Need some opinions from Indy Urban Dwellers (Washington: foreclosures, crime)

[rkleem]

I was raised in Indy and went away for college and moved back two years ago. I've been posting a lot that I want to move to another location, but have decided due to a raise for my wife that I will stay. Here is my dilemna....

I bought a wonderful house near 52nd and Evanston near school #91. This area is kinda known as So-bro as most of you would know. I fixed up the house as most of my neighbors did as well, and the house is worth quite a bit more now. The neighborhood here has drastically improved.... the problem is I don't know if it will continue....The area 1/2 to 1 mile south of me is horrible ...as you may of heard this morning 2 more people were killed near 42 and evanston. We got a lot of undesirable transients loitering and solicting too. 52nd street looks better, especially when they get rid of aj wright, 49th is good, but 46th I have a feeling will never improve.

Basically I'm a hearty urban guy and safety is a concern, but in this istance not my primary, I don't want my house to sink in value in the next few years because of 46th and 42st and all the crime associated with it.

My question to you in your opinion....should I jump ship now , make my 30K and move to 62nd and guilford area, fletcher place, or meridian kessler? Or should I stand pat...as the neighborhood will improve much more (crosses fingers) any help would be appreciated, thanks

[Toxic Toast]

A close friend of mine and his wife just bought a small house near 46th and Kingsley. They are trying to get another young couple to buy a house down the block closer to 47th Street. I have only been to their house a couple of times, it did not seem so bad. Many of their neightbors are of a similar ilk, young first time home buyers.

[sweetana3]

We lived at 53rd and Ralston in the 70s and it has only gotten better. Some stretches of improvement were slow but other times very nice. There was a period where the corner of 52nd and Keystone retail was very questionable and the neighborhood was concerned but it improved significantly. I would feel fairly comfortable right now since the problem area you mentioned has never!! ever been nice. I never liked going much south of 46th.

But now consider that it is a good time to improve housing since prices are so low. IF you can sell yours and qualify for financing of the new one, it might be a good time to move.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by rkleem

I bought a wonderful house near 52nd and Evanston near school #91. The neighborhood here has drastically improved.... the problem is I don't know if it will continue....The area 1/2 to 1 mile south of me is horrible ...as you may of heard this morning 2 more people were killed near 42 and evanston. We got a lot of undesirable transients loitering and solicting too. 52nd street looks better, especially when they get rid of aj wright, 49th is good, but 46th I have a feeling will never improve.

Basically I'm a hearty urban guy and safety is a concern, but in this istance not my primary, I don't want my house to sink in value in the next few years because of 46th and 42st and all the crime associated with it.

My question to you in your opinion....should I jump ship now , make my 30K and move to 62nd and guilford area, fletcher place, or meridian kessler? Or should I stand pat...as the neighborhood will improve much more (crosses fingers) any help would be appreciated, thanks

Personally, I would only take the money if it really going to be money you can bank. Think about what you are saying: If 52nd St. goes, 62nd/Guilford, Fletcher Place, and MK could easily, easily be next. There are sadly many, many MK style homes in Detroit. Folks will say Detroit is an anomaly, but it really isn't. Secondly, most of those neighborhoods you mentioned are in the IPS school district. This is the same district that many of those folks you seem to not care for send their kids too. Unless you already have the $$ for private school, I would make sure where ever I moved is away from "transients" types I don't care for, and their off-spring. If you're worried about your area, I won't think the others within miles from there would be much of a choice. If those people have money, and I mean thousands of dollars liquid, some folks have no problem taking a 25% loss in their home and getting the hell out. As things get worse, more folks will be willing to take an even higher hit, or just walk away and let the bank take it (ie: Why pay the remaining $280K on a home now valued at $230K with the ghetto, or ghetto culture, inching close and closer year after year).

However, 180 degrees, if gas goes up to $7/gallon, watch for more and more middle to upper middle class come back to the city. This will change lower income areas to middle and upper class areas. Not sure how drastic of a change it will be, but folks who work in Indy will have almost no option but to live within five to seven miles from work.

I'm personally not an urban person. I refuse to live in Indy due to bloated government and bloated taxes. If I did live in Indy, I would want some place where I could find an all brick or stone home with at least 3/4ths of an acre of land.

[rkleem]

Yeah my neighborhood is unique in the fact that it is Washington Township, but IPS schools. However, for a little money you could send the kids to North Central Schools. I do not have children, so no big deal, but it does help resale value. Also the elementary school by me #91 is a montessori school and an exceptional one at that.

I quess really I need to determine if in this economy the neighborhood is going to continue to improve, remain stable, or decline. I don't really worry about kessler to 65th street between capitol and keystone, I just don't think it possible for it to really falter.

PS. On a related note, you would think the city would want the area adjacent to the fairgrounds to look great, due to so much exposure, quess not here, if it's truly always been bad.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by rkleem

I quess really I need to determine if in this economy the neighborhood is going to continue to improve, remain stable, or decline. I don't really worry about kessler to 65th street between capitol and keystone, I just don't think it possible for it to really falter.

PS. On a related note, you would think the city would want the area adjacent to the fairgrounds to look great, due to so much exposure, quess not here, if it's truly always been bad.

There are just too many variables to really make any sort of good educated guess. Political, taxes, international affairs (war), energy prices, welfare state, etc. will all play some part in what happens to your neighborhood property values.

If the city's current homicide rate stays where it is, we are looking at 164 homicides (which includes self-defense and police action) by years end. Usually the summer months are the worse, but last year they claim they did a big enforcement campaign in your area, and it helped bring down the normal rate. As far as the fairgrounds area, Indy could careless in my opinion. They know that many of the far out-of-county folks likely only travel to Indy for only the state fair. Some likely travel for school sports stuff and maybe special shopping trips here and there. The neighborhood is what it is, and my guess is that if you asked someone in a position to do something in Indy, they likely would say let the state take care of it.

[sebwab]

Our friends have just purchased 3 foreclosures as investment properties to flip in the 4100 block of Carrollton. They do this for a living and they believe the opportunities for young families to get a great house with more floor space than the average BR home will make the southeastern quad of Meridian Kessler attractive. Opportunities are advancing south of 46th Street.