Anderson IN (Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville: real estate, 2015, apartments)

[Phoebemebee]

I'm considering a move to the Indy area to be near to family. They live in Fishers. I will be retired and would only work part time to keep busy. What do you all think of Anderson? Is it too far away from everything? Is it safe? Give me your thoughts!

[Serious Conversation]

Anderson and Fishers are two different worlds.

My ex-girlfriend was from Anderson, and I stayed there about half the time when we were together back in 2015. I lived in Carmel at the time, worked at Keystone at the Crossing, and drove between them all.

Anderson is a Rust Belt town that was dependent on manufacturing, and has suffered as a result of manufacturing, mainly automobile, leaving the area. The casino, Anderson University, and Nestle are the primary economic drivers there now. Anderson is a blue collar, working class town.

I liked it well enough. It has the essentials - Meijer, Lowe's, Home Depot, Kohl's, Walmart, car washes, that sort of thing. I'm pretty sure the Marsh and Target both went under. For bigger shopping, you will be driving to Noblesville or Fishers. That's less than a half hour outside of rush hour. Costco, Sam's, and a bigger mall (Castleton) are on the Fishers line or north side of Indy. That's barely more than a half hour from all but the west side of Anderson outside of rush hour.

Anderson has high crime compared to Fishers. I never felt unsafe there, and was at the bars downtown past midnight often. However, I did grow up in a place like Anderson in northeast TN. The town in TN had a much, much higher crime rate than Anderson. Anderson has a lot of auto retirees, and a declining population. It's just a slow paced area overall.

The big benefit is that property and rent in Anderson is basically a fraction of Fishers. I'm not joking. If you have kids, you want them in the Fishers school system. If you're working, you want a better commute than you can get from Anderson. I wouldn't recommend Anderson for families with kids. If you're not afraid of some commuting or are retired, Anderson is a great way to save money.

Would I recommend it to a retiree? Probably, as long as you don't need to be in Indy daily. You can probably find some kind of part-time work at the stores in the area. I wouldn't want to commute from Anderson much past the north side of Indy right off 465 at rush hour. If you can't get/do what you want in Anderson, you're less than an hour from pretty much anything in the Indy metro outside of rush hour.

You can find nice homes in Anderson for under $100k. It probably has some of the cheapest real estate for a safe place near a major city of anywhere in the country. The best thing about Anderson is that it still has the essentials for retail. You might want to drive back to Indy once a week or even twice a month. Honestly, I think Anderson is kind of an under the radar gem. There are a lot of nice and architecturally interesting properties there too.

My girlfriend lived at Apple Creek apartments. It was very quiet and peaceful - no issues, though it was next to I-69. Send me a PM if you have specific questions.

[ischyros]

It depends what you consider "too far away". Anderson has anything you need for your day to day life. It has been slowly dying but if you're retired and not looking for work and schools aren't a question, Anderson may not be too bad. As mentioned by the previous poster, you can probably find homes for cheaper there than Fishers. And there are certainly safe areas. Depending on your proximity to I-69 and the side of Anderson you are on, you could be to Hamilton Town Center mall and all it offers in 15 minutes. Castleton in 30 minutes. They started a project this year that when finished will make I-69 3 lanes each direction all the way to SR 32 exit in Anderson (the main Anderson exit).