Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 01-07-2011, 04:37 PM
 
Location: Northfield, MN
765 posts, read 2,119,918 times
Reputation: 508

Advertisements

Why do I hate Indiana? Indianapolis is a fine city and the state is right in the middle of some of the best states in the midwest. However every time I drive, or bike (yes I biked from Cleveland to Minnesota one summer) through it, there is something very off-putting about it. First of all, the people seem very hostile. When I told them that I was biking through for example, almost everyone looked at me like I was crazy. People in pick up trucks threw pop bottles at me. Also I got the sense that it is a racist place, that seems to be stuck in a pre-1960s mentality, where the blacks are afraid of whites, and the whites hate the blacks. Also the roads were poorly paved

In addition to that, I absolutely hate driving I-90 through Indiana. They have these god-forsaken toll machines that are so innefecient and break down so often they often take 10 or 15 minutes to get through. Also, for some strange reason the speed limit slows down to 55 when you are about 75 miles outside of Chicago, and not even near any big cities. I got a ticket driving through which might explain some of my bitterness, but the speed limit just doesn't make any sense, and there are few posted speed limit signs.

Anyway, that's enough of my rant. I just want to know if anyone else feels this way, and why Indiana has to suck so much.

 
Old 01-07-2011, 06:20 PM
 
Location: Kansas City
404 posts, read 591,231 times
Reputation: 83
Quote:
Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18 View Post
Why do I hate Indiana? Indianapolis is a fine city and the state is right in the middle of some of the best states in the midwest. However every time I drive, or bike (yes I biked from Cleveland to Minnesota one summer) through it, there is something very off-putting about it. First of all, the people seem very hostile. When I told them that I was biking through for example, almost everyone looked at me like I was crazy. People in pick up trucks threw pop bottles at me. Also I got the sense that it is a racist place, that seems to be stuck in a pre-1960s mentality, where the blacks are afraid of whites, and the whites hate the blacks. Also the roads were poorly paved

In addition to that, I absolutely hate driving I-90 through Indiana. They have these god-forsaken toll machines that are so innefecient and break down so often they often take 10 or 15 minutes to get through. Also, for some strange reason the speed limit slows down to 55 when you are about 75 miles outside of Chicago, and not even near any big cities. I got a ticket driving through which might explain some of my bitterness, but the speed limit just doesn't make any sense, and there are few posted speed limit signs.

Anyway, that's enough of my rant. I just want to know if anyone else feels this way, and why Indiana has to suck so much.
Got me there!
 
Old 01-07-2011, 08:20 PM
 
Location: Fishers, IN
6,485 posts, read 12,475,908 times
Reputation: 4125
Quote:
Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18 View Post
Why do I hate Indiana? Indianapolis is a fine city and the state is right in the middle of some of the best states in the midwest. However every time I drive, or bike (yes I biked from Cleveland to Minnesota one summer) through it, there is something very off-putting about it. First of all, the people seem very hostile. When I told them that I was biking through for example, almost everyone looked at me like I was crazy. People in pick up trucks threw pop bottles at me. Also I got the sense that it is a racist place, that seems to be stuck in a pre-1960s mentality, where the blacks are afraid of whites, and the whites hate the blacks. Also the roads were poorly paved

In addition to that, I absolutely hate driving I-90 through Indiana. They have these god-forsaken toll machines that are so innefecient and break down so often they often take 10 or 15 minutes to get through. Also, for some strange reason the speed limit slows down to 55 when you are about 75 miles outside of Chicago, and not even near any big cities. I got a ticket driving through which might explain some of my bitterness, but the speed limit just doesn't make any sense, and there are few posted speed limit signs.

Anyway, that's enough of my rant. I just want to know if anyone else feels this way, and why Indiana has to suck so much.
Being originally from Ohio (and I spent a couple years of my childhood in suburban Cleveland), I feel qualified to respond. In short, you're full of it.

1. It is highly unusual to bike such a long distance. You'd get such a response in a lot of places, including small towns in Ohio.

