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This post is very stereotypical. I don't think Indy is that bad. Does anyone else agree or disagree?
I agree 100% that it is a stereotype, however, I disagree that it is accurate. The biggest redneck, racists I've ever met were in New Jersey but I regarded them as ignorant fools, not mainstream public opinion.
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I guess what bothers me the most by is the amount of people who keep posting reinforcements to that stereotype over and over and over. Believe me, there are times when it is deserved. Indiana and Indianapolis need to have their actions held to the fire when the politicians go counter to public opinion (btw, public opinion is NOT the 75 yr old white male standing at the microphone screaming about Christian values & no more taxes... though, you would never know it from the way the media goes after that footage) For the most part, Indianapolis is a city in transition. The good kind. It isn't liberal vs conservative or republican vs democrat. It's City vs Suburb or Metro Indy vs the rest of the State.
Here is why perception is skewed regarding the actions that people perceive. Our largest city is also our seat of state government ergo there is a LOT of animosity in the greater state about perceived resources being drained from their coffers and funneled to Indianapolis. Because of the screaming constituencies, the statewide politicians do a ton of earmarking to get special project funds to show their voters that they went to Indianapolis and "fought for their fair share." What's ironic is that most of these politicians are republican... You know, the ones who won't shut up about smaller government and less taxes, etc. The reality is, Indianapolis is the ONLY place in the state of Indiana where communities do not receive back from the state that which they paid in taxes. This is all made possible through gerrymandering. The result is the capital city is sliced up as many ways as possible and including the slightest majority of rural and suburban conservatives that no matter what the residents of Indianapolis may want to do to improve the metro area, it is quashed by the citizens who live up to 2 hours away.... who are in the same district.
This is probably confusing to many of you (welcome to Indiana) because most cities establish Metropolitan Authorities to decide special tax districts, mass transit, and city infrastructure. Not here. The state gets to decide all of those things AND only the state can grant the authority for such a regional government ...which will never happen in Indianapolis so long as the current political paradigm is in place.
On a lighter note, i think Indiana is more violet than red these days, but what do I know? ...I just live here.
I agree 100% that it is a stereotype, however, I disagree that it is accurate. The biggest redneck, racists I've ever met were in New Jersey but I regarded them as ignorant fools, not mainstream public opinion.
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I guess what bothers me the most by is the amount of people who keep posting reinforcements to that stereotype over and over and over. Believe me, there are times when it is deserved. Indiana and Indianapolis need to have their actions held to the fire when the politicians go counter to public opinion (btw, public opinion is NOT the 75 yr old white male standing at the microphone screaming about Christian values & no more taxes... though, you would never know it from the way the media goes after that footage) For the most part, Indianapolis is a city in transition. The good kind. It isn't liberal vs conservative or republican vs democrat. It's City vs Suburb or Metro Indy vs the rest of the State.
Here is why perception is skewed regarding the actions that people perceive. Our largest city is also our seat of state government ergo there is a LOT of animosity in the greater state about perceived resources being drained from their coffers and funneled to Indianapolis. Because of the screaming constituencies, the statewide politicians do a ton of earmarking to get special project funds to show their voters that they went to Indianapolis and "fought for their fair share." What's ironic is that most of these politicians are republican... You know, the ones who won't shut up about smaller government and less taxes, etc. The reality is, Indianapolis is the ONLY place in the state of Indiana where communities do not receive back from the state that which they paid in taxes. This is all made possible through gerrymandering. The result is the capital city is sliced up as many ways as possible and including the slightest majority of rural and suburban conservatives that no matter what the residents of Indianapolis may want to do to improve the metro area, it is quashed by the citizens who live up to 2 hours away.... who are in the same district.
This is probably confusing to many of you (welcome to Indiana) because most cities establish Metropolitan Authorities to decide special tax districts, mass transit, and city infrastructure. Not here. The state gets to decide all of those things AND only the state can grant the authority for such a regional government ...which will never happen in Indianapolis so long as the current political paradigm is in place.
On a lighter note, i think Indiana is more violet than red these days, but what do I know? ...I just live here.
Thank you for your detailed post! It is very interesting. It certainly sounds like Indy vs. rural Indiana similiar to Chicago vs. Downstate Illinois except that it doesn't benefit Indy.
I was always under impression that Unigov (the merge of Indy and Marion County) makes most of the decisions for Indy.
I like purple. It keeps the city balanced without one party being in a majority all the time.
