Future JW Marriott

 

Quite possibly my least favorite Midwestern city.

Looks good to me.

Quite possibly my least favorite Midwestern city.

 

why?

^It's just uninspiring to me.  The city feels slightly generic and lacking character.  I know they have been wildly successful doing a variety of things (conventions, sporting events, tourism, downtown shopping, bike trails), but it's just not my kind of place.

Great set of photos!

 

Quite possibly my least favorite Midwestern city.

 

why?

 

It remains a mystery to me why so many posters on Urban Ohio are repelled by Indy.  I think Indy has a very urban and very successful downtown area.  Just because an urban area is orderly and clean, doesn't devalue its character. 

I think Indy's downtown is one of the best in the midwest.  I think some urbanohio posters are put off by Indy because it doesnt have the "neighborhoods."  That plus a little jealousy. 

So many great old buildings.

Indy has a great downtown and it also has some great neighborhoods. I love Mass. Ave., Lockerbie Square, and Broad Ripple. I wish it had better public transportation, but I am always happy to have the chance to spend some time in that place.

It remains a mystery to me why so many posters on Urban Ohio are repelled by Indy.  I think Indy has a very urban and very successful downtown area.  Just because an urban area is orderly and clean, doesn't devalue its character. 

 

Competition? I like me some Indy. Does it have the character and breathtaking geography that Cincinnati does? No. But like you mentioned they do a lot of things right. Great brick streets and beautiful sidewalks throughout.

 

Great set Zach.

I think you have to give Indy credit for doing a lot with very little.  It doesn't have the architecture or character of many other cities, but it has achieved high levels of vibrancy in its downtown, and is a city that seems to be doing things right.

Nice set; you did an excellent job of showing the formal, orderly, dignified layout of the area around the Capitol and the major memorials. I'm always impressed by the downtown because I've watched it remake itself over the past 40 years, from a shabby, worn-out looking place inhabited mainly by vagrants and riff-raff to an active place with many attractions and some significant  beauty spots. The area around the canal and White River State Park is splendid in spring when the ornamental trees bloom, the zoo is world-class, and there are the Eiteljorg Museum of Southwestern and American Indian Art, the Indiana State Historical Museum, and the NCAA Hall of Fame all conveniently grouped near each other.

 

Did you know that there's a tiny elevator to an observation deck at the top of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Circle?

 

I continue to extoll the 1920s splendor of the World War Memorial, at the north end of the mall along Meridian Street. It's a strong, dominant, austere structure from the outside, and on the inside it's purely formally exuberant 1920s High-Style Deco of the type that was used in monuments, memorials, and other prominent public buildings. The central shrine, accessed up a narrow stairway lined with lists of Hoosiers who served the nation in World War I, rendered me speechless when I first saw it at age 13. I'm still completely awed by it.

 

Edit: I almost forgot to mention the excellent, continually-growing, greenway system. The Monon Trail is beautiful, well designed, and heavily used, and it connects with other major paths.

I agree with uncle. Nothing special, seems like the same 3-4 buildings in every shot.

I like Indianapolis...for some reason it reminds me of Denver.  Kind of scrubbed up, tidy, and very American.  The natural setting is, as noted, not spectacular, but it is pleasant and pretty.  A few boring buildings, but what city doesn't suffer from that fate? 

I love Indy!  Or at least the pizza on Mass Ave!

shapiro's and that steak joint aint too bad either.

Hey, judging from these photos, I would LOVE to visit this town.  It looks so clean and tidy, and it shows that they take pride in restoring their gorgeous buildings.  There were a few in there that looked a little sad, but still.  Beautiful city.

A nice way to absorb some of the flavor of downtown Indianapolis in Spring is to brown-bag a lunch on a weekday and take it to the Circle. It's a popular lunchtime spot and a great place for people-watching.

Personally, I like downtown Indianapolis.  I alway felt that if you combined Indy's downtown and Columbus' neighborhoods you'd have the perfect midwestern city...  aside from Chicago of course.

Personally, I like downtown Indianapolis.  I alway felt that if you combined Indy's downtown and Columbus' neighborhoods you'd have the perfect midwestern city...  aside from Chicago of course.

