Indianapolis possibly the "new Austin"? (light rail, metro area)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by sheerbliss

Here's what I'm talking about--sun intensity, not heat or humidity.

Indianapolis: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/produc...les/ind_17.png
Denver: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/produc...les/den_17.png
Miami: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/produc...les/mia_17.png

Yes, thanks, UV was what I was referring to indirectly. Good data comparison.

[Last Second Larry]

I've spent quite a few summers in the Tampa Bay area. I found them to be noticeably harder to deal with. Didn't even consider the sun intensity; I always blamed the lack of wind and relentless humidity. Hard to forget that stagnant, steamy air, day after day after day with no breaks. Also it doesn't cool off much at night like it does here. It was still hot and muggy way after dark, into the night. First thing in the morning already feels like being in a pressure cooker. There were days I walked outside the house and literally instantly broke into a full body sweat. That has never happened in IN.

[CentralUSHomeowner]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

https://youtu.be/1lM2jrrb_ew

What do y'all think about that?

Unless they get crime under control .... NO!

Suburbs surrounding the area .... possibly.

[hindsight2020]

Originally Posted by Seguinite

If I was in Indianapolis, about the last thing I'd want would be for it to become the 'new Austin'. But that's probably just the recent Texas escapee coming out...

Exactly my sentiments. The crowding has certainly jumped the shark as far as our ability to enjoy the place leisurely in non working hours. In short, i dont know what we re gonna do, but my wife seems rather hostile to the proposition of continuing to live here (comal co, sandwiched in the sardine can that are i-35 connected jurisdictions).

I have fond memories of lafayette IN population during my tenure in the mid 00s (spent almost 3 years there). Love the youth of college towns and the relative political diversity, while being far enough away from the maternal planet metro that it doesn't attract too many commuters (avoiding the curse of de facto bedroom communities). Im sure it has grown since then but i remember it as being rather manageable. This nonsense we re dealing with here in C TX on the congestion front is for the birds. 5 years to mil retirement so we re staying put until then unfortunately.


The TX taxation model was always floated by the presumption of lower than median housing costs. That seam is ripping, and its already causing disfunction among the have nots (aka the uneducated natives, and those transplants who only stick around for tax savings ...yours truly).At the rate of inflation, the proposition of no income tax is washing out as a real benefit in places like TX and WA state.

[mjtinmemphis]

I hope Indianapolis is not happy with this. Indy is viewed more favorable than Austin to me. The only thing that is missing from Indianapolis is rapid transit. It is not an Austin thankfully.

[hindsight2020]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I hope Indianapolis is not happy with this. Indy is viewed more favorable than Austin to me. The only thing that is missing from Indianapolis is rapid transit. It is not an Austin thankfully.

I know it's not a dig for folks who don't enjoy hot summers, but a plurality of people who can't afford bona fide snowbirding (retired or working life alike) gravitate to warm winter locales for full time living, so Indy will always have a weather and topography detraction component compared to Central TX. That's a great thing for those who find the weather profile and topography of Central indiana a non-issue. Truly, it will always trail growth to a certain degree, compared to sunbelt destinations. And that's a good thing if you value the current population density.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

That said, I think Columbus is more likely than Indy to be the next “Austin” with OSU there. But I do think Indy has a fairly bright future.

I've always wondered if IU had invested more into IUPUI over the last few decades if we'd have a much larger higher ed presence tied to a major urban city like OSU and Columbus. Since IUPUI is technically an IU ran campus, I've always heard rumors that the people who ran the university back in the day never wanted it to grow with more on-campus housing at a rate that it might have been able to as they didn't want it to start to complete with Bloomington. This may have been before schools started taking almost 50% of their undergrads from out-of-state (more money). Oddly enough, once IU Bloomington went that route with taking their capped number of out-of-state students, magically there is on-campus housing growth at IUPUI (a new dorm, a conversion of a hotel to a dorm, remodel of an older dorm, etc.). Also, the amount of private residential apartments around campus really took off over the last ten or so years.

