Young professional looking to move to Indy? (Indianapolis, Columbus: apartment complexes, neighborhood)

[W & C]

Originally Posted by chalcedony

I agree with you, that it is incredibly dumb. But I guess it just speaks to the idea that a lot of young people are dumb and shallow that way. They think cities should "keep up with the Joneses" (i.e., cater to the them, the yuppies) and their failure to do so is somehow a metric of the city's worth.

At the same time, the cities that are defiant and don't chase the yuppie mentality are clearly the ones losing out in the economic race in the long run. Think of places like Birmingham, which hasn't really made much of an effort to revive its downtown (I'm sure they've spent some money, but it sure doesn't show up in terms of being an active environment after 5pm). Birmingham has some nice suburbs, but it clearly isn't in the running for the next high-tech destination. Compare it to Atlanta, which until 1960 was amazingly about the same size as Birmingham. A city that doesn't adapt to appeal to the young professional crowd only has itself to blame, in terms of staying viable economically.

In short, the "young professionals" like the OP are clearly egocentric for expecting cities to cater to their demographic, but few cities are willing to go out on a limb and snub their best hope for a viable economic future, which obviously comes in the form of the young educated (and heavily mobile) population.

Hopefully at some point the mentality will change--young people will be less arrogant, expecting cities to cater to them and instead will seek to improve the cities in which they live. And someday cities won't need to kiss the butts of yuppies. But I don't see anything changing anytime soon--the OP offers proof that these mentalities are firmly entrenched.

[Incidentally, though, Birmingham recently introduced a smoking ban in bars, about the same time as Indy. Atlanta does NOT have a smoking ban in bars--one of the largest cities to do so. And didn't the OP, who previously lived in Atlanta, complain about that, even though Atlanta is "behind" Indy in keeping up with the Joneses in this regard?]

Young professionals are no more egocentric or demanding than any other group of people. They do have their preferences, as does anyone else. Yuppies like cities with plenty of happy hour options, a vibrant singles scene and nightlife and good public transit. It doesn't mean that they "expect" any city to cater to them.

One could just as well state that newly retired baby boomers are egocentric and demanding for preferring to live in quiet suburbs with low crime levels, clean sidewalks and minimal homeless contingent shooting heroin in plain sight and begging them for change on every corner.
Indeed, how dare those dumb and shallow egoists have preferences on what their place of choosing should look like ? It's like the whole world revolves around them and their entitlement mentality !

[IndyTruth]

Originally Posted by W & C

Young professionals are no more egocentric or demanding than any other group of people. They do have their preferences, as does anyone else. Yuppies like cities with plenty of happy hour options, a vibrant singles scene and nightlife and good public transit. It doesn't mean that they "expect" any city to cater to them.

One could just as well state that newly retired baby boomers are egocentric and demanding for preferring to live in quiet suburbs with low crime levels, clean sidewalks and minimal homeless contingent shooting heroin in plain sight and begging them for change on every corner.
Indeed, how dare those dumb and shallow egoists have preferences on what their place of choosing should look like ? It's like the whole world revolves around them and their entitlement mentality !

Comments are on point.

[Coogles]

Originally Posted by IndyTruth

Comments are on point.

The first paragraph is.

Was it egocentric to demand highways be run through poorer, often mostly minority neighborhoods so that the generation now in their 50's and up could make their commute a bit faster, only to eventually have many of those jobs leave the core of the city anyway?

Was it egocentric to pile loads of debt on this country, run bankrupt social security and medicare programs, leave taxpayers on the hook for outsized and government subsidized mortgages while amassing massive amounts of liabilities for our hugely oversized infrastructure system?

Was it egocentric to demand expansive taxpayer-funded pensions, where the benefits run in excess of the actual salary earned and the employee never had to contribute to their own retirement fund?

Cripe. As if wanting to live in some sort of urban environment is a crime. Up until the 1950's every city in the world since the dawn of time was built in a walkable pattern, where people could interact and laregly walk to their destinations. Rural land was inacessable for development without the car; it wasn't good for anything but farming. People choose "country living" now when their profession has absolutely zero to do with living in the country.

But sure, blame the latest generation for problems with our outsized government, massive road subsidies, and crumbling infrastructure. Makes perfect sense.

[IndyTruth]

Very good points. I agree with you.

[CajunCovergirl]

Very interesting. I am relocating to Indy in roughly a month. As a professional African-American female I have certainly wondered about the entertainment options and choices for housing. I prefer upscale apartments and that seems to be a bit difficult to pinpoint in the area. As far as making friends, eh, I'm a Southerner, I make friends at Wal-Mart.

[i35vagabond]

edted to delete nonsense

[stephei2000]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

I don't know why you would be worried. Indy will be fine for you. You will probably enjoy your relocation here and your wallet will appreciate it.
Trolls like Indytruth just don't know when to quit.

Edit: Question for A1b2c3mm are you just nervous about the move to Indianapolis or something?

Do not listen to this. Really rethink your move or it might be too late since this thread is a few months old.

I live in Chicago, and btw I am not a big urban city junkie by any means. I actually prefer a more suburban type of setting. But this is the most country, backwards city I have ever visited. I felt like I stepped in 1950.

I have only been here for three days and cannot wait to leave. Downtown is pretty and can be nice, but it lacks something and I can not put it into words and do not mean grit as I do not like grit.

On top of the that, the people are not nice. They might appear nice, but do not have small talk with you at all.

I can deal with country if the people are friendly like some cities in the South, but that is not the case here. I had a crazy note put on my car after just going grocery store.

I was actually nervous as an AA female, and I never felt like this when traveling. I am thinking this is what my parents felt like.

Lastly, the people are huge. I actually felt thin which never happens and your blood pressure will go up just taking a bite of food. I have never had such salty, greasy food in my life and it was not even good.

Oh and Carmel definitely not the Naperville of the Indianapolis. I was just there last weekend and it is much busier and way more developed with young people and few families not just families. Naperville is double the size and there downtown has tons of retail.

I know I am going to get a lot of slack for this post, but this mostly true, and I am some urban yuppified snob.

[rrah]

Originally Posted by stephei2000

I know I am going to get a lot of slack for this post, but this mostly true, and I am some urban yuppified snob.

No worries. The one that would give you a hard time is no longer around here. I'm curious though--are you visiting or have you moved here?

There is a difference. I'm not trying to make light of rude behavior, but I will point out that when I'm visiting a place I tend to expect "star" treatment for some reason. I'll also point out that there are likely a lot of out of town visitors in downtown over the past few days. The Colts have a home game today, and for whatever reason, it's been a big deal. You have no way of knowing if the reaction you received was from locals or out-of-towners.

That said, I agree with some of what you wrote. There is a certain "city" feel that's just missing in Indianapolis. I attribute it to a lack of city sounds. That's just me though. It's also slower paced than many cities I've visited. There doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency that I associate with cities.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by CajunCovergirl

Very interesting. I am relocating to Indy in roughly a month. As a professional African-American female I have certainly wondered about the entertainment options and choices for housing. I prefer upscale apartments and that seems to be a bit difficult to pinpoint in the area. As far as making friends, eh, I'm a Southerner, I make friends at Wal-Mart.

You will be fine here. If u end up not liking it at least u got the experience for yourself based off of your own criteria. People are generalky nice unless you cross them or just give off a negative vibe. You would probably have to elaborate on housing. What amenities classify as "upscale" to you?

[CajunCovergirl]

Perhaps "upscale" was the wrong choice of terms. Prefer a newer complex, updated amenities, garages, granite etc. I've been looking like crazy but really hard from afar. I think the Carmel or Zionsville area are topping my list for location at this point.