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I've been to Indianapolis and I could definitely see myself living there. The real estate prices are very reasonable and their downtown has a lot of charm. I noticed the buildings were older and some had some ornate details which I liked. I really enjoyed looking out into the city. Where I stayed there was a big monument and they created a huge Christmas tree that was lit up at night. It was much prettier at night than in the day time though. I enjoyed walking around but I didn't walk for long because when I was there it was freezing cold, snowing, and very windy. Overall I like Indianapolis. It's not NYC or Seattle but it's still a great city that has the amenities of a large city yet isn't overwhelming. I would love to live downtown but I'm sure it is very pricey to get a nice view like I had at my hotel.
Indianapolis is in Indiana which has been depressed for years economically. Kind of like Detroit. Also, the joke goes that it smells...goes back to the old days when they had the steel mills there.
I travel there for business, and oddly enough the last few times I found myself comparing it quite often to Charlotte. It's got the same geographic-center-yet-sprawling-to-the-suburbs feeling that Charlotte has. The people I encountered were fantastic. Lots of great restaurants and shops, and good culture (museums, etc.) It's got a small airport. I found them very similar.
I think it gets colder than it does here though...
They actually just built a new terminal and so the airport isn't so small anymore! Before, you could walk right out the door in no time but last month when I was there they had just opened the new terminal and we walked for what felt like forever! LOL! It is really nice!
Yes, it definitely gets colder there. When I was there it was freezing and the wind was blowing so hard it nearly took my breath away.
Indy (Da Nap) is without a doubt comparable to Charlotte. In fact, you could easily compare Kansas City, Columbus OH, Cincy, and Louisville to Charlotte now. I just wish Charlotte's infrastructure was on par with some of these cities. You know, A FINISHED I-485!!!!!!!! These cities have been large cities MUCH MUCH MUCH longer than Charlotte so it will be awhile before Charlotte's uptown development and infrastructure catches up.
The last time I was in Indy, I noticed that Indy's mass transit did not run as late as Charlotte's which was a surprise to me. Indy's downtown arena has worked wonders for businesses and the restaurant scene there.
The airports are comparable in the sense that Charlotte's new runway will give you the feeling of "planes landing on top of you" from I-485. Indy's airport already gives you this feeling if you are driving by on I-70 or I-465.
I just wish Charlotte's greenway projects would give us something like this Uptown:
The two are surprisingly similiar from what I hear and read. Interestingly though, Charlotte's metro gdp is higher. 114 to like 80 or 90 something billion in 2006.
I was in Indy in 2006 to watch the Final Four (Go Gators!) and immediately thought that the cities are very similar.
One thing Indy has that Charlotte needs is a downtown shopping mall.
Circle Center Mall in Indy was built at a time when civic leaders and conventional wisdom assumed that in order to attract suburbanites downtown you had to give them what they've got in the suburbs such as an enclosed mall like Circle Center. Convention Wisdom and modern planners now agree that street level retail is more condusive to revitalizing the urban core by bringing activity to the street rather than a mall such as Circle Center. That being said, Charlotte will never see a mall like the one they have in Indy and Overstreet is an example of why this is a bad idea...recognizing that its practical for uptown workers, etc.
Also, South Park is way too close to uptown to consider or justify the addition of a major department store uptown...let alone many of the boutique/specialty retailers such as Banana/Gap....at least for the next 10 years...or until daytime/fulltime population reaches a critical mass.
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