Young Puerto Rican Professional Possibly Moving to Indiana (Indianapolis, Franklin: real estate, apartment)

[SagravJ]

Hi! I'm an attorney currently living and practicing law in Puerto Rico. My husband who was born and raised in the US, has been offered a position in Indianapolis and he is considering the move. I am not too enthusiastic about it mainly for the fact that Im used to warm weather and nice beaches...!

I would like to know about the hispanic community in Indianapolis, how's the weather specially snow, how bad it gets; how cold is gets? About art and culture, places to go, best places to live, etc. FYI, We have no kids.

Thanks for all your imput!

[grmasterb]

http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html

A lot of your questions about demographics and climate can be answered at the above link.

As for the Hispanic community in Indianapolis, it has grown, but it's still not near a large as what you find in many major cities. Its origins appear to be primarily from Mexico and Central America.

[BU191433]

There are no beaches here and it does get cold and very cloudy in the winter time - it can be quite a shock for those who have only lived in warm climates.

[hindsight2020]

I'm was born and raised in PR, left the island for college in 1998 and with the exception of visiting my parents, and eventually taking care of them in their late years, I'm never going back to PR. I lived in IN for 3 years during grad school and met my soon to be wife in Indiana.

Indianapolis, from your perspective as a native islander, will be a matter of opportunity cost, plain and simple. I lived in the Southeast for 5 years before I set foot in IN, so I was somewhat preped for the mainland weather as opposed to doing the jump from caribbean weather to midwestern weather. So I'm not gonna lie, the temperature change, considerable lower amount of sun shine-through days, and wardrobe and lifestyle changes imposed by being geographically at higher latitudes than the tropic of cancer will be a shock to you. How you handle it will depend more on what's of value to you than what you're physically predisposed to tolerate or not.

With the exception of the weather, we were content with Indiana in general. Indianapolis has been recently labeled the cheapest metro area to live in, this is good especially with the current economy; it's nice to live in a city where you don't have to chase the carrot around....rat race....does San Juan ring a bell?

Housing in Indy is cheap compared to other cities, crime in the outlying areas is a joke compared to other metro centers in the country, and specially coming from Puerto Rico, and yet it's still enough hussle and bussle to keep ya busy. It's not for everybody, but we didn't find much to complain about. Granted, we lived in a college town northwest of indy so our interaction with the city was just on the weekends and to travel to the airport. Oh that's another thing, flying to PR from Indy is surprisingly convenient. Cheaper than flying from many southeastern destinations and much more pleasant experience than driving to O'hare to catch a flight.

As to your concern for racial diversity, I may not be the person to give advice on that one. As a Puerto Rican, I stay away from clustering with other Hispanics just because they are hispanic, if I wanted "arroz con habichuelas" culturally 24/7 I would have stayed in the island. Indiana is not racially diverse. You want that kind of cultural clustering? Go to Chicago, there's plenty of boricuas there, I wouldn't do that for myself though. Don't get me wrong, you'll find puerto ricans in Indy, just not the kind of puerto ricans who either advertise their ethnicity nor the kind that actively seek to purposely associate with other hispanics by default or becaue they want to recreate the island. So once again, if that is your cup of tea, you'll grow to dislike Indianapolis, and are better off going to the garden variety spots (Boston, NYC, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta).

Good luck with the move, there truly are worse places to relocate to, and in my opinion, with the exception of East St. Louis and Jersey, any place up here beats the island any day job wise, crime wise, cost of living wise, and education wise. good luck again.

[SagravJ]

Thanks for your imput! I'm of the same frame of mind as you're, regarding advertising my ethnicity or associate by default. My question about hispanics was mainly to know the composition of the area, from the perspective of a local and the attitudes toward professional hispanics.

Thanks again..!

[marlins7]

Originally Posted by SagravJ

Hi! I'm an attorney currently living and practicing law in Puerto Rico. My husband who was born and raised in the US, has been offered a position in Indianapolis and he is considering the move. I am not too enthusiastic about it mainly for the fact that Im used to warm weather and nice beaches...!

I would like to know about the hispanic community in Indianapolis, how's the weather specially snow, how bad it gets; how cold is gets? About art and culture, places to go, best places to live, etc. FYI, We have no kids.

Thanks for all your imput!

Like you we are a puertorican family. My family,from Humacao and Yabucoa. Like you we have fears before we made this critical decision. I was offered a job in the Pharmaceutical Industry, that was 6 years ago until today I'm so happy that I accepted. We had made mayor cultural changes but all of those for the better. Feel free to ask any other question.

[SagravJ]

Originally Posted by marlins7

Like you we are a puertorican family. My family,from Humacao and Yabucoa. Like you we have fears before we made this critical decision. I was offered a job in the Pharmaceutical Industry, that was 6 years ago until today I'm so happy that I accepted. We had made mayor cultural changes but all of those for the better. Feel free to ask any other question.

Hi! Thanks for your imput. My worries are also about the economy. I would like to have an idea about how much are on average the utilities bills, groceries, etc. My main worry right now is that Im moving without a job, and bcs of the way the economy is going I dont know how long it might take me to get a job and although my husband's salary is a very competitive one (double than what he's earning right now), I'm not sure if it is gonna be enough for the two of us while I find a job.

[SagravJ]

Oh, and My family is from Bayamón y Toa Baja, but I'm living right now in Luquillo...5mins fro the beach......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[liglesias22]

We are currently forming the Puerto Rican Association of Indiana. Go to Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, house prices, home value estimator, recent sales, cost of living, crime, race, income, photos, education, maps, weather, houses, schools, neighborhoods, and more

[Rambone]

My wife is from Ponce. She absolutely loves it here, compared to PR. Sure, the weather will take some getting used to, but crime is much, much lower here. Life is at a slower pace. The city is very clean, and housing is the most affordable in the nation. My wife says that there is no way she would go back to PR. She is also one that doesn't get into the "let's make this place little San Juan" mode of thinking.

If you want Puerto Rican food, you'll be doing some home cooking. I think there is just 1 Caribbean restaurant, and it's a brand new one on Post Road. Haven't had a chance to try it yet. There are a couple of Cuban restaurants that are good, Tata's Cafe near downtown and Havana Cafe on the west side. There are a lot of stores here that carry items that you would need in making PR food. Saraga is a big international grocery store on the west side that has something for everyone.

Housing is very affordable. A nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with an attached 2 car garage will run anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000, depending on where you buy. There are deluxe homes in Franklin Township, 2 story with 4 bedrooms and over 2800 square feet, going for around $200,000, brand new. With today's rates, this will run you about $1200 - $1400 a month, depending on down payment, etc. Property taxes vary by area, but figure about 1% a year or so, based on assessed home value. That would be $2000 a year on a $200,000 home. Maybe a bit more.

A nice 2 bedroom apartment will rent for $800 - $1000 a month if you want to rent while getting used to the city and finding a neighborhood that you like. That's what I would do, if I were new to an area and not familiar.

My house is 2000 square feet, all one level. (Ranch) It is fairly new construction, built in 2003. It is total electric. My highest electric bill will run about $275 a month, due to running the furnace all of the time in the colder months. Last month it was $113. That's pretty reasonable! I don't have a water bill, as I've got a well, but I pay about $25 a month for city sewer. Cable TV, phone and internet are all on one bill (Comcast) for $135 a month.

Good luck, and welcome to Indy!