Why does Indianapolis get a bad rap as a boring city? (Columbus: weddings, moving)

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Did anyone say that not one single person in the history of the world ever went to Indy on vacation? Of course not.

The fact is that Indy isn't a tourist city. There aren't any obvious draws.

Haters gonna hate.

[Waterman71]

One area Indianapolis is not middle of the road but more like bottom rated is water recreation. Analyzing the acres of available navigable water within 50 miles of the CBD of all cities east of the Rocky Mountains including coastal cities with metro populations of 1,000,000 or more shows that Indianapolis ranks 42 out of 42 cities - dead last.

The ocean and beaches are the nation’s playground. However, for inland cities like Indy the centers for outdoor recreation are navigable rivers and mostly reservoirs with collocated state parks. These facilities are able to accommodate more types of outdoor recreation than any other venue. Water recreation is the second largest segment of the $644 billion dollar outdoor recreation market. It accounts for over $110 billion in annual sales in the US. Of course the lion’s share of the water market involves boating but keep in mind more recreation boating is done on freshwater than on the ocean. The largest segment of the outdoor market is camping with $143 billion dollars in sales and much of this type of activity also takes place around water.

Water is also associated with improved aesthetics, economic development, improved wellness, increased tourism, improved wildlife habitat and many other benefits. So the cities that do not have much recreation water are missing out on a lot and may be labeled boring.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

Haters gonna hate.

Or maybe "people who don't like data/reality gonna hate".

The reality is that Indy isn't a tourist town.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Or maybe "people who don't like data/reality gonna hate".

The reality is that Indy isn't a tourist town.

Regional tourism is a thing here. There are people from out of town in Indy regularly. No, Indy is not New Orleans. That doesn't mean people don't come here. But yes, keep coming into our forum and bloviating about how no one visits us. The internet needs it.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

Regional tourism is a thing here. There are people from out of town in Indy regularly. No, Indy is not New Orleans. That doesn't mean people don't come here. But yes, keep coming into our forum and bloviating about how no one visits us. The internet needs it.

Yeah, and on top of that, if you raise your shirt while standing on a balcony along a major thoroughfare here you'll be arrested for exposure rather than have beads flung at you, too.

RM

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Did anyone say that not one single person in the history of the world ever went to Indy on vacation? Of course not.

The fact is that Indy isn't a tourist city. There aren't any obvious draws.

No, people just implied it. There's this grammar concept that exists called connotation.

I told you why Indy is a regional tourist city. It arguably has the best Downtown of any regional city, minus Chicago. I don't know how else to explain it to you other than saying it is a tourist city by Midwest standards.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

Regional tourism is a thing here. There are people from out of town in Indy regularly. No, Indy is not New Orleans. That doesn't mean people don't come here. But yes, keep coming into our forum and bloviating about how no one visits us. The internet needs it.

Indiana as a whole isn't a tourist destination for the most part. I'm sure we get a lot of visitors, but I would bet that many of those visitors are here for reasons other than "I can't wait to spend a week of my vacation in Indiana and/or Indy!" I've meet a few people who do come up from nearby cities, usually they spend a weekend and it usually is just a way to change the surroundings for a few days.

This is probably the most popular travel forum on-line. Look where Indiana sits in the rankings:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ListForu...ed_States.html

More proof:

Frommer's


I don't understand the push that we are some sort of destination area. We aren't and never will be. So what if people from Louisville, Chicago, Cincinnati, etc. come here for a day or weekend getaway. Guess what, I do the same thing in those cities. So call it a wash, as when I visit a regional city I spend my money there that day, or maybe weekend. Regional tourism is just people wanting to do something different, and usually involves small scale spending and such.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by McdonaldIndy

Keep making the reality claims all you want. Nobody is believing you.
Advice: no matter how many times you repeat a lie its still a lie.

You're free to believe that Indy is a major tourist town. You're also free to believe in unicorns, the tooth fairy and bigfoot.

But please continue calling everyone else "liars" because they're posting facts and data.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by wh15395

No, people just implied it. There's this grammar concept that exists called connotation.

Please show us one post in this thread where someone implied Indy doesn't get a single tourist.

Originally Posted by wh15395

I don't know how else to explain it to you other than saying it is a tourist city by Midwest standards.

Is that like saying Gary is a pleasant city by burnt-out postindustrial wasteland standards?

Indy isn't a major tourist city, not for the Midwest, and not nationally.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I stumbled across this in the list of US forums.

As far as a vacation destination my wife and I have the following US locations that we want to visit.

1. New York City

2. Washington D.C.

3. Disney World

4. San Francisco

5. Salt Lake City

6. Hawaii anywhere in Hawaii

7. Nashville

8. Alaska coast

9. Las Vegas

10. Grand Canyon

I'm sorry guys and girls but my wife and I don't even have Indianapolis on our radar. Not saying it is a bad place. I don't know that much about it. I heard they have a race track, but that is about all I know. On a side note, my grand father and uncles made a few trips to the race years ago.

Now we are only a couple of the 300 million or so people in the country. We also live on the west coast. The mid west is not something that does much for us. I did live in Iowa for a few years back in the mid 80's but nothing ever brought me back.

Would we visit? Sure why not. Chances are though that would happen if we were driving thru and we prefer to fly.

I am not posting this to be harsh or have you think I am hating on Indianapolis. I just don't know that much about the area or what would draw us to the area.