Fishers, Carmel among best places to live

Criteria: Population between 75k-500k and median home value between $75k-500k

Result: only 1 city with multiple communities landing in the top 10 of the list; Indianapolis.

Carmel, known for its award-winning Roundabouts and world-class Art scene has been hailed as the best town in America for a long time. The stats support what we all already know. 

With a Crime rate 5x lower than US avg, and a strong commitment to healthy living, innovative restaurants, and an expanding tech scene with unbeatable community amenities, Fishers also stands out. Now another Hamilton County town is getting some recognition...

[Player 3 has entered the chat] Noblesville joins in the mix: SmartAsset now lists Carmel, Fishers AND Noblesville among THE safest and THE most affordable places in USA. Whoa, didn't see that coming. /s

Indy vs. Boston battle for America's best suburbs

Joining Carmel as one of the best places to live in America (and the world), neighbors Zionsville and Westfield are now also ranked in the top 10 in the newest ‘Best Small Cities’ study, according to WalletHub: 

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581

Boston & Indy suburbs dominated the top of the list, with Lancaster (PA) taking the top spot. 

Not only is Indianapolis one of the fastest growing cities in America, it's the only city on the list not located in the South or West: 

https://www.inspectionsupport.com/resources/the-fastest-growing-metropolitan-areas-in-the-u-s/

Best Suburb in America is...

Business Insider published a new ranking, proving once again which the best Suburb in the United States is. If you look closely at who landed at Numero Uno you'll see that not much has changed in the past decade or so.

Niche refreshed their calculations for 2018 due to the rising costs of big-city living and more millennials opting to steer away from suburbia. The major factors included to determine quality of living are: crime, unemployment rate, schools, new home price, income, amenities, and cost of living. 

Carmel ranks as Best Place to Raise a Family

If there is any doubt what's the best (small) city in America, SmartAsset has joined the pool of publications aiming to ease that speculation. The only question left to debate: is it Fishers or Carmel?

The tech company used factors such as crime, jobs, and household income to determine where's the #1 place to live. With great-paying jobs, low unemployment rate, absurdly low crime rate - both property crime and violent crime - Carmel was able to pull ahead of all other U.S. cities less than 100,000 residents.
What's not mentioned is how all the roundabouts greatly improve the flow of traffic and reduce travel time. So whether you're visiting the #1 museum in America, attending the largest sporting event, flying out of the top-ranked airport, or watching a game at the best sports stadium, you're likely to get there quickly. 

Carmel (again) named best place to live

The past 10+ years have seen countless publications praise Indianapolis and it's northern suburbs, often times ranking at the top of many national lists. However, it's been a couple years since my last power rankings post, so you may have wondered how we still stacked up.

Those questions were put to rest with the latest survey conducted by Niche. Factors include: crime, schools, jobs, cost of living, and local amenities. Despite its reign at the top, I guess some still don't recognize the name. Maybe we should rename it something more catchy, like Roundabout City, USA.

Carmel and Fishers named America's safest place to live

This one caught my attention - not just because of the city that grabbed the #1 spot, but the cities that grabbed the top TWO spots.

Carmel just barely beat out Fishers for the #1 ranking on Movoto's List, calculated by the lowest number of violent crimes per capita (highlighted by both towns having no murders last year), how many victims of crimes, and also property crimes - most falling under the category of 'theft'.

I've already highlighted the #1 ranking bestowed upon the Indy-area in numerous other categories including affordability, livability, sports, jobs, schools, etc. and this one simply adds to the prestige that makes this metropolis so great. 

CNN says Carmel is #1

Breaking News!!! Indy suburb ranked best place to live in America! You'd think I'd get tired of publishing the same story over and over again, but nope!

