I Need Some Insight From Residents of Indy (Indianapolis, Zionsville: transplants, houses)

[WILWRadio]

As you probably know I don't live in your area. I am continually baffled by the number of people that seem to have real issues with the Indianapolis area despite the fact they don't seem to live there and have not spent an appreciable amount of time visiting. The latest one is the argument that Indy is allegedly a giant suburb without a city vibe. This is ridiculous. Some of these clowns are trying to rewrite the facts. 2 x 2 is 27!

I can accept someone hating a place if they've lived there a while and had nothing but bad experiences or cannot find the kind of culture that they were expecting after arrival. But to spew drivel on and on for no apparent reason other than to walk all over a region for the apparent simple pleasure of enjoying to put others down is disgraceful.

What gives?

[lg1985]

Well, I don't live in there area, but we have traveled through and stayed there a few times. Actually looking to relocate there soon (living in Alabama now, but originally from Michigan). I find quite the opposite when saying its a giant suburb without a city vibe. If you take a walk through Downtown Indianapolis.....wow what an amazing area. Just a really busy and thriving downtown and so refreshing to see. Shopping, restaurants, movie theatre inside the mall, and the fountain square. AAANNDD....the people there are SO very nice and welcoming. So eager to answer your questions and give you directions and tell you the best local restaurants.

The big surburb minus the city feel....thats what I'm getting down here in Birmingham. No real downtown area that I actually liked besides one block of restaurants and couple of bars called 5 points south....not technically Birmingham.

[domergurl]

I think a lot of the haterade being spewed at Indianapolis has something to do with a certain someone who doesn't live in Indianapolis who constantly goes overboard with the lust for all things Indianapolis.

Here's the thing, Indianapolis is nice. It's a city that you can make your own way and enjoy it at your own pace. I give the city many kudos for trying to make a nice, habitable downtown. I've always said the city is a decent transit system away from greatness.

[urbanologist]

Hey WiL, you're name sounds familiar from skyscraperpage. Well, after all these years since I joined SSP and being at other sites since 2000 I learned that Indianapolis has been one of the most underrated cities out there because of some of the stereotyping that's been going on. I'm not from Indy (native) originally but have lived here off and on since 1998. Since then I have seen so many improvements taking place here that I really haven't seen in some other cities (This coming from someone who travels around the country constantly). Projects from from the 1 billion dollar airport expansion to more businesses moving downtown along with better roadways to one of the nicest NFL stadiums in the country. After seeing all this happening in a decade I really can't knock the city. What I have notice is that anytime anyone mentions what major project or event (ie Superbowl) the city will get you get some negative responses. The only thing that comes to mind is that you're going to have jealousy out there because their city didn't get the kind projects or events that Indy had so they belittle it. (they won't admit it). Honestly, I think Indy is well rounded city. It's not so up tight, arrogant, impatient, sky high taxes, red light cameras, too big, too corrupt and over whelming kind of town etc.. (not everyone wants that) Imo, you are going to have the typical negative stereotype responses from some because of Indy's successful growth. I would not worried about it. Some of the negative stereo typing won't hinder Indy's success. The city has a bright future. When something is successful you're going to have critics.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

As you probably know I don't live in your area. I am continually baffled by the number of people that seem to have real issues with the Indianapolis area despite the fact they don't seem to live there and have not spent an appreciable amount of time visiting. The latest one is the argument that Indy is allegedly a giant suburb without a city vibe. This is ridiculous. Some of these clowns are trying to rewrite the facts. 2 x 2 is 27!

I can accept someone hating a place if they've lived there a while and had nothing but bad experiences or cannot find the kind of culture that they were expecting after arrival. But to spew drivel on and on for no apparent reason other than to walk all over a region for the apparent simple pleasure of enjoying to put others down is disgraceful.

What gives?

Fact of the matter is all large cities offer the same things. For some reason people tend to expect indy to be different somehow. U also have people that need to try and tear one place down while hyping their own up. Indy isnt an in your face city. It tends to be very balanced between big city and small town charm. Sure it has its faults but so does every city. It might not get things done at the pace of some people but in the end it gets things done. The last thing needed is the city going broke trying to keep up with the jonses to appease the very few. Things the city has already done others are just now doing pawning it off as something innovative like public-private partnerships and walkable downtown cores. Those same people chastise indy hype their city's for what they are doing even though they are using indy as their example. I look at it as a form of flattery. For every one project they mention, you can name 10 over the past 20 years. Just laugh it off. Ehat i would ask is why so many central indiana lifelong residents love to pile right on as if they hadnt got an ounce of pride. You have to admit, it looks pretty bad when transplants defend it more than the natives.

