Town centres immediately outside Indianapolis...?

[BU191433]

Zionsville is the place you want and yes I have no problems getting downtown in 25 minutes from there in non-rush hour times and 30-40 in rush hour - easy drive too. Take 465 south to 65 right downtown - easy route. I would suggest staying away from Michigan road altogether I hate the road - many accidents and traffic is crazy

[chalcedony]

The aforementioned cities (Zionsville, Carmel, Noblesville) are probably the best options. These are affluent and pricey. If these stretch your budget a bit, some other options with old town centers might include:

Greenwood: near southside suburb, though parts of this area (particularly Center Grove) are very affluent, only old town Greenwood has the historic housing and an decent (if not spectacular) main street. It is transitioning from a historically blue-collar town center (with telltalle southern accents) to something a bit more upscale. It's probably where Noblesville was 20 years ago. Parts of it are very nice, and parts of it have yet to be re-discovered. It is increasingly very diverse with a large Asian population (mostly South Indian).

Franklin: closer to Noblesville in size and structure with a real town square and courthouse and an old movie theatre downtown. It's changing as well: northsiders would probably look down on it as too "country" and it definitely has that element, but it also has Franklin College and a beautiful Province Park. It would be a good place to buy an old home, fix it up, and property values will probably rise as Franklin becomes an increasingly desirable bedroom community.

Greenfield: don't know this very well, it has a nice downtown and central courthouse from what I've seen though. Completely rural between it and the east side of Indy. The town is also utterly homogenous and my suspicion is that it is perfectly comfortable staying that way.

Danville: I know even less about this and have never seen it, but from what I hear it has a good reputation and a generally healthy downtown. It is probably going to take off as a bedroom community a bit sooner than Franklin (if it hasn't already).

Plainfield: schools have great reputation, lots of shopping, but their tiny downtown needs help. The housing around it is often nice but the Main Street has largely been squandered through the shiny-new Metropolis Mall. I don't see Plainfield's Main Street coming back soon, and it is tiny to boot.

Avon and Fishers: I believe these two are trying to build their town centers anew--best to revisit them in 10 years since they're booming suburbs that are working to define themselves. Avon in particular has a long way to go because it didn't even incorporate as a town until about 20 years ago.

Mooresville: southwest suburb, was just there the other day. It has a pretty solid little main street and town center. Still pretty small and homogenous, but not as much as Greenfield, and probably more accepting.

Martinsville: far southwest town. I was there about two or three years ago and it's actually pretty attractive, with a lot of nice older homes and a good town square. Sadly, this town has the worst reputation of any town in the entire state for race relations, and though many living there are trying to change its reputation, there are other native Martinsvillians (villains?) who tell me the association people have with Martinsville as "racist" is well-deserved. Too bad because it has a fair amount of charm; maybe someone else here can correct me if I'm wrong?

That covers the majority of the suburbs of Indianapolis that I'm aware of. There are a few others but I'll leave that to someone with more info.

[mkat321]

I second Zionsville, Greenwood, and Plainfield for all the reasons listed above and more. Greenwood traffic is a nightmare alot of the time though, as is traffic coming in on 40 {Plainfield} during rush hours and with the ongoing construction on the interstate system, alot of the time during non rush hours as well. I love the 'feel' of Zionsville more than any of the others and it's possible to make it to most parts of downtown in under 40 minutes most any time. The extra 10 minutes is well worth the area, IMO.

About an extra 5 minutes would put you in Danville. http://www.danvilleindiana.org/ I am biased because I worked on the Avon/Danville line for what seems like a lifetime, and grew up spending every Thursday of the summer and most Friday evenings in Danville from the time I was in second grade, but I love Danville. The square is beautiful, the majority of the people are polite if not actually friendly, it's an active community with good schools and a large variety of worship centers. {and an easy commute to a ton of other worship styles/denominations not found inside the town limits} You mentioned prejudice. It's not as super-diverse as say Bloomington or Indianapolis, but for the most part the people are mature and see a person for who they are and how they treat others, not color or nation of ancestry or origin. As there is almost everywhere, there are people who are intolerant of anyone who looks, talks, dresses, worships, or even breathes differently than they do. By and large though the locals are not that way. MikiJayne can help you with the market surveys and stuff in this area and probably has the more current list of local points of contact than I do.

[sweetana3]

Another thing Zionsville has going for it are the long term recognized town activities. Art Fairs, etc. that are set up on the street and draw from the surrounding area. Downtown sports park reminds me of older communities and gives a great place for the families.

Of course downtown Zionsville has changed much from the 80s when it was an active arts community to its more upscale shopping area right now, but the feel is still there and I would love to live there within walking distance of that brick street downtown area. Dont think it is a complete downtown though. No grocery store and I dont remember a hardware store. Those are on the outside of the historic small downtown area a short way.

check out Greater Zionsville Chamber of Commerce for more info. They also have a wonderful weekly farmers market downtown.