Possible Move - Need Info (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne: cheap apartments, renting, house)

[Rodeno]

Hello:

I am possibly going to be making a move in Indy with my wife.

- I am a manufacturers rep, my office will be where my home is, but I travel a lot (all over Indiana and more than likely Western Ohio). I need easy access to highways without a lot of headaches.

- We will look in the city first. We currently live in a vibrant, walkable, safe neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pa (Bloomfield/Little Italy) where we have a large number of bars and restaurants within walking distance... We would like to find the same type of area in Indy. What neighborhood would fit this description with access to highways?

- We currently pay $675 a month for a two bed 1 bath duplex (fairly low price for the area)...


Any info would be great...

Thanks!

[sweetana3]

Walking distance to something usually means:

1. Downtown Indy or Downtown Carmel. Downtown Indy has best access to hiway. I can get on in less than one minute and hit I65 or I70 since they meet here. I walk all over and have a good grocery and lots of restaurants to go to.
2. Broad Ripple. More of a drive to hit an interstate since it is in the middle of a ring. It has great walkability.
3. Some nice areas of Meridian Kessler or Butler Tarkington. Some are closer to shopping, etc. than others. Ditto to access.
4. Some areas along 86th Street. Fairly quick access along the northern ring of I465.

Indy was not developed with walking in mind. The car is king here. But it can be done with some careful checking. See my previous post on Northview Apartments along 86th. I live downtown and can find most of what I want here but you will have to check each apartment. Lots of new ones opening up this year. See 1010 Central on google.

Rents however or any of these places will be higher.

A huge number of places dont fall on my walkable list because there are no sidewalks, or no shopping, or no safe alternative way to walk to and from especially in winter.

[sportymonkey]

Come to the southside, we have chocolate. LOL jk. People forget the southside has nice things too. I have lived in greenwood for 10yrs and love it. You have access to 65 and that will get you where you need to go ( its the main artery so to speak). I will warn you that renting a house will be much higher no matter where you live unless its in a bad area. There are some nice apartments in greenwood except Westminster! I could write a big blog about the nasties in there. lol. St. Andrews is pretty nice and right near the interstate. Good luck!

[sweetana3]

But Sportymonkey, what about walkability? I like the southside as an alternative to shopping elsewhere but there are fewer(not nonexistant just fewer) restaurants and not much walkability. 135 is developing but still strip mall after strip mall from Indy down to Smith Valley Road and the Greenwood Park Mall does not have many apartments around it. Mostly a chain area (not all just most).

Remember they asked about a vibrant and walkable neighborhood. It is harder to find in Indy than in many Eastern cities developed before the car.

[msamhunter]

If the op were to look into Greenwood it would be around Valle Vista. Relatively cheap apartments there, nice golf course, some good independent restaurants (La Trattora, Oaken Barrel, some japanese place I can remember but people rave about it, esp. the sushi, nice little pizza joint along with a neat little ice cream stand). The freshest meat you can get at Archers butcher off of Main and Meridian. Very walkable. You can walk the entire course or the path heading all the way around Smith Valley and thru Craig Park. Main library right there close to Madison and Main.

[Toxic Toast]

Come on guys, if someone is coming from Bloomfield in Pittsburgh, and looking for something similar in Indianapolis; Greenwood is about the last place on the planet they should be checking. I would defer to SweetAna's first post, particularly 1 2 and 3 and leave it at that.

Originally Posted by sweetana3

Walking distance to something usually means:

1. Downtown Indy or Downtown Carmel. Downtown Indy has best access to hiway. I can get on in less than one minute and hit I65 or I70 since they meet here. I walk all over and have a good grocery and lots of restaurants to go to.
2. Broad Ripple. More of a drive to hit an interstate since it is in the middle of a ring. It has great walkability.
3. Some nice areas of Meridian Kessler or Butler Tarkington. Some are closer to shopping, etc. than others. Ditto to access.

[missik999]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

Come on guys, if someone is coming from Bloomfield in Pittsburgh, and looking for something similar in Indianapolis; Greenwood is about the last place on the planet they should be checking. I would defer to SweetAna's first post, particularly 1 2 and 3 and leave it at that.

My thoughts exactly. Sweetana nailed it.

[X-Greensboro Resident]

Originally Posted by missik999

My thoughts exactly. Sweetana nailed it.

Yep, same here! Sweetana always has very good advice.

[Rodeno]

Thanks all! I'm fighting with my boss about living in Indy or near, he want's me in Fort Wayne so I can be more accessible to our home office in Cleveland, but I will be covering all of Indiana and probably parts of W. Ohio... At the most I will probably need to be in Cleveland for business purposes once a quarter, and whenever else I feel like visiting family. I'm hoping that I can resolve this issue because I really don't have any desire to be in Fort Wayne...

[mike0618]

Ft wayne only saves you a hr or a hr and half and if you are only driving there 4 times a yr it would be silly living in ft wayne vs living near 465 in indy where you can cover any place in indiana in a hr or 2 max. I run my own business where i travel around the state and live in carmel. I can get everywhere i need to get to in decent time.