Possibly moving to Carmel

[libertpaulian]

Originally Posted by jman07

I don't get how some people say Carmel is equivalent to Naperville. Carmel is known as the richest suburb in Indiana and stuck up. I don't really see Naperville as that. I see naperville as a upper middle class suburb that doesn't really impress people the way Carmel does.

I'd say Carmel/Fishers/Westfield/Zionsville/Noblesville is the "North Shore" equivalent of suburban Indianapolis.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by libertpaulian

I'd say Carmel/Fishers/Westfield/Zionsville/Noblesville is the "North Shore" equivalent of suburban Indianapolis.

I would say the "North Shore" equivalent would be more so the Meridian Hills/Williams Creek areas of Washington Township as far as wealth and housing stock goes. Maybe Zionsville as well (in the village section). Other than that, the more open areas of Zionsville and West Carmel remind me more of a Barrington type area as far as wealth and housing. Now when you talk about public schools, the prestige of Zionsville and Carmel would match that of Naperville district 203 schools. However, if someone from the north shore were moving to the Indianapolis area, safe to say their best bet would be Carmel or Zionsville and they really would not be losing out on much at all.

The reason why Carmel is often compared to Naperville is primarily due to the fact that they are both very large suburban areas with the main difference being that Naperville was more built out than Carmel. Carmel has a median income of just over $100K and median home values just over $305K and Naperville has a median income of just over $105K and median home values just over $372K. When adjusted for differences in cost of living, I would say that Carmel residents may have a little more disposable income on average, but not so much more as to North Shore suburban levels. Of course, there are exceptions, but I am speaking of the average resident. Driving through Carmel is a lot more similar to driving through Naperville than it is any of the North Shore suburbs.