Westside Indianapolis (Plainfield, Washington, Avon: lower-class, crime, new home)

[fregiato]

I am moving to Indy soon and my fiance and I just bought a house off of West 21st street right by the Indianapolis Country Club and Ben Davis High School. I would consider it the west side of Indianapolis, but pretty far away from downtown considering its the other side of the loop. So, it might not be "the westside" but rather just west of Indy.

I have been trying to do some research on the area and I am sort of getting worried about what I am hearing about the westside. Am I wrong to think that this is the westside? I thought our neighborhood was quite nice. But, now am having second thoughts, however, I might be west of the worse areas of crime, etc.

Any thoughts?

[chalcedony]

Can't say I know this area as well as others, but I imagine you are somewhat close to the Clermont area, which isn't bad at all. In fact, there are some very nice neighborhoods over there. Some of the closer-in Westside neighborhoods (Haughville, Stringtown) have a much worse reputation, but those are significantly closer to downtown: inner-city to be exact.

To me, the biggest red flags to neighborhoods in terms of crime are the following: chain-link fences on the perimeter of the front yard (back yard is no big deal), bars on windows, complete absence of landscaping, bedraggled looking curtains on the inside. This isn't rocket science of course, but these are often signs that a neighborhood is lower income, which, sadly, generally equates to it being rough. Those are actually some very nice neighborhoods in the area you're talking about.

The snobby attitude that might indicate that this area is less than desirable has more to do with it feeding into the Wayne Township school system, which has a mixed reputation. My suspicion is this mixed reputation has more to do with latent suspicion of racial heterogeneity than actual school quality. Ben Davis High, for example, was an excellent school 20 years ago when it was mostly white. Now it is quite diverse, serving African American, Latino, and a large immigrant community, but many of the teachers from 20 years ago are still there and aren't going to let their individual standards flag. The result is a school that probably doesn't test as well as the nearby suburb of Avon (where the student body is nearly all American born, white, and affluent) but is more respective of a heterogeneous population than weak standards or low funding within Wayne Township schools.

[fregiato]

I figured the school got quite a bit of funding since the school is massive yet still very nice and my taxes are astronomical. Thanks a lot for the reply. We in fact are just a couple minute drive to Clermont, so I am starting to feel a bit better about the area now.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by fregiato

I am moving to Indy soon and my fiance and I just bought a house off of West 21st street right by the Indianapolis Country Club and Ben Davis High School. I would consider it the west side of Indianapolis, but pretty far away from downtown considering its the other side of the loop. So, it might not be "the westside" but rather just west of Indy.

I have been trying to do some research on the area and I am sort of getting worried about what I am hearing about the westside. Am I wrong to think that this is the westside? I thought our neighborhood was quite nice. But, now am having second thoughts, however, I might be west of the worse areas of crime, etc.

Any thoughts?

21st and Country Club is as west side as it gets. I used to live not to far from there. Don't worry about what you hear. Too many people rip apart or uniformly dismiss areas of Indy based on nothing. Parts of the west side are bad, just like parts of every other side are bad.

[shifuimam]

According to my best friend, who's lived on the west side of Indianapolis pretty much his whole life (he's 28), the Ben Davis area has cleaned up quite a bit.

In general, the west side of Indianapolis is a little lower-class than the rest of the city. As the rest of the city has cleaned up and become more gentrified, the low income population has migrated westward. Indianapolis International Airport is on the west edge of Indy, which does keep a lot of people away (it can be pretty noisy).

Overall, I don't think you really made a risky or poor decision. If this is your first home for you and your fiancee, you can always move in five or six years if you want something a little better or just something different.

It's also good to keep in mind that "crappy" in Indianapolis is not the same as "crappy" in Detroit or New York City or DC or Compton. There have been some pretty big incidents of crime in Indianapolis, but they've generally occurred in the very poor part of town, directly in the vicinity of downtown Indianapolis (much further in toward town from your new home).

[Future Trooper]

The Ben Davis area of the city has come along way since 10 years ago. The West side of Indianapolis is mainly blue collar americans that keep to themselves for the most part. I can say that the low income population will hit a major snag if comes to Guilford Township(Plainfield) or Avon proper. Now unincorporated areas of Eastern Washington Township( township that Avon is in) I see are starting to go down the tubes. I am a Plainfield Police Explorer and we have had numerous calls to the subdivisions their. The crime is definetly on the rise in those subdivisions. Alot of Innercity kids are coming out to go to school in Avon and are causing problems their. Avon High School's reputation of starting to become a bad/rough school is very known in Eastern Hendricks County.