Indianapolis, Indiana

nlh1013
Living in Indy
1y ago
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Irvington
I really like Indy, as a non-native. I thought I’d only be here for 2-3 years. I’m coming up on year 3 and have no plans of leaving.

Pros - I think the weather is pretty mild (or at least has been the last 3 years), COL is low, lots of other large cities within a few hours drive, lots of events in the city (sports/conferences), and a lot of super cool local spots.

Cons - we are a blue city in a sea of red (the sea of red part being the con). Not sure if that matters to you but just my personal thoughts. Roads are terrible, I’ve lived several places and these are the worst potholes I’ve ever seen lol. That’s all I can think of for now.

whoops-1771
Living in Indy
1y ago
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I moved up from FL about a year and a half ago and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The lack of humidity nearly cured my depression lol you can go outside and enjoy it, absolutely crazy. Indiana has amazing weather and even nicer park areas, almost no natural disasters (you’ll feel so weird on your first June 1st out of FL) and the people are incredibly friendly. Sure there’s “less to do” than in south FL, but you’re also only a couple hours drive from so many major cities you can find countless things to do! There are a ton of sporting events all year long especially Indycar for the month of May (baseball, hockey, football, polo, basketball, etc) to check out and really great concerts that pass through too!

The largest downside is first and foremost the income tax- it sucks. The county tax gets added on top of that so definitely look up your county tax rate because that was an unpleasant surprise. A just weird thing - they do vehicle registration by last name instead of birthday here and you have to put your weight on your license lol. Otherwise, the political landscape is a downer definitely doesn’t feel split like FL it’s pretty one sided here and that’s a touch depressing. It sounds silly but I miss the food from FL the most, there are great restaurants here but I haven’t found more than two or three that hit the same way south Florida does. Overall the positives of Indiana (Indianapolis specifically) drastically outweigh the negatives for me- I hope you find your ideal new state!

TL;DR: Indy has enough of everything that big city people enjoy, plus the benefits of smaller towns.

Some things that I think are important to know:

When it comes to weather, it is just like Chicago, New York, Boston, Philly, etc. Winters that aren't so bad until January hits, then it sucks for two straight months. Spring is beautiful unless it rains too much. Summer is awesome until brutal humidity and temperatures hit in late July, but it's way better than the Winter. Then the Fall is just incredible with moderate temps and changing leaves to enjoy campfires, going on camping trips or college football games out of town. So basically if you're used to the awesome moderate temperatures of the west coast, then it's not going to be as pleasant.

Indy is technically one of the largest cities by population, but that's because the city and county government combined in the 70's, making it the 12th largest city on paper. But hardly any cities have combined with their county government. Looking at cities by metropolitan areas will help you judge more accurately. So when you look at population by metro areas, Indianapolis is 34th, right behind Cleveland, OH. For this reason, I personally don't consider Indy to be a major city. The population density is very low, which is why there's not much public transportation, and why housing is very affordable. The city is very sprawled out, and although a lot more people are moving downtown, it's still not very densely populated downtown. The downtown area with all the big buildings is mostly made up of hotels and businesses. You absolutely have to have a car to enjoy everything the whole city offers.

xupthree60
Living in Indy
Updated 1y ago
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My wife and I moved from Florida (Altamonte springs/Orlando) about 7 years ago. I have family here and our son was born 3 months early on Thanksgiving Day while we were visiting. While he was getting bigger at Riley children's hospital my wife fell in love with Indy and we moved here a few years later.

The cost of living is way lower than Florida, but housing prices skyrocketed recently. I think they have started to level off, but my house I paid 150 for 5 years ago is now worth at least 300. I'm in a more real area that's still Indianapolis city limits, so at 300 my house is still a steal compared to Orlando. 2200sq ft, 4 bedroom, 3 bath, office, loft, and 3 car garage.

The city here does a lot more cheap or even free events downtown, especially for families. Like ice cream socials on the circle, free or very cheap concerts, that kind of thing. We absolutely love Indy and we take our family downtown often and have never felt unsafe. I looked up crime rates when I moved here, Orlando and Indy are almost the same size and crime rates are also almost the same. I will say the news here focuses on crime more than Orlando so it feels like almost all you hear.

Having 4 seasons is amazing for us as people who grew up in Florida, the weather changes quickly so I'm the winter you can be freezing around zero on week and 70deg the next week. In the summer you can be 96deg one week and hit the 60s the next. Fall and spring are mostly amazing weather.

Pros/Cons of Living in Indy?
MasterKluch
Living in Indy
1y ago
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Indy is a good city and has plenty of great suburbs. It's "middle America" or at least I've heard it described that way and find it to be true. There are gritty and rundown areas and some very nice and gentrifying areas too. I grew up in central Ohio so although I can't compare Indy to Cleveland, I can compare it to Columbus and they're fairly similar in size and feel. There's nothing here to draw people in large numbers (like the beach in Florida) except for the low COL and decent job market (industry dependent). Overall though it's a pretty good place to live. You could do much worse IMO.

Pros and Cons of Living In Indianapolis