Indiana...a depressing place to live?? (Indianapolis, Gary: big house, unemployment, neighborhoods)

[Bluefox]

I guess my experience is different. I was born and raised in Northwest Indiana. I always told myself "Indiana is so depressing, I need to get out of here!" And I did.

Now I live 2,000 miles away in an area that is in all ways unlike Indiana. Much to my surprise, I have found myself increasingly missing the forests, rolling hills, wooded lakes, sand dunes, fall bonfires, the first snowfall, the first warm day after winter, the overall quiet lifestyle. I could go on. And while there are certain things I do not miss about Indiana, such as the beastly Februaries, beastly Julys, and certain mentalities, I think if I should ever return to Indiana I would appreciate so much more those things I had always taken for granted.

[Ravekid]

I think Indiana is somewhat depressing, but at the same time, it isn't a bad place to live. My wife and I come from very different backgrounds. Her family moved to Hamilton Co. and have watched it explode over the last two decades. For all that time, it was her and her family, no one else in the family lived in Indiana. Both parents had at least one sibling, and they all are scattered from Texas to the east coast. As such, my wife didn't grow up going to large birthday parties, Christmas parties, etc.. With me, 95% of my immediate and extended families have lived here, specifically the Indy area, for at least two generations, now going on three.

It has always been strange to me that folks pull up stakes and move away from family, but as I have gotten older, especially within the last five to seven years, my thoughts have changed somewhat. While we took family vacations when I was in K-12, all the places we went seemed like vacation places (DC, Niagara Falls, Florida, Tenn., Wisconsin), and I never felt like leaving Indy. To me, even going away to college seemed odd since IUPUI was right in town, and cheaper than IU Bloomington. It wasn't until I lived in Bloomington for a summer did I finally get the "freedom" bug. I worked a lot, even in high school, and my goal was just to be a saver and that is what I did. After that summer in Bloomington, I still lived at home for many years later, only because of financial reasons...it was (and still is in my opinion) too costly to live on or near campus unless you have no other options. On the other hand, I think kids do need to be pushed out of the home, even if it is for a semester or two, so they can find their way.

It wasn't till my vacations in 2006 and 2007, first real vacations for many, many years, did I come to realize how big this country is. I really like the Rocky Mountain Front area, mostly the area of NW Montana. As I have gotten older, and worked in both private and public sector jobs, I have come to have a distaste for large, out-of-control government growth. While I would personally benefit from more and more taxation, the government is just too big, and too controlling for my taste, which is why I don't really feel that happy in the Indy area. Government is everywhere, and wanting more and more of my money (K-12, local, state, federal, rapid transit, professional sports teams, quasi-government entities, etc.). I don't have an issue with government, but the amount of insider politics, corruption that never gets a proper punishment, etc. gets worse and worse, so it seems, as an area grows.

Given my opinions on government and such, my ideal place to live would be near a smaller city, something around 30K-100K people, but can deal with even a smaller, more rural area if I can drive to such a place within 20 mins. or so. With all this, it is unlikely that I will live Indiana. While I would rather be living in SE or S of Indy, wife wants to live in Hamilton County. Not sure where we will end up, but given our jobs, our family (mostly mine, but two members of her family eventually relocated to the Indy area), we are likely here till retirement, if there even will be such a thing. Although once the inevitable comes, the passing of our parents, our future kids graduating high school, etc., I might take a look at leaving then. When we were down in Brown County, I almost felt like home down there. I am definitely a mountain/hill person, and the wife is too, but she isn't for long drives to work, so moving to Brown County is likely out of the question.

Having traveled the state and country more so than in past four years, I can see why some people do leave. Be it for jobs, political reasons, etc.., I can grasp that better today than I did in the past. Now I know plenty of friends/acquaintances from years ago that are spread out over the country. Thank God for Facebook, it is so nice being able to keep in contact with people, and to read about the goings on in their lives in states far and near.

