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Some quick background information on myself. Mid 30s, Married, Kids. My wife was possibly going to get relocated for work so that is how I stumbled on this site. I was researching where we might move. Out of curiosity I took a look at the Indy page to see what people were saying about our area. There is so much terrible information that I thought I had to post something. So long story short, if you are relocating to the Indy area and you have children and you are looking for the best place to live please read this. If you are older without kids and schools don't matter or younger and more into entertainment options than crime rates and taxes then this may not apply to you.
In terms of crime, taxes, traffic (infrastructure in general) and schools there is no substitute to Hamilton County. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. I am boggled out how many people on here are pointing people to various Indianapolis neighborhoods or the southside or Eagle Creek or Castleton. You can not beat Hamilton County if those items are at the top of your list of importance.
Let's start with crime. The further away you get from Indy the less crime, just like any other city. That being said, Hamilton County is by far the safest community still close enough to commute into the city. Carmel in particular is one of the safest. They have an absurd number of police cars cruising the streets which is a waste of tax payer money but also deters just about anyone scoping out an area to commit a crime. Westfield would probably be the next best bet for crime. Fishers is very safe but is it so close to the Castleton and Lawrence areas that you do get your share of crime creeping in.
Taxes. Hamilton County has very low taxes. Carmel has some of the lowest.
Traffic. Say what you want about the free spending Carmel mayor but he was very forward thinking when it came to traffic. Upgrading 146th before it was really needed was genius. The roundabouts are genius. Keystone is an absolute breeze. When 31 is done Hamilton County and further north will have some of the best access to Indy around. If you are moving from any other decent size metro city you'll think our traffic is a joke.
Schools. IPS schools, with a few exceptions, are atrocious. Unless you have to live in Indy why do it if you have children? Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville and Fishers all have great schools. Carmel has many of the top elementary schools in the state and the top junior high school. They are landlocked so they are done growing (a common misconception about carmel schools is they are big and getting bigger).
Before everyone piles on that I'm just a Hamilton County homer let me give you my background. I was raised in Lawrence. I have lived in Westfield, Carmel, Downtown Indianapolis and Broad Ripple. If you have a family and you are relocating to Indianapolis for work or pleasure I highly recommend you only look in Hamilton County.
Here is the problem with the rest of the areas. Indy has quite a bit of crime. Broad Ripple in particular is a great place and has some neat neighborhoods but if you have children then crime should deter you from that area. Southside (Greenwood, Southport, Etc.) is an absolute mess. Their roads are awful. It is like no one had a plan when designing the southside. Crime isn't terrible but it also isn't as good as the northside. So why live there unless you have to? Westside is turning ghetto. A good friend of mine taught at Pike and quit because of how rough it's getting. Much of the riff raff is now into the Eagle Creek area. Brownsburg is nice but you are very isolated. Avon is nice but the traffic is awful to get to Indy... again terrible infrastructure planning. Greenfield is out a ways in the boons and lacks anything to do. The east side of Indy is the worst part of town. The near northside is ok but again schools aren't great and crime isn't great. Castleton in particular is getting rougher. I've only been to Plainfield a few times but everything is new and seems cheap. All new vinyl cookie cutter homes, strip malls, box stores, nothing authentic.
So when a married couple with children move to Indy and have to work in Indy and are looking at taxes, crime, schools and traffic as deciding factors then Hamilton County is a no brainer. I just had to write something. Our family lives in Carmel and we have friends who moved all around the city after college. With the exception of 1 couple, everyone I know moved back to Hamilton County once they had children. Many of them swore they'd never move back... the whole I'll never live by my parents stage we all go through. But yet they did.
Hamilton County and Carmel in particular often get a bad wrap. My honest opinion is it's jealousy. Many will argue with me on that. They say it's growing too fast or too white or too full of rich people. The richest community around is Zionsville. I used to work there and it has a level of snobbery that I've never seen in Carmel. So that's the first misconception. Sure Carmel has it's share of snobs. But so does Meridian Kessler, Westfield, Fishers and many other communities. As far as growing too fast. First it's growing because it's nice. People want to live up here. We have tons of restaurant and entertainment options, awesome parks, zero traffic, great neighborhoods, very little crime and the best schools in the state. So yeah, we are going to grow. But our city planners have done a good job of handling that growth. Carmel is now landlocked so there shouldn't be any fear about that. Fishers and Westfield could have growth issues here in the near future. Both have a ton of room to grow and are expanding very quick.
