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I certainly wouldn't bet the farm on Anderson becoming a desirable, niche option, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't clean up a good bit either.
Most of the other Rust Belt cities are just too far from the Indy metro to get any kind of spillover benefit at all.
Anderson is at least actually tearing down the nasty vacant eyesores, but they have a long way to go to clean up the city. It is pretty bad when there is a vacant Walgreens and Dunkin Donuts in your downtown core, and I'm guessing those buildings are only about ten to fifteen years old. This is one area where the county as a whole needs to come together and focus on cleaning up. It is definitely an options for growth on the far SW corner of the county. Fishers is pretty much eating up the rest of available land for the most part.
If Anderson could land a few more light industrial type factories, or at least the county, that would help to some extent. Even then, there is still a long way to go. They just opened up two new restaurants on St. Rd. 9 by the casino, well one fast food one restaurant. I think they tore down and rebuilt the White Castle. At the same time, Target, Michael's, Anderson Fitness Warehouse, and a Harvest Market have closed within the last year or so.
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Originally Posted by ischyros
But should Anderson somehow begin to reign in the crime and improve schools, it could possibly become desirable. But with other options like Fortville and Pendleton, I don't see it happening any time soon.
This is likely what will happen. Fortville (Mt. Vernon Schools) and Pendleton will see some growth before Anderson. The only benefit one has living in Anderson over the other two are that the homes are likely cheaper and you are closer to everyday shopping needs for the most part. However if one has to work in Northern Marion County or Carmel, people will likely choose Fortville or Pendleton due to the drive to work. I'm in Fortville and non-rush hour travel time to downtown Indy is only 30 mins..
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Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
Fortville and Pendleton don't have as much as Anderson. They're less of an independent city. You could do most of your day to day stuff in Anderson without needing to go back toward Indy. Between Meijer, Walmart, Lowe's, Kroger, etc., some places to eat, you have essentials.
I don't think any real progress will happen in less than five years. There's just too much open land between the towns and housing prices aren't high enough yet to push people out farther.
I go to Anderson mostly to avoid traffic. That being said, from Fortville, the Mendard's at 96th Street, Pendleton Pike, and Anderson are pretty much within one mile difference in drive time. My wife doesn't like Anderson so she might take the extra five minutes to go north on 13 to I-69 and drive back down to 96th Street. From Fortville if you take SR 13 to SR 38, in twenty minutes you are at all the shopping areas in Noblesville. In ten minutes one is at Hamilton Town Center Mall. I spoke with a guy who lives in Pendleton. Said they always go to Noblesville over Anderson even though Anderson is closer. Anderson's Kohl's for example is a smaller scale store than the one in Noblesville. His boss grew up in Pendleton but now lives on the south side of Anderson. He said Anderson isn't all that great. If one just cares about basic necessities, has a reasonable job travel time, and doesn't have kids or care about schools, Anderson is great.
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Originally Posted by ischyros
I'm really curious to see how Pendleton plays things over the new decade or two.
What I wish would happen is that Pendleton and Ingalls would combine. Ingalls annexed up to I-69, along the interstate west to the SR 13 exit. There is just too much power playing with these smaller cities and towns. I really wish these two towns would consolidate. Pendleton has a much better name recognition so I'd have Ingalls dissolve.
Wasn't there a news piece on the local propaganda machine declaring Fortville the next Fishers or something?
The "Zionsville of Hancock County" is what I believe they said. Basically it will likely be true, to an extent. There is a brand new housing addition going in with a few more farm fields to convert. Some of them are already in the hands of the developers. Fortville will likely benefit greatly and be able to have a nice, but smaller, downtown business district that will have a good supply of constant business. It doesn't hurt that just five minutes away there are $350K+ homes going in, lots of them. Even the homes closer to Fortville are just a level or so cheaper, but still likely going for at least $250K+. Not sure if Fortville will have the boutique stores and such on the same level of Zionsville, but there will be enough business to keep restaurants in business for the most part.
Anderson is at least actually tearing down the nasty vacant eyesores, but they have a long way to go to clean up the city. It is pretty bad when there is a vacant Walgreens and Dunkin Donuts in your downtown core, and I'm guessing those buildings are only about ten to fifteen years old. This is one area where the county as a whole needs to come together and focus on cleaning up. It is definitely an options for growth on the far SW corner of the county. Fishers is pretty much eating up the rest of available land for the most part.
If Anderson could land a few more light industrial type factories, or at least the county, that would help to some extent. Even then, there is still a long way to go. They just opened up two new restaurants on St. Rd. 9 by the casino, well one fast food one restaurant. I think they tore down and rebuilt the White Castle. At the same time, Target, Michael's, Anderson Fitness Warehouse, and a Harvest Market have closed within the last year or so.
