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I am 27, single, and living in my economically depressed hometown in east TN. I have been researching larger metros within a day's drive of home to come back once a month or so, but not close enough where my family feels I need to be home every weekend. Due to its very low real estate prices and seemingly decent job market, Indy has made my short list.
I lived in Des Moines for a year, and though Des Moines is nice, I want a bigger city than Des Moines for more concerts, sports, etc, but don't want a city as big as Atlanta. Indy seems like a nice median.
I work in IT and need to make between $40k-$45k annually to start. I am making $38k in TN as a W-2 no benefit contractor with no potential for career growth here, no PTO, and no company provided health insurance. It doesn't look like I can do much better in the entire state of TN. I am seeing quite a few open positions around Indy that match my skills. I am looking for an FTE position wherever I go. Does 40-45k starter with several years experience, a bachelor's, and working in IT seem reasonable?
I lived in West Des Moines, an affluent suburb of Des Moines, and would enjoy something similar. There was a Trader Joe's, a nice mall, and a Buffalo Wild Wings within walking distance, and a Whole Foods about five minutes away. My commute was about fifteen minutes door to parking garage downtown. I don't need or want a car free lifestyle. Would Carmel, Broad Ripple, or Fishers compare well to WDM? I am looking to rent and have no urge to buy anytime in the neat future. Where are the major job centers in the Indy metro? Unlike most younger people, I'd rather live in a safer suburb than a sketchier, more urban area.
Does anyone know how the dating scene is for someone in their 20s? I am having difficulty finding single 20 somethings here in east TN. My hometown has a median age of 45 and most younger women marry early, leaving me with few options my own age. I am looking to date a college educated single girl in her 20s. Is this doable?
I should have a four day weekend coming up over the holiday. What would be recommended to see in Indy over a few days?
There are two TJ's in Indianapolis, both on opposing sides of the same street (86th, which turns into 82nd).
You could see if there are any concerts of interest while you come up for your holiday. I'm assuming you plan on having a car with you? There are any number of hotels all over the city. You could check out the Zoo, any of the museums downtown. A lot of young singles are in Broad Ripple, on the north side of the city ...
I suppose it will vary based upon the specific type of IT, but based upon the salaries of several recent college grads I know with backgrounds in computer science, the salary range should be doable. I can tell you the average starting salary for Indiana University grads in computer science/informatics working in the state of IN is about $54,000.
Thought maybe another TN person's opinion could help...
We just moved from Memphis two weeks ago. So far, we are loving it. We moved to the Meridian-Kessler area, just south of the Broad Ripple area. Our neighbors are great! They are all dog lovers and really sweet. It's pretty quiet around here and the houses are all spacious and affordable. It's great for us having such a love of beer and bikes and being a block from a brewery, a bike shop, and a ton of great restaurants ranging from Irish pub feel to American to Cajun! Also, there is a Kroger located a few blocks north of us, 2 Whole Foods also up College, and you can shoot a few blocks east to Keystone to find CVS, Walgreens, Target, Lowe's, Walmart, and all of those other big chains. I really love that there are a ton of smaller businesses though. Across from the Lowe's, there is a smaller shop that seems to revolve around home improvement and gardening. My boyfriend's job is of 96th and Keystone and is a 20 minute drive every day. On the way, you pass everything. Mom and pop, big box, the mall. It's nice having everything in a short distance where it feels safe driving through the areas, too! It's really a relief for us when we see the neighborhood kids skateboarding without their parents supervision on a regular basis. The only strange things we have stumbled upon are that Comcast doesn't service here, recycling is a service you pay for separate of your trash, and you have to purchase your own trash bins. There are the big recycling bins all over the place though. The rentals have been enormous compared to back in Memphis. Here, we are in a 3 bed 1 bath duplex for right at $1k, but it's huge with a basement, too! In Memphis, it was $700 for a tiny 3 bed 1 bath in a not so great area. It's been a great improvement and well worth the extra money and the moving expenses. I'm loving the grid system of the streets here, but not in love with street parking. We haven't had any issues with finding a place to park though! It feels like a better version of Memphis- a much cleaner version - one where I don't get hollered at walking the dog, don't feel the need to carry, and don't feel like I need to watch over my shoulder walking to and from my car. As far as the ladies go, I'm sure with the universities in the area, there are plenty of eligible single women! I've also noticed that Indianapolis is the home to some really awesome events. Since we are both gamers, we are pretty excited for GenCon, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sure there is something for everyone!
