Three questions about Indy (Indianapolis, Fishers: insurance, crime rate, mortgage)

[joninclay]

The answers may not be quick, but my questions are:

1. Tornadoes. Are they that prevalent in Indianapolis and the surrounding areas? About how many do you get each year? Do they tend to inflict great damage or do they tend to hit isolated areas and do little damage (other than downed trees)?

2. Property taxes. I've seen negative comments about "the property tax situation". Could someone please fill me in (or give me a link that explains the problem)?

3. Public schools. For someone with two kids, where outside of the city of Indy would be the best school areas?

Thanks!

[MainStreet]

1. Tornados...depends on what you are comfortable with. The last one I remember in Indy was in 2004 during the outbound traffic of the Indianapolis 500. There has since been one straight line wind incident downtown that damaged a building. Overall, I don't fear them anymore than I would fear them in any Midwest state.

2. Property taxes...a major county faux pas. I can only recommend our local forum at Indianapolis Star Online. There you will find plenty of discussion on the property tax issue.

3. Public Education...anywhere outside the county. I chose Zionsville. And without getting into a slug-fest over which school district is the best, I can only say that anywhere outside Marion County. Brownsburg, Avon, Carmel, Fishers, Greenwood...any county that is putting their money in their school district is a good choice. Marion County has a bank account problem, but they'll have a lovely stadium and a duct tape patched remodeled central library.

If I was choosing a school district....I would choose the one with central air conditioning. Expecting students to learn in any room with temps exceeding 80 degrees is abuse. IMO.

[sweetana3]

Tornados - I have lived here 30 years and never suffered any damage of any kind. They are limited in where they strike here. Not quite as bad(except for those in the path) as Oklahoma or Texas.

Taxes - even with our mess, we have had lower taxes than surrounding states and due to lower cost homes, lower than California and the way lower than the east coast.

Mine are around $2800 for a home I paid 235,000 for. Differs slightly depending on which county you live in. It is an unsettled mess but I dont expect mine to change much.

Schools - previous poster is accurate. If your kids are going to go to a high school due to current age or how long you are going to be here, choose your area based on how large you want the high school to be. There are three huge ones and several medium sized ones. THe outer elementary schools are good.

IN other posts people have provided links to sites with statistics on schools in the area. Graduation rates, ISTEP scores, etc.

[Zig'sbird]

1. Tornados - I have lived here for 15 years and have yet to have been hit. That being said, I've been lucky. The last 2 to hit Indy have hit the Southside. The first hit a mile south of my house. The second hit half a mile north of my house.

2. While our property taxes were low, the government decided to readjust them. Some people's property taxes more than doubled. Now due to public pressure, a lot has really hit the fan...

3. exactly as MainStreet stated. Stay outside of Marion county.

[cma47940]

indianapolis itself is a tough town..... gangs have taken over the schools and murder rate is high, but there is hope.

cities like sheridan, darlington, crawfordsville, ladoga, new ross.... these are all great schools in country towns within a 30 minute or so drive(highway) to indianapolis.

I currently an selling my home in Darlington (near highways 47 and 74) NW of indy for $65k and i know schools here are great and the crime rate is low. taxes here have gone up but ours still run around $500/y with our exemptions but you can wrap that into a mortgage and assume it will cost around $650 monthly after taxes and insurance. bonus to commuting the 30 minutes is that your children can play outside and the yards are much larger.

all of the towns i listed above are great and some people and if you arent looking to buy a home yet then ask about a land contract.. some like myself would consider it but the cost usually goes up by about $100/month.

hang on and i will get you some links to local newspapers and school stats...

Indiana K-12 Web Sites ........ schools
NewsLink | NEWSPAPERS | U.S. | INDIANA ............... newspapers
MIBOR | Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS® ................................... realestate

[SJU]

Ugh, please do not recommend Sheridan schools. I lived there 8 years too long.

Zionsville, Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern...I'm familiar with those also, and recommend them highly.

37 years without seeing or suffering through a tornado.

[DataEast]

Zomg!!! Stay outta Marion County schools! Yet Some of their High Schools rank better than Zionsville and Carmel, but you live outside of Indy so...yeah.

[MainStreet]

Originally Posted by DataEast

Zomg!!! Stay outta Marion County schools! Yet Some of their High Schools rank better than Zionsville and Carmel, but you live outside of Indy so...yeah.

You do know that any recommendation, of lack of, for Marion County schools, has just as much to do with the political climate in Marion County as it does rankings, don't you?

Indiana Chamber of Commerce 2006 High School Report (http://www.indianachamber.com/pdf/bestbuys/IndianasBestBuys2006.pdf - broken link) Pick a Marion County High School and let's discuss it's comparison to Zionsville and Carmel.

[sweetana3]

You just have to be extra careful in Marion County and IPS. I have a friend who only moved across the border between IPS and Warren Township. Her two sons were almost a full year behind what they were expected to have mastered in Warren Township. The expectations were higher and the facilities and opportunities were greater. All she did was move across the line.

[DataEast]

Just look at the list.

The 1,200 Top U.S. Schools - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12532678/site/newsweek/ - broken link)