Much of what I said above is generalities. Of course there is occasional crime is Carmel and there are good neighborhoods in Indy. You can get a terrible education at Westfield and produce a brain surgeon from an IPS school. But in general, you just can't beat Hamilton County. When I read all these threads pointing people to areas other than Hamilton County I was just so confused. I had to give my 2 cents. And again, if you don't have kids and you don't care about schools or crime then there are other better options. Broad Ripple was a really fun place to live. We lived there for a few years after college. Downtown Indy is really fun too. So this thread is targeted at those working professionals with kids looking to relocate here. I just wanted to give you my opinion on the area. I hope it helps.
If you were to summarize this post in 140 characters, what would you say?
Indy has a lot to offer, and not everyone wants to be in Hamilton County. It is a great place, yes, but there are a lot of great places and applying a blanket to every parent makes no sense. There is much more to take into consideration (commute, personality, hobbies, etc) to help someone determine which area of Indy would be best for them.
Lived in Indy for 35 years and would always tell someone with one relo trip or no info to go by and a hurry up move to check Hamilton County. It was an easy choice. Maybe not the best one for them or the most original but easier for someone with no knowledge. The company relo specialists usually pushed Hamilton County because a lot of other corporations headed their executives there because it was easier and they would find lots of similar corporate transferred people.
I personally prefer to stay south of 86th but might change my mind if kids were involved.
Some quick background information on myself. Mid 30s, Married, Kids. My wife was possibly going to get relocated for work so that is how I stumbled on this site. I was researching where we might move. Out of curiosity I took a look at the Indy page to see what people were saying about our area. There is so much terrible information that I thought I had to post something. So long story short, if you are relocating to the Indy area and you have children and you are looking for the best place to live please read this. If you are older without kids and schools don't matter or younger and more into entertainment options than crime rates and taxes then this may not apply to you.
In terms of crime, taxes, traffic (infrastructure in general) and schools there is no substitute to Hamilton County. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. I am boggled out how many people on here are pointing people to various Indianapolis neighborhoods or the southside or Eagle Creek or Castleton. You can not beat Hamilton County if those items are at the top of your list of importance.
Let's start with crime. The further away you get from Indy the less crime, just like any other city. That being said, Hamilton County is by far the safest community still close enough to commute into the city. Carmel in particular is one of the safest. They have an absurd number of police cars cruising the streets which is a waste of tax payer money but also deters just about anyone scoping out an area to commit a crime. Westfield would probably be the next best bet for crime. Fishers is very safe but is it so close to the Castleton and Lawrence areas that you do get your share of crime creeping in.
Taxes. Hamilton County has very low taxes. Carmel has some of the lowest.
Traffic. Say what you want about the free spending Carmel mayor but he was very forward thinking when it came to traffic. Upgrading 146th before it was really needed was genius. The roundabouts are genius. Keystone is an absolute breeze. When 31 is done Hamilton County and further north will have some of the best access to Indy around. If you are moving from any other decent size metro city you'll think our traffic is a joke.
Schools. IPS schools, with a few exceptions, are atrocious. Unless you have to live in Indy why do it if you have children? Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville and Fishers all have great schools. Carmel has many of the top elementary schools in the state and the top junior high school. They are landlocked so they are done growing (a common misconception about carmel schools is they are big and getting bigger).
Before everyone piles on that I'm just a Hamilton County homer let me give you my background. I was raised in Lawrence. I have lived in Westfield, Carmel, Downtown Indianapolis and Broad Ripple. If you have a family and you are relocating to Indianapolis for work or pleasure I highly recommend you only look in Hamilton County.
Here is the problem with the rest of the areas. Indy has quite a bit of crime. Broad Ripple in particular is a great place and has some neat neighborhoods but if you have children then crime should deter you from that area. Southside (Greenwood, Southport, Etc.) is an absolute mess. Their roads are awful. It is like no one had a plan when designing the southside. Crime isn't terrible but it also isn't as good as the northside. So why live there unless you have to? Westside is turning ghetto. A good friend of mine taught at Pike and quit because of how rough it's getting. Much of the riff raff is now into the Eagle Creek area. Brownsburg is nice but you are very isolated. Avon is nice but the traffic is awful to get to Indy... again terrible infrastructure planning. Greenfield is out a ways in the boons and lacks anything to do. The east side of Indy is the worst part of town. The near northside is ok but again schools aren't great and crime isn't great. Castleton in particular is getting rougher. I've only been to Plainfield a few times but everything is new and seems cheap. All new vinyl cookie cutter homes, strip malls, box stores, nothing authentic.
