Indy, Indiana, not Louisiana, Paris, France, NY or Rome

March 21, 2008 12:01 PM

Moving to Indianapolis, need neighborhood recommendations.

Posting this for a friend: Mrs. Friend just accepted a job located near the SW corner of the greater Indianapolis tri-county area. They are currently in South Dakota (Brookings). Mr. Friend is looking for suggestions on where to live. They need a good school system (1 middle-school aged kid) and a house. They also need housing in Indy for grandma who is now in a HUD supported senior apt complex in Brookings. They like the college town vibe, but I think Bloomington is too far of a commute. Mr. Friend is a freelance writer/audio producer/stay-at-home dad.

Please give suggestions for good neighborhoods, MLS numbers, zip codes, etc where they can look. My friend thanks you!

posted by DiscourseMarker to home & garden (7 comments total)

Southwest corner of tri-county Indianapolis? Indy is just one county, surrounded by eight others. I assume you mean southwest Marion Co.?

If that's the case, she definitely should look in White River Township in Johnson County (just south of Indy). The school system is Center Grove - excellent community. Housing is reasonable and the traffic is FAR better than what the Northsiders experience.

You're going to get a lot of people saying Carmel or Fishers, but if she's working in the SW corner of Marion Co. near the airport, she's looking at a 60-75 minute commute. Plus, the northside is the furthest thing from a "college town vibe". You're not going to get college town vibe unless they live in Bloomington (60-75 minute commute to SW corner of Marion Co.) or near Butler in downtown Indy - but there you've got IPS schools, so they'd have to shell out for private schools, and the housing is a bit more expensive.

So, to recap: 46142 area code. They could also try Plainfield, if they're definitely near the airport.
posted by po822000 at 12:22 PM on March 21

Southwest corner of tri-county Indianapolis? Indy is just one county, surrounded by eight others. I assume you mean southwest Marion Co.?

Sorry, copied that from my friend's email w/o checking--the job is very close to the airport.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 12:31 PM on March 21

Then definitely 46142 (outside of Greenwood) or Plainfield. Just a short drive from each, both have excellent schools.
posted by po822000 at 12:32 PM on March 21

There are tons of houses in the Greenwood area for CHEAP right now...you'll have to go to older more east part of town (not Center Grove) but the Greenwood Community school system has really improved in the past few years. There is a large and growing Indian community in Greenwood (we desperately needed more diversity here and I happen to love this development.)

I live in the old towne part of Greenwood and happen to really like it. (I don't really care for the mayor or many of the people involved in local government BUT Greenwood remains small enough that I can voice my concerns to these people in person.)

If you mefimail me with more info on what they want/need from a house I will grab them some MLS numbers.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:21 PM on March 21

Thanks for the answers so far. A couple of follow-up q's from my friend:

What communities/town/neighborhoods should be avoided at all costs?

Regarding schools, their daughter is a band geek. Does anyone have any info about schools/districts with good band/music programs? (I think she'll be in 8th grade next year)
posted by DiscourseMarker at 5:22 PM on March 21

nth-ing the Greenwood recommendations. I just moved back to Texas after spending a year in Indy. We lived very close to Downtown (Fletcher Place/Fountain Square), and although I imagined it would be more convenient, we did a lot more driving down to the southside/Greenwood area.
posted by ktrey at 9:25 AM on March 24

I was a band geek in high school, and I know then (and now), Greenwood Schools had an EXCELLENT marching band - winners of state finals several years a row in their class (Class B, the second-biggest class). Center Grove, which is also on the southside, is a Class A band that is also good, but maybe not as perennially good as Greenwood's (different classes, though).
posted by po822000 at 10:47 AM on March 24