3 Reasons to Move to Greenwood Indiana
Are you moving to the Indy Metro Area and looking for the perfect suburb of Indianapolis to raise a family, enjoy a central location, and buy a beautiful home for a surprisingly affordable price? If so, Greenwood, Indiana, is worth a look! This family friendly town is the fourth largest Indianapolis suburb, but don’t let its size fool you; Greenwood is full of charm. If you’re relocating to Indianapolis, consider these three reasons to move to Greenwood, Indiana.
3 Reasons to Live in Greenwood, IN
1. Greenwood is one of the most affordable suburbs of Indianapolis.
Greenwood is an attractive suburb for many reasons, but the affordability of this town is perhaps its greatest attribute. The cost of housing in Greenwood is extremely affordable, with a median home price of about $309,000. As the fourth largest suburb of Indianapolis, this affordability comes as somewhat of a surprise, but it’s welcomed in this steep housing market.
If you can spring a little higher than the median sales price, perhaps in the $350K or $400K range, your options open up significantly. In some of the other large suburbs of Indianapolis, you will struggle to find something under $400,000, and you definitely won’t get as much as you might in Greenwood. This attractive price point combined with the freedom to pick and choose is one of the biggest draws to this neighborhood.
In many of the Indianapolis suburbs, you won’t find all or even most of your needs and desires for $300,000. In some of the more upscale areas, like Carmel and Zionsville, you almost can’t even break in with that budget. If you were lucky enough to find something in some of the more expensive suburbs for $300K or less, you can bet it’s going to be small, old, or in need of repair (perhaps all the above.)
But in Greenwood, not only will you find plenty of options in that price range; you will be getting so much more for it. While you might have four or five options to choose from elsewhere, that could translate to ten or even twenty in Greenwood.
Learn More: What is the cost of living around Indianapolis?
2. Greenwood has a great location.
Greenwood is actually located in Johnson County, the county bordering the southern border of Marion County, which Indianapolis is in. Close to a million people live in Marion County, making it very densely populated, especially for the Midwest. That’s just about 2,500 people per square mile!
There are only about 160,000 people living in Johnson County, and just 60,000 of them call Greenwood home. That translates to a lot of room to spread out and have some space, especially if you are used to living in population dense areas.
Greenwood makes an excellent relocation spot for families who are tired of paying an arm and a leg to have no yard, garage, or any space to call their own.
If you like to head downtown often to enjoy the nightlife and sporting events, Greenwood is a superb suburb to live in. From almost any point in Greenwood you are less than thirty minutes from Downtown Indianapolis. Many of the most popular Indianapolis suburbs, such as Carmel and Fishers, are actually pretty far from downtown and most of the events are held in Indy.
While this seems trivial, the way you enjoy spending your weekends and free time might play into what side of town works best for you. As a general rule of thumb, the further south you get into Greenwood, the less nightlife and entertainment you will find, and the more residential and family oriented it will feel.
Southern Indiana Perks
On the southside of Indianapolis, you’re about an hour closer to everything in Southern Indiana. Unlike the flat tundra terrain of Northern Indiana, Southern Indiana is hilly, green, and covered in trees.
There is so much to see and do in Southern Indiana, and if you like to get out in nature, living in Greenwood will put you closer to the action. Within an hour of Greenwood you can find beautiful parks such as Morgan Monroe State Park and Brown County State Park. Brown County, Indiana is famous for the gorgeous colors of its changing leaves in the fall, and is a stunning part of the state where visitors can enjoy camping, hiking, mountain biking, and more.
Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University, is a charming town with plenty of restaurants and breweries to enjoy. If you want to get out into the southern half of the state every now and then, Greenwood is a great spot to be.
Learn More: Pros & Cons Living in Greenwood, IN
3. Greenwood is a family friendly suburb.
Indianapolis is a great place to raise a family in general, but Greenwood is particularly family friendly. Within this suburb there are three public school systems. This gives you plenty of options when deciding where to live and how far away the schools will be. It also helps kids thrive as well.
When all of the students of Greenwood aren’t condensed into one massive school, there is more opportunity for individual attention both in studies and extracurricular activities. All of the schools in Greenwood are tremendously well rated as well, so you really can’t go wrong when deciding which of them is the right fit for your family.
Even though Greenwood is big and spread out, you will quickly see that you can get everything you need close by. Unlike some of the other Indy suburbs that are known for being spacious, like West Carmel, you don’t feel the “out in the middle of nowhere” feeling in Greenwood that you might find elsewhere. Every store, retailer, chain restaurant and coffee shop you can imagine can be found in Greenwood.
Even with the large number of large chain corporations, you can still find plenty of small shops, locally owned businesses, and boutiques where you can spend your money knowing you are supporting the local economy. If you want to make a day of it take, head to the Greenwood Park Mall. Stores ranging from upscale to casual can be found at the mall, with plenty of options to find clothes and accessories for the whole family. The Greenwood mall is the perfect one stop shop.
Parks in Greenwood Indiana
Greenwood is home to over 400 acres of parks, so there’s a lot of space to get out and enjoy a sunny day with the whole family. Best of all, the parks and public spaces are distributed throughout town in such a manner that one will never find themselves too far from a little green space. The Greenwood Amphitheatre offers another great family friendly way to spend your summer evenings, with the free outdoor concerts at the amphitheater all summer long.
Greenwood attracts a slower pace of life that invites residents to slow down and enjoy life, relaxation, and each other.
Who wouldn’t love a place where your money goes further, your children will have a wonderful education, and the quality of life is high. Greenwood is an excellent place for anyone, families or otherwise; to call home.
Learn More: Top 5 Family Friendly Suburbs near Indianapolis
A few things to know about Greenwood:
There’s much more to love about Greenwood than just the aforementioned reasons, but there are also a few nuances you should consider before making a decision. Because Greenwood is so big, it’s pretty spread out. If you are looking for walkability, or a downtown area, you won’t find it here. There are plans in the works to amend the lack of a downtown strip, but nothing ever happens as quickly as planned, so don’t hold your breath.
The overall feeling of Greenwood is very residential. For many people fleeing big city life, this suburbia is just what the doctor ordered. Few parts of town have the hum of city life, even within entertainment areas. Things shut down pretty early in Greenwood. After all, family friendly and thriving nightlife don’t usually go hand in hand.
If you choose to live in Greenwood but want to keep an active social life past 7:00 at night, living in the northern part of town will keep you closer to the action of Downtown Indianapolis.
Most of this expansive town is made up of subdivisions, and not all of them are great. This is one of the reasons Greenwood is so affordable. It doesn’t mean these parts of town are bad or crime ridden, but they won’t look very appealing.
Neighborhoods full of older homes in need of renovations, chain link fences, broken up sidewalks, and streets in need of repaving are dotted around Greenwood. Strangely enough, they often back right up to beautiful, new, manicured neighborhoods.
If you fall in love with a home, do a quick drive around to make sure you like the looks of the surrounding areas, not just your own street.
Thinking of Moving to Greenwood, Indiana?
Are you considering moving to Greenwood, Indiana, or anywhere else in the Indy Metro Area? Reach out to me at Compton Realty, I would love to help you find your new home in Indianapolis.