I guess all I miss is hearing everyone else around me say, "y'all", seeing sweet tea on every menu, and of course it's hard to leave family and friends behind. Then again, it gives them somewhere awesome to visit.
I suppose it will vary based upon the specific type of IT, but based upon the salaries of several recent college grads I know with backgrounds in computer science, the salary range should be doable. I can tell you the average starting salary for Indiana University grads in computer science/informatics working in the state of IN is about $54,000.
What area of IT are you interested in?
I work in IT infrastructure. If I could get anywhere near that salary, that'd be great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hahaley
Thought maybe another TN person's opinion could help...
We just moved from Memphis two weeks ago. So far, we are loving it. We moved to the Meridian-Kessler area, just south of the Broad Ripple area. Our neighbors are great! They are all dog lovers and really sweet. It's pretty quiet around here and the houses are all spacious and affordable. It's great for us having such a love of beer and bikes and being a block from a brewery, a bike shop, and a ton of great restaurants ranging from Irish pub feel to American to Cajun! Also, there is a Kroger located a few blocks north of us, 2 Whole Foods also up College, and you can shoot a few blocks east to Keystone to find CVS, Walgreens, Target, Lowe's, Walmart, and all of those other big chains. I really love that there are a ton of smaller businesses though. Across from the Lowe's, there is a smaller shop that seems to revolve around home improvement and gardening. My boyfriend's job is of 96th and Keystone and is a 20 minute drive every day. On the way, you pass everything. Mom and pop, big box, the mall. It's nice having everything in a short distance where it feels safe driving through the areas, too! It's really a relief for us when we see the neighborhood kids skateboarding without their parents supervision on a regular basis. The only strange things we have stumbled upon are that Comcast doesn't service here, recycling is a service you pay for separate of your trash, and you have to purchase your own trash bins. There are the big recycling bins all over the place though. The rentals have been enormous compared to back in Memphis. Here, we are in a 3 bed 1 bath duplex for right at $1k, but it's huge with a basement, too! In Memphis, it was $700 for a tiny 3 bed 1 bath in a not so great area. It's been a great improvement and well worth the extra money and the moving expenses. I'm loving the grid system of the streets here, but not in love with street parking. We haven't had any issues with finding a place to park though! It feels like a better version of Memphis- a much cleaner version - one where I don't get hollered at walking the dog, don't feel the need to carry, and don't feel like I need to watch over my shoulder walking to and from my car. As far as the ladies go, I'm sure with the universities in the area, there are plenty of eligible single women! I've also noticed that Indianapolis is the home to some really awesome events. Since we are both gamers, we are pretty excited for GenCon, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sure there is something for everyone!
I guess all I miss is hearing everyone else around me say, "y'all", seeing sweet tea on every menu, and of course it's hard to leave family and friends behind. Then again, it gives them somewhere awesome to visit.
I've only traveled through Memphis briefly and haven't spent much time there. Do you feel quite a bit safer in Indianapolis than Memphis? I'd probably settle for a 1BR and it looks just as cheap as here in east TN, if not a little cheaper.
I work in IT infrastructure. If I could get anywhere near that salary, that'd be great.
I've only traveled through Memphis briefly and haven't spent much time there. Do you feel quite a bit safer in Indianapolis than Memphis? I'd probably settle for a 1BR and it looks just as cheap as here in east TN, if not a little cheaper.
