger learning center, decent shopping and of course home to a bunch of racing teams and ORP.

Carmel/Fishers is DG's secondary specialty and she covered it preetty well above so there's that.

Fort Wayne isn't in my personal reference guide {yet, lol} except that it has survived the job loss bleeds of the area better than alot of it's neighbors.

[BUSHDOG14]

K so far its been a help but I am wondering about schools and jobs and housing please lol! Thanks I think Plainfield, Carmel/Fishers and Greenwood are in my top 4 now!

[mkat321]

All of those have good schools. What are you looking for in terms of nightlife, home prices, community events, mentality, etc?

[rrah]

You asked about jobs. Based on an Indianapolis news report I saw last night, jobs are the last thing to come back following a recession and unemployment is still high throughout the state. Unless you are in a very high demand field (eg. nursing), I would not move here expecting to find work quickly.

I really don't intend to be Nellie Negative on this, but everytime someone comes to city-data asking if they'll find a job I want to shout NO, Don't move unless you have a job lined up. It's common sense, at least for me.

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by rrah

I really don't intend to be Nellie Negative on this, but everytime someone comes to city-data asking if they'll find a job I want to shout NO, Don't move unless you have a job lined up. It's common sense, at least for me.

I so agree!

Not just here on the Indiana boards. See it all the time . One of those things that makes me go "huh". The only senario where that question would really make sense is if one's spouse had accepted a position in CityXYZ and the other partner is wondering about the general job market. Even then, it would really really really help if people would at least post their field. Obviously, the job market in any given location depends on the job.

[mkat321]

Originally Posted by plaidmom

I so agree!

Not just here on the Indiana boards. See it all the time . One of those things that makes me go "huh". The only senario where that question would really make sense is if one's spouse had accepted a position in CityXYZ and the other partner is wondering about the general job market. Even then, it would really really really help if people would at least post their field. Obviously, the job market in any given location depends on the job.

Agreed. The concept of moving without a source of income to pay basic bills was foreign to me prior to the recession but I surely don't understand it in this economy unless one is moving in with family or another situation where paying ones way won't be a problem.

[BUSHDOG14]

I am good on the job thing I am a Police Officer transfering to the area and have a job lined up till I get my degree in Cadiographic Imagery! Thanks for the insight though and this economy is very rough but it is showing signs of rebounding in Indiana lately! I checked on the area unemployment and I noticed more people are moving to the area in terms of jobs and people so that should change unemployment rates! Thanks for the help HOOSIERS!

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by BUSHDOG14

I am good on the job thing I am a Police Officer transfering to the area and have a job lined up till I get my degree in Cadiographic Imagery! Thanks for the insight though and this economy is very rough but it is showing signs of rebounding in Indiana lately! I checked on the area unemployment and I noticed more people are moving to the area in terms of jobs and people so that should change unemployment rates! Thanks for the help HOOSIERS!

Thanks for clearing that up!

Sorry if it felt like we were picking on you. With 20-something posts to date you are still a relative newcomer to C-D. I think those of us who have been here a while are becoming a little alarmed at some of the "how's the job market?" posts.

Sounds like with a career path in law enforcement and a future in the medical field you have all of your bases covered.