 

I've always thought that Indy's downtown was a good model for downtown Columbus to follow.  Indianapolis very closely matches Columbus in development history, street layout, topography, capital cities, etc.  Downtown Columbus isn't doing badly, especially over the past 10 years.  But Downtown Indy is still a few steps ahead.  The monument circle, their placement of the Indiana Statehouse and those war memorials add alot of uniqueness and character to their downtown.

To me, Indianapolis is very nice, but other than its fairly decent blues scene, the city seems culturally barren.  Honestly, although I've been there several times, it never left much of an impression with me.  Pleasant folks, though.

Indy just always feels generic to me... like the city lost in time... we all know it exists, but not sure why.  Living in LA and Atlanta, peopl traveL to Cincy, Cleveland, Pittsburg, StLouis etc etc... but never Indy... like it doesn't really exist..

 

This is going to come across harsh, but Indy feels like if Lima stole a few professional sports teams... I just don't get it. And Carmel is like the most out of place set of "Clampet" wannabees that I've ever seen. But it's still nicer then C-Bus

Well I will be living in DT Indy 1 month from now, so I better get used to it (closer to Mass Ave. and Lockerbie Square so there is some character in my 'hood, yay!).  Oh Indy.....how I wish you were a bit different.  To me, DT Indy is suburban.  All the new townhomes have gates around their front yards.  All the restaurants are chains.  There is a large indoor shopping mall.  The streets are oppressively wide.  The new hotels being built are disgusting and suburban.  I could probably go on 

 

I will give DT Indy credit on some things (Monument Circle is beautiful and the new bike lanes are too) but I will discredit it on more things.  And after my recent trip to Minneapolis, my eyes became open to the possibilities of a true 'polis.  Indianapolis doesn't even come close to comparing to its name cousin Minneapolis.  Just a small tidbit.   

^ Why are you moving to DT Indy???

 

Is it by choice?

I like what they did with that canal.  Stuff like that usually never gets beyond the plans and renderings, but they actually executed the plan.  Don't know enough about the place to say, but it seems they had a similar thing happen as Louisville, where they lost their close-in neighborhoods, with only Lockerbie Square surviving  ...which is I guess also similar to what happened in Columbus.

 

You really start picking up older housing beyond the freeways, though, to the north and east and that Fountain Square area to the SE.

 

 

^ Why are you moving to DT Indy???

 

Is it by choice?

 

my job, which I love.  the city, not so much. 

Indy reminds me so much of Columbus (both the good and bad of Columbus), so I'm mystified too as to why so many Ohioans harbor ill will towards Indianapolis. Maybe it's because they're competition and they're doing pretty well by non-Chicago Midwestern standards?

 

It reminds me of Columbus only in the fact that theyre of similar size and theyre both capitals.  To me, C-Bus is much preferred as they have many more unique 'hoods and the social scene in C-Bus is much preferred as well. 

Indy reminds me so much of Columbus (both the good and bad of Columbus), so I'm mystified too as to why so many Ohioans harbor ill will towards Indianapolis. Maybe it's because they're competition and they're doing pretty well by non-Chicago Midwestern standards?

 

It reminds me of Columbus only in the fact that theyre of similar size and theyre both capitals.  To me, C-Bus is much preferred as they have many more unique 'hoods and the social scene in C-Bus is much preferred as well. 

 

I'm talking structure and planning mistakes. Columbus social scene wins because of Ohio State, but that's seperate from the downtown core. At least Indy never lost Amtrak though. :|

 

Both have an inner highway ring of death choking downtown (though only three sides in Indy) and both had mass demolitions resulting in similar surface lot problems (though I'd argue CBD Columbus is worse). Both also have identical geography (built on very small waterways, flat, pretty green, etc.). They even had similar boom cycles. They're two of the of the earliest non-Great Lakes, non-river cities in the Midwest to boom. On top of all this, they both annexed to an insane degree, have good economies (really good by Midwestern standards), and have the same racial/ethnic makeup. The Indianpolis-Columbus comparison is a very natural one.

