Rural-Sherman is the name of a neighborhood located on the Near-Eastside of the downtown Indianapolis metropolitan area. Its boundaries are East 16th Street/Brookside Pkway on the North, Washington Street on the South, Rural Street on the West, and Sherman Avenue on the East. It is one of Indianapolis's most blighted neighborhoods, as a significant amount of homes and buildings in this area are decayed and/or abandoned. It is a participant in the Weed and Seed organization of Indianapolis, which helps to stabilize high crime neighborhoods. It is notoriously known along with other Indy suburbs such as Brightwood to the immediate North and Haughville on the Near-Westiside of Indianapolis as a crime ridden zone with a largely African-American population. Poverty is among the worst in this district and has many sheltered housing developments in place throughout the area.
In recent years, Rural-Sherman district has slipped further into blight, and statistically, for numerous years, has been the most violent area in Indianapolis. Known as one of the worst parts of the greater Indianapolis metropolitan area, including violent crime, robbery, theft, rape, and homicide rates leading the way year after year. Violent crime in and around this specific area, especially in 2006, has seen much publicity and unwanted attention, including the infamous Hamilton Avenue Massacre in which a family of 7 people were executed in their home by two men in the late hours on June 1, 2006.