Indianapolis more like Minneapolis or Louisville (Columbus, New Albany: moving, food, vacation)

[Humboldt1]

They are the same size now but Austin is growing rapidly will be more comparable to larger metro areas of Cincy and St Louis in 10 years. Plus, Austin has an influx of young people in the tech field. Columbus is currently comparable given OSU, but I think in a few years Austin will be well over 2MM metro area. The city itself may pass 1MM next year.

Lousiville is very comparable to Memphis, btw.

I am from southern Indiana and people in Indy definitely has a slight southern accent. People in Indy pronounce pen and pin the same. You have to get an hour south of Indy in rural areas before wash becomes warsh. Also, you don't hear a lot of y'alls until you go further south and rural.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

They are the same size now but Austin is growing rapidly will be more comparable to larger metro areas of Cincy and St Louis in 10 years. Plus, Austin has an influx of young people in the tech field. Columbus is currently comparable given OSU, but I think in a few years Austin will be well over 2MM metro area. The city itself may pass 1MM next year.

Lousiville is very comparable to Memphis, btw.

I am from southern Indiana and people in Indy definitely has a slight southern accent. People in Indy pronounce pen and pin the same. You have to get an hour south of Indy in rural areas before wash becomes warsh. Also, you don't hear a lot of y'alls until you go further south and rural.

There is no Southern accent in Indy. The pen-pin merger also exists in Southern California and they don't sound Southern. Fwiw there are a few regions in the South where pen and pin aren't homophones.

I agree the Indy accent isn't Northern but it's just like the Philly, Pittsburgh, and Cincy accent. It's just American. Not Northern enough to be Northern and not Southern enough to be Southern. This is how most people in the Midwest talk (except in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest) and this is why the Midwest/Midland accent is considered the "standard" for actors and newscasters because it's not distinctive in any way

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I was born in Kentucky and lived in Muncie for nearly 20 years. Muncie and the towns of Anderon, New Castle, Richmond, Marion, Dunkirk, Gaston, Alexandria, and the rest of East Central Indiana, felt alot like Kentucky to me. Indianapolis always felt a little bit like Kentucky, too,, particulaly, the Southside. Life there just seems to move a little slower and there's not a whole lot of sense of urgency, and that's the way the people like it.

Nothing about Minneapolis reminds me of Indianapolis. I think they are not in the same tier of cities. Mine is in a tier with Seattle and Denver and Indy is in a tier with Kansas City and Austin.

Most of the Midwest would feel like Kentucky then because a slow pace of life isn't monopolized by Southern states or even Southern cities. Pittsburgh is considered slow paced and it's in neither the Midwest or the South and it's a city. Grand Rapids, Michigan is a quintessentially Northern city by all definitions and it ain't fast paced (except on the highways, people there do drive Northern as hell even during snowstorms)

[censusdata]

https://m.youtube.com/results?q=kevi...hmeide&sm=3nly parts of Indiana where there are lots of people have Southern accents are the Louisville MSA
counties. Even there you hear a lot of neutral more Midwestern type accents.

Here's some local accents.

[John7777]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

This. I don't see where people thinking Indy is Southern AT ALL. It's very, very far from even heavy transplant Southern cities like Raleigh and Charlotte.

Some people consider Indianapolis to be the northernmost Southern city. In terms of the language, it's on the border between north and south. No grits with breakfast, though. You have to drive further south for that. It used to be a big KKK place. All things considered, it's not as nice as either Minneapolis or Louisville. It's sort of one of those places that just doesn't matter.

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by John7777

Some people consider Indianapolis to be the northernmost Southern city. In terms of the language, it's on the border between north and south. No grits with breakfast, though. You have to drive further south for that. It used to be a big KKK place. All things considered, it's not as nice as either Minneapolis or Louisville. It's sort of one of those places that just doesn't matter.

What a well thought out and thought provoking post! Thank you so so much for those brilliant insights. Bravo!

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by John7777

Some people consider Indianapolis to be the northernmost Southern city. In terms of the language, it's on the border between north and south. No grits with breakfast, though. You have to drive further south for that. It used to be a big KKK place. All things considered, it's not as nice as either Minneapolis or Louisville. It's sort of one of those places that just doesn't matter.

The sad is strong in you.

[censusdata]

Sorry for the odd post, it's hard to post on my home tablet.

Mayors are good for getting a feel of local accents

New Albany mayoral candidate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBEDxdd-8-s

Evansville mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFaavw7uQg

Bloomington mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br_beFqB-mg

Indianapolis mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIjcVURHJ0s

Hammond mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7kP5xfqQH0

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by censusdata

Sorry for the odd post, it's hard to post on my home tablet.

Mayors are good for getting a feel of local accents

New Albany mayoral candidate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBEDxdd-8-s

Evansville mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQFaavw7uQg

Bloomington mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br_beFqB-mg

Indianapolis mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIjcVURHJ0s

Hammond mayor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7kP5xfqQH0

So I'm other words, Southern accents exist only in Indiana where Kentucky is nearby, as in right across the river

Can we please stop calling Indianapolis Southern? I swear the mind numbing idea that it's even remotely Southern is laughable. If Indy is Southern then so is Cincinnati and they even border Kentucky. Last time I heard anybody from Cincy or the South was the same time I heard people from Indy or the South call Indianapolis Southern. Aka never.

I swear city data is the only place where the South extends all the way up to Iowa.

What's next? Pittsburgh is in the South, now? Why don't we just throw Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania into the South while we're at it. In fact, take Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, too!

[EddieOlSkool]

I've heard it said that even the Louisville accent isn't overly Southern, and they're in the South, albeit in a disputed Southern state. But the South never claimed Indiana and even in Louisville border towns they have signage all over the place takings jabs at Kentucky's slave history while they depict Indiana in a more positive light. Just walk on River Road in Jeffersonville and look for these posted signs along the road.

That's not to say New Albany, Clarksville, and Jville aren't Southern in culture. They do associate with the South, but it's telling they consider themselves more like Kentucky than like Indiana, which should tell you something about how Indiana isn't seen very Southern by Indiana natives who consider themselves more tied to the state south of the Ohio (or Ohi'ah as they pronounce it).