Indiana Nesties
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Indianapolis suburb advice needed!
Hi, girls!
I am a Tampa nestie and my husband and I are looking into relocating within the next year or so to the Indy area. I am looking for any advice you have on good areas to look in. We will be starting our family there, so we are looking for a good school system, safe suburbs, but proximity (an hour or less) to the city. TIA! 
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Re: Indianapolis suburb advice needed!
Everyone will give you a slightly different opinion on this so I will first say that you almost can't go wrong really. Its more about what feels most like home to you. We live on the southside of Indy between downtown and Greenwood and we really like it. We both work downtown and its an easy 15 minute commute plus we get the benefits of downtown (arts, sports, etc) and that of a more suburban life (great schools, shopping, easy access to stuff). However, we have friends that live on the northside Carmel, Fishers, etc. and love it and westside Avon and Plainfield and they love it.. really its what feels right to you. If you could come up for a few days and drive around I think you;'d figure out what works best for you. Luckily 465 will get you anywhere in the city/burbs in about 30 - 40 minutes at most so its a really accessable city. GL and welcome!!!
Noblesville, Carmel, Zionsville, Westfield, and other 'burbs on the northside are very popular places right now, as are 'burbs on the west side like Avon, Plainfield and Brownsburg.
I live on the SWside of Indy due to affordabilty and lower taxes. The current school system is good until they get to middle school, and then there are admin issues (MIL taught there) - but we plan to move to a larger home before then.
I also grew up in Greenfield (east side), which is affordable and has decent schools.
I've lived on the north, west, and south sides of town. ?DH's family lives on the east side. ?I also used to teach in Avon (west side).
I must say that I like the south side the best. ?We live in Center Grove which is basically Greenwood. ?The Center Grove school system is excellent, and their is everything you could want down here. ?The cost of housing is a bit lower than the north side too.
I do agree that you can't really go wrong. ?It all depends on what you are looking for.
What exactly are you two looking for?
Various school districts are better than others. If you are in INDY proper,they have the public schools for IPS and the township shools. Kids probably have a better education through the township shools.
So far as the suburbs, what lifestyle are you looking for? Does traffic annoy you?
If you are relocating, is it for a profession? If so, what company? That could help me know what side of town is more ideal for you as well.
I grew up in a westside suburb of Indy. I loved it. I plan to get back that way sooner than later. Hubby had purchased a home 1hr west of the city when he was single. Well, we don't want to take a loss on the house or we'd move sooner. It is literally 44miles from hom to work which takes 1 hour on a good day. It's a pain in the tush! It's beautiful drive, but tractors, Sunday drivers on a Monday, and STUPID IDIOTS that DON'T know how to drive.... really take away from the peacefulness. Also, with gas prices.....
I would advise to live more like 30minutes from Indy if you are used to living in Tampa. It takes us 30 minutes to get to a grocery store. Plan ahead and buy a deep freeze if you want to live out this far.
The northside (Carmel, Fishers, Castleton, Zionsville) have good schools and are "Preppy" and have great shopping. It is notorious for traffic congesation. The westside (Brownsburg, Avon) are calm and quiet overall. Avon has become a "little Castleton" but with a little less traffic and not-so-preppy. The southwest side (Decatur) is alright. It has some nice home of varying price ranges, but not as good for schools as the north and west side. Also, shopping is not so great. The southside (Greenwood) has fairly decent schools. Rush hours and friday/saturday nights are bad with traffic congestion. There's a nice mall and lots of shopping areas and things to do. The eastside has a mall that used to be ALOT nicer, even in recent years past. Unfortunately, it has fairly "ghetto" like the near northwest (Indy proper) area mall has become. There are some nice strip malls on the east side, but it's had it's "hayday." Downtown has tons of restaurants, Circle City Mall, a movie theater, theatrical centers, symphonies, etc....
I've had opportunities to travel and even move. However, I've never wanted to leave the Indy area for more than a vacation. There's so much to do in Indy, no matter what side of town you live on!
As the other poster stated, with I-465, it's not that far from one side of town to the other. When I lived near the airport (near southwest side of Indy proper) I was able to visit with my friends around the city on a much more regular basis than I am able to do now.
Keep posting if you'd like more feedback. I'll try to check in! Good luck!
I agree everyone will give you lots of advice considering their side of town. The Indianapolis Metro is easily withing an hour of anything, the problem is as with any area, rush hour traffice. I live on the southeast side, a 30 minute drive to the northside Carmel area, but when I go for work in the mornings it can take up to an hour depending on when I hit traffic. You really can't go wrong w/ any side of town, and there are a few nicer areas nearer to the city as well. So I would go w/ it really depends on your jobs and where those would be located, then search out the area of town. Areas I would consider looking at are, Fishers, Noblesville, New Palestine, Greenwood, Southport, Avon and Plainfield. Then just try to figure out what fits..even rent for awhile to get a feel for Indy.
Hope that helps...