Best Area for Young Professional Working Downtown (Indianapolis, Fishers: rent, home)

[SWINResident]

I am a young professional who will be relocating to Indianapolis from SW Indiana soon. I will be working downtown, but I do not want to live downtown. I want to live in a nicer area, preferably with a decent population of other younger people. I don't want to be surrounded by drunken college kids, but I also don't want to live in an area that's completely filled with middle aged people with children.

I've spoken to a few people that recommended the Keystone area, which I am fairly familiar with. However, they also stated that the rent was relatively high there. The south side (Greenwood, etc.) would be closer as far as commute, but is it mostly filled with families?

Thanks for your help.

[Toxic Toast]

Greenwood is a pretty typical middle class suburb. There are families on the south side of Indianapolis. Is it "full of families?" I guess so.

By Keystone area, I assume you are referring to the area by the Fashion Mall. I can't imagine any other part of Keystone Ave being over priced. You might look in nearby Castleton, it is a little cheaper to live over there.

[bertrandandjules]

Not sure how close you consider "downtown" to be, but technically it is only a mile square, bounded by North/South/East/West streets. Most of Mass Ave (the Chatham Arch/St. Joseph/Lockerbie Square neighborhoods) it outside of downtown under those definitions. That area has plenty of younger people, if you're still looking for urban.

If not, Broad Ripple is still fine, outside of Broad Ripple Avenue, which is filled with drunken college kids. But most of the rest of the neighborhood itself is youthful, so it depends on how far from those drunken kids you feel you need to be.

Otherwise, if you're looking at suburban environments, you might try Castleton, Fishers, or Nora. The southside of Indianapolis (Southport/Homecroft) is definitely much more family oriented. Not much of a young scene down there.

[jupiler]

I'm not sure why you wrote downtown off. You could explain what it is about downtown you don't find nice. That information would help us recommend something you might like.

In terms of other locations...

I second both Toxic and Bert's recommendations. Consider Castleton. I spent a year living at 82nd and Allisonville. Lots of young people in the area. A good one-bedroom in Castleton will run you around $650.

As bert says, consider Broad Ripple outside of the main street. Probably my favorite neighborhood right now. Quaint and trendy, great restaurants, interesting local businesses (yoga studio, health food store, bakery, etc), close to Monon trail, and all the young people either live there or end up there on the weekend. Residents live an active lifestyle - You often see joggers and cyclists in the neighborhood.

I second Mass Ave as well.

[SWINResident]

Castleton interests me quite a bit at this point. I have looked at Mass. Ave. a little, and it does seem nice. I will consider it further. I haven't put a ton of thought into Broad Ripple, but I'll definitely look into it.

My problem with downtown is that, while it is very nice, I just don't really want to live in that urban of an environment. I'm originally from a more rural area, and I like some more space. I just can't really envision myself living downtown.

[MissingIndiana]

Originally Posted by SWINResident

Castleton interests me quite a bit at this point. I have looked at Mass. Ave. a little, and it does seem nice. I will consider it further. I haven't put a ton of thought into Broad Ripple, but I'll definitely look into it.

My problem with downtown is that, while it is very nice, I just don't really want to live in that urban of an environment. I'm originally from a more rural area, and I like some more space. I just can't really envision myself living downtown.

Downtown would probably offer you as much space as anywhere else in the city. Places like Castleton and keystone don't offer many opportunities to walk right out of your home and have space to roam around. Downtown though, there are several monuments and public spaces including the canal and White River State park. The cultural trail is also a much nicer place to get out and walk or ride a bike than along 86th/82nd streets. I also grew up in a more rural area and prefer that to the urban environment, but if I were to move back to Indy I would choose downtown over all the traffic and congestion of the northeast side where you probably won't find the hints of the rural scene your thinking of. If you needed an escape from the city Eagle Creek park is a fairly short drive from downtown and you would have to drive from most other areas of the city anyway to get somewhere like that. So don't rule out downtown or Mass ave

[kayanne]

I second what MissingIndiana said.