Zionsville (Lafayette, Carmel, Francisco: high crime, neighborhood, construction)

[lamp2007]

Does Zionsville have much for amenities? Where would be the closest commercial district and what is that neighborhood like? Right now I live in a nice small town outside a major centre, we don't have much for amenities and I don't mind that so much except when I go 'into the big city' the closest area to me is the worst part of town, gangs, drugs, and hookers. When I take my kids to the doctor, library, pool, mall we either need to drive for half an hour or dodge the bullets. If we move to Zionsville or Eagle Creek what are the areas of Indy like that we would be neighbors with?

[domergurl]

Zionsville is a beautiful town with it's own town center. Schools are excellent and it's a short drive to downtown Indy. There's more building going on where Zionsville and West Carmel is starting to blend together.

[sweetana3]

Zionsville has a cute little downtown. A variety of restaurants (the sandwich shop appeared to be where everyone gathers. Good food and lots of families). Brick street and gift shops but not too much of other things. It is but a very! short drive down 334 to Michigan St (421 I think) to a huge brand new set of strip malls including a Supertarget and a little further down the road to Walmart, Sams, Trader Joes, etc at the corner of 86th and Michigan.

There is another area of strip malls including the post office on the other side of downtown Zionsville. With this amount of shops available, you would do less driving than I do while living in downtown Indy.

All these areas I would consider very safe and easy to access. The roads have been much improved and you have missed the heavy construction times.

The only area even somewhat near what you are talking about is 38th Street and Lafayette Road where the Lafayette Sq. Mall is. It is a high crime area per the police statistics but you dont have to go there unless you want to. I feel fairly comfortable during the day and this area has lots of ethnic eateries and ethnic grocery stores. As you can see, the area around 86th Street is a long long way from 38th. If you do need a mall, you would go east to Castleton Square on the Northeast corner. It is very quick on the Interstate.

[lamp2007]

Ok, Thanks. The crime stats for Indy seem quite high but I read somewhere (maybe even somewhere in this forum?) that there are isolated areas with very, very high crime that push the stats up for the entire city. Does that sound accurate?

[sweetana3]

That is very very accurate. I attended several police community meetings for our neighborhood and they could tell you specificially the areas with the most crime. There was a big black blot over Laf. Square and it might have been due to shoplifting crimes in the mall but the news has had several sensational articles about crime in the parking lot. The police are very responsive to people's issues and available to talk to. Gang activity seems to be concentrated in certain areas.

I feel very safe downtown walkiing and being out. Far safer than downtown San Francisco.

I still leave all my doors locked and am sensitive to the possibility of crime in any area.