This is likely what will happen. Fortville (Mt. Vernon Schools) and Pendleton will see some growth before Anderson. The only benefit one has living in Anderson over the other two are that the homes are likely cheaper and you are closer to everyday shopping needs for the most part. However if one has to work in Northern Marion County or Carmel, people will likely choose Fortville or Pendleton due to the drive to work. I'm in Fortville and non-rush hour travel time to downtown Indy is only 30 mins..
I go to Anderson mostly to avoid traffic. That being said, from Fortville, the Mendard's at 96th Street, Pendleton Pike, and Anderson are pretty much within one mile difference in drive time. My wife doesn't like Anderson so she might take the extra five minutes to go north on 13 to I-69 and drive back down to 96th Street. From Fortville if you take SR 13 to SR 38, in twenty minutes you are at all the shopping areas in Noblesville. In ten minutes one is at Hamilton Town Center Mall. I spoke with a guy who lives in Pendleton. Said they always go to Noblesville over Anderson even though Anderson is closer. Anderson's Kohl's for example is a smaller scale store than the one in Noblesville. His boss grew up in Pendleton but now lives on the south side of Anderson. He said Anderson isn't all that great. If one just cares about basic necessities, has a reasonable job travel time, and doesn't have kids or care about schools, Anderson is great.
I always thought Anderson had a lot of great looking buildings downtown. The "bones" are there. I could easily see there being hip breweries, restaurants, a small street scene, etc. Noblesville's downtown is a good example of this, but Anderson has more because it was a bigger city. Whatever Fishers downtown was has basically been completely bulldozed and rebuilt. They really have no "there there." Muncie would probably be more of a candidate for gentrification and such downtown and near Ball State. The university isn't going anywhere, and the college town close to me has seen considerable downtown redevelopment, largely due to the college becoming higher profile and attracting more students.
Retail is struggling everywhere, doubly so in towns like Anderson. I'm not sure that closing a small, regular Target in a town with a shrinking population when there is a bigger, better Walmart and Meijer all within a mile or so is a serious problem. I can count on one hand the number of times I shopped at Target vs. Meijer. Meijer is a huge benefit in the Midwest to prevent the "just Walmart" deal you have going on in many other small towns and rural areas. If I needed to stop on the way home and was going to Anderson, I'd always stop in Anderson, and would deliberately avoid the 96th street shopping traffic.
Anderson needs something, whether light manufacturing, distribution facilities, etc., that can employ the blue collar residents and enough progress to attract at least some newer, younger residents, who would be willing to "take over" the town and commute to Indy for jobs if necessary.
I agree Fortville and Pendleton will see more growth than the true satellite cities, but I think there's a place for both. Fortville and Pendleton will get the more traditional suburban spillover, and hopefully Anderson and Muncie can get some younger gentrifiers, who would be willing to trade some convenience to Indy job centers for reduced prices, more space, and a feeling of "building something."
This house is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Dated but fine to live in for only $62,000. Beautiful, large fenced backyard and lots of space. If you were a lower income couple with kids or just wanted the yard/house space, you could fix it up at your convenience, and it's much cheaper than rent on anything and probably a lot safer than what you could find in this price range in Indy proper. This house, such as it is, would be twice the price in my town in Tennessee - we're actually poorer and higher crime than Anderson, and are not even vaguely commutable to any job centers. I'm surprised more people aren't seeing value in this.
Whatever Fishers downtown was has basically been completely bulldozed and rebuilt. They really have no "there there."
I don't know if Fishers ever had a "downtown" though. Likely just two main streets that intersected. If they did, then yes it does appear to have been torn down. That being said, we've been to the newer pizza and burger places that have opened up along 116th street. They are definitely trying to create a retail and residential core in that area. I don't think there is all that much land left, but they did pretty good with what they had available from what I can tell. Still, there is unfinished areas within the new building and the yogurt place vacated.
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Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
Retail is struggling everywhere, doubly so in towns like Anderson. I'm not sure that closing a small, regular Target in a town with a shrinking population when there is a bigger, better Walmart and Meijer all within a mile or so is a serious problem. I can count on one hand the number of times I shopped at Target vs. Meijer. Meijer is a huge benefit in the Midwest to prevent the "just Walmart" deal you have going on in many other small towns and rural areas. If I needed to stop on the way home and was going to Anderson, I'd always stop in Anderson, and would deliberately avoid the 96th street shopping traffic.
I always prefer Anderson to 96th Street, but if I'm looking for clothing I likely won't be going to the Anderson or Greenfield Kohl's because they have limited selection (the Greenfield store is a new concept, with very little selection and more of an order on-line and have it freely shipped to the store). They just opened the McCordsville Meijer so that is now much closer than the Anderson one. I also agree that retail is going to struggle. Wages have been too stagnant while it seems shareholder and upper management have done OK. I know what we make and what others make with kids. I'm not shocked when I hear that many people can't really save any real wealth due to the cost of living. Sure some folks are wasteful spenders, but others not so much.