^^This. I spent 8 formative years in Arkansas. People who claim Indy has a southern feel haven't truly experienced life in the south.
One point to add - there are plenty of parts of Indiana, at least the southern part of the state that I've noticed, that are definitely rural/country bumpkin, but that doesn't make them Southern in any way. People always equate country with Southern, but rural people in New England and Minnesota are likely going to have very different views than rural southwest Virginians.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock
Indianapolis feels much more like Louisville, Charlotte, and Nashville than it feels like Cleveland, St Louis or Minneapolis. Actually I think Indianapolis feels more like Dallas and Houston than it feels like Chicago or Detroit.
Louisville, particularly areas like the Highlands section, has far better taste in architecture, local businesses, and a crunchy-granola feel that you'd expect to find in places like Asheville, NC, Portland, and Seattle, not an old river town in Kentucky. IMO, Louisville has more charm in its little finger than I've found in most of greater Indy.
Charlotte has always seemed more a little bland and new, much like some of the suburbs around Indy. Charlotte is a lot newer than Indy, and has a lot less blight and ghetto in many of its core neighborhoods than Indy does.
The Texas cities and the Nashville area are undergoing a boom right now and get a lot of national attention. Indy doesn't. I've always thrown Indy in with Cleveland, Cincy, St. Louis, and Kansas City, not sun belt boom areas.
Last edited by Serious Conversation; 10-23-2014 at 09:19 AM..
I always had a great time visiting Indy.. I went to Indy for Super Bowl weekend in Feb of 2012 and the locals were great super friendly. Indiana is a great state, I don't know if I would want to live in Indiana but I also have a blast visiting the state. Indiana is pretty conservative socially but that can be a good thing if you want to raise a family.
First off, hands down, Indianapolis is midwestern.
1. You are correct, INDIANA is politically conservative. Indianapolis, thankfully, is more nuanced and progressive than the greater state. Though, Indianapolis's suburbs can be MORE conservative than small town Indiana. Having lived here my whole life, (all over the state) and knowing there are a million ways to dissect the politics and beliefs of "hoosiers", all I can really say is life in Indiana and Indianapolis are as interesting and/or as dull as you want them to be.
2. This is an interesting one.... My personal Indiana AND Indianapolis experience is that I only know Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, and non-religions persons of all varieties. Then there's the Quakers. Baptist? ....not so much.
3. Hoosier Hospitality is marketing. Yes, we love to project this image to the world, but I find that most everywhere I've ever traveled, there are people who are nice and conversational. I know very nice people in Wisconsin, Iowa, and New Jersey... are they southern? do they poses hoosier hospitality? It's all relative and I think there are flavors of hospitality no matter where you are.
4. I suppose generalizing all of auto racing as NASCAR is understandable, though the F1 crowd will take exception to that. But seriously. of the 3 races held at the track, the NASCAR race is the poorest attendance and the rudest people. Take that for what it's worth. As for the Indy 500, Indianapolis is the only place in the country where you can NOT watch it live, so unless you're physically at the track or listening on the radio, you barely know its happening.
From my short time here, I think Indiana is just as conservative as where I'm from in Tennessee. Are Indiana and Indianapolis, as a whole, more competent and wealthier than my hometown in east TN in core Appalachia? Certainly, but just because the local government and state culture are more competent than a dying area in Appalachia doesn't necessarily make the place less conservative.
2) FWIW, I have never seen as many In God We Trust plates as I've seen here. I'd say as many people have the God plates as the regular ones. I've seen Baptist churches regularly here. That's one of the few ways it DOES seem like the South, but I doubt that the Baptists are necessarily Southern Baptists.
3) There are rude and nice people everywhere, ones that like small talk and ones who don't. I found Iowans far more reserved when I lived there than Hoosiers are, but there is no Southern charm, small talk, etc, here. If you're at a gym, bar, grocery store, etc, I've seen little small talk here and once you get in the South, you get a lot more of it.
Louisville, particularly areas like the Highlands section, has far better taste in architecture, local businesses, and a crunchy-granola feel that you'd expect to find in places like Asheville, NC, Portland, and Seattle, not an old river town in Kentucky. IMO, Louisville has more charm in its little finger than I've found in most of greater Indy.
The Highlands are great; but let's not pretend that large areas of Louisville don't look like this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.
[yes, that last one is a cheap shot at the contrived 4th Street Live]
By the way, you can only get gay married in one of those three states. Care to guess which one?