 

Outside the core, neighborhood-wise, you'd be surprised how many of the strong Columbus neighborhoods can also be found in Indy. They have a lot of similar housing stock due to the similar age of both cities. Columbus probably only wins in one area, nightlife, but sorry, I won't pay more than $2 for a sh!tty domestic draft. :lol: Yeah, Columbus has better nightlife than any city in Ohio except drunk on the floor Athens, but Columbus nightlife is overpriced for what it is. I'd rather drink under a bridge than pay the prices at some of those bars.

 

Disagree on a lot of fronts.  Have you ever lived in Indy? Or Columbus?  Columbus isn't just better in the social scene in because of Ohio State, it also trumps Indy in the gay scene, YP scene, and hipster scene.  The housing stock may be similar in places, but to me, Indy is a swath of city: a broad stroke (with one or 2 exceptions).  C-Bus's neighborhoods are more unique and differ from place to place. 

 

I do agree with a lot of what you say as well - the highway belts, the boom cycles, the goegraphy, etc.  But having lived in both, to me they are completely different.  I much prefer Columbus to Indy.  Maybe a year from now I will feel differently.  We will see. 

perfect discription

 

Well I will be living in DT Indy 1 month from now, so I better get used to it (closer to Mass Ave. and Lockerbie Square so there is some character in my 'hood, yay!).  Oh Indy.....how I wish you were a bit different.  To me, DT Indy is suburban.  All the new townhomes have gates around their front yards.  All the restaurants are chains.  There is a large indoor shopping mall.  The streets are oppressively wide.  The new hotels being built are disgusting and suburban.  I could probably go on 

 

I will give DT Indy credit on some things (Monument Circle is beautiful and the new bike lanes are too) but I will discredit it on more things.  And after my recent trip to Minneapolis, my eyes became open to the possibilities of a true 'polis.  Indianapolis doesn't even come close to comparing to its name cousin Minneapolis.  Just a small tidbit.   

I love Indy!  Or at least the pizza on Mass Ave!

 

Yeah...I hear you drive there just for dinner all the way from Dayton.

 

Great photos Zach

There's an Indy neighborhood guide by NUVO, the alternative paper there. Includes Downtown of course.

One of the big differences between Columbus and Indianapolis are the large neighborhood parks.  Goodale on the north and Schiller on the south. And maybe Wolfe Park on the east.  Indy doesnt have that.

 

They may seem superficially similar but Columbus and Indianapolis have fairly different "feels" to them, at least based on my brief visits to Indy. Hard to quantify it or nail it down, but they are not as similar as they first appear.

 

 

 

Outside the core, neighborhood-wise, you'd be surprised how many of the strong Columbus neighborhoods can also be found in Indy. They have a lot of similar housing stock due to the similar age of both cities.

 

Indianapolis neighborhoods are not even close in "competing" with Columbus'.  Indianapolis, honestly, is perhaps more Toledo-like in the mostly wood, A-frames while Columbus has much more brick.  But overall, both are quite similar cities except Columbus skews more "liberal" due to the more artistic crowd + Ohio State.

Well, both cities DO have buildings.  Buildings are essential to creating things called "cities."  Up here in Michigan, we lack buildings, therefore we also lack real cities. 

 

I wish Detroit was a city.......

Please keep this thread on-topic, and please cull the mindless city-bashing. Constructive criticisms are fine, but what was posted deviated far from that. Thanks.

Indianapolis is a city.  A great one too!

of course there are differences between indy and cols. still, there are a lot more similarities.

of course there are differences between indy and cols. still, there are a lot more similarities.

 

I would say there a lot more differences than similarities.  on paper, maybe, in reality, nope.  just my opinion. 

Much of the city's old core just outside the CBD was ripped out when they pushed I-65  and I-70 right through the center of it, in many places clearing vast swaths of land on either side of the expressways. In many respects it's a whole different city than it was before the interstates. There were neighborhoods there, although many were in decline.

Indianapolis is one of my favorite cities!  Thanks for the thread (oops, threads), Zachariah!

I was simply stating that Indianapolis is more Toledo-like than Columbus (which it is) with wood-frame housing and random apartment buildings (re: Indianapolis along Meridian and Washington Avenues).  I wasn't even discussing socio-historic criteria.