Indianapolis? (Muncie, Anderson, Richmond: home, neighborhood, school)

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

The #5 post in the "Indy makes Amazon HQ2 final 20" thread, I posted:

I have a feeling Indianapolis is going to win. It's very centrally located and it's at several major crossroads. I bet nearly half the population of the country is within a 12 hour drive of Indianapolis, it has an international airport, convenient to Chicago but it's much cheaper, Indianapolis is about an hours drive to IU, Purdue, Ball State, and Indiana State, also, Notre Dame is nearby, and other Big 10 schools are fairly close, such as Northwestern and Ohio State. Purdue is one of the leading engineer schools in the country and you know Amazon will be needing lots and lots of engineers. I'm sure Mike Pence will be using his influence as VP for Indianapolis to win that prize. If I was in Las Vegas, I do believe I'd put my money on Indianapolis. Wait and see. Everybody's gonna be surprised. I can just see the jaws dropping all across the country when Amazon announces Indianapolis is the winner.

Three of the locations that are in the top 20 are in the D.C. metro area. I find it suspect that they would have 3 contenders so close to each other, I honestly think the D.C. area stands a good chance of getting it.

[ndindy]

Originally Posted by ServoMiff

Indianapolis has some nice people, and is growing in entertainment, but compared to all the other cities listed, after living in NE Indy for 8 years, I can say that it's just really really boring. The flatness of the land really does matter, and not in a positive way. There's very few waterways nearby, so you're a long way away from recreation if you really like outdoor stuff other than hiking (Turkey Run State Park in far western Indiana near Danville, IL is one of my favorite hikes in the country).

COL is low in Indy, but so are incomes, until you get into the upper echelon.


Snow on the road isn't really as much of a problem as the wind when there's snow and ice because there's no blocking the wind when it's so flat. I nearly died on Binford Blvd in Indy because I hit a wind gust at the same time as I hit a patch of untreated road on my way to college one Saturday morning, and magically was unharmed despite flipping and going across the median into oncoming traffic. Indy is notorious for poor road treatment. I'm not sure why, but they also don't fix many of the potholes for a long time after they are formed. Must be a budget thing.

Overall though, Indy is a decent place to raise a family, and with many high quality in-state college options, you save a lot of money on tuition as well if you have children.

Of the cities listed in the 2nd post and being older now and having visited all of them, I would personally list Phoenix at the top of those. Nashville is cool now but way overcrowded already. Tampa is very hit or miss and the only real benefits there are the sun and the no state income tax.

I would second just about everything said here.
As far as snow and cold weather, the winters in Indianapolis are pretty variable. (Really, so are fall and spring, you just don't have to worry about snow.) One winter can have a lot of snow, and the next can have very little. (Average being 25 inches per season, about every 5th winter, it's less than 10".) The temperatures can vary a lot as well. One winter day can feel like you are in Georgia, the next in Michigan. Indy does deal with snow pretty well overall. A winter that has steady snow and colder than normal temperatures can wear down even those who don't mind winter. No one is going to confuse Indy's winter with Raleigh. Southern cities tend to not have the ability to deal with snow that does occur a few times a season, sometimes more in a bad year. In Raleigh, you may feel like a prisoner in your own home until the ice and snow melts.

Indy does have vibrant areas of the city that have developed well over the last several years. Even the suburbs have developed downtown areas with restaurants, shops and places to hang out. If you are moving from a larger city and enjoy the amenities of a large city, you may visit and see if it's a trade off.

Traffic--in general traffic isn't bad compared to other large cities, but living on the north side, or a commute from one side of the city to the next could be jammed at certain times of day. In particular, the north east side and Fishers is known for back-ups and bumper to bumper traffic at peak commutes.

Per ServoMiff:
Overall though, Indy is a decent place to raise a family, and with many high quality in-state college options, you save a lot of money on tuition as well if you have children.
^^^^
All of this. If I had a family to support and was making between $50-100K/year, Indy is a big draw for affordability of housing and good schools in the suburbs.

One caveat I always heard about in Indy was expensive benefits people paid for health insurance.

For the few places discussed in the thread instead of Indy:

Phoenix: Feels like Indianapolis in the desert, right down to how they have the roads and freeways arranged. Overall conservative and skews older. High health insurance rates. Housing is noticeably more expensive than Indy in most areas.
Raleigh: Probably a better job market than Indy. Warmer winters. NC has some odd real estate laws. Depending on your area of work, some who relocates may have better pay/opportunities.
Tampa: Actually lived in this area and wouldn't recommend it. Florida is not a great place to raise a family and you trade the absence of an income tax to be taxed and charged for a range of other things. Hard pass on Tampa.
Nashville: Not overly familiar, but what I have gotten from the thread is that housing is less affordable, traffic is worse. Pay is probably lower than most areas for areas that are less skilled. Conservative.

[sheerbliss]

Originally Posted by ServoMiff

Indianapolis has some nice people, and is growing in entertainment, but compared to all the other cities listed, after living in NE Indy for 8 years, I can say that it's just really really boring. The flatness of the land really does matter, and not in a positive way. There's very few waterways nearby, so you're a long way away from recreation if you really like outdoor stuff other than hiking ....

