How dangerous is Indianapolis (Carmel, Franklin: construction, live, restaurants)

[girlfromeurope]

Real horror stories here.
I have lived in Near-Eastside by 10th St near Woodruff place for almost 6 years now and have not encountered a single shooting or mugging. The only incidents have been a container with gas stolen from our garage ( the door was open ) and my car taken for a joyride ( the keys were inside ). So I have learned my lesson. Never to leave anything unlocked, even if you are at home. I don't go out walking alone after dark ever. We do go walking and biking with my daughter a lot during daytime and never had a problem. We also have 2 dogs now, but first 3 years didn't. And an alarm. Incidents on our street include one break-in, but again the doors weren't locked properly, an x-box and some brand name clothes and shoes were taken.
Now the incident referred to where a whole family got killed, happened on our street about 5 years ago.
Black guys killed a mexican family, thinking there would be a lot of money in the house.
The case, where 2 moms and 2 babies were killed, their boyfriends were dealing drugs.
The xbox case happened in Far-Eastside Cumberland, and to my knowledge, 2 people were murdered. Again, this family was friends with a black guy, who had a criminal past.
So my conclusion is - watch who you hang out with and are friends with, keep to yourself, keep your windows and doors locked, don't flash around with fancy stuff, and don't walk alone in the dark.
While driving at night, keep car doors locked and be alert, have your cell-phone handy and stay to yourself. Having a dog helps also and an alarm.
Do I feel safe in the neighborhood? No. Do I feel that there is a lot of horrific crime happening? No.
I don't think you can feel really safe anywhere nowadays, there are criminals and trash everywhere.

[Brandon21b]

I work in public safety in Indianapolis and there some parts better then others, the east side can be pretty rough at times and the west side as well. The far north side is prett good and the south side depending on where you are, are ok as we'll. More gun shots and and things like tht on east and west side.

[Stag_At_Large]

I used to live in Nora and we never locked our house or cars. Nothing bad ever happened; it was idyllic. I left there in 1970 and have never been back. I was aghast to read there Section 8 has infected Nora. Nora elementary has a bilingual education program?! How is this possible? I'd say, from what I've read, go to Fishers or build a time machine for 1965, when Jimmy Clark won the Indy 500. Yes, maybe that's the easiest way...

[bertrandandjules]

Originally Posted by Stag_At_Large

I used to live in Nora and we never locked our house or cars. Nothing bad ever happened; it was idyllic. I left there in 1970 and have never been back. I was aghast to read there Section 8 has infected Nora. Nora elementary has a bilingual education program?! How is this possible? I'd say, from what I've read, go to Fishers or build a time machine for 1965, when Jimmy Clark won the Indy 500. Yes, maybe that's the easiest way...

Section 8 "infected" Nora because, quite simply, those apartment complexes are aging and there are plenty of nicer newer ones in Carmel and downtown for the middle class renters to choose from. That, and Section 8 is very, very lucrative for the owners of the apartment complexes...they are guaranteed a monthly rent check at market rate (paid for by US Govt) for buildings that, due to lack of maintenance, are generally viewed as sub-par within the free market. This happens all across America: any city with apartment buildings from the 1960s and 1970s, unless they are in super-desirable or expensive areas, are probably mixed with Section 8 tenants now. Not all apartments in Nora are bad, and most of the housing is still very very nice. But I recently helped a family move out of an apartment complex that was built in the early- to mid-1990s (not Section 8...at least not yet) and it already looked somewhat dumpy; what people are going to move there in 5-10 years when there are always squeaky clean new apartments just a few miles away?

And what's wrong with Nora having a bilingual education program? Should it remain lily-white the way it was in 1970? Places change, and Indianapolis has become a desirable place for immigrants due to a generally strong, diverse economy and a low cost of living. Places that are not desirable for immigrants tend to be the most economically stagnant. There probably aren't a lot of bilingual education programs in Youngstown, Ohio--in the long run, it's their loss.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by Stag_At_Large

I used to live in Nora and we never locked our house or cars. Nothing bad ever happened; it was idyllic. I left there in 1970 and have never been back. I was aghast to read there Section 8 has infected Nora. Nora elementary has a bilingual education program?! How is this possible? I'd say, from what I've read, go to Fishers or build a time machine for 1965, when Jimmy Clark won the Indy 500. Yes, maybe that's the easiest way...

There is now Section 8, in some fashion, over the entire metro area. The problem isn't Section 8, but the morals and values and actions of the specific renters themselves. It is also an issue with the company/person who accepts Section 8. Many will gladly turn a blind eye to boyfriends shacking up with girlfriends because to advise HUD of that would get the renter kicked off the program. I'm sure some landlords even turn a blind eye at hints of possible criminal activity as well.

[Guineas]

I think some of the locals in the first few pages are creating an overly rosy picture of Indianapolis here. There are HUGE swaths of the city that look no different from Englewood in South Side Chicago. Boarded up dilapitated homes, young men hanging around on street corners, wired fences, graffiti, stores with iron bars, weeds. I'm not talking a few pockets here and there, we're talking large swaths from 16th street to 56th street. I think it's easy pretending none of these places exist when you're flying past on I-70/I-65 to the suburbs or hanging around Broad Ripple and Mass Ave, but in reality they cover a huge chunk of the city.

Think about it, otherwise why would the "nice" suburbs in Indianapolis be so damn far away from downtown? Why do people buy $450k homes and commute for 45 minutes one way everyday if not to escape the ghetto and the ghetto schools? Because they like driving and paying for gas?

