A place to live near Indianapolis to commute to Cincinnati (Carmel: appointed, for sale)

[newbiesGA]

My husband and I have job offers at Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and we are wondering if it is possible to find a nice town to live between two cities.
A web search including this Forum post back in 2011 identified one possible town Greensburg, but the response was not that favorable. And I am hoping to find some positive changes since then because I really like my job opportunity in Cincinnati.

We have two girls in 1st and 8th grade, and a family-friendly environment with a good school district is the most important consideration. And the town does not have to be at a mid point of the two cities, and preferably closer to Indianapolis because I (who will be working in Cincinnati) will be negotiating telecommuting for 2 days per work. Other information to help your advice is found below. Many thanks!

Have you searched this forum for answers to your questions before posting a new inquiry? YES
. What specific topic have you not found answers to? An area to live between two cities

. Where is you current location and environment? Suburb of Augusta, GA
. Are you looking for similar in Cincinnati or a change? More of similar

. Where will your work location be? One in Cincinnati and the other in Indianapolis
. Maximum commute time desired? <1.5 hr to Cincinnati and ~30 min to Indianapolis

. What is you budget for housing? <300k
. Rent or buy? Either
. Type (Apt., Condo, Single Family) Condo or Single Family
. Size (Approx. Sq. Ft., # Bedrooms & Baths) Big enough for a family of 4: 3-4 bedrooms
. Other specifics? No

. Neighborhood environment?
. Suburban, low maintenance, quiet streets, soccer mom atmosphere
. Family oriented
. Lots of same age kids, activities
. Great schools
. Yard - none, small, large (1/2 acre or more)
. Very safe, low crime area

. Schools?
. High Ranked Public schools
. Consider Private schools? Willing to consider if necessary
. Special considerations?

. Community amenities?
. Town/city community center for adults & kids
. Lots of parks & youth athletic leagues

*This is also posted in the Cincinnati Forum.

[Serious Conversation]

There's no easy way to cut this. The commute is going to be a pain.

Where is the job at in Indianapolis? If the job is near the airport (far southwest side) vs. say Carmel (north side suburb), that's going to be 40 minutes or so right there, and that's just within the metro.

Greensburg is about an hour from Indy, a little over an hour to Cincinnati. Shelbyville is about half hour from Indy and would probably be doable to Cincinnati, but I have no idea how the schools are.

[valpofan11]

I would go with living in Franklin Township Community School Corporation on Indy's southeast side. It is very suburban though, but you get the best schools in Marion County. You're next to I-74, probably an 1:20 from Cincy, only 10-15 from Downtown Indy.

[newbiesGA]

Thank you for the response.

My husband will be working in the IU-Medical School in the northern side of Indianapolis.
I agree that it's going to be "a pain" and I should let this go unless I telecommute for as many days as possible.

The Franklin Township is the one I thought possible, but I got an impression from different web sources that the school district is scarce of money - charging school bus rides, for example. Any comments?

Thank you again

[Humboldt1]

Good schools and nice small town. It is 30 mins from Indy and 1.5 hours from Cincy.

Where is the job in Cincy? This makes a big difference.

Greensburg is 50 mins to downtown Indy and downtown Cincy is 60 mins if you drive 80mph on 74. 47 and 61 miles, respectively.

Batesville is nice small town with good schools but it is 45 mins from Cincy and 65 mins to Indy. I-74 is 70 mph outside of Marion county and has little traffic. You can easily average 80mph for much of the route, though you do have to slow down as you approach downtown Indy and Cincy.

[317xxJax]

I would look into the New Palestine area. It's a smaller town but the schools always get wonderful rankings. It's about an hour and 40 minutes from Cincinnati and a little under 30 to Indianapolis. It's undergoing a pretty decent expansion of new housing additions and businesses. I think they just built a multi million dollar nursing home that is based in Carmel. Sports are great too. The town itself is nestled right between I-70 and I-74. Very easy to access.

Frankling Township is also decent. I've heard some weird things about their school district and debt, though. I recall a time a few years ago when they told everyone they were getting rid of their buses and making everyone commute to school? Could be wrong.

Shelbyville is just "alright". I have relatives out there and all I've heard is how rampant the heroin epidemic is becoming in the town. If you choose Shelbyville, avoid Shelbyville schools and go to the Triton Central school district.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I'm surprised and disappointed you got some negative comments about Greensburg. Its always been one of my favorite small towns in Indiana. What were the unfavorable responses all about?

Greensburg seems like a very nice small town to me. It's a well kept and attractive little city. There's a tree growing thru the courthouse we always like to take a look at it when we're in Greensburg. A Honda factory recently opened up in Greensburg so it must be fairly prosperous.

With its ideal location between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and a low cost of living, I think it could become one of the fastest growing small towns in Indiana that's not a suburb. Greensburg is about 40 miles to 465 and 74 in SW Marion County near Beach Grove, and about 42 miles from 74 and 275 on the far East side of Cincinnati metro.

I could see Greensburg growing into a town of maybe 30 to 35,000 people within the next 30 years or so. Buying a house and some land in or around Greensburg might be a good investment.

I wouldn't write Greensburg off just yet. It has lots of potential, in my opinion. If I was young and I had the money, I would consider buying some land near Greensburg and Interstate 74 and just sit on it for 5 or 10 or 20 years, and see how it goes. Maybe a big entertainment company will come along and build something like a real nice water park that attracts people from the entire region between Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville and Dayton.

[Serious Conversation]

I would review Greensburg's school rating on Great Schools or similar. I'm not familiar with Greensburg, but small towns generally have worse schools than nicer suburban areas.

[Humboldt1]

The land around state road 3 and interstate 74 is not for sale. Reed family is worth several hundred million and will never sell their homestead to any developer. My family owns much of the land north of them and we will not sell either.

Development has never materialized near Honda plant but there may be some additional factories in the future. There is a reason why the Hampton Inn is on its 3rd owner and there have been no other developments nearby.

I would not invest in residential RE in Greensburg as home prices have stagnated for past 20 years. Schools are not great and it is very blue collar place though unemployment is very low. Land prices have gone up though for farms which has been good for me and my family though. A farm we bought in 1998 for 3800 per acre is now worth 12000 per acre.

Greensburg is a great spot for logistics (trucking) and I have considered setting up trucking company there to haul non farm stuff, mostly for auto industry.

North of the 421 and 74 intersection may be good RE play due to its proximity for Honda and Fogg family is more open to selling as this is not their homestead and Charles is a business guy looking for returns.

Batesville has much better schools than Greensburg and is literally halfway between Indy and Cincy btw.