I've often wondered why people don't seem to mind the flatness or lack of waterways of Denver, and yet it's a fault when it comes to Indianapolis. Particularly since Indy is in a part of the country that gets freezing rain.

As for an area being boring--neighborhoods that are good places to raise families generally aren't known for excitement and entertainment. They're dull suburban neighborhoods people move to for the low crime and good schools. Urban and newly revitalized areas offer more fun and excitement.

[timothyaw]

Denver is at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, with a beautiful view. And if you so chose to, you could explore the limitless outdoor activities right in your backyard.

[sheerbliss]

Denver is on the plains. It's mostly flat. And unless you live in the western part of the metro area, when you consider Denver traffic and sprawl, the mountains and any beautiful view are only a little closer to your back yard than Lake Michigan is to ours.

[ImmerLernen]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

As for an area being boring--neighborhoods that are good places to raise families generally aren't known for excitement and entertainment. They're dull suburban neighborhoods people move to for the low crime and good schools. Urban and newly revitalized areas offer more fun and excitement.

Exactly!!! And you can always get out of the 'burbs with your family to go exploring and/or looking for "excitement"...but then you have a nice, quiet (albeit boring by some people's opinions) suburban home to go home to until the next time you're wanting something more. Our quiet suburb of LA has been undergoing "revitalization" in the past 5-10 years -- some people used to describe it as sleepy/boring/dull -- and now we have way too much of everything: McMansions and high-density housing, big box stores, restaurants, bars, hookah lounges, night clubs, and the related traffic, crime, and higher taxes/bond measures to pay for more public safety. Be careful what you wish for!

[timothyaw]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

Denver is on the plains. It's mostly flat. And unless you live in the western part of the metro area, when you consider Denver traffic and sprawl, the mountains and any beautiful view are only a little closer to your back yard than Lake Michigan is to ours.

I know Denver is flat, that's why I said they're at the foothills. But you still have the view, from most places. Yes I have friends there and they can see the foothills etc. And they're not in the western suburbs.

I know it was tongue and cheek, but Denver is a lot closer to the mountains than Indy is to any substantial outdoor areas.

[sheerbliss]

What you see from the Denver area is the Rocky Mountains on the horizon. It's more useful for getting your bearings than it is for scenery.

Denver is close to the Rockies as the crow flies. Taking traffic, weather, your starting point and destination into account, though, it can take a few hours to get where you're going in the mountains. (Google travel times are very optimistic.) By all accounts, Lake Michigan and Hoosier National Forest are about 2.5 hours from Indianapolis. That's not much more time on the road. And within the city limits, we have Fort Harrison State Park and Eagle Creek Park, comprising thousands of acres of water, wilderness and recreation areas. I've been to Cherry Creek and Chatfield dams; to my mind, Ft. Ben and Eagle Creek are more scenic.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

What you see from the Denver area is the Rocky Mountains on the horizon. It's more useful for getting your bearings than it is for scenery.

Denver is close to the Rockies as the crow flies. Taking traffic, weather, your starting point and destination into account, though, it can take a few hours to get where you're going in the mountains. (Google travel times are very optimistic.) By all accounts, Lake Michigan and Hoosier National Forest are about 2.5 hours from Indianapolis. That's not much more time on the road. And within the city limits, we have Fort Harrison State Park and Eagle Creek Park, comprising thousands of acres of water, wilderness and recreation areas. I've been to Cherry Creek and Chatfield dams; to my mind, Ft. Ben and Eagle Creek are more scenic.

I think most people think the Rocky Mountains in the distance are pretty scenic. While people might use them for a compass, they do offer an impressive sight and a much higher level of outdoor adventure that most (a vast majority) of diehard outdoor enthusiast are looking for in their adventures. There isn't anything outdoor wise in Indiana that can equal that of what is offered in the Front Range in terms of terrain. Many hikers and backpackers would rather choose the Front Range area vs. anywhere in Indiana. I'll likely be going down to check out a section of the Knobstone Trail, the section that offers views of Louisville in the distance. That is likely the closest type of topography that one could find to more mountainous areas of the country. Most outdoor folks I know don't believe that Indiana competes at all with outdoor areas out west and along the Appalachian Mountain range. This is a huge disadvantage for our city, but it is one of those things that nothing can really be done about. Despite living mere miles from Ft. Ben (and now Mounds SP) and other outdoor areas, I just never was one for most of the green-spaces/parks in central Indiana. I'd much rather drive one to two hours to something a little more vibrant, different, than what is basically flat lands with trails. Turkey Run/Shades are good examples, as is Brown County and some other locations. The thing is, I'd much rather be in locations much further away doing my day hiking and scenic drives, because those places just offer a higher level of those things.

[Toxic Toast]

Not everyone is enamored by mountains. I get that some people are, and that's fine, but they just don't do anything for me. I'd much rather spend a week on the Great Lakes, and my vacation history bears that out.