Non-parent couple from Washington DC area thinking of moving to Indy/Fishers area. Good fit?

[Humboldt1]

Minneapolis metro is larger than Indy.

Indy population is more than DC if you are just looking at city and district populations but most of us account for metro area.

Perfect example of this is Chicago and Toronto. Both are around 2.7MM people but Chicago metro area is nearly double that of Toronto's.

Getting back to topic my single sister likes Carmel but a single female friend hated it and moved back to Chicago after only 1 year as it is not very diverse and not a lot to do (she is Hispanic). I have note this before but will repeat that I have met few middle class Hispanics in central and southern Indiana. It is not like Chicago where many are 2nd and 3rd generation.

Downtown Indy is great for sports but apart from Children's Museum and a few states museums not alot to do. It is not NYC or Chicago.

Our friend ended up moving to LA and really likes it but complains about her 4k monthly rent.

[NoIdentity]

Coming from an AA man who lived in Hamilton County for quite sometime, I can attest to the fact that the area is not very diverse. Racism is present, but it's very subtle and more than likely will not be displayed openly. Will you encounter issues due to being an interracial couple? Other than the occasional stare, probably not. Coming from NoVA and SF respectively, you will not have all the amenities that those areas have to offer. However, Indianapolis does have neighborhoods such as Broad Ripple, Fountain Square, Historic Irvington, and parts of Downtown that offer more of an urban feel with a fairly decent cost of living. Carmel and Fishers are very family oriented, and without children the area would probably come across as very bland and cookie-cutter.

My suggestion would be to come with your wife for a visit and to get a feel of the area before making the leap. Yes, the cost of living is low, but you'll be sacrificing a great deal of the amenities that you've been able to enjoy. Having spent some time in Metro Detroit, I'd take a look at Oakland County if you're hell bent on coming to the Midwest as you're in a much larger metro with comparable amenities.

Best of luck to you!

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by CirclingLogan

On the other hand, if your wife is from SF, I would just move back to the Bay Area. True, decent 2 bedroom houses in good neighborhoods start at $600k, but it's worth it.

Just what does a decent 2 bedroom house in a good neighborhood that costs at least $600k look like? Is that what somebody has to pay in San Francisco in order to not live in a ghetto?

Unless I had a fabulous salary, there is no way I would pay $600,000 for a so-called "decent" house. You can find a decent 3 bedroom ranch style house in a nice NW Muncie middle class neighborhood about 10 mins walking distance to Ball State for about $75k.

If you think about it, if you bought a house in Muncie for $75k, with the $525k you'd save by not buying in SF, you could fly out to SF nearly every weekend and stay in the best hotels and probably be able to do that for the rest of your life. That way you can have the best of SF without having to put up with all the high property taxes and rent and crime and BS that comes along with living in SF.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Just what does a decent 2 bedroom house in a good neighborhood that costs at least $600k look like? Is that what somebody has to pay in San Francisco in order to not live in a ghetto?

Unless I had a fabulous salary, there is no way I would pay $600,000 for a so-called "decent" house. You can find a decent 3 bedroom ranch style house in a nice NW Muncie middle class neighborhood about 10 mins walking distance to Ball State for about $75k.

If you think about it, if you bought a house in Muncie for $75k, with the $525k you'd save by not buying in SF, you could fly out to SF nearly every weekend and stay in the best hotels and probably be able to do that for the rest of your life. That way you can have the best of SF without having to put up with all the high property taxes and rent and crime and BS that comes along with living in SF.

Not saying you aren't right, but it's going to be harder finding a job in Muncie, it'll pay less, and it's nowhere near the exciting place the Bay Area is.

[Poor Chemist]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

Not saying you aren't right, but it's going to be harder finding a job in Muncie, it'll pay less, and it's nowhere near the exciting place the Bay Area is.

It seems nearly all places with a low cost of living aren't exciting places to live. Atlanta has a medium cost of living and has a lot of stuff to do but the price of rent and homes is trending to be just as exspensive as DC, Chicago, and Boston. It was hard for me to find an apartment in metro Atlanta for less than $1200 a month or a house for less than $250k in decent condition.

The cost of living in the Bay Area is outrageous though. $4k a month for a modest apartment or $800,000 for a 3 bedroom townhouse in the city and that is on the low end. You got be making $250k a year there if you want to own a home, live by yourself, and have any disposable income to afford the things to do in the Bay Area.

It's a great place to move if you are in the IT or Computer Science profession because they get paid pretty handsomely there but if you do anything else for a living you better off moving to Hicktown, Nebraska if you can get a decent paying job there. The folks in their 60s that bought homes in the Bay Area 30 years ago are set for life when they retire. All they have to do is sell their house and they can afford a yacht and condo on south beach as their new retirement residence.