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I think Louisville is the outlier in the mix. It is noticeably smaller, significantly more southern and more of a "river city".
Columbus is the densest in terms of population and has a significant collegiate influence. It's also a little smaller than Kc and Indy, which are basically the same size.
Kansas City has the most developed, contiguous pre-war urban core. It also has the most rust-belty vibe (of the options), including negatives like significant ghetto, depopulation and white flight. KC is like a mix of Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
Indianapolis is like a Kansas City-lite, almost like a mix of Kansas City and Omaha.
Interesting that you would say KC is the most Rust Belt of the four. KC isn't normally included in conventional Rust Belt definitions. There really is/was very little heavy industry in KC, probably less than Indy even. There are pretty significant ghetto areas but I'm not sure it's necessarily a rust belt thing. That being said, I don't think any of the cities listed are Rust Belt, certainly not in the way St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, and Chicago are Rust Belt. I think KC is a bit more like Omaha and other metros to the west in terms of layout than the other two though they are all fairly sprawling in the city and suburbs.
As a Hoosier native who lives in KC and has visited Indy many many times and Columbus a handful of times, I would agree that neither KC nor Indy comes close in terms of the college vibe. I haven't been to Louisville so I won't speak about it. Indy has BR and KC has Westport which, while not completely a college area, attracts a huge college crowd. But IMO the college aged population does not dominate these neighborhoods the way that the OSU does in Columbus. The closest place to KC with that vibe is in Lawrence (home of KU), 41 miles away from KC; and for Indy it would be Bloomington (home of IU), 51 miles away from Indy. I do think Lawrence and Bloomington are fairly similar in terms of vibe, population, etc. But I think Lawrence is a bit more connected to KC than Bloomington is to Indy. I think it will imminently be swallowed up by the KC CSA, while I'm not sure that will happen with Bloomington/Indy any time soon, if ever.
I think KC has more nightlife options overall. P&L, Westport, Crossroads. Also attractions like the City Market, Plaza, etc. I like KC's downtown better than Indy's, but probably Columbus slightly edges out KC at the moment. Columbus has a better array of LGBT destinations than either KC or Indy. Columbus is further along than the others terms of public transit IMO. KC is only now getting a streetcar, but it's a step in the right direction and it's a starting point for further transit oriented growth.
KC and Indy are fairly similar in terms of suburbs. KC has Johnson County and Indy has Hamilton County. I think Carmel and Overland Park are two peas in the same pod. I'm not as familiar with C-bus suburbs. Of course KC has the handicap of the state line bisecting the metro which often inhibits city/suburb cooperation more so than in Indy.
In terms of crime, KC has seen a consistently decreasing crime rate while Indy seems to have struggled a bit more in recent years. Columbus I'm not quite as sure about - AFAIK it's relatively safe and has also seen decreasing crime rates.
Overall I think all three cities have a pretty bright future.
Does Indy have anything like Brookside or the beautiful mansions and water fountains along Stateline, south of Country Club Plaza in KC? This area is gorgeous. I've only passed Indy on the Interstate. I used to think KC was rust belty from Interstate 35 until I explored the city and suburbs more extensively.
Does Indy have anything like Brookside or the beautiful mansions and water fountains along Stateline, south of Country Club Plaza in KC? This area is gorgeous. I've only passed Indy on the Interstate. I used to think KC was rust belty from Interstate 35 until I explored the city and suburbs more extensively.
I don't know much about Brookside in Kansas City, but Woodruff Place in Indy has fountains and giant old houses. Woodruff Place itself is just about exclusivly residential, though the 10th Street corridor is seeing more improvements and infill.
I don't know much about Brookside in Kansas City, but Woodruff Place in Indy has fountains and giant old houses. Woodruff Place itself is just about exclusivly residential, though the 10th Street corridor is seeing more improvements and infill.
Yes, that would be similar to the area between the Plaza and Brookside on Ward Parkway (which is what I think the poster you quoted actually meant when he said State Line - State Line Rd is nothing too special). This area is similar to Woodruff though Ward Parkway is a very wide boulevard with a median so large it's actually parkland in many areas. I'm not sure I've seen anything similar in Indy.
Yes, I meant Ward Pkwy, thanks. When the fountains are going (in the pic you posted) it is quite a sight. I believe KC has the most fountains after Rome.
I think Meridian-Kessler is about the closest analogue: a streetcar-suburban core city neighborhood that is middle to upper-middle class and has always remained stable, family oriented and solid. Indy people can correct me if I'm wrong and there's some neighborhood in in Indy I don't know about which is more comparable.
Brookside is bigger (which makes sense, cause its really more of an agglomeration of 4 or 5 distinct neighborhoods), a little more established-feeling (I think there's more "native" born/raised residents in Brookside than Meridian-Kessler, but that's just a feeling and I wouldn't know where to find the data to quantify it, just a hunch) and Brookside retains more of its Irish-Catholic enclavey-ness than anything I know of in Indianapolis. In fact, Brookside is Irish-Catholic-Democrat in a way not too many midwestern neighborhoods outside of Chicago are any more. It might be the only legitimate white ethnic enclave left in KC.
I think part of the deal with Indy feeling "smaller" is that the city can sprawl in virtually every direction - there is no natural barrier to prevent expansion, so it's a lot of low density development over a large area.
Cincinnati and Indianapolis feel just as southern as Louisville. Some people from these cities will try and deny it, but it's true.
Southern in what way?
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