Pros and Cons of Living in Westfield, Indiana

Pros of Living in Westfield, Indiana:

The quality of life in Westfield is exceptionally high.

Westfield is known for having great schools, plenty of employment opportunities, and an involved and enriching community. It’s no surprise then that Westfield is considered to be extremely family friendly.

Some of the best public schools in the state are located in Westfield, so the taxpayers know their money is going towards an exceptional education for their children. One of the clearest indicators of the family-centric atmosphere in Westfield is the construction of Grand Park, the largest youth sports complex in the country. 

With 26 baseball fields, 31 multipurpose fields, 3 indoor fields, a basketball complex, and over 10 miles of trails running throughout the park, you would struggle to find any kind of activity your child can’t be involved in in Westfield. (The Gretzky hopeful may have to look elsewhere for an ice rink, but Grand Park has almost everything.)

The facility is open to guests as well for pickup games and youth leagues that want to coordinate a time to use the fields and equipment, so it’s a perfect place for youth groups or church organizations to get together and bond.

Westfield looks lovely and has nice infrastructure.

Over the last twenty years this suburb has increased in size tremendously. Westfield still isn’t a particularly massive area, but as it grows, so does the beauty of the city.

This doesn’t necessarily mean every place of business is flocked with landscaping and every road has a tree lined promenade running down it. But in general Westfield is a lovely looking place. The city planning has made a conscious effort to create visually pleasing infrastructure. The roads are easy to navigate, sidewalks are wide and well paved, and you rarely see trash or graffiti around town. 

With tourism dollars coming into Westfield from places like the aforementioned Grand Park, this constant upgrade and growth is well supported financially. While nearby Carmel, Indiana, likely holds the title for the most beautiful suburb of Indianapolis, Westfield isn’t far off.

Westfield has worked hard to earn the reputation for being a part of the city that is not only on the rise in size, but quality of living. As it continues on its path to being one of the most premier neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Westfield only grows more attractive each year.

Learn More: 3 TOP Reasons to Live in Westfield, IN

Westfield is not particularly crowded.

 Nearby Fishers and Carmel both hold populations of about 100,000 people each. Westfield, however; only has about 45,000. That’s by no means a small town, but considering its surrounding neighbors, it’s a significantly smaller number. Even though Westfield is poised for growth, it doesn’t feel crowded and it likely won’t for some time.

The acreage that Westfield covers is fairly expansive, so there is a lot of room for growth before the town and its residents start to feel cramped. This means you have more room for subdivisions with large yards.

Or if you are interested in owning a bit of land, Westfield would be the kind of place where you could have that. There are still plenty of green spaces yet to be filled with neighborhoods and shopping centers. For some this spread out feeling might be a con, but for most of those looking for space and fresh air to raise their family in, Westfield is a great fit. 

 Cons of Living in Westfield, Indiana: 

Westfield is really far north:

This con depends more or less on where you live and work. If you work from home, or in nearby Fishers or Carmel (or even Westfield itself) this might not be a downside at all. But if you want to live in Westfield and work elsewhere in the city (especially Downtown Indianapolis) this drive might end up being too much to do twice a day, five days a week.

Twenty years ago the commute down I-31 was much worse than it is now. So the good news is there have been improvements to the major thoroughfares taking you to and from Westfield that make it much faster these days. But the mileage is still there no matter how much you speed up the drive.

Westfield is pretty much the farthest north you can be and still consider it the suburbs of Indianapolis. With this being said, there really isn’t anything you would need that you can’t get in Westfield or nearby.

But the city is still the city. So if you like to go into Indy often, or go to a lot of sporting events, know that Westfield is going to be anything but close.

Learn More: Top Indianapolis Suburbs to Move to for Families

Westfield is currently undergoing a major redevelopment:

We mentioned above that Westfield has been growing for the last twenty years. It hasn’t slowed its growth pattern, so if you want to live there, expect a few growing pains. Just two decades ago, in 2000, Westfield had a population of only 9,000 people. Today that number is 40,000, and it’s increasing annually.

This means this little suburb needs to accommodate for growth. There is constant construction taking place in Westfield, and it will continue for years to come. This is especially true of the downtown area; although as it currently stands, there isn’t much of one. Westfield lacks any real cultural center (like a main street or downtown area.) Because of this, you will find it to be a bit spread out, with pockets here and there of places to shop, eat, and hang out, but nothing central. 

Though there may not be much of a downtown right now,  that wonderful city planning we mentioned previously is already on it, and the plans are great.

Westfield has an absolutely incredible downtown area in the works that will provide residents and visitors with a place to gather, enjoy festivals and events, and support local businesses. Just be a little bit patient, we aren’t quite there yet.

If you want to move to a place that is an extremely established little town, Westfield isn’t that place. You might be happier in nearby Carmel. But if you are desirous to live in a place in which you can watch it grow and blossom, and be a part of that growth, great things are expected from Westfield.

Learn More: 5 Things to know BEFORE Moving to Indianapolis

Homes in Westfield aren’t extremely affordable:

Westfield is lovely, family friendly, and safe, but one thing it isn’t is cheap. It isn’t “Carmel” expensive, but it’s not remarkably affordable either.

This is mostly due to the fact that most homes you will find for sale in Westfield are new construction, or relatively new even if you aren’t the first owner. You will struggle to find any really, really old homes here (those who have a penchant for nightmare historic homes that are always breaking probably won’t find them in Westfield.)

The homes we will be calling “older homes” for the sake of this list are houses that are about twenty years old, those built just at the turn of the millennium. When Westfield really started to boom, a good amount of homes that all looked the same popped up throughout town. Now that there are so many bigger, better, and newer options, these older homes are pretty much all that is affordable. 

Affordable is a relative term, you will struggle to purchase a home in Westfield for under $400,000. As Westfield grows it is exceedingly clear that this suburb aims to be a premier neighborhood of the Indianapolis area, and that is usually just a diplomatic way of saying expensive.

The nice infrastructure, the big pricey homes…no one is trying to hide the fact that Westfield is on the up and up, and before long; many prospective residents are going to find themselves priced out of this neighborhood.

If you want to live in Westfield and want to buy, there really is no time like the present. No, homes aren’t cheap now, but they are only going to go up from here. The good news is, with that goes your property value if you should find yourself a homeowner in Westfield.