How family-friendly is Noblesville? (Fishers, Carmel: real estate, low crime, house)

[jand3]

Hi -

My wife and our three boys are going to be relocating to Hamilton County within the next six months. I've noticed a lot of posts about Zionsville / Fishers / Carmel when people ask questions about schools, family oriented activities, and the like. We've been to the area a few times, and really liked Noblesville. I was wondering what impression people on here have of Noblesville? Does it lack in important areas that Zionsville and the others do not? How are the schools? The social opportunities for younger families? Any info would be helpful.

Thanks!

[Mike Taylor]

Hi Jand –

Noblesville is a great place to live and a super family friendly atmosphere. Carmel and Zionsville are definitely going to feel more “established” than Noblesville offering more neighborhoods with mature trees etc. However, Noblesville is growing by leaps and bounds adding residential and commercial all over the place.

As far as schools, I think this the general perception is this: Zionsville and Carmel are neck and neck for the best around (I give the nod to Zionsville), then Fishers, then Noblesville. You have to understand that this in no way makes Noblesville schools chump change; their schools are great. They just happen to be surrounded by some of the best public schools in the state and country.

Real estate will cost you the most in Zionsville, closely followed by Carmel, then Fishers, then Noblesville.

[domergurl]

Noblesville is a very family friendly community. It's the county seat of Noblesville, so you don't get the homogenized feel of a lot of suburban areas in the county. The issue with Noblesville is that if you have to commute downtown to work in Indy, it's a longer commute than the other 3.

[jand3]

Thank you very much for the replies - commuting won't be a problem, luckily. Our impression of Noblesville in the limited time we have spent in the area seems to be along the correct lines. But of course, impressions can be mistaken, so I'm appreciative of the responses. Oh, and I like how you phrased it domergurl... ess of a "homogenized feel." :-) A follow up question, if anyone might know - our middle boy is in Catholic school, and we see that there is both an elementary (Our Lady of Grace) and a high school (Guerin Catholic) in Noblesville. Has anyone had kids who attended? What was the impression you had of the schools?

Thanks again!

[domergurl]

I have friends in Fishers who send their kids to Our lady of Grace and love it there. Guerin is still a rather new school ... but from what I hear, it's really nice.

[Charmedlife357]

I currently live in Noblesville and I LOVE it!!!!! I am having to move to Boise for my hubby's job and I am bummed. I like Noblesville better than the others because it is a nice, low crime area to live without the "we are better than everybody else" feel. Noblesville has everything you need without traveling too far. There is plenty of shopping and resturaunts, we have our own hospital, and they just built a new mall out in east noblesville. There are alot of sport places for your kids and although mine are still small, I hear the schools are great. As one other post said, Noblesville is a little farther out so it has a more secluded feel to it, which I like. North Noblesville also has Morse Lake which is a beautiful area to live in. We currently live by Morse Lake and it is so beautiful during the summer and fall months. It is a little farther away from Indy than the rest of Noblesville but well worth it. My hubby had a 45 min commute to Indy. Not too bad when you get to live in such a great place. I highly recommend Noblesville over the others and I hope to move back sooner than later. I think it is an excellent place to raise kids and make a home. Good Luck with your move and feel free to ask any other questions.

[dacmac]

Jand3,

I know what your going through. Just relocated to Hamilton County 8 months ago from Virginia/ DC area with two boys and had the same questions/concerns as you.

On our 10 day house hunting trip, we looked in Fishers, Carmel and Noblesville. In the end, we found ourselves coming back to Noblesville for three reasons: 1) More house for your money, 2) Great Downtown area and 3) not over built....yet.

But the bottom line is that you can't go wrong in ANY of these communities, they're all outstanding. Living on the far west side of Noblesville (169th and Gray RD) affords us the opprotunity to enjoy everything that Carmel, Westfield and Zionsville have to offer.

As far as school is concerned, we belong to St. Maria Goretti Church in Westfield which also has a grade school. I've not heard any negative comments about scholastics at the school. Our boys participate in the public school system in Noblesville and we've been very pleased thus far.

I can see Guerin Catholic from my house and will probably end up there with my boys. The school is new but up and coming with its sports program.

Good Luck!

[MsManners]

I live about 20 min away from Nobelsville, we shop there and eat there on the weekends. It is a growing city that is only going forward. I have several friends that live there and they wouldn't take their children to any other school. My cousin is a school teacher there and in the 5 years of teaching doesn't have one bad thing to say about the kids, parents and other teachers. If we wouldn't have built our home here first, only 2 years ago we would have built in Nobelsville. Hope this helps

[jand3]

Thank you all for the great replies! We are all excited about our upcoming moving "adventure" (as the youngest boy calls it) and all the posts have reinforced the good feeling we had from our previous visits. I also noticed that Noblesville seems to have a lot of youth baseball activities, which the oldest boy is quite happy about. Appreciate all the feedback!

[TnTWalter]

Another nod for Noblesville. We have 3 kids in the Elementary School. Our next door neighbors went to Our Lady of Grace for several years but then went back to public schools. Our schools are great. Carmel has lowest taxes and their schools are most popular with people relocating here. Noblesville has a lake also, Morse Reservoir. If you live in southern area of Noblesville, you are close to everything. Cute town too. We love it here! Except the weather. It was snowing yesterday [didn't stick!] briefly.

Good luck and enjoy.

Trish