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Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
Fortville and Pendleton will get the more traditional suburban spillover, and hopefully Anderson and Muncie can get some younger gentrifiers, who would be willing to trade some convenience to Indy job centers for reduced prices, more space, and a feeling of "building something."
I don't see it happening. The trend is concentrated around large urban centers. The younger folks want stuff to do, even cheap or free. The larger the overall area, the more likely there are free concerts, festivals, sporting events, etc.. I could see an appeal to folks who are focused on money and are homebody types. The homebody types won't be active in the community and so long as things are the status quo, they are happy. If, big if, they do end up building the lake, that could change things. Doesn't seem like that is likely though.
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Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
This house is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Dated but fine to live in for only $62,000. Beautiful, large fenced backyard and lots of space. If you were a lower income couple with kids or just wanted the yard/house space, you could fix it up at your convenience, and it's much cheaper than rent on anything and probably a lot safer than what you could find in this price range in Indy proper. This house, such as it is, would be twice the price in my town in Tennessee - we're actually poorer and higher crime than Anderson, and are not even vaguely commutable to any job centers. I'm surprised more people aren't seeing value in this.
It is on the north side of Anderson. There are just not that many jobs in that area that will allow folks to own that home. It is dated, and one would be looking at maybe ten thousand if they can do it themselves. My bathrooms were $10K for two of them, and I gutted them and purchased most of the items. So just bathrooms and kitchens, to have someone do them, would likely be around $15K. Granted that isn't too bad, but now you are in the home for $77K. Still not horrible, but any career focused person is going to have to look for jobs in/near Marion County, so that drive is still a turn-off to many.
Two people making $10/hr could own that house, as long as their debt load was reasonable otherwise. It's cheaper than rent. The restrooms are usable, and $77k is still a bargain compared to what you could get closer in. Throw $38k in renovations on that house, and you're going to be in for $100k, but you'll have a damn nice house for a much, much lower price point and higher degree of safety than you can find in most of Indy proper.
One of the townhomes I was looking at in Anderson on Alhambra, on the left of Scatterfield basically straight in front of Olive Garden, sold at $55,000 or so last year. Ex and I knew previous owner. It was dated with a lot of 70s/80s designs, then significantly overhauled, and is back on the market in the mid $70k range. One level - no stairs, garage, completely slicked up. I don't know if they put $20k worth of work into it, but it's sitting idle. I can't find anything that nice here at $150k, and like I said, we're even poorer than Anderson, worse crime, higher grocery and insurance prices, and more polluted.
This house is cute as can be around $65k. It needs very little work.
The same can be said for virtually all Rust Belt satellite cities. I think they are one hell of a place for opportunity, as Midwestern wages tend to be much better than in the South. I'm surprised there isn't more interest.
Whatever Fishers downtown was has basically been completely bulldozed and rebuilt. They really have no "there there."
Yeah, Fishers never really had a downtown outside of a handful of buildings around a train station and that was basically the whole town until the 1970s. So far, the only place that has really been torn down to be rebuilt was an abandoned KFC along 116th St. They also tore down most of the houses that used to be on Lantern north of 116th St but those houses had all been converted to businesses and insurance agent offices. None of them were actual lived in houses anymore. When I moved here 10 years ago, Fishers had proposed basically bulldozing everything from the municipal complex to I-69 and rebuild it. But there was such an outcry that the plan was scrapped. I do agree one thing Fishers has lacked is a true downtown.
That's something Anderson has and downtown Anderson has so much potential. It has that brick street, the Paramount Theatre, the beautiful old YMCA building, the public library, a couple of nice public plazas. But otherwise it just seems to be some buildings interspersed with a lot of surface parking. Anderson University isn't too far from downtown. But most things seem to go along SR 9 on the other side of the university from downtown.
I live close to Richmond and what I've heard for decades is that no one wants to move there because of the school system. I've heard teachers are threatened by students, and the drug abuse situation there is rampant, and also in the schools. Most people that can, move to different smaller school districts outside of Richmond proper, although many times there is little real estate available and so cost is up compared to most of Richmond. In fact, that's why I didn't move there.
The city itself is trying hard to revitalize itself it seems, but the loss of factories over the years has put a dent in it's economy as well. As for shopping, it's got about everything, but if not enough, Dayton, Ohio is only 40 minutes away. It has 2 colleges there, plus a technical college. Very little for entertainment, but it has a bike trail and a park. If it was built up more and it's problems eliminated, it could be a gem.
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