Best Neighborhoods? (English: to rent, condo, crime)

[talon4life]

Thinking of relocation in the summer. What are the best neighborhoods. And do any of them have access to public transport? Also which areas are cheap, but not slummy or crime ridden?

[AGreekDude]

Specify if you want to rent or buy, urban or more cookie cutter and what kind of amentities you are after.

[Naptowner]

Public transportation is not very good here. All we have are buses that are still based, to some extent, on a hub and spoke system where all lines go through downtown. Here's a system map that shows what I'm talking about. http://www.indygo.net/PDF/maps/IndyGo_System_Map_English.pdf (broken link)
Getting from the northwest side to the northeast side, a 15 to 20 minute trip by car, takes over two hours and might involve a half-hour wait downtown. Even a trip from Broad Ripple to Castleton can take two hours because of the lousy coordination of the routes. Honestly, you're better off getting a bike.

[AGreekDude]

Originally Posted by Naptowner

Public transportation is not very good here. All we have are buses that are still based, to some extent, on a hub and spoke system where all lines go through downtown. Here's a system map that shows what I'm talking about. http://www.indygo.net/PDF/maps/IndyGo_System_Map_English.pdf (broken link)
Getting from the northwest side to the northeast side, a 15 to 20 minute trip by car, takes over two hours and might involve a half-hour wait downtown. Even a trip from Broad Ripple to Castleton can take two hours because of the lousy coordination of the routes. Honestly, you're better off getting a bike.

Not very many people ride the bus and depending on your background you might even be scared to ride the bus.

[talon4life]

Eh, I lived in London a bit, so buses don't scare me, but 2 hours might be a problem. Looking to buy a house. a 2 or 3 bedroom. Don't care if it is single family, duplex, condo, etc. as long as it is decently priced and in decent shape. Also because I don't want a car if I don't have to have one, tired of fixing them, someplace close enough to get around by bike I guess. Or an occasional cab.

[AGreekDude]

Originally Posted by talon4life

Eh, I lived in London a bit, so buses don't scare me, but 2 hours might be a problem. Looking to buy a house. a 2 or 3 bedroom. Don't care if it is single family, duplex, condo, etc. as long as it is decently priced and in decent shape. Also because I don't want a car if I don't have to have one, tired of fixing them, someplace close enough to get around by bike I guess. Or an occasional cab.

Do you need to be close to work...there are many many affordable places to live in Indy and if close to work isn't a problem give me a price range and I'll get you some info. The transportation system here sucks!! I wouldn't depend on it to much as in most American cities.

[Naptowner]

Without knowing more about where you think you might work or what kind of things you like to do, I might suggest the Nora area, or possibly South Broad Ripple. There are some decently-priced homes there, and you would be fairly close to shopping. Close enough to ride a bike, anyway. And in both cases you can get downtown on the bus pretty reasonably. Fountain Square, southeast of downtown, is also inexpensive, but the overall area is still up and coming, and it might be harder to get to where you need to go for basic necessities.

[gtrman]

There are several threads already on this topic. Do some searching in the forum and you'll find a lot of great info, I'd think. Happy hunting!