Memphis is dangerous, I lived there and in Carmel for a short period. Memphis is far more ghetto, and way far more redneck and too close to Mississippi to be a progressive city. Indianapolis trumps Memphis by a long way. Indy is colder than Mem, but so what ? Indy have way better shopping, and way better diverse restaurants and much better food. Indy has much better airport service and much cheaper flights. Mem has awful drivers, Indy is not bad. Mem has a lower cost of living, but you're paying for it by giving up other desirable things believe me. Mem is very insular and narrow. It's a backward southern overgrown town. Indy doesn't have that bad history at all. Racists are all over Mem, in schools, in business in politics, both black and white, they LIVE for the conflict it seems. I have not found that occupying the minds of residents of Indy as much. The only people that absolutely ove Mem by far are the ones who grw up there or moved to the "big city" from some crappy town in Mississippi or Eastern Arkansas. It's a different world in Mem - even folks in NASHVILLE don't care for Mem, just ask a few and you'll see what I mean. Nashvillians have no allegiance to Mem, and there's a reason for that it seems.
Thought maybe another TN person's opinion could help...
We just moved from Memphis two weeks ago. So far, we are loving it. We moved to the Meridian-Kessler area, just south of the Broad Ripple area. Our neighbors are great! They are all dog lovers and really sweet. It's pretty quiet around here and the houses are all spacious and affordable. It's great for us having such a love of beer and bikes and being a block from a brewery, a bike shop, and a ton of great restaurants ranging from Irish pub feel to American to Cajun! Also, there is a Kroger located a few blocks north of us, 2 Whole Foods also up College, and you can shoot a few blocks east to Keystone to find CVS, Walgreens, Target, Lowe's, Walmart, and all of those other big chains. I really love that there are a ton of smaller businesses though. Across from the Lowe's, there is a smaller shop that seems to revolve around home improvement and gardening. My boyfriend's job is of 96th and Keystone and is a 20 minute drive every day. On the way, you pass everything. Mom and pop, big box, the mall. It's nice having everything in a short distance where it feels safe driving through the areas, too! It's really a relief for us when we see the neighborhood kids skateboarding without their parents supervision on a regular basis. The only strange things we have stumbled upon are that Comcast doesn't service here, recycling is a service you pay for separate of your trash, and you have to purchase your own trash bins. There are the big recycling bins all over the place though. The rentals have been enormous compared to back in Memphis. Here, we are in a 3 bed 1 bath duplex for right at $1k, but it's huge with a basement, too! In Memphis, it was $700 for a tiny 3 bed 1 bath in a not so great area. It's been a great improvement and well worth the extra money and the moving expenses. I'm loving the grid system of the streets here, but not in love with street parking. We haven't had any issues with finding a place to park though! It feels like a better version of Memphis- a much cleaner version - one where I don't get hollered at walking the dog, don't feel the need to carry, and don't feel like I need to watch over my shoulder walking to and from my car. As far as the ladies go, I'm sure with the universities in the area, there are plenty of eligible single women! I've also noticed that Indianapolis is the home to some really awesome events. Since we are both gamers, we are pretty excited for GenCon, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sure there is something for everyone!
I guess all I miss is hearing everyone else around me say, "y'all", seeing sweet tea on every menu, and of course it's hard to leave family and friends behind. Then again, it gives them somewhere awesome to visit.
I see you stated you're from Orlando, don't know how you stomached Mem one bit - I still own a place in Heathrow . Orlando is getting weird in a few ways, but I'll still take Heathrow area over Mem anyday....and Indy.
I work in IT infrastructure. If I could get anywhere near that salary, that'd be great.
I've only traveled through Memphis briefly and haven't spent much time there. Do you feel quite a bit safer in Indianapolis than Memphis? I'd probably settle for a 1BR and it looks just as cheap as here in east TN, if not a little cheaper.
Definitely feel SO much safer! It's night and day, really. So this is easily the best thing I think we could have done for ourselves and our future. =]
We looked at small apartments out towards Carmel, Fishers, etc. They were affordable, looked pretty nice, and had great amenities! We also found out that there are a ton of duplexes and quads all over the place in the city if you wanted a little more privacy.
I don't know anyone specifically working in IT infrastructure, but I think you'll find it possible to meet your salary requirements. The people I know in the general field work in the software side of things. A quick glance at indeed.com shows over 40 jobs with salaries about $50,000. (I don't know if they are legitimate jobs, etc.)
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