Congrats Carmel! #1 Best Place to Live in America 2012 (Indianapolis: home, employment)

[timothyaw]

They accomplished it by borrowing, unsustainable at that. And I like Carmel, but like individual households you have to live within your means.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2012...t|IndyStar.com

[X-Greensboro Resident]

Originally Posted by timothyaw

They accomplished it by borrowing, unsustainable at that. And I like Carmel, but like individual households you have to live within your means.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2012...t|IndyStar.com

I've been saying this for years... Now, they are trying to do the same thing in Westfield which I am totally against.... Unwise, aggressive development with very shady financing...

[Drover]

Originally Posted by timothyaw

They accomplished it by borrowing, unsustainable at that. And I like Carmel, but like individual households you have to live within your means.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2012...t|IndyStar.com

And according to my FIL, his property taxes have nearly doubled in just under a decade.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by X-Greensboro Resident

I've been saying this for years... Now, they are trying to do the same thing in Westfield which I am totally against.... Unwise, aggressive development with very shady financing...

You get what you pay for. Two things I find odd. There is only one reason the CRC went to the city for a bailout. The banks would no longer touch it. That should have been a big red flag in and of itself. Now the Carmel taxpayers are on the hook for that and they still tried to add more money for spending. If you look at the price tag the city is absorbing, 150 mil or so on top of what the CRC, still has and then tack on the 65 mil or so it will take to clean up the Grain Elevator site (at taxpayer expense of course), that's a nice bit of change for a city of 80k people. Carmel taxpayers won't feel it right away, but oh, you will feel it eventually so the question needs to be asked, at the end of the day was it worth it to create an artificial sterile urban clone?

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by msamhunter

You get what you pay for. Two things I find odd. There is only one reason the CRC went to the city for a bailout. The banks would no longer touch it. That should have been a big red flag in and of itself. Now the Carmel taxpayers are on the hook for that and they still tried to add more money for spending. If you look at the price tag the city is absorbing, 150 mil or so on top of what the CRC, still has and then tack on the 65 mil or so it will take to clean up the Grain Elevator site (at taxpayer expense of course), that's a nice bit of change for a city of 80k people. Carmel taxpayers won't feel it right away, but oh, you will feel it eventually so the question needs to be asked, at the end of the day was it worth it to create an artificial sterile urban clone?

Yes, because it's not going to be sterile for long. Once more projects are completed, and there is significant density in the area, it will feel immensely different. It will also help once mass transit is expanded through the area. Plus, these things give people a reason to live in Carmel instead of the other suburbs. That means people will choose to move there even if it costs slightly more.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by Drover

And according to my FIL, his property taxes have nearly doubled in just under a decade.

How about his assessed valuation?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

How about his assessed valuation?

The former has been going up a lot quicker than the latter, so much so that they're considering leaving once my SIL is done with school.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by msamhunter

Carmel taxpayers won't feel it right away, but oh, you will feel it eventually so the question needs to be asked, at the end of the day was it worth it to create an artificial sterile urban clone?

Is this supposed to be a joke? Carmel is just another municipal government that has spent way more than it has. Look how long it took Indy residents in Meridian-Kessler and Butler-Tarkington to get something done about their $11,000 a year property tax bills on their $400K homes. Those people voted, and they got what they wanted I guess, but when it came time to pay the bills, they ran down to the statehouse and demanded change. The same thing will happen in Carmel, which likely has a ton of fluff in many city departments. We are likely talking millions that could be cut in personnel if things really are that bad. And in the end, the taxpayers won't pay, those lenders will just come in and take, and they will be left holding the bag. Taxes in Illinois and California should be through the roof, even for middle income types, given how much they "owe" (at least on paper) for pensions and other government services. And yea, taxes are high in some areas, but they likely should be double or triple to pay for all the promises and services of government. Instead, judges are busy telling bond holders, union members, etc. to just deal with reality: Taxes are not going to be raised to the moon.

From what I understand, Carmel still has the lowest property tax rate between Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, and Carmel.

[Indyking]

It's been a while since I realized those rankings are a more like a joke. Each year the positions change, especially in the top 10, which in reality, would be impossible.

I find the information they provide not quite accurate too. Wide bike lanes? Carmel has the lowest level of recognition for bike-friendly by the League of American Bicyclists in a State below average for biking infrastructure. 20 minute commute to downtown? Have they tried that during peak hours? Also, when you look at education as a whole, you have to take into consideration the State standards, not just how good the schools are within their own niche. Those rankings seem to ignore that. Of course Carmel is a great suburb to live as far as Indianapolis goes, but quite frankly, I find it overpriced for what it has to offer compared to some other places I have looked at.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by Indyking

It's been a while since I realized those rankings are a more like a joke. Each year the positions change, especially in the top 10, which in reality, would be impossible.

These rankings are to me, mental masturbation and not much else. Not that there is anything wrong with that necessarily.