By Larry Lannan
My wife Jane and I have called Fishers home since 1991. My twin daughters were born and raised here. They were educated by the Hamilton Southeastern schools, kindergarten through 12th grade. I am often asked by friends and relatives that don’t live here, what is it like living in Fishers?
To give them an honest answer, it wasn’t fun commuting from my job in downtown Indianapolis. Indiana Department of Transportation officials have been constructing upgrades for years on Interstate 69, but the traffic load continues to overwhelm during rush hours. There are plans on the drawing board to fix this, but it will take years to get that done.
Aside from traffic, living in Fishers has been a wonderful experience for my family. We have made many friends here.
We have a public safety staff in Fishers that is second to none. Our local police and fire departments have no shortage of good, qualified applicants anytime there is an opening on their respective staffs. Fire Chief Steve Orusa and Police Chief George Kehl are respected by their own staffs and by public safety professionals throughout the state.
It’s hard to imagine that Kehl has been around Fishers long enough to see it move from a tiny farm town to the massive suburb we have become. This gives him a rare institutional knowledge of how his department grew from that small town to this soon-to-be city of 80,000-85,000 residents.
If bad winter weather descends upon us, you can count on the Fishers snow removal crews to keep the roads open. Every street and road is snow plowed by Fishers for a snowstorm of any size.
The Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation is the crown jewel of Fishers. Even with a state school funding formula that has resulted in less funding per student than many other school systems in the state, HSE schools have managed to continue a high quality of education for their students. You can see that in just about any measure available.
Perhaps the way I talk about Fishers has rubbed off on some of my family members. My sister and her husband recently moved here. I have a nephew and niece who live here with their families. A relative of mine has just been hired as a teacher at HSE schools.
We have our problems. It’s not a perfect place. But Fishers is a good place to live.
