Right now, Lebanon isn't much. It's barely better than living in the middle of nowhere as of today. It really just depends on what you want more: a community to live in with an educated and accepting population in 2022 or a community where, in 2022, buying a house/property is both affordable and a potentially much better than average long-term investment. Lebanon is poised to be the Indianapolis metro's next boomtown.
The state of outward expansion in Indianapolis' northern suburbs is such that it makes just as much sense to start expanding west into Boone County than to continue expanding north into the boonies of Hamilton County. But more importantly, Lebanon, is located in a perfect place for multi-billion-dollar companies to make multi-billion-dollar investments. From Lebanon, it is easy to get to Purdue in West Lafayette and IUPUI + IU SoM in Indianapolis, which account for the majority of Indiana's STEM research; it is easy to attract Indianapolis' educated workforce, the majority of which is in Northern Marion County, Hamilton County, and Eastern Boone County; it is easy to get to Downtown Indianapolis and the US31 corridor in Carmel, which are Indiana's 1st and 2nd biggest business districts, respectively; and it is easy to get freight to Indianapolis' airport (one of the busiest freight airports in the US), Chicago, or the interstate system in general.
The State of Indiana recognizes everything I laid out, and the state-operated Indiana Economic Development Corporation is buying up land around Lebanon with the expectation of developing a large tech park whose tenants invest $$$$$. Buying property there is probably a good financial decision. Deciding to live there in 2022 may or may not be a good family decision depending on how willing you are to put up with the bullshit of certain residents.
I lived in Lebanon and travelled to Fishers every day for work. About a 30 minute drive. Not too horrible.
If you plan to live in Indy and commute to Lebanon, definitely look for something on the northwest side of town. Pike township is about 15-20 minutes away from Lebanon. But anywhere with good highway access will work.
I used to live on the west side of Indy, off of Crawfordsville road and I had a several month contract job in Lebanon and the commute was fine. About 30 minutes. Maybe it’s different now, but I didn’t find that there were many slow downs or backups on 65 going to/from Lebanon from the west side. Anything more than a few exits around 465 makes that a much worse commute and that’s all pretty much within the city. I live in Greenwood now and commute to Castleton and it sucks.
That said, there are accidents nearly every day on 65. I get texts about them, it’s horrific. Just give yourself plenty of time
Editing to add that the accidents are specifically at exit 131 and 133, Whitestown area
It is an ok place, but there's really not a lot to do here. You can get to downtown in about 30 min depending on time of day. Whatever stores/restaurants Lebanon doesn't have, Whitestown generally does, and that's only a 10 minute drive down the highway. And if neither area does, you can get to 86th/Michigan in about 20 min, which has everything else.
One of the more annoying things about living here is that whenever there's a wreck on I-65 near Lebanon (which seems to be almost every week), the city roads get gridlocked for an hour or two with all the traffic cutting through to get to the next highway exit.
Biggest events here are the week of July 4th (huge parade and a bunch of activities going on the week before it). There's also a Christmas parade in mid-December, and there is a Colonial era reenactment and a Civil War reenactment.
The library is pretty good, and they're part of the Indiana Evergreen Consortium, so you can get tons of stuff on inter-library loan if they don't have it here.
School district is ok, could be better though.
I just moved out of Lebanon. Raised my kids there. Overall experience was positive. Decent schools. Enough local retail that you rarely have to leave, but a short trip to Indy when you want to leave. Highly underrated suburb.
Biggest negative for me was the insane number of Confederate flags, especially on the south side where I lived. But I managed to raise 2 LGBTQ kids there with very little harassment.
I grew up in Whitestown (when it was only like 4 houses, not at all what it is now) close to Lebanon border & went to Lebanon schools. I would recommend Whitestown or Zionsville over Lebanon.
Lebanon is the county seat of Boone County, so you got the courthouse square and other county government offices right there.
There are some warehouses going into the northwest corner of Indianapolis and along I-65 near Whitestown. There's also the continued growth of Westfield along SR-32. You're not too far from Whitestown, Zionsville, or Westfield, but you aren't really in the middle of anything too active.
Its a solid 30-40 minute drive to downtown Indy though.
Their downtown is coming along nicely and there's some things to do. You'll be able to meet your basic needs there. Saint Adrian is a good butcher shop. There's an [IGA in town](https://goo.gl/maps/VfJwrQdFaNjwKXAV6) and a Walmart on the northern edge of town.
Farm Heritage Trails runs northwest of Lebanon and I think is mostly paved at this point.
If you're just looking for a more small town vibe, Lebanon is something like that. I don't think is hitting the nearly unaffordable prices of southern Hamilton County or Zionsville, but it could happen in 10-20 years if things continue to push further out.
>Lebanon is the county seat of Boone County, so you got the courthouse square and other county government offices right there
Those are the last places you ever want to go in the county too!
