French family relocating to Indianapolis needs your advise! (Carmel, Butler: relocation, work)

[Basset]

Originally Posted by SoBro Night Owl

There is Rocky Ripple just over the canal from Butler that is still quiet and safe. The people are fairly open minded and are good neighbors. Bad news is parts of it floods maybe once or twoce a year but it is still near Broad Ripple (bars, shopping, groceries). The commute is literally down a bike path and over the bridge to campus!
The neighborhoods to the north and east of campus are pretty expensive and safe and if it is too ritzy there are plenty of rental properties around the campus for the students. The neighborhood only gets sketchy 5 or 6 blocks south of campus but there is a weed to seed project underway that is cleaning up the area and making it better to live in. South of 38th street however and all bets are off!!
The International School is great for younger kids and especially now that they are expanding to high school age. Wish I could tell you more but my sister went (I got a Montessori education) and loved how easy languages are for her now.

International school! WOW. We are possibly moving to Indiana and are living in France currently. It would be great if our kids could continue with the bilingual experience. Do you have any information on the school...a link maybe?
Thanks, Dawn

[ann&frank]

Thanks for your good advise. We've contacted a real estate agent who is sending us available properties in Butler-Tarkington, Broad Ripples. What are the names of the other neighborhoods that are close to the campus (biking distance) we should be looking at?

And here is the link to the international school Dawn:
http://www.isind.org/education/compo...sectionid=8811

Thanks for your support everyone!
Ann

PS We haven't received many comments regarding Butler university... are you out there Butler grads?

[sweetana3]

Forget Fishers. There are a stunning number of gorgeous houses in Meridian Kessler, Butler Tarkington, and the surrounding neighborhoods. The commute could be a walk or bike ride if you stay close. They are the premier neighborhoods for young professionals.

Do beware some of the less expensive places right around Butler as they are having issues with students packed into small houses and the endless cars and parties (noise). There are a couple of streets without these issues due to professors living there but it pays to be aware. And this is only the basic local housing. The people at the university would be able to tell you more.

Big neighborhood organizations and nice stores. We lived in BT for 10 years and walked to the grocery, the bakery, the pizza place. Loved to walk the canal to Butler and to Broad Ripple. We now live in downtown Indy. A very diverse population of families, retired, singles.

I beleive my boss is on the board of Butler and truly loves the campus. She lives in a little house in Broad Ripple. Rocky Ripple would not be on my top list for living as the houses would need careful inspection and it seems more rustic. Expensive is relative. Depends on how much you have to spend, how much house you want. go to mibor.com and check out Washington Township. Now this is area is very large but you can get a city map and find out where each house is in your price range. There is also a BT neighborhood organization, a Meridian Kessler neighborhood assoc. and lots of realtors who would love to show you hundreds of houses and talk to you about schools.

I would be happy to give you any additional info you would want. There may be a French club at Eli Lilly. I will ask my husband. He works with a lot of international employees. I know they have a Chinese Club.

We have been involved in the India Society, the Japanese groups, etc. There are extensive ethnic grocery stores and restaurants here in Indy now. this was not so 30 years ago so some of the info you may be getting is old. Our favorite chinese food is from a vietnamese place.

I would not want to live in the rural areas of southern Indy but Indianapolis is quite full of modern life and diversity. The universities and Lilly help that along. We are fairly conservative and things dont change much but we have a very low cost of living and your pace of life can be whatever you choose. Many educational opportunities.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by sweetana3

Forget Fishers.

Well la dee freaking da!

We chose Fishers because we wanted good public schools, but could also access good private schools if we wished. We like having choices.

[sweetana3]

Fishers is fine if you want a land of subdivision after subdivision with nothing older than a few building on the "main" street. Try taking 116th or 96th (or heavens try I69) during a time of any traffic and attempting to get into the stores. There is little to walk to from these many subdivisions. So you have to get in a car and drive to everything. And drive from store to store even across the street due to the enormous parking lots. I will grant you the schools are good because for the most part they are new due to the constant influx of new students.

There are still older traditional neighborhoods that are not "fake" New Urbanism designs in Indianapolis. Even Carmel is trying to mimic the old town walkable feel, although it may take awhile and not have may Mom and Pop stores due to the cost of new retail.

If you want atmosphere and tree lined streets without cookie cutter houses and with walkable sidewalks, think about the older neighborhoods mentioned earlier. They are more European and less "builder duplicate".

