Travel times to Downtown Indy (relocating blindly) (Indianapolis, Fishers: best cities, apartments)

[bkabba]

Assuming I am going to live in the Fishers/Carmel area, what is the usual travel time to downtown via car.
What times are best even if to save 5-10 minutes of traffic. Would leaving to work at 730 AM and starting from work at 400- 415 PM be helpful at all ?

Couple of points from me:

1. Apartment range of maximum $1000 is fine.
2. Almost every list of 'best cities', 'safe cities', 'best places to raise family' in Indiana have Carmel and/or Fishers in the top 3.
3. School is not important now. Safety is very very much. Prefer close-by malls/cinema theaters/variety of restaurants.

I guess ultimately I am asking if living in Carmel or Fishers is an ok trade off while considering extended travel times to and from work downtown. I am moving from Nashville with 0 knowledge of Indiana.
Appreciate any inputs!

[House23]

which part of Carmel? I live just north of 96th and Keystone and around 7 am it's is usually about a 20 minute drive to downtown.

I used to live in Fishers by 146th off of I-69 and it was about 30 minutes at that time.

[bkabba]

More or less in the same area you mentioned. 7 is a bit too early for me Was kind hoping to leave by 730 from home and around 415 from office. Is traffic bad at those times ? 30 minutes seems to be fine (I do 20 min here)

[ischyros]

7:30 is when traffic begins to peak. You likely would need to leave by 7AM to make it downtown in less than 30 minutes. Afternoon is usually worst between 4:30 and 6 but I've driving from downtown to Fishers at 4 and taken 50 minutes with several traffic backups.

Currently, I-69 is undergoing an expansion project from exit 205 to 219. This is causing backups most afternoons between exit 205 and 210. Once that is done, which is supposed to be the end of this year, it should get better. Exiting at exit 205 to SR 37/116th St will still be a nightmare until the SR 37 highway upgrade project is done and that isn't set to begin until next year or the year after.

Going to Carmel isn't too bad. Meridian to 38th St and then you can hope off to one of the one-way roads: Capital southbound and Illinois northbound are good options. I've taken both during the heart of rush hour and made it to downtown from approx 116th St/US 31 in 30 minutes or so.

[BU191433]

Live where you want, whether it takes 20 minutes or 29 minutes should not determine where you live. You need to come here though and check the different areas out. You probably should also check out apartments near the Fashion Mall - far northside of Indy, safe, a little closer to downtown. But you need to come here and see for yourself

[House23]

Originally Posted by bkabba

More or less in the same area you mentioned. 7 is a bit too early for me Was kind hoping to leave by 730 from home and around 415 from office. Is traffic bad at those times ? 30 minutes seems to be fine (I do 20 min here)

465 south will be fine, but 70 will be slow on the way to work at 7:30. it still shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to get downtown.

On the way home 70 will already be slow going by 4:15 but not as bad as 5:00. Some days 465 North on the East side will be backed up around 56th street.

Still commute should be 30 minutes or less.

[masters1]

Agree with BU, check out options near the Fashion Mall on the north side of Indy. Will cut 10-15 minutes off your commute compared to being up into the burbs. Tons of shopping and restaurant options.

[House23]

I timed my commute today. I left earlier than you would, but I will time myself leaving at 7:30 later this week. I left at 6:35 from around 99th and Keystone and pulled into my parking spot downtown at 7:00 am.

Here are some apartments just down the street from me that are only a couple of years old.

Apartments for Rent in Indianapolis, IN | The Seasons Of Carmel - Home

Here is an option by the fashion mall on 86th st. I used to live here for 4 years and loved it. The commute is about the same as where I am now in Carmel.

Lake Clearwater Apartments | Luxury Apartments | Indianapolis, IN

[bkabba]

Thanks a lot!! I will surely check these out.
I am glad it takes only 30-40 minutes around the times I wanna leave.