Indianapolis, IN Reviews

Circle Jerk City - 8/29/2015
I have sold my house and am leaving Indy so take my comment for what it's worth. I've lived here a total of 9 years. They were the longest nine years of my life. There is absolutely nothing I will miss about Indianapolis. Here are the problems, from top to bottom.

1. The People. The old 80/20 rules applies, except in Indy it's the 20/80 rule. 20% of the people are good, decent, nice, etc. The other 80% are among the nastiest people I've ever met. They're rude...boorishly so. They're illiterate. How this can be when they all go to college forever I don't know, but it's true. They have their own brand of behavior called Hoosier Hospitality. They actually believe they're nice. At least in Philly and Buffalo they know what they are. When you say hello to Indy people, they look away or pretend they don't hear you. It's weird. It's like homeschooled kids. No social graces at all. I'd think it was me, but I know too many other people from other places who say Read More

A city of opportunities yet potential for social i - 8/23/2015
I've lived in indianapolis for close to a year and a half. I personally have had mixed (good and bad) experience during my stay. The pros: they're abundant of job opportunities backed by a strong economic growth in conjunction with a lower than average cost of living thus it's easy to get up on your own. As far as housing as concerned, people get a lot for what they pay for.. the downtown area has a lot going on like great shops,restaurants, bike trails that are extensive from downtown on, plus the downtown area is very clean and the buildingstate have the finest, modern and sophisticated arcutecture. In the residential areas everyone has a front and back yard with a canopy of tall mature trees in most areas. The cons: many of the people here suck. I find many to be rude, standoff ish and just plan dumb in the ghetto areas. It's best to meet quality ppl from college and or a church and keep your social circle small. The crime rate is insane with at least two murders daily and for the Read More

Indiana, and Indianapolis Crime- Good place to liv - 8/10/2015
It is in no way 'Hyped up criticism." First off- it says the average commute time is 22 minutes-- HAHAHAHAAAA! ARE YOU KIDDING?! YOu might get 5 miles most times in 30 minutes or more. Live on the South side and morning commute that should be 20 minutes in 50-60 easy. Coming home- GRID lock! ROAD Construction never ends-EVER! The roads are the worst in the country:year round. I have had to replace 2 bent rims on a 2014 Lexus, because they could not be repaired. The people who commented below about the bland, hum drum, nothing to do unless you want to watch corn grow, and sit outside in the hot sun with no water, mountains, and nothing to do but go drinking on certain nights.Unless you bike or walk the trail- good luck with safety. The crime rate is extremely high! Being involved in Homeland Security, with many friends as detectives, and on the State and local Police....you'd be surprised at what goes on!!
I've traveled all over the world..., and moving here is the worst decision Read More

In response to all the criticism - 7/20/2015
Everything the critics stated here can be said about most areas in the country. I live in Chicago and just spent 3 weeks in Indy for work and guess what? Indy and Chicago offer a whole bunch of the same amenities: there are bars, restaurants, street fests, parks, bike paths, bowling alleys, concerts, museums, mini golf, shopping districts, etc. You think that things are just automatically better for you because you live in a larger city? Move to Chicago or another huge city and you will find you are taxed to death and actually going out and doing things can be pretty difficult because of large crowds, prices and traffic. While in Indy, I looked around at job postings (which I do often when I travel just to gain insight about different cities since I plan on leaving Chicago soon) and found that jobs in my field offer about the same salary in Indy as they do where I currently am in Chicago, which is shocking seeing as the difference in cost of living is huge. A friend of mine is Read More

Blandianapolis - America's largest suburb striving - 5/25/2015
I've read the comments dating back to Feb 2006 and, after having lived in Indy for the last 41 years, all of the critical analysis is spot on. Wanted to offer a current perspective given 2015 events, i.e. RFRA Indiana - indicative of the underlying mind set of this god-forsaken hick state and town. RFRA just put it in plain view for everyone to see.

First of all, Indianapolis is not a city. It is a town. A large, small town. America's largest suburb, if you will, with few real city-like amenities. It thinks and behaves like a small town that wants to be taken seriously and known as a city. One could easily see and experience all there is to do in a weekend and wouldn't feel the need to return to Indy. But like many have pointed out, YES, you would have to SEARCH for it. (But who wants to have to search high and low for something to do? Shouldn't the 'things to do' be searching for the people?) Anyway, I digress. My 2 teenagers are constantly bored and, having Read More

America's Truckstop - 4/17/2015
You've probably read the Chamber of Commerce stuff about Indy, the Livabilty article that ranks our downtown as the third best in the country, etc. Don't be fooled. Let's dissect this nonsense.

