Moving to Lawrence? (Indianapolis, Fishers, Carmel: real estate, low crime, houses)

[mshosey21]

Hello! My husband and I are looking to move to Indianapolis. I have heard good and bad things about the Lawrence area and we have recently been looking at houses there but before we make the commitment I would love some opinions from everyone!

Here is some history on us:
We are in our early 20s, married for a little over a year. We are looking for a town to put down roots. We would like to buy a house and start a family. We'd like an up and coming town with great schools, parks and is accessible to downtown Indy.

So what is your opinion on Lawrence, the real estate (hard to judge because of the economy as of late but think about what is has been previously), crime rate, schools, family friendly, neighborhoods, is it growing or are people leaving, etc.

Thanks in advance everyone!

[bryan61]

Lawerence is a very diverse area (township) of Indianapolis. You can find everything from ghetto to Geist and in between. Once you get over about 56th street there are some nice newer neighborhoods stretching out Pendelton pike to Oaklandon and Mccordsville at which point you are really out of lawerence. Closer to Castleton around Fall creek there are some really nice established neighborhoods in and around FT Harrison ST PK. There are parks and somekind of youth sports complex at Pen Pike and sunnyside rd. Theres also a really nice little league baseball park near Foerst Glen elem (Ithink thats it) Lee rd and 63rd ST, also a nice area. Real estate seems reasonable but taxes seem high, Marion county. There seems to be a bit of crime and I would imagine the further south you go the more crime there is. I see alot of police in and around Oaklandon and sunnyside roads and feel pretty safe. We have a 4 abnd 5 year old and I would feel safe in this area and Lawerence is one of the places we are looking in addition to Fishers, Carmel and way out in the countryside towards Fortville and Greenfield McCordsville. Most of suburban Indy seems accessible to downtown although I hear the commute from Fishers and Carmel can get jammed up.

I think anywhere in the NE section of Indy is growing and a great place to raise a family. Compared to the rest of the country housing is cheap and theres alot of work. I like it here so far, since june.

[BU191433]

If I were you and looking to raise a family soon, I would look in the lawrence area, but decide to move just a little further north (in some cases across the street) into Hamilton Southeastern school district.

The bus the students around so the two high schools are equal along racial lines. But just because you live across the street from Lawrence north HS doesn't mean that is where your child will go

[Toxic Toast]

Lawrence the city and township is nice along and north of 56th Street. It is also fairly easy to get downtown, at least when compared to places like Fishers and Carmel. If accesibility to downtown is a priority, along with good schools, Lawrence is a good choice. If it was me, I would try to stay in the Lawrence North district; but I have no basis for that other than knowing people who graduated from LN. North of 56th, the crime rate is low. I am not sure about the stats on population trends, but it is not emptying out by any stretch. It is a great place to settle and place your roots.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by BU191433

If I were you and looking to raise a family soon, I would look in the lawrence area, but decide to move just a little further north (in some cases across the street) into Hamilton Southeastern school district.

The bus the students around so the two high schools are equal along racial lines. But just because you live across the street from Lawrence north HS doesn't mean that is where your child will go

Spot on. You REALLY have to be careful if schools are important. Lawrence has a magnet school system for the public schools and from what I understand, you want to be in a neighborhood that feeds into Lawrence North HS. The schools are divided along economic lines, so the district boundaries are all over the place.

At least if you move into Fishers, you can live anywhere and be in a good school district.

[IndyGoat]

Just moved out of Lawrence Township and Indy to get away from the Indy public schools. Fishers/Carmel/Zionsville are much better options, unless you send your kids to private schools.

[scott326]

I would recommend looking a little east, into Hancock County. McCordsville is just out of the county, goes to Mt. Vernon schools (all good), has very low crime, is still affordable, and is a growing area. I get a lot of people asking about the area and wanting to move there. It is still close enough to the city, and a little further south into the western parts of Greenfield are great as well, and you can be close to I-70 to get to downtown in minutes. The neighborhoods seem to have a really good sense of community, I think the people are very friendly.

Best of luck!

[mshosey21]

Thanks for all your help! Overall it seems like we are on the right track. We are definitely realizing that we are looking closer to McCordsville (kind of in between). A friend of ours said to absolutely not even look in that direction and look into Broad Ripple but in my mind that doesn't seem to fit the lifestyle we want, it fits our friend's.

[scott326]

Yeah... Broad Ripple is in Washington Township, and the schools there are ok, but I would recommend Lawrence over Washington. Broad Ripple is great for young singles or young families, but not if you want to raise a family.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by scott326

Yeah... Broad Ripple is in Washington Township, and the schools there are ok, but I would recommend Lawrence over Washington. Broad Ripple is great for young singles or young families, but not if you want to raise a family.

Broad Ripple is in Washington Township; but the schools are IPS. If you are at the mercy of public schools; you may be better off in Lawrence Twnshp or Hamilton County.