Indanapolis TODAY?? is there vibe?? (Indianapolis, Carmel: public schools, living in, cost of)

[domergurl]

Target downtown??? where?

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Target downtown??? where?

It was rumored to be part of the Market Square development. Of course, the old MSA site is still vacant, and the closest Target is still miles from downtown.

I won't hold my breath.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by yaya97

Hi All,
I would really need some advice. I was offered to relocate to a new office in Indy downtown .The problem is we have never visited!

We are from Seattle with 2 children ( 1 and 12) and have lived for the last 4 years in Montreal ( that we do not really like : rather dirty and VERY cold: -20 often in the winter with LOTS of snow and the French language is not easy.......).
I saw posts here and looked on youtube and my impression is that Indy is a very quite city ( never see people on the canal or anywhere!)
It seems very clean but again where are the people??

I was told that the Indy people are among the friendliest in the country.
We love city living so our first choice would be to live downtown. Good idea??
Are there parks, stores????
It seems that in the last 3 years the downtown area is greatly improving. Thoughts??
I know there is a wonderful childrens museum. Also we are not huge sports fans, so may I ask what is ther to do ( we LOVE long walks) on the week ends?
Schools?? I was told they are good??... Many many thanks for any info!!!

I haven't been here long enough to compare Indy today with Indy from the past decade (or so), but have heard that it has improved noticeably.

I think downtown is OK, but still somewhat bland. It's funny that you mentioned vibe in your title, b/c that's what I feel Indy is lacking. Even though you have everything here that you would anywhere else (with regard to basic shopping, dining, etc) and a downtown that is respectable, I've felt the vibe is lacking.

From my view, it's not lack of people but lack of vibe despite the people. All in all, it's not a bad place to live by any means. I've just found it lacking in energy/vibe, which is something you can't really quantify or put a finger on. I think the 'spreadoutness' contributes.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

I was in Indianapolis on business about 3 weeks ago, Carmel actually.We took Meridian all the way down to Broad Ripple, went to couple of bars right off of College Ave and 54th. I believe some dive bar and right across the street from it a Jazz place called Jazz Kitchen, maybe? Anyways the drive from Carmel in was quite beautiful, it had little bit of a North Shore Chicago feeling, tree lined streets, gorgeous old estates, I was surprised. So yeah I would say Indy has a bit of vibe.

[yaya97]

HMMM sounds like I should have gone to check out Carmel!

[MissingIndiana]

Originally Posted by tolovefromANFIELD

I was in Indianapolis on business about 3 weeks ago, Carmel actually.We took Meridian all the way down to Broad Ripple, went to couple of bars right off of College Ave and 54th. I believe some dive bar and right across the street from it a Jazz place called Jazz Kitchen, maybe? Anyways the drive from Carmel in was quite beautiful, it had little bit of a North Shore Chicago feeling, tree lined streets, gorgeous old estates, I was surprised. So yeah I would say Indy has a bit of vibe.

Sounds like you were at Moe and Johnny's. That's right across from the Jazz Kitchen. And you can definitely see some beautiful homes and architecture driving down Meridian. There are a lot of beautiful old buildings further south on Meridian as well near downtown, but unfortunately it gets really shady south of 38th street. I really hope there will be some gentrification of that area and the old north side in the coming years. It would really add to the character of the city.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Yes Moe and Johnny's. The friendly bartender said that it was voted the biggest dive bar in America

[wh15395]

Originally Posted by yaya97

HMMM sounds like I should have gone to check out Carmel!

I think the vibe being referred to was actually in the north side of Indianapolis. Meridian street (U.S. 31) in Carmel is just a bunch of mid-rise office buildings and hospitals. Also, I would like to say that on a Tuesday night downtown will usually appear pretty empty. It is usually more busy on Friday and Saturday nights though. Also, Circle Centre Mall is pretty big, it just might look small because they made it so that you don't necessarily know that a mall is there, it just looks like a bunch of historic buildings with stores and restaurants in them.

[yaya97]

I walked in front of circle centre mall and had NO idea that is was a mall.I just passed and missed it and ended up in Borders book that was closing (7PM). I am sure that I would have a different image on a Saturday. I did see and hear LOTS of Harleys. I am sure that there is action in other places.

[MissingIndiana]

Originally Posted by yaya97

I walked in front of circle centre mall and had NO idea that is was a mall.I just passed and missed it and ended up in Borders book that was closing (7PM). I am sure that I would have a different image on a Saturday. I did see and hear LOTS of Harleys. I am sure that there is action in other places.

The mall is actually pretty good sized. It's 3 levels and spans the length of 2 full city blocks. A lot of the 'action' downtown is over on Meridian south of Monument Circle. That's where most of the downtown clubs and bars are. Of course, the weekends are when you'll have the most activity, but there are events from time to time that have larger numbers of folks out on other days too (ie the NCAA final four, regular sporting events, holiday events, conventions, etc)