Indy ranked #1 in Jobs & Affordable Housing

Finding a city with affordable housing isn't too difficult, as long as you're willing to settle for low-income wages, high crime and high unemployment. Finding a booming city with a great job market is ideal, if you can afford to live there. Indianapolis combines both factors better than any other place in America.
With an average cost of living well below the national average, you can find a large but affordable home in any of the surrounding suburbs: Greenwood, Plainfield, Avon, Brownsburg, Zionsville, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, etc - all just a short commute to downtown Indy. Or if you prefer to live in the city - ranked by Forbes as one of the safest in America - Indy boasts the nation's longest and busiest greenway (Monon Trail) stretching from downtown to Westfield. Indy is also home of the nationally renowned Children's Museum, the largest sporting event in the world (500), the 2012 Superbowl, NCAA headquarters, Mens & Womens Final Fours, BigTen Championships, and also dubbed the Amateur Sports Capital of the World.

Carmel hosts Roundabout conference

Traffic gurus from around the world are gathering in Carmel, Indiana this week in the 7th annual International Conference on Roundabouts. Both New York and Japan (pop. 19M and 125M) have fewer roundabouts than Carmel (pop. 79,000) - sent their best transportation engineers here this week to study the awesome effects it has on a community. For example, the Australian state of Victoria began building roundabouts in 1970 when traffic fatalities peaked at more than 1,000 per year. Two years ago, that number had been reduced to 300 while the population more than doubled. Melbourne now has over 5,000 roundabouts.

Not only do they save lives, but with less congestion and rarely stopping, travel time is also cut down - especially during the winter with icy roads.  Carmel is currently building its 69th since 1999 (131st & River Road) - this one located at 96th & Commerce Drive.

Indy Real Estate ranked #1

CNN has once again ranked Indianapolis the most affordable place to live in America. Fishers and Carmel have received numerous similar awards in recent years, and Noblesville is sure to follow. Hamilton County is also the #1 healthiest county in the state, defined by "quality of life" and "health risks".

106th & Keystone recognized as nation's top cement structure of 2009

The Portland Cement Association will present the National Award of Excellence in Phoenix next month to American Structurepoint, an Indianapolis construction company that designed the intersection in Hamilton County. The overall cost of Keystone Parkway cost Carmel $112 Million, with new intersections built at 106th, 116th, 126th, 131st, 136th Streets and Carmel Drive. Still no word on whether the speed limit for the virtual highway will remain 40 MPH.

Golden Tate wins Biletnikoff

Golden Tate had another amazing game (3 TDs, 10 catches for 200 yards) but Notre Dame's season fell incomplete at 6-6, with all but two games coming down to the final play. The Halloween game in San Antonio versus Washington State wasn't really a contest and the season opening shutout over Nevada is an indication Charlie can execute a great gameplan, when given more than a few weeks of prep time. The Wolfpack had an NCAA-record THREE 1,000-yard rushers this year. Does Irish AD Jack Swarbrick accept a bowl bid?

Shoppers turned out in droves this weekend looking for bargains in a rough economy. Police had to breakup a fight at Castleton and Greenfield malls. In Muncie, hundreds of Toys-R-Us shoppers waited in their warm cars before rushing the doors right at 5am, cutting everyone in line. Speaking of getting screwed, the Indiana State 5A Championship at Lucas Oil stadium went into a first overtime after the Warriors scored a game tying TD with :01 second remaining. If IHSAA allowed instant replay the catch would have clearly shown the receiver's foot was out of bounds, but the game went on and eventually into double OT before Warren Central outlasted Carmel, 42-36. Speaking of Warren Central... a 26-yr-old substitute teacher has been arrested for sexting a HS student. This is the thousandth reported case of a similar incident in the past few years yet the IndyStar commentors have an uproar over government intrusion issues. She was 16 and the male teacher admitted to having sex with her.

Forbes names Hamilton County #1

Fishers and Carmel are in everyone's top 10 list for this and that, but together they stand alone as Forbes' Best Place to Raise a Family. Factors that played into the rankings include cost of living, graduation rate, crime rate and per-capita income. Hamilton County features Carmel's Monon Center, Fishers' Connor Prairie, Noblesville's historic downtown and Deer Creek, Cicero's Morse Lake, Geist Reservoir, and Clay Terrace all contributing to Indy's northern county's #1 ranking.

FCV @ Carmel

If you were wondering what I've been up to since my last post, here it is:


That's Coach Travis Houghton's 8th grade team versus my alma mater Fall Creek Valley Bearcats. And yes, it was filmed in Nightvision mode. Be sure to catch halftime speech at the end.