So when a married couple with children move to Indy and have to work in Indy and are looking at taxes, crime, schools and traffic as deciding factors then Hamilton County is a no brainer. I just had to write something. Our family lives in Carmel and we have friends who moved all around the city after college. With the exception of 1 couple, everyone I know moved back to Hamilton County once they had children. Many of them swore they'd never move back... the whole I'll never live by my parents stage we all go through. But yet they did.
Hamilton County and Carmel in particular often get a bad wrap. My honest opinion is it's jealousy. Many will argue with me on that. They say it's growing too fast or too white or too full of rich people. The richest community around is Zionsville. I used to work there and it has a level of snobbery that I've never seen in Carmel. So that's the first misconception. Sure Carmel has it's share of snobs. But so does Meridian Kessler, Westfield, Fishers and many other communities. As far as growing too fast. First it's growing because it's nice. People want to live up here. We have tons of restaurant and entertainment options, awesome parks, zero traffic, great neighborhoods, very little crime and the best schools in the state. So yeah, we are going to grow. But our city planners have done a good job of handling that growth. Carmel is now landlocked so there shouldn't be any fear about that. Fishers and Westfield could have growth issues here in the near future. Both have a ton of room to grow and are expanding very quick.
Much of what I said above is generalities. Of course there is occasional crime is Carmel and there are good neighborhoods in Indy. You can get a terrible education at Westfield and produce a brain surgeon from an IPS school. But in general, you just can't beat Hamilton County. When I read all these threads pointing people to areas other than Hamilton County I was just so confused. I had to give my 2 cents. And again, if you don't have kids and you don't care about schools or crime then there are other better options. Broad Ripple was a really fun place to live. We lived there for a few years after college. Downtown Indy is really fun too. So this thread is targeted at those working professionals with kids looking to relocate here. I just wanted to give you my opinion on the area. I hope it helps.
Do you work for Hamilton County? Seriously you guys need your own forum.
Look, I'm not going to pile on and I think that the OP has given an excellent homage to what his and his families experiences have been. The post was informative and I think will make families who are considering relocating to HC, feel better about their choice.
I found Fishers to be soul sucking. I just didn't fit in, my kids didn't like it. Hubby loved it, but he had the privilege of not having to live there 24-7 like I did since he worked and travelled. But, I do see where families dig living there. It's a bucolic place, like Carmel is bucolic. You can live in a nice house, a nice neighborhood, know you are safe and bank money. It's a fine place to live for some.
But don't trash Indianapolis (shut up BRG). It's not a heck hole like some want to paint it. It's quasi-urban and there are a lot of families who make Indianapolis their home and are very satisfied.
Since HC is not Indy, to the OP ... do you mind if I add "Indy AREA" to the title?
I lived in the Indy area over 40 years. Grew up on the southside (Perry Meridian High School); lived in south suburbs (Greenwood, New Whiteland); west suburbs (a part of Plainfield that was Avon school district); and north suburbs (Carmel, Noblesville, and Westfield). I've worked mostly in the downtown area, and have spent plenty of time enjoying the sights, restaurants, theater, etc that downtown has to offer.
I love the Indy area, but of all the Indy suburbs I've lived in, I do like Carmel the best. Seems people either love it or they hate it. I agree about the cookie cutter neighborhoods not being very attractive, but I've never lived in one. I've always been able to find beautiful custom homes at wonderful prices, compared to cities elsewhere in the country in which I've lived.
Look, I'm not going to pile on and I think that the OP has given an excellent homage to what his and his families experiences have been. The post was informative and I think will make families who are considering relocating to HC, feel better about their choice.
I found Fishers to be soul sucking. I just didn't fit in, my kids didn't like it. Hubby loved it, but he had the privilege of not having to live there 24-7 like I did since he worked and travelled. But, I do see where families dig living there. It's a bucolic place, like Carmel is bucolic. You can live in a nice house, a nice neighborhood, know you are safe and bank money. It's a fine place to live for some.
But don't trash Indianapolis (shut up BRG). It's not a heck hole like some want to paint it. It's quasi-urban and there are a lot of families who make Indianapolis their home and are very satisfied.
Since HC is not Indy, to the OP ... do you mind if I add "Indy AREA" to the title?
The first part wasn't needed but the 2nd part is spot on.
Some people will go to no end to paint Indy something its not.
Some people will go to no end to paint Indy something its not.
Really????? On this forum???
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