Indianapolis VS Denver (Mecca: real estate, construction, pros and cons)

[Colts]

Originally Posted by ParadiseUSA

I am considering moving from NYC to either Indianapolis or Denver, and would like to know your thoughts about which city has more appeal. I will be unemployed when I move. I have spent a good amount of time in both cities, and I believe that I know how they both feel.

In terms of the people in Indianapolis, they appear to have more warmth and are much more approachable, as opposed to most in Denver who are aloof, flat, and have very little personality. The people in Indianapolis seem to value people and feel more comfortable around people. I find that Denver have more white collar people, and Indianapolis have more blue collar people.

Denver's land is more colorful, richer and so much more beautiful than Indianapolis. The weather is pretty much the same, except the summers in Denver is not humid.

I strongly suggest you find a job first wherever you decide to go, even if it's a gig at, say, FedEx.

[grantman61]

I lived in Denver for 3 1/2 Years and Indy for a total of 8 years (in 2 diferent stays) and I don't think I would pick either one. The humidity in Indy ruins the summers so the weather ends up either too cold then changes into too humid seemingly overnight, while the weather in Denver never stays too long at any type - if you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes it'll change! Unfortunately the rudest and most aloof people I've ever seen are in the Denver metro area, so I was quite happy to leave. I'm originally a California boy so I'm used to people being a little friendlier than they are in Denver.

[blucaas]

Originally Posted by kwr

Clearly you struggle with the concept of metro area vs city. Let me help...Carmel (which is a suburb of Indy) is not located within the marion county city limits; though, Carmel's population is included in Indy's population count. Furthermore, Carmel IS a city just like Indy.

I'll provide another example using Houston, TX since you referenced the city. Although Katy and The Woodlands are suburbs of Houston, the populations are not combined with the city of Houston.

The bottom line is Indy would be much lower on the list of US cities by population if the suburbs were not included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

You are incorrect in your assertion that Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Greenwood, Lebanon, Zionsville, Brownsburg, and Plainfield,which are all suburbs of Indy,are included in Indy's population. Even towns, such as Lawrence, Speedway, Cumberland and Southport which are all located in Marion County are not included in the Indianapolis population. They are included in the Indianapolis Metropolitan area population.

[blucaas]

Originally Posted by indy18

He was wrong when he said that Carmel was included in Indy's population, but he still has a valid overall point. Indy DOES "cheat" when it includes all of Marion County in it's city population. If every major city did what Indy did then it would be waaaaaaay down on the population list. Cities like Boston, Atlanta and Miami are way below Indianapolis in terms of city population but those cities have metro areas that blow Indy's out of the water and thus "feel" like much bigger cities (because they are).

City population is nothing but arbitrary boundaries made up by the government. They don't give an accurate representation of how big a place really is. That's why I always cringe when I hear people say that "Indy is the 13th largest city" as if it's the 13th biggest area in the US. It's not. It's actually a pretty small area.

If you look at the square mileage of Indianapolis and compare it to other cities you will find that Indy covers a large area compared to some of the other bigger cities which is why those cities are alot more congested as well.

[Shakeesha]

Denver is a better city. Jobs are more plentiful.

[swale]

We've lived in Denver for 1 1/2 years; we are actually trying to move back to the Midwest (including possibly Indianapolis). Denver does have a lot to offer for many, just not us. That said:

DENVER PROS:
Better (although wildly changing, as mentioned) weather. Other than the snowstorms you'd expect, a huge chunk of winter is just plain better in Denver. The lower humidity and stronger sunlight means that a lot of days warm up to the high 40s and are really nice. Plus 10 degree weather here feels more like 30 degrees when the sun is out.

Better public transit. The growing light rail system and decent bus system aren't quite NYC convenient, but are quite good.

More diversity (depending on where you are). A trip down Havana and then down Parker reminds me of living in Queens - every few blocks has a new ethnic enclave.

If you like craft beers, this place is heaven. You can find little breweries everywhere. in the area.

Pro sports. These people take their sporting events very seriously, and do it right. Coors Field is great.

CONS:
Traffic. This area is growing, but it's fairly compact and the roads aren't coming close to keeping up.

Drivers. I've seen more horrible driving manuevers here than I ever did living in NYC or near Boston. I suspect it's due to so many of the drivers having learned to drive in different areas, but they don't mix well.

Restaurants. I don't know if it's cooking at altitude or something else, but so many restaurants are serving awful, overpriced frou-frou crap. Of course there are exceptions, but those places are usually serving good, overpriced frou-frou crap.

Cost of living. It may not be bad compared to New York, but everything costs more, sometimes way more, than in the Midwest. And of course, the housing market is the hottest in the country.

I don't find the Denver people to be particularly unfriendly, but then again I've lived in New Hampshire and spent time in Philadelphia.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

Denver is a better city. Jobs are more plentiful.

You revived a five-year-old thread. Do you expect to be taken for more than a troll?

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

You revived a five-year-old thread. Do you expect to be taken for more than a troll?

Originally Posted by McdonaldIndy

Nice pointless thread revival.

In fairness to the "revivalist". Sometimes people search here for topics that bring up old threads and then they respond. That's fine, but it's nice to start off by saying "Old Thread", but...
That makes others aware that they're responding to an old thread.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by McdonaldIndy

Well it kind of makes it easy to spot the trolling when his response was.
Denver is better. Jobs are more plentiful.
Even though that is highly debatable and depends on the career.

true and I could easily turn it around as -

Indianapolis is better. Real estate is much more affordable and you can grow a lot of real grass in Indy.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

In fairness to the "revivalist". Sometimes people search here for topics that bring up old threads and then they respond. That's fine, but it's nice to start off by saying "Old Thread", but...
That makes others aware that they're responding to an old thread.

The person who revived the thread often revives these types of threads just to take shots at Indiana. Some people have too much free time.