Pros and Cons of Indianapolis? Indianapolis or Madison? (Austin: housing, rent)

[dtimm28]

My wife and I are looking into moving from TX soon. I'm considering the Madison, WI and Indianapolis, IN areas due to various reasons, including my IT (networking) career. What are some pros and cons of the Indianapolis area?

[jman07]

Pros: Low cost of living, clean city, friendly people, parking downtown, Great northern suburbs, decent traffic.

Cons: People from larger cities might find it boring. But theres plenty to do., Lack of large corporate headquater jobs (Eli LIlly is one), No public trans,

[domergurl]

Taxes are higher in Wisconsin, plus you'll get more snow in the winter. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Madison. It's beautiful, clean and having UW there is such a plus! Madison is also a very liberal city. If you are anywhere near Austin, Madison would probably be less culture shock. The public school system in Wisconsin in also better.

Indianapolis and burbs have a great cost of living. You'll get more house for the money and the taxes won't be as high. Public schools are hit and miss in Indianapolis. The burbs tend to have better public schools, but the city has fantastic private schools. There are some township schools in Indy that are good, but the Indinanapolis city schools are pretty dismal.

It just boils down to what your expectations are. You could very well be miserable in both places.

[Is that rain]

madison, bike trails and lakes. Indy, not as nice in that regard.

[hapaleeretired]

Ever been to Madison in the middle of winter? Pick the location which will cause you the fewest auto trips through that traffic/road/toll nightmare known as Chicago. Indy's housing appreciation is deplorable.

[Is that rain]

once the oversupply of houses balances out due to the apparent new housing
construction, Indy's housing appreciation may gain some respectablity, no?
Agree about Chicago. If ever there was a place that deserved the insult, "armpit" Chicago would be it.

[domergurl]

Chicago may be an armpit in your opinion. Just wanted to make that clarification.

[Is that rain]

sorry to have offended you. I drove a truck for two years over the road,
and whenever I had to venture into the Chicago area, armpit seemed like
a accurate description. It was my worse city to deliver to. I would prefer NY.
Many of the bridges are two low for trucks. So you really have to be careful
and know what you are doing. For the record, I grew up in Joliet, and so
I am in essence a Chicagoland native. Spent the first 30 years of my life there. I love the Lakefront. But as for driving, it is armpit city, in my opinion.

[Southside Shrek]

Once you get to know your way around Indy, it's not bad at all compared to Chicago a/k/a 'Traffic Jam of the Midwest'.

[blur07]

chicago is chicago