All this stuff reminds me of the days I sometimes work on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is dead, hardly anyone is out, yet I look into the sky on those clear late fall and early winter days and clearly see airplanes flying in all sorts of directions. I wonder where they are going, who the people on board are, etc.. It makes me feel small, but my life here in Indiana is good, so I can't complain at all. I got the same feeling driving North on I-90 in Wyoming, towards Billings, MT. There is a part of the interstate that is elevated above the surrounding land. It seems like you can see for miles. I couldn't believe that while there isn't very many people in Montana, just north of Glacier are not one, but two cities with close to a million people each. Just another reminder of how big the planet really is.

[goofyperson]

Indiana is for small town people who like fresh air and country, and if you don't like it fell free
to get the He-- out! We are tired of all you people coming in from Chicago, Detriot, and other
big cities and calling it crap! Hello.. It's not a big city big culture place, and that's how a lot
of us like it! So if you want a big city place by all means moved back to where you came from.
You all are coming to our small towns and bringing a bunch of crime and over crowed traffic.
I say good bye to you! LEAVE!! You won't be missed! And P.S. Kiss My Country A..

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by goofyperson

Indiana is for small town people who like fresh air and country, and if you don't like it fell free
to get the He-- out! We are tired of all you people coming in from Chicago, Detriot, and other
big cities and calling it crap! Hello.. It's not a big city big culture place, and that's how a lot
of us like it! So if you want a big city place by all means moved back to where you came from.
You all are coming to our small towns and bringing a bunch of crime and over crowed traffic.
I say good bye to you! LEAVE!! You won't be missed! And P.S. Kiss My Country A..

What part of Terre Haute are you from?

[uggabugga]

i don't find indiana depressing at all, except for some times in the winter when the permacloud moves in from lake michigan and you don't see the sun for what seems like weeks at a time.

[davejc6]

Originally Posted by LIS123

You're absolutely right. ANYPLACE is going to get boring over time. Someone could move to some of the most 'exciting' places nationwide (Times Square, LV Strip, etc.) and it WILL get boring with enough time. It may take longer to get bored in Vegas than Indiana, but it's going to happen.

I'm not saying all places are the same or that a place with milder wintrs doesn't have an edge over places that get very cold, but it's very hard (if at all possible) to find a place where you won't get bored.

Wrong California never never gets boring. I little hot at times never boring

[RememberMee]

What makes Indiana depressing? "Camping" camps right at intersections of major state highways, that's just pathetic. Northern half is crowded and "rural" at the same time, if you don't have a 5+ acres of your own you are just locked in your home/apartment cell because public lands are few and far between, "commercial" recreation (other than Wal-Mart & clones shopping) is not abundant either. Small Indiana towns, oh my, it's just as a small Ohio or Southern Michigan towns - pathetic islands of isolation in the middle of corn fields, some towns didn't leave a single square feet of land for common use, if you've got no sizable chunk of land + home for a private illusion, gosh forbid you've lost your commuter job, what would you do in a corn-hole Indiana town? Howling at the moon comes to mind naturally, but what else? Again, bunch of economy vacationers renting 200 square feet of "country" at intersection of two state highways with nothing to do and see for miles and miles, what could be more pathetic?

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by RememberMee

"Camping" camps right at intersections of major state highways, that's just pathetic.

Again, bunch of economy vacationers renting 200 square feet of "country" at intersection of two state highways with nothing to do and see for miles and miles, what could be more pathetic?

Really? Picking on people who camp out along interstates? Maybe they can't afford the 15 dollars a night to camp out at Brown County. Maybe those people just want to get away for a weekend. Maybe those people are using those interstate campgrounds as hotels as they visit someone in the area.

You don't know those people, neither do I. Why so judgmental?

[GraniteStater]

I'm leaving as soon as I can... I lived in this state two different times, and I have seen enough.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I'm leaving as soon as I can... I lived in this state two different times, and I have seen enough.

I seriously hope you can find happiness somewhere, because between your griping about Indiana and the Kansas City area, one has to wonder.