There will always those who like the new and those who like the old. I have lived in both plus the inner city. With kids I would look at the neighborhood first and its related schools. Unless there was a vital neighborhood organization, I would check elsewhere. I would also look at what was available within walking or biking distance. Will the family see a diverse area when out walking or will all the houses be from similiar building style, with similiar prices, and similiar families. Do you want the diversity of income, housing, family, stores, etc? Always a choice. I prefer Butler Tarkington or Meridian Kessler for all the above reasons. Plus I feel a short commute is beneficial to family life.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by sweetana3

Fishers is fine if you want a land of subdivision after subdivision with nothing older than a few building on the "main" street. Try taking 116th or 96th (or heavens try I69) during a time of any traffic and attempting to get into the stores. There is little to walk to from these many subdivisions. So you have to get in a car and drive to everything. And drive from store to store even across the street due to the enormous parking lots. I will grant you the schools are good because for the most part they are new due to the constant influx of new students.

There are still older traditional neighborhoods that are not "fake" New Urbanism designs in Indianapolis. Even Carmel is trying to mimic the old town walkable feel, although it may take awhile and not have may Mom and Pop stores due to the cost of new retail.

If you want atmosphere and tree lined streets without cookie cutter houses and with walkable sidewalks, think about the older neighborhoods mentioned earlier. They are more European and less "builder duplicate".

There will always those who like the new and those who like the old. I have lived in both plus the inner city. With kids I would look at the neighborhood first and its related schools. Unless there was a vital neighborhood organization, I would check elsewhere. I would also look at what was available within walking or biking distance. Will the family see a diverse area when out walking or will all the houses be from similiar building style, with similiar prices, and similiar families. Do you want the diversity of income, housing, family, stores, etc? Always a choice. I prefer Butler Tarkington or Meridian Kessler for all the above reasons. Plus I feel a short commute is beneficial to family life.

Schools ... schools ... schools.

You missed my point.

[lutherbfree]

I've lived in Indianapolis for the last 3 years and crime is on par with some notable Florida cities. Stay away from the east side or if you are driving, do it during the day and keep your heads below the window sills. I seen this coming with rival black and mexican gangs a few years with all the illegal immigrants coming here south of the U.S border. Since you are from France which tends to be liberal you will be disappointed living in ultraconservative communist Indiana. I was born and raised here and not gay, don't believe in abortions as a form of birth control. I once had a Clinton bumper sticker on my car and had it vandalized with spray paint about our former prez. I would not live here and would had moved except my daughter lives in Indiana. Sorry I didn't really answer your question.

[Southside Shrek]

at one point in time Indiana was one of the last states I had ever thought of ending up in. However, here I am and it's not bad at all. Sure, it's more conservative than liberal for the most part but that's a sign of the times we live in.

unlike France we don't have an abundance of well-preserved 15th and 16th century castles, nor do we have Roman ruins in Southern Indiana like they do in the South of France. Our selection in cheese is also not as vast.

[M TYPE X]

Indy is really diverse ... the radio stations are 30% rap and 70% country.
That's a lot of country music channels to pick from.

Which big box store to shop at next?

Yes, I know, the entire country is like that.

[kpastore]

You have received many views of Indianapolis in this forum, but in the 4 years I have lived in the area, I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of diverse people and experiences that are available if you take the time to look.

Indianapolis has an emerging art scene centered in a couple of different neighborhoods. One is along Massachusetts Avenue (know as Mass. Ave.) which you can view here: http://www.discovermassave.com/.
The other is located in and around Fountain Square which you can check out here:
http://www.discoverfountainsquare.com/.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art recently announced that it would offer free general admission beginning in 2007. http://www.ima-art.org/, and there is also a plan to spend $2 million over the next 3 years for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail http://www.indyculturaltrail.info/.

When it comes to multicultural influences, there are opportunities there as well. A former boss of mine is a member of the Indiana Bangladesh Society, which has a decent sized group, and I have actually been involved in a bocce league which is overseen by the Italian Heritage Society of Indiana.

As for the cheese, well you should definitely check out this link which will take you to a story about premium goat cheese from Southern Indiana which is available at the local farmers market in Broad Ripple and the City Market.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...03/1007/LIVING

I hope now, with a few examples, you can see that there are opportunities in Indianapolis for art and culture if you take the time to find them out.

Good Luck!