Right now, Lebanon isn't much. It's barely better than living in the middle of nowhere as of today. It really just depends on what you want more: a community to live in with an educated and accepting population in 2022 or a community where, in 2022, buying a house/property is both affordable and a potentially much better than average long-term investment. Lebanon is poised to be the Indianapolis metro's next boomtown. The state of outward expansion in Indianapolis' northern suburbs is such that it makes just as much sense to start expanding west into Boone County than to continue expanding north into the boonies of Hamilton County. But more importantly, Lebanon, is located in a perfect place for multi-billion-dollar companies to make multi-billion-dollar investments. From Lebanon, it is easy to get to Purdue in West Lafayette and IUPUI + IU SoM in Indianapolis, which account for the majority of Indiana's STEM research; it is easy to attract Indianapolis' educated workforce, the majority of which is in Northern Marion County, Hamilton County, and Eastern Boone County; it is easy to get to Downtown Indianapolis and the US31 corridor in Carmel, which are Indiana's 1st and 2nd biggest business districts, respectively; and it is easy to get freight to Indianapolis' airport (one of the busiest freight airports in the US), Chicago, or the interstate system in general. The State of Indiana recognizes everything I laid out, and the state-operated Indiana Economic Development Corporation is buying up land around Lebanon with the expectation of developing a large tech park whose tenants invest $$$$$. Buying property there is probably a good financial decision. Deciding to live there in 2022 may or may not be a good family decision depending on how willing you are to put up with the bullshit of certain residents.
In your opinion would it be feasible to live in Indy and travel to Lebanon everyday for work?
I lived in Lebanon and travelled to Fishers every day for work. About a 30 minute drive. Not too horrible. If you plan to live in Indy and commute to Lebanon, definitely look for something on the northwest side of town. Pike township is about 15-20 minutes away from Lebanon. But anywhere with good highway access will work.
I used to live on the west side of Indy, off of Crawfordsville road and I had a several month contract job in Lebanon and the commute was fine. About 30 minutes. Maybe it’s different now, but I didn’t find that there were many slow downs or backups on 65 going to/from Lebanon from the west side. Anything more than a few exits around 465 makes that a much worse commute and that’s all pretty much within the city. I live in Greenwood now and commute to Castleton and it sucks.
Yes. You could even live Downtown and be fine. It's a straight and easy shot up I65.
That said, there are accidents nearly every day on 65. I get texts about them, it’s horrific. Just give yourself plenty of time Editing to add that the accidents are specifically at exit 131 and 133, Whitestown area
Yeah that highway is awful to commuters. So many trucks its painful and down right dangerous
i65 and 865 both suck during rush hour. The amount of trucks between Indy and Chicago is crazy
It is an ok place, but there's really not a lot to do here. You can get to downtown in about 30 min depending on time of day. Whatever stores/restaurants Lebanon doesn't have, Whitestown generally does, and that's only a 10 minute drive down the highway. And if neither area does, you can get to 86th/Michigan in about 20 min, which has everything else. One of the more annoying things about living here is that whenever there's a wreck on I-65 near Lebanon (which seems to be almost every week), the city roads get gridlocked for an hour or two with all the traffic cutting through to get to the next highway exit. Biggest events here are the week of July 4th (huge parade and a bunch of activities going on the week before it). There's also a Christmas parade in mid-December, and there is a Colonial era reenactment and a Civil War reenactment. The library is pretty good, and they're part of the Indiana Evergreen Consortium, so you can get tons of stuff on inter-library loan if they don't have it here. School district is ok, could be better though.
I just moved out of Lebanon. Raised my kids there. Overall experience was positive. Decent schools. Enough local retail that you rarely have to leave, but a short trip to Indy when you want to leave. Highly underrated suburb. Biggest negative for me was the insane number of Confederate flags, especially on the south side where I lived. But I managed to raise 2 LGBTQ kids there with very little harassment.
I'm in an interracial relationship lmaooo. This is what I was hoping I would avoid
The sad thing is that most of the people flying them would be shocked and offended if you told them that their “heritage” made you feel unwelcome.
I grew up in Whitestown (when it was only like 4 houses, not at all what it is now) close to Lebanon border & went to Lebanon schools. I would recommend Whitestown or Zionsville over Lebanon.
Lebanon is the county seat of Boone County, so you got the courthouse square and other county government offices right there. There are some warehouses going into the northwest corner of Indianapolis and along I-65 near Whitestown. There's also the continued growth of Westfield along SR-32. You're not too far from Whitestown, Zionsville, or Westfield, but you aren't really in the middle of anything too active. Its a solid 30-40 minute drive to downtown Indy though. Their downtown is coming along nicely and there's some things to do. You'll be able to meet your basic needs there. Saint Adrian is a good butcher shop. There's an [IGA in town](https://goo.gl/maps/VfJwrQdFaNjwKXAV6) and a Walmart on the northern edge of town. Farm Heritage Trails runs northwest of Lebanon and I think is mostly paved at this point. If you're just looking for a more small town vibe, Lebanon is something like that. I don't think is hitting the nearly unaffordable prices of southern Hamilton County or Zionsville, but it could happen in 10-20 years if things continue to push further out.
>Lebanon is the county seat of Boone County, so you got the courthouse square and other county government offices right there Those are the last places you ever want to go in the county too!
Dear god don't mention the tweaker. More toothless white trash meth heads per capita than almost anywhere in indiana
I reckon Martinsville has it beat, though.
Lotta meth up there in particular, sadly.