2. You're from Cleveland and you're talking about poor road quality in Indiana?

3. There are so few rural blacks in Indiana, how could you detect any racism? If you're referring to the area around Gary, it's not that they're hostile towards blacks. They're just hostile towards Gary.

4. I-90 runs jointly with I-80 for most of the Indiana Toll Road. For the span where both run together, you don't hit a toll booth until you exit the Toll Road. I-90 splits off just east of Gary and runs to the Chicago Skyway. Here you will have to stop at a couple of points and pay tolls. I have heard that there have been issues, but remember you're talking about a very short portion of the Indiana Toll Road. It's never an issue for me because I use an I-Zoom transponder.

5. The rural interstate speed limit in Indiana is 70 (as opposed to 65 in Ohio). Unless you were running through another metro area (perhaps South Bend?) or a construction zone, I highly doubt you saw a 55 mph speed limit. When I drive to Chicago from Indy, it doesn't slow to 55 until I get to Merrillville. It briefly slows to 65 through Lafayette.

6. Your comment regarding the "hostility" of Hoosiers is peculiar in light of your post in another thread today:

Everywhere is friendly, but everywhere has different cultures that if you don't jive with you're not going to get friendliness in return. I'm sure a new yorker in the south is going to get some strange looks if he's loud and boisterous and acts like a new yorker. Likewise, if you talk like you're from the south in a place like Chicago, you might get strange looks as well. However if you are familiar with the culture of the place, and know how to approach people, and how to talk to them then people will be friendly anywhere you go.
 
Old 01-07-2011, 08:57 PM
 
Location: Northfield, MN
765 posts, read 2,119,918 times
Reputation: 508
Quote:
Originally Posted by grmasterb View Post
6. Your comment regarding the "hostility" of Hoosiers is peculiar in light of your post in another thread today:

Everywhere is friendly, but everywhere has different cultures that if you don't jive with you're not going to get friendliness in return. I'm sure a new yorker in the south is going to get some strange looks if he's loud and boisterous and acts like a new yorker. Likewise, if you talk like you're from the south in a place like Chicago, you might get strange looks as well. However if you are familiar with the culture of the place, and know how to approach people, and how to talk to them then people will be friendly anywhere you go.
Perhaps I should have put an addendum on that post that although places are friendly if you know their culture, there are some cultures which are more open-minded than others. Indiana struck me as a very closed-minded place. When I was biking through Ohio and Illinois for example, people were interested in my trip, and asked me why I was doing it. In Indiana people just gave me disgusted looks. And the racism that I detected was mostly from the way that whites talked about blacks. I heard the N-word several times and it seemed to be a pretty accepted thing. It should also be noted that Indiana is where the KKK gained the most political power of any US state.
 
Old 01-07-2011, 09:07 PM
 
Location: Fishers, IN
6,485 posts, read 12,475,908 times
Reputation: 4125
Quote:
Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18 View Post
It should also be noted that Indiana is where the KKK gained the most political power.
I swear, I don't know from where people got this idea. The Klan was founded in Tennessee, not Indiana. And while the Klan had influence here at one time, it was largely run out of the state in the 1920s.

Do you seriously think the culture in Indiana is that different from Ohio, particularly in the rural areas? You can't really be that obtuse. Do you really believe there is no history of racism in Ohio or that you can't find folks today in Ohio use the n-word? Consider talking to some of the old-timers who lived through Cleveland's race riots in the late 60s. Shoot, listen to what some folks in Cincy have to say about folks who live in Over the Rhein.

I do love Ohio and wonder if I'll return someday, but I'm always amazed by the many Ohioans on C-D who seem to feel so superior toward their neighbor to the west. You're not.
 
Old 01-07-2011, 11:07 PM
 
Location: West Cobb County, GA (Atlanta metro)
9,191 posts, read 33,765,959 times
Reputation: 5308
State-specific topics need to be in the room designated for that state... not city-vs-city. Please see the room sticky at the top of the forum for guidelines. Thank you.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Closed Thread


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > General U.S. > City vs. City

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top