Best Place to Live Far East/Southeast/South Side of Indy (Carmel: Home Depot, school district)

[Indiana55]

Considering a job offer in Greenfield. Havent been able to find much discussion on here for east side of Indy suburbs. Young family with one young child, hopefully more children in the future. Willing to commute up to 30 minutes for work. Interested in a semi-rural feeling community. Our current community is around 20,000 ppl and we like the size. Can you all compare/contrast area communities like Pendleton/Greenfield/New Castle/New Pal/Franklin/Greenwood? Quality of schools, as always, is important. Thanks all very much for your input!

[Indiana55]

Would also welcome any thoughts for Center Grove and/or Franklin. Know we are getting a little outside the 30 minute commute but may need to be in downtown some days for work, too. Thanks.

[Graywhiskers]

Center Grove, Greenwood, Franklin, Greenfield all are good; select one based on your preference.

[Humboldt1]

I like New Palestine. Great schools (16th best in state) but only 2000 people in town. However you are close to Greenfield and only a few minutes from Indy.

In high school we compete against them and the area has improved significantly since. Family income averages over 70k, not bad for sleepy rural town. Not much to do in town but you are really close to a bunch or stuff.

When considering moving back to Indy for a job we looked at New Palestine ( along with Meridian Hills, Carmel, Zionsville).

[Indiana55]

Thank you both for your thoughts. In all I've researched and in just passing through those areas a couple times, I really liked the Pendleton, Franklin, and Center Grove areas. New Palestine just seemed so small! It's tough to tell just passing through. I should also mention that athletics are important too. Maybe our kids won't be into sports, but I want them to have the option of playing for a community with a lot of tradition and pride. I know New Palestine has some very successful teams. Thanks again and we appreciate any more suggestions!

[indy_317]

Having been raised in the area and lived there most of my life, I can give you some ideas of the area in general.

Greenfield itself is a decent enough smaller city. Most of the growth has been north towards I-70. The Walmart, Home Depot, etc. are all located just south of I-70 about two miles north of the downtown area. If being close to shopping is important for you, then you can find semi-rural living just north of I-70 east or west of State Road 9. South of US 40 along State Road 9 (towards Shelbyville) has plenty of rural feeling as well. However, traffic along SR 9 in the downtown Greenfield area can be horrific. One lane for north and south traffic. That being said, if one just familiarizes themselves with the side streets, this traffic can pretty much be averted.

New Palestine is considered the "rich" area of Hancock County. The school system is mostly confined to the SW corner, with one section that goes east a mile or two east of SR 9 about three miles south of Greenfield. So while you might live closer to Greenfield, the school district would be Comm. Sch. Corp. of S. Hancock Co. a/k/a New Pal schools. New Pal schools are good. The district has grown in recent years. Most people do their basic shopping on the far east side of Indy/Cumberland. There is a small Marsh supermarket off of US 52 and a handful of banks as well. There are about seven or so places to eat, half of them being pizza places. Most of these are in-town, a couple (Pizza Hut carry out, a traditional American fare place) are just a mile or two west of town along US 52 (towards Indy). There are lots of subdivisions in New Palestine, but there is also a lot of rural feeling areas as well.

Pendleton will likely be growing over the next decade, as it is along I-69 and just north of a fast growing interchange. Pendleton has a nice downtown area, but I'm not sure about how the town is overall. I know their schools are pretty decent. We just drove through there and they have a CVS pharmacy, typical fast food places, etc.. The drive down SR 9 to Greenfield wasn't too bad years ago, though I don't know what it is like now. Don't be surprised if there is a lot of semi-tractor trailer traffic.

Greenwood is basically a large suburb. They have the large mall that serves the south side of the Indy metro area. Not much in Greenwood would give a semi-rural feeling. You could likely find a place to live just a few miles into the country, but this area continues to grow and you might end up surrounded by housing additions. Most people who want the better schools move just west of Greenwood, but still in Johnson County. This is the Center-Grove school district. You might find a bit more of the semi-rural feeling out here, but still plenty of housing additions.

Franklin would be more like Greenfield, but since it is closer to Greenwood, you are closer to a much wider variety of shopping. Franklin itself has plenty of shopping, plus as you get south of Greenwood and outside of Franklin, there is much more of a semi-rural feel.

New Castle doesn't have much going for it. I would choose Shelbyville over New Castle. New Castle has struggled with the collapse of the UAW factory jobs. I have been there for years though. I don't hear horrible things about New Castle, but I'm not sure just how good things are there.

A lot of people from Hancock County do drive to Greenwood, Castleton area (NE Indy), or Noblesville (just north of McCordsville) for shopping. The east side of Indy isn't known for a variety of shopping. While it is OK for food stuff (Walmart, Sam's, Krogers, Marsh, and Meijer) most people do their shopping for other items in one of the three mentioned retail shopping meccas listed above.

As far as schools, go to the Indiana Dept. of Education website. They have all kinds of information about the various districts. I will say this, I know many people who if they liked the semi-rural feeling of New Palestine choose that district for their schools and to raise a family.

[ruascott]

New Pal is a nice area...the town itself is small, but that's because it's close proximity to both Greenfield and Indy.

Why not just Greenfield itself....seems to be about what you are looking for.