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

One of the bigger issues with Indianapolis is the winter thing. Compared to a city like Austin, Indianapolis has harsh, snowy and frigid winters. Folks are typically not drawn to that for boom towns in general--it makes life a bit tougher.

A big draw to Austin is climate, as obvious as this may seem.

For the midwest, I think Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Columbus and Minneapolis offer more attractive options.

The trend seems to be moving to more fair weather states, especially the south and southwest. A few winners for "winter" cities are Boise, ID and SLC. Minneapolis has a benefit of being a larger metro historically and has plenty of decent corporate HQs. They have a major airport as well. I rarely ever hear anything about Milwaukee. If someone wants to live in the Midwest, doesn't care about winters, wants to avoid a major urban center, and love outdoor recreation, then I do think Minneapolis wins over all. If one can't stand those harsher winter seasons, but wants to stay in the Midwest, the southern Midwest area is where things are at.

Indy, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Columbus are all likely going to be the winners for Midwest growth, if only due to the climate factor alone, and likely combined with the lower cost of living. The biggest issue that I see with cost-of-living is that now that more and more public and private RE companies are buying up homes all over these metro areas, housing prices now have a floor because every single home can either be an owner-occupied residence or a potential business venture.

With everything going on, I'm not sure growth will be all that huge, likely more slow and steady. For Indy, I see the continued build-out of the last remaining corn and soybean fields in the Marion County outskirts as well as areas in western Hancock County and NW Shelby County.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by indy_317

I've always wondered if IU had invested more into IUPUI over the last few decades if we'd have a much larger higher ed presence tied to a major urban city like OSU and Columbus. Since IUPUI is technically an IU ran campus, I've always heard rumors that the people who ran the university back in the day never wanted it to grow with more on-campus housing at a rate that it might have been able to as they didn't want it to start to complete with Bloomington. This may have been before schools started taking almost 50% of their undergrads from out-of-state (more money). Oddly enough, once IU Bloomington went that route with taking their capped number of out-of-state students, magically there is on-campus housing growth at IUPUI (a new dorm, a conversion of a hotel to a dorm, remodel of an older dorm, etc.). Also, the amount of private residential apartments around campus really took off over the last ten or so years.

The thing with OSU is that it's a huge sports school (primarily college football though). Indiana schools, beyond basketball aren't known as large sports hubs. You do have Purdue a well known engineering school that has had more of a presence in college football in the last decade. But when you think college football "big name" schools you think of Ohio State. Now it could be that I'm biased because I'm an OSU grad (I'll own that). However I think part of Columbus's identity residents in college football and the fact that OSU is a "big deal" in the NCAA. Growing up near Columbus (about 40 minutes north of downtown) very few of my friends rooted for pro football teams. Nearly everyone was an OSU fan. It's like a culture there, for better and worse.


Indy has the Colts and everything that comes with that. But it's very pro sports focused. Reminds me of when we lived near Chicago. Most people were Bears or (dare I say) Packers fans. People didn't go around showing their Northwestern wildcats support as much as they did for the Bears (or Cubs/White sox). Indy feels more like that with the Colts.

[Toxic Toast]

IUPUI is obviously never going to be Ohio State, but its impact on downtown Indy is significant.

Fun fact about IUPUI, in the last few years it passed IU Bloomington in terms of research dollars. If you read the IU annual report, they stopped reporting by campus after IUPUI passed IU Bloomington. It is now just reported as Indiana University system.

[censusdata]

Indy being the next Austin is a stretch though it is massively underrated, even reviled, nationally as boring and redneck. Indy has a great downtown, strong economic and population growth, and surprisingly diverse. I would not that the greater region is becoming the new Ellis Island. Metro areas with the fastest growing foreign born populations are Indy, Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, and Nashville. To have a cluster of metros all in the top 10 in immigrant population growth is a big deal economically for the future. Even Seymour IN is up to 25% Hispanic.