Greenwood...The good, bad and ugly!

[normcrok8]

Originally Posted by Mslucky8

Thinking about moving to greenwood (close to the mall) and I would like to know is this a good community to have black children live and go to school? I'm so confused! I hear it's a growing community and then next the KKK lives out there! lol

What you heard is nonsense. THE KKK does not live there, nor are they active in Indiana anymore. The KKK in Indiana (centered in Morgan County) died as late as the 1950s or 60s. Indiana has grown up since then, and Indy is much more open minded than the past. Yes, Greenwood is a growing family-friendly community. That part of town is very suburban and largely Caucasian, but you will still wont have any trouble, I can assure you.

[normcrok8]

Originally Posted by restorationconsultant

Having grown up in Greenwood (years ago), I cant say there is much to recomend it. The historic parts of the downtown are covered in aluminum siding and vinyl, the traffic is awful and there is this whole "rivalry thing" between Carmel and Greenwood (which makes no sense to me at all). If boring "brain dead" suburbia is what you are looking for I would say Greenwood is an excellent choice. The best thing it has to offer is you can get to downtown Indy (where culture actually exists pretty easily)
My best advice would be to spend some time hanging out in town and see if you like the 'vibe' of the city. I'm betting you won't like the vibe you get.
I was personally, never so glad to leave the place, and I cant imagine living there now. It is true "suburgatory".

No one is going to listen to you because you are biased against ALL of Indys suburbs.

[normcrok8]

You will B just fine as far as safety goes. Greenwood, after all, is a growing family-friendly community. However, the people are bit more 'traditional' in their thinking but that doesnt mean they wont accept minorities. I grew up on the south side of Indianapolis in the 80s and 90s, and know what I am talking about. Besides, prejudice exists EVERYWHERE in America. Making your decision just because of racism that happened decades ago makes no sense.

[Dyadic]

Originally Posted by normcrok8

What you heard is nonsense. THE KKK does not live there, nor are they active in Indiana anymore. The KKK in Indiana (centered in Morgan County) died as late as the 1950s or 60s. Indiana has grown up since then, and Indy is much more open minded than the past. Yes, Greenwood is a growing family-friendly community. That part of town is very suburban and largely Caucasian, but you will still wont have any trouble, I can assure you.

What your wrote is an error in fact. The KKK never really left Indiana. Elwood has the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. South Bend has the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Kokomo has the Rebel Brigade Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Yoder has the True Invisible Empire Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Granted the Klan isn't active as it was in its heyday but rest assure it still exist.

Before the Klan, there was the rarely mentioned Indiana White Cap, which like the Klan, use lynching and more severe forms of vigilante justice. Today are a cluster of hate groups operating in central Indiana some masking themselves as law abiding social conservative groups. Others as White Nationalist or Skinheads. Just because you don't physically see these groups don't mean they don't exist. If you want to look on the positive side, Ohio far is worst.

[MortonR]

I grew up on the south side of Indianapolis and later moved to Greenwood as an adult. I have two siblings who have lived in Greenwood for most of their lives, one of which was involved in local government and with Clark-Pleasant schools.

I left the area in the late 80s and returned for a short stint from 2008-2010 when I lived in Avon.

Greenwood has expanded and grown to a point where I think it's pretty much heterogeneous. I can recall from years ago seeing interracial couples at the mall and being surprised. During my recent return, I saw far more diversity than ever existed when I was living there previously.

Not surprisingly, I was stunned by the amazingly racial and cultural bias of people I worked with in Avon, but in fairness to the locals, these were rural people with minimal education who lived well west of the Avon/Brownsburg area.

I would agree that any racial or cultural bias that exists is most likely going to come from the rural contingents that don't live in the immediate area and older people who are "set in their ways", as I like to put it.

In our immediate area in Avon people were very accepting and seemed to have no issues with races or cultures outside their own - at least from what I experienced - that doesn't mean they didn't feel that way, but outwardly I saw no signs of such.

My sibling that was involved in community government gave me a lot of insight into the substantial changes that have taken place in the area in recent years, with the large Sikh population moving into the area, for example. They found that the majority of the locals they came into contact with in this regard were indifferent for the most part. The attitude that as long as they were law abiding citizens and paid their taxes (I am simplifying here) they were as welcome as anyone else.

The south side of Indianapolis, stretching down to Whiteland and into Morgan County, has a rather checkered past when it comes to racism and things like the KKK. As a child I can recall seeing cross burnings, and my best friend in middle school lived next door to the Grand Dragon in Carriage Estates. Since this was part of the culture of the time, we thought little about it, and I would add that our families did not participate or condone what was happening. However, attitudes of racism were prevalent and quite overt at the time. My experience has show to me that this is no longer the case.

While I did not choose to live in the area when I returned in 2008, it was due to my place of business and not the area itself. I would not hesitate to live in Greenwood if I returned to the area. As far as I am concerned, it has changed or evolved, if you may, quite well.

RM