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

As you probably know I don't live in your area. I am continually baffled by the number of people that seem to have real issues with the Indianapolis area despite the fact they don't seem to live there and have not spent an appreciable amount of time visiting. The latest one is the argument that Indy is allegedly a giant suburb without a city vibe. This is ridiculous. Some of these clowns are trying to rewrite the facts. 2 x 2 is 27!

I can accept someone hating a place if they've lived there a while and had nothing but bad experiences or cannot find the kind of culture that they were expecting after arrival. But to spew drivel on and on for no apparent reason other than to walk all over a region for the apparent simple pleasure of enjoying to put others down is disgraceful.

What gives?

Indy doesn't have it's own vibe or feel terribly urban, but I've changed my mind on the worth of such things. Suburbs are awesome. Neat, clean, wide roads, high speed limits, ample parking, predictable restaurants, uncongested residential areas. The whole world should be Avon. Sprawl is beautiful.

Compared to a lot of other places, Indy's not that bad. It needs better highway access to the northern suburbs, and it can use more Italian beef and pizza, but living in Indy is pretty good. It's likely to get even better since the Colts won't be dominating the local conversation.

I'll bet life in Kansas City is pretty good, too, perhaps even a little better than Indy, since you have your own cuisine. Don't think that grass is all that greener elsewhere. The metros are pretty similar, so don't think K.C. to Indy is a huge change. I'll buy K.C. to Cincy, but since K.C. gets better weather than Indy, I can't see a reason to switch.

By the way, other posters, the reason that the suburbs are nicer, cleaner and growing faster than Indianapolis proper is that they don't have useless, expensive, boring downtowns that they're desperately trying to prop up and market. In the suburbs, the money and improvements are found everywhere inside those city limits. Indy needs to cut its downtown loose.

[Chicago76]

I actually agree with GregHenry for the most part on this one.

The reason why people rail on Indy is that apart from downtown (which still is pretty chain-heavy), the city doesn't have a lot of unique urban qualities. You can take a big city out of town guest downtown. Then head north through the midtown section and Meridian-Kessler to admire houses on the way to Broad Ripple. That's about it as far as "urbanness" goes. Fountain Square is charming, but most cities of similar size of 3 or 4 walkable areas outside of downtown that are more established and vibrant than FS. Some of the quality of the development downtown is poor too. Some fairly bland facades or suburban monstrosities like these:

Google Maps

Google Maps



The metro pretty uniformly lacks density, walkability, and a street scene. Toss in the lack of natural scenery and there's not much in my hometown to wow someone. The good news is that people actually take the time to criticize the city--which means there must be enough relevance and good qualities for an outsider to bother criticizing the area.

Evenatually, the city will need to spend its time investing in some of the older neighborhoods of the city where unique offerings could take root: near eastside, development along the western banks of the river, connectivity along the midtown corridor, Garfield Park area, etc.

That's the glaring weakness of the city, so that's what people with their own agenda will criticize.

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

Toss in the lack of natural scenery and there's not much in my hometown to wow someone.

Holliday Park, Fall Creek Valley, Geist, Danville, Zionsville, Eagle Creek Park, large parts of the Monon, Cool Creek Park are attractive areas.

Indy's getting better.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by GregHenry

Holliday Park, Fall Creek Valley, Geist, Danville, Zionsville, Eagle Creek Park, large parts of the Monon, Cool Creek Park are attractive areas.

Indy's getting better.

I agree, but you need to consider what outsiders are comparing that to: Great Lakes, oceans, mountains, or even the hills and natural scenery of places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh or even the urban parkland of St. Louis, Cherokee park in Louisville, the natural scenery you can get from large rivers, etc.

If you put together a list of the 40 largest urban areas in the country, Indy's beauty is probably in the bottom quartile.

Indy is improving in this regard, but there isn't much the city can do to change water and topographical features.

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

I agree, but you need to consider what outsiders are comparing that to: Great Lakes, oceans, mountains, or even the hills and natural scenery of places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh or even the urban parkland of St. Louis, Cherokee park in Louisville, the natural scenery you can get from large rivers, etc.

If you put together a list of the 40 largest urban areas in the country, Indy's beauty is probably in the bottom quartile.

Indy is improving in this regard, but there isn't much the city can do to change water and topographical features.

Taste is relative, but I find Indianapolis far prettier than Pittsburgh.