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by Guineas

I think some of the locals in the first few pages are creating an overly rosy picture of Indianapolis here. There are HUGE swaths of the city that look no different from Englewood in South Side Chicago. Boarded up dilapitated homes, young men hanging around on street corners, wired fences, graffiti, stores with iron bars, weeds. I'm not talking a few pockets here and there, we're talking large swaths from 16th street to 56th street. I think it's easy pretending none of these places exist when you're flying past on I-70/I-65 to the suburbs or hanging around Broad Ripple and Mass Ave, but in reality they cover a huge chunk of the city.

Think about it, otherwise why would the "nice" suburbs in Indianapolis be so damn far away from downtown? Why do people buy $450k homes and commute for 45 minutes one way everyday if not to escape the ghetto and the ghetto schools? Because they like driving and paying for gas?

however unlike the South and West Side of Chicago the areas arent getting worse.
Plus they are nicer than the South and West sides of Chicago or all of Detroit. i can guarentee that.
Indianapolis as a whole city is improving. Center Township is finally starting to become desirable again. gentrification is turning around Fountain Square and the Near east side along with other neighborhoods.
Best way to deal with crime is have proactive parents that watch what their kids are doing.

[bertrandandjules]

Originally Posted by Guineas

I think some of the locals in the first few pages are creating an overly rosy picture of Indianapolis here. There are HUGE swaths of the city that look no different from Englewood in South Side Chicago. Boarded up dilapitated homes, young men hanging around on street corners, wired fences, graffiti, stores with iron bars, weeds. I'm not talking a few pockets here and there, we're talking large swaths from 16th street to 56th street. I think it's easy pretending none of these places exist when you're flying past on I-70/I-65 to the suburbs or hanging around Broad Ripple and Mass Ave, but in reality they cover a huge chunk of the city.

Think about it, otherwise why would the "nice" suburbs in Indianapolis be so damn far away from downtown? Why do people buy $450k homes and commute for 45 minutes one way everyday if not to escape the ghetto and the ghetto schools? Because they like driving and paying for gas?

Umm, this seems a bit extreme comparing all of that to Englewood...sorry Charlie, but I've been to Englewood. The one area in Indy that's really that bad is Brightwood, which is south of 30th and north of 16th or thereabouts, on the east side. I'd say that's an accurate description. Up by 56th Street you get to Devonwood which is nowhere near as bad, and is even experiencing a pick-up as yuppies are buying its fashionable mid-century modern homes. Even the north side of 38th Street, while not great, is certainly not terrible--certainly not huge swaths of boarded-up homes or graffiti like you see in Brightwood.

That said, contrary to Broadripplyguy's statement, not all of Indy is improving, either. 30th Street all the way out to Post and Mitthoefer is pretty rough, and I don't see those bland late 50s early 60s-era homes becoming part of a gentrification wave any time soon. Nor do I see W. 38th Street around Lafayette Square Mall--the Eagledale area--improving any time soon. Come to think of it, the near west side, area like Haughville, aren't great and aren't showing much sign of gentrification.

At any rate, I think the people "escaped" the ghetto a long time ago, and now even the current dwellers of the ghetto are getting out, as long as they have a leg up. Brightwood is bad, but is less dangerous than it used to be, simply because so much of it is left abandoned. I really don't see how the yuppies could ever wave their magic wand in Brightwood and turn it into a desirable place. They may just have to do another Fall Creek Place out there and build anew.

[msamhunter]

While parts of Indianapolis, primarily the east side are bad, there is a very BIG difference between the West side and South side Chicago and Indianapolis. Heck parts of the south side and west sides make Gary look like Naperville.

W38th is contingent on Lafayette Square as it sits right there on the Pike/Center township line it gets vastly different North and South of 38th. If LSM can get its act together, that area could become a hit with all of the international flavor of restaurants, grocery and citizenry now in the area between LSM and 465 West. IMA and Butler due east, it definitely has the potential, just that mall and what it attracts tends to be the main deterrent at this point. Housing stock isn't the worse, some ranch, bi and tri levels in the area with mansions just a tad bit East of the mall not too far from Kessler with new builds apts. and condos close to Guion and white river pkwy north of 38th.

There's no saving haughville unless the properties got bought up, people booted out and marketed as close off campus housing for IUPUI. You can't do anything constructive with the housing stock because it is pretty poor stock. They are making strides on the East side but for areas like Post, being far away from downtown and not exactly close to the fort, it's no mans land. So for the East side, the closer to downtown, the better off it will be when it comes to revitalization.

[missik999]

When I was moving to Indiana five years ago I considered building a home in the Martindale on the Monon community, just northeast of downtown. There were really nice financial incentives offered for building new homes there, and it was supposed to become Indy's newest revitalized neighborhood. The plans looked good for new retail developement, and the vision was for new, creative live/work district with a focus on design-related businesses and shops.

After much time spent walking, riding and driving the area I decided against building there, because I was concerned about safety as well as resale value. Safety was my biggest concern, as a single parent I just couldn't picture feeling safe there with my children. A walkable neighborhood was what I was looking for.

Now, five years later, I still ride through that area often. The area has barely changed in five years, no more new homes are being built. The vision hasn't happened. Several existing homes have been for sale for months.

I am very happy with the decision I made to look toward the north suburbs for safety and walkability. Both Carmel and Westfield have vibrant, walkable downtown areas with unique shops and restaurants. There are many parks with concerts and activities for families.

When I ride through the Martindale area as well as other areas in Indy they seem deserted. It's a huge contrast between Indy neighborhoods and Carmel and Westfield, where you see families in parks, families on bike trails, kids playing in yards, etc.