I couldn’t agree with you more, RTFirefly - though I worry that the “all the plusses of a big city, but with the charm of a small town” phrase goes into the “cliches people say about their city” thread sometimes. My last house was in a small residential pocket within a 10 minute drive of downtown, in a great little historical district with a ton of charm. My family lives in Kansas City, and they doubted how good of an area it could possibly be (because why in the world would you not want to live in the suburbs?!). They’re amazed every time they come to visit. “We can walk somewhere to go eat?!” It was like we had reinvented the wheel!
And for $90,000, it can be all yours! 
I visited Indianapolis last winter for the first time. It is a beautiful place, very clean, and with interesting buildings. I only wish a.) it wasn’t winter (It’s COLD in Indianapolis in winter) and b.) I had more time.
The pavilion suspended above the intersection downtown is pretty neat, and unique, in my experience. They had a Christmas concert going on there.
Probably too late for this trip, but next time take your daughter to the Children’s museum. When you leave and she asks why you are smiling so big you can always claim that you are just thrilled to see how good of a time SHE had.
I almost wish it had a different name as some people will discount it because they think it is just for kids and will be something like Barney land (there are dinosaurs, but they don’t sing or dance).
That’s the Arts Garden
Ok, for some reason my link won’t work (hey, I’m new around here). Google image search for Indianapolis Arts Garden.
Some of the parks here are pretty nice, but I assume every large city has those.
However the state parks like fort harrison are nice.
Obviously the canal is nice to walk along.
One thing I dislike here is public transit is terrible. I’d love to be able to take a train into town, but there is no train and the busses are slow as hell. Plus parking downtown is fairly affordable if you pick the right garage, so I just drive.
Get the Parkmobile app for street parking, it’s awesome. It works in a bunch of other cities as well.
I’ve lived Indy all of my life & on nearly every side of town, & I can truly say I love my city.
I get “citysick” when I’m away on travel - I miss the trees, rivers, & of course, downtown.
I’m glad you enjoyed your visit, & hope you can come back soon!
My daughter lives in a ritzy suburb just north of Indy, and I’ve taken my grandson to the zoo and the Children’s Museum, both very nice.
On the other hand, they went into their supermarket one day and asked where the lox was. They were directed to hardware. :smack:
*“There’s More Than Corn in Indiana!”
*
Yeah… they got soybeans, too.
This has to be one of the most boring cities I’ve ever visited. Big circular freeway, no there there, dead downtown, and lots of suburbs.
And I actually lived in one of those burbs as a kid for a couple years but don’t remember a thing about it.
Never been to Indy, but I’ve heard it’s pretty bleak and crime ridden.
What large cities aren’t bleak? I mean maybe the coastal california and florida ones aren’t, but other than that.
Much of the crime is in a handful of neighborhoods.
I love that people who admit they have never been somewhere or likely haven’t been there for 40 years think they have a valid opinion on this city.
The OP gave a very positive opinion from 7 years ago. Things are even better now.
My friend got mugged in Chicago when he was 13… that was 45 years ago but I’ll post about what a hell hole it is today.
We may be neighbors.
I’ve wanted to see Indianapolis for years, to go to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Monument Square.
It’s the only thing in the U.S. designed by the German architect Bruno Schmidt, who did some of the most kickass memorials in Europe, including the Monument to the Battle of Nations at Leipzig, the most enormous and formidable and scary war monument in the world.
I will say that the monument square is an excellent use of space and I wish far more American cities and towns had something like it.
Nitpick… it is monument CIRCLE because… well it’s a circle.
Ike… if you decide to jump out of your plane over our fly over state let me know and I’ll show you around. We honestly do have a lot of things to offer.
So, Crafter_Man, did your car survive the Hoosier Potholes? They call Indiana the Crossroads of America because every road one drives on makes one cross!
I haven’t been to Indianapolis since Marilyn Monroe died. Literally. We had been on a family trip to visit my mom’s family in Ohio, and on our way home to Los Angeles, our car broke down in Indianapolis. My mom had an old friend who lived there and was wonderful enough to offer to let us stay until the car was fixed. We camped out on her living room rug. I remember her hospitality all these years later.
My memories of the city part are of a dirty, depressing, rundown landscape. My mom’s friend lived in a suburb. It was cool to me, because there were no fences between houses. I wasn’t used to that. The husband said that when the development was laid out, they only cut down the trees they absolutely had to. It was pretty and green and forest-y. The husband had connections, and we got a private tour at the Speedway…even got to walk on the bricks, which was very cool.
I only know what the city is like today from watching the Good Bones show on HGTV. The mom and daughter on the show have done a lot of rehabs fixing up old houses. They also patronize a lot of local businesses, so it’s nice to see how the area has been re-developed. It looks so much more appealing than when I was there!