Wait, so going by your logic, just because a state allows same-sex marriage they are some liberal haven? I know you're not saying that exactly, but Indiana allows same-sex marriage, that doesn't even in the slightest mean the population supports it. Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Wyoming have same-sex marriage and I wouldn't call them huge supporters of it.
I actually spent a couple years of my youth in the Cleveland area (in the late 70s). Definitely more ethnic, and a larger area. Don't know that it makes it more "gritty." I think too many Clevelanders on CD want to see Cleveland as an east coast city. The midwest isn't monolithic.
I see one poster from Cleveland recently talk about NE Ohio not being Midwestern. ONE. Not "too many." There are no questions if you have been to either city (Cleveland/Indianapolis) they are different from eachother. One is a Great Lakes city with a completely different history, ethnic neighborhoods, and people than what you see in Indianapolis. Can you find the same type of housing/people/etc in certain areas of the urban neighborhoods of each? Yes. But I can find the exact same stuff in Charlotte, Omaha, and Boise. And lets not talk about boosters when I believe Indianapolis had the most annoying of them all, and you don't see anything to that level on here today.
Wait, so going by your logic, just because a state allows same-sex they are some liberal haven? I know you're not saying that exactly, but Indiana allows same-sex marriage, that doesn't even in the slightest mean the population supports it. Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Wyoming have same-sex marriage and I wouldn't call them huge supporters of it.
You are putting words in my mouth that I did not say, and I will not respond to that nonsense. There are three states in my post. Indiana. Michigan. Ohio. My brother, who is gay, can get married in one of those states. How we got to that point does not matter, and whether the bumpkins in rural Indiana like it or not does not matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMahValley
I see one poster from Cleveland recently talk about NE Ohio not being Midwestern. ONE. Not "too many." There are no questions if you have been to either city (Cleveland/Indianapolis) they are different from eachother. One is a Great Lakes city with a completely different history, ethnic neighborhoods, and people than what you see in Indianapolis. Can you find the same type of housing/people/etc in certain areas of the urban neighborhoods of each? Yes. But I can find the exact same stuff in Charlotte, Omaha, and Boise. And lets not talk about boosters when I believe Indianapolis had the most annoying of them all, and you don't see anything to that level on here today.
All of the blind city data boosters are annoying. Cleveland. Cincinnati. Omaha. Kansas City. We all know who they are and where they hang out.
You are putting words in my mouth that I did not say, and I will not respond to that nonsense. There are three states in my post. Indiana. Michigan. Ohio. My brother, who is gay, can get married in one of those states. How we got to that point does not matter, and whether the bumpkins in rural Indiana like it or not does not matter.
All of the blind city data boosters are annoying. Cleveland. Cincinnati. Omaha. Kansas City. We all know who they are and where they hang out.
Then don't respond to it. Simple as that. Your little undertones suggest that somehow Indiana supporting same-sex marriage makes it more progressive than Michigan or Ohio... funny, the three states you make mention of. Whether it be the "bumpkins" or the city dwellers, the percentage of the population supporting same-sex marriage is higher in Michigan and Ohio. So however you wanted to put the other two down because Indiana allows it certainly isn't going to go unnoticed. Look at the rate at which these bans have been overruled this last year; 2014 has been a great year for same-sex couples. Great for Indiana being in the round of states that got overturned. Do not try to put Michigan and Ohio down in the process. Why is it that neighboring states get mentioned so much in the Indiana forum? I saw someone a week ago bashing Michigan and Ohio drivers for staying in the left lane too much. Interesting enough, I just left Kalamazoo, Michigan this past weekend and on 94 not once but twice I encountered two Indiana drivers taking up the left lane instead of going over into the right lane.
Look around the entire forum then. I expect you to go to every state, every city sub-forum and just start calling out the boosters. There are plenty of cities that have worse boosters than the ones you mentioned. You just want to single them out. Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philly? Come on. Like I said before, Indianapolis had the worst of the worst and I really can't think of any other city that could compete with that type of boosterism.
The Highlands are great; but let's not pretend that large areas of Louisville don't look like this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.
[yes, that last one is a cheap shot at the contrived 4th Street Live]
How's that any different than the "working class" areas of Indy? It's not, both cities have a large amount of grit/blight.
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But seriously. of the 3 races held at the track, the NASCAR race is the poorest attendance and the rudest people. Take that for what it's worth. As for the Indy 500, Indianapolis is the only place in the country where you can NOT watch it live, so unless you're physically at the track or listening on the radio, you barely know its happening.