Super Bowl - The Super Bowl is awarded to cities that extort money from the taxpayers to build stadiums. Detroit has had two. Minneapolis is about to have two. Houston has had two. Who hasn't had a Super Bowl? Denver, for starters. Neither has Seattle. You'd have to be on drugs to think that Indianapolis is half the city of Denver or Seattle.

But They Said We Were Great - This is repeated ad nauseous in Indy, a town so incredibly insecure that it actually cares what visitors think of it. New York couldn't care less what visitors think. San Francisco couldn't care less. Even San Antonio, Indy's demographic twin, couldn't care less what people think because the people who live in these cities know they're fabulous. Indy is like the ugly girl that constantly Read More

Don’t Believe the PR Hype - 2/21/2015
I am a native Hoosier that left once but didn’t have the good sense to stay away after living in Atlanta and Pittsburgh. I came back to Indianapolis 16 years ago and have increasingly regretted it ever since. Begrudgingly, I will admit there are a few pluses to the place: cheap housing, low traffic for a city this size, a few nice parks, the downtown canal/White River Park area, good hospitals and a moderate amount of cultural activities (museums, theaters, concert halls). There are lots of sports if you’re into that, but the city consistently spends money on subsidies and new stadiums before they spend it on things I’d rather my taxes pay for, like schools, first responders, sewers, roads and (heaven forbid) the arts. The negatives: 1) Crime is awful. The per capita murder and violent crime rates are as bad as Chicago. There are a few really terrible pockets on the East and North sides, but random assaults, shootings and home invasions are rapidly spreading to previously “safe” Read More

Stuck in In-duh-naaaa-plus - 2/15/2015
Most people who live in Indy can't even say Indianapolis, let alone spell it. There are too many syllables for the average Hoosier, so they call it Indy (as if) or In-duh-na-plus if they're really willing to make an effort.

It's the people that are the problem with this place and it doesn't really matter how many more stadiums they build, it's never going to change. It's as if the clock stopped in 1973. People are mean, nasty and bitter. It drives them absolutely crazy if you point out, for example, that if Indy was so great there wouldn't be thousands of abandoned houses. They pretend they can't here that stuff because this is an up and coming place, by golly and Chicago better be careful because we're catching them.

Uh, no. It's not great here. It's awful. It's depressing. It's sad, unless you think a Pacers game topped by a meal at Buffalo Wild Wings is the cat's meow. If so, this is heaven.

Indy leaders, and I use the term Read More

Indianapolis SUCKS and it is good for families an - 1/29/2015
I must tell you about my experience in Indianapolis where I lived there for two years. Indianapolis is the worst city I ever experienced living there. Why? Because it is a good city for families and religion worshippers. Downtown is cool and nice, but outside downtown, forget it! Lots of run-down houses, lots of backward lifestyles, and lots of "1970" and "early 1980's" people with their hairdos and clothes. There were not many things to do actively around the city. The city made me depressed and unhappy for two years and finally moved back to Washington, DC in 2001 where many positive things have made me very happy in Washington, DC. Myself as a gay man, the gay scene there really SUCKS! Only 2 to 3 blocks in a gay community and it also is a very small which is not like Boystown in Chicago, Castro in San Francisco, DuPont Circle in Washington, DC and other cities, that is it. It was very hard for me to meet and make new friends there. Not worth it. If you are a gay, Read More

Indy is a great city to live in - 1/20/2015
Contrary to some of the vile trolls on this website that have no idea what they are talking about with their hugely off base comments Indy is a great city to live in. Indianapolis is the nations most affordable big city and is one of the most underrated in the country. The Downtown is super clean and ranked as one of the best in the nation according to livability and other reviewers. Downtown Indy is very affordable too and Indianapolis has the lowest cost of living of any big city and the most affordable housing market. Low taxes, tons of jobs and opportunity, tons of events and cultural festivities downtown for everyone to enjoy. massive sporting events and conventions such as Gen Con and the Indy 500. Super bowl 46 was held in Indianapolis and over 99% of the people that came had a very positive impression of the city.
Indy is the fastest growing city in the midwest and in the top 15 fastest growing cities in the united states. This is due in part to its aggressive economic Read More