thinking about moving from Denver to Indianapolis (Plainfield, Aurora: real estate, transfer)

[loveautumn]

I'm also considering Indy for retirement, although I have read that IN isn't very "retiree friendly" as far as taxes go. What made you decide on his area to retire? I'm just looking for sanity, quiet, low crime, a few things to do, pretty area, sports teams...normal stuff. I'm living in SoCal right now...

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

I'm also considering Indy for retirement, although I have read that IN isn't very "retiree friendly" as far as taxes go. What made you decide on his area to retire? I'm just looking for sanity, quiet, low crime, a few things to do, pretty area, sports teams...normal stuff. I'm living in SoCal right now...

Probably one of the reasons they cited Indiana as not retiree friendly is our states inheritance tax.
Ironically its being phased out by 2022 at the latest. However the Republican Legislature of Indiana is debating rather to speed up the phase out of the Inheritance tax to 2017. Either way the exemption for our states inheritance tax gets larger every year.
However compared to Southern California your taxes will drop 50%. Property Taxes are capped in Indiana like California but our cap is 1%.
2nd Income tax is a flat rate 3.4% and Mike Pene wants to cut it by 10% to 3%.
Cost of living is very low in Indiana. Hence why Indiana has the nations most affordable housing market.
Indianapolis has a top notch health system. the IU Health network is very professional and top of the line in taking care of people. Heck my grandfather has relied on them before and they just do an outstanding job.
Indianapolis matches all your criteria. The safest areas are the suburbs. Fishers, Indiana was ranked as the safest community in Indiana and 12th in the nation.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Probably one of the reasons they cited Indiana as not retiree friendly is our states inheritance tax.
Ironically its being phased out by 2022 at the latest. However the Republican Legislature of Indiana is debating rather to speed up the phase out of the Inheritance tax to 2017. Either way the exemption for our states inheritance tax gets larger every year.
However compared to Southern California your taxes will drop 50%. Property Taxes are capped in Indiana like California but our cap is 1%.
2nd Income tax is a flat rate 3.4% and Mike Pene wants to cut it by 10% to 3%.
Cost of living is very low in Indiana. Hence why Indiana has the nations most affordable housing market.
Indianapolis has a top notch health system. the IU Health network is very professional and top of the line in taking care of people. Heck my grandfather has relied on them before and they just do an outstanding job.
Indianapolis matches all your criteria. The safest areas are the suburbs. Fishers, Indiana was ranked as the safest community in Indiana and 12th in the nation.

No, I think Indiana was ranked as bad for retirees because the pace of life in Indianapolis is just too fast.

See what I mean.

[dp731]

Really enjoyed this thread...
I lived in California for 22 years after that Boulder Colorado for 25..and now seriously considering moving back to my home town Indianapolis where I was born and grew up in...
Thanks !

[sheerbliss]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

...the pace of life in Indianapolis is just too fast.

See what I mean.

The students who used to cut my hair at the Aveda salon in Castleton found Indy big and fast and a little overwhelming. They came from the country.

[Isleofpalms85]

Originally Posted by dp731

Really enjoyed this thread...
I lived in California for 22 years after that Boulder Colorado for 25..and now seriously considering moving back to my home town Indianapolis where I was born and grew up in...
Thanks !

Perhaps climate change will mean that Indianapolis becomes like Boulder Colorado climate wise.

[WhiteSandsYucca]

It might be quite an adjustment, but hopefully a good one for you... I really like Indy.

There's something about Denver vs. the Midwest Cities, where I want the Midwest city up against it to win, but I have to be honest that Denver usually wins. For example, in many ways, I think Kansas City is a more beautifully urban city than Denver. It has a great mix of old and new on the skyline, while the Denver skyline hardly has an ounce of historic prescene on it. Indianapolis, with its great downtown, has much prettier greenery than Denver. However, between the cities, there's just something about Denver that seems more "with it", imo. And, it is not just because it has mountains adjacent to it.

I think it is the "Californianized" aspect of Denver, which means sweeping, wide busy freeways and toll roads w/ quick passes, light rail, a very modern airport, mass swaths of cookie-cutter suburbia in big, planned communities with winding parkways, Starbucks on every corner, cozy and stylish shopping centers with a lot of outside seating and umbrellas. And, then you have the recreational adventurous mindset and culture in Colorado w/ the mountains and river rapids and high elevation lakes, which is all suddenly different back in the Midwest, with flatter landscapes, lower elevation, and smaller lakes around, and slower muddy rivers. So, that all adds up. Make sure you're ready for that cultural change, too.

I think the Midwest cities are getting more that with-it "Californianized" aspect/feel nowadays. And, big city Midwest Chicago has most USA cities beat in the "urban/city" category. I really love the Midwest cities. The mountains by Denver are nice, but they are really no big deal at the end of the day (if you happen to leave them behind), imo.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by walker1962

I had family live in Indy years ago. As much as you dislike the poster's observations on the city, its much more right that wrong.

A lot of the bullet points in the post you are referring to are subjective. It would be inappropriate to say opinions on subjective items are right or wrong, rather you would agree or disagree.

[sheerbliss]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

A lot of the bullet points in the post you are referring to are subjective. It would be inappropriate to say opinions on subjective items are right or wrong, rather you would agree or disagree.

That, and the post in question is ten years old.

[WhiteSandsYucca]

Originally Posted by walker1962

I had family live in Indy years ago. As much as you dislike the poster's observations on the city, its much more right that wrong. Now I would say of cities of size in the Midwest, I'd rate Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis above it. Its comparable to K.C. Mo in personality and size but Columbus OH seems to have surpassed it the last 9-10 years as growth area. Now that may be due to Columbus getting new residents from Cincy and Cleveland. I'm no big fan of Denver. I turned down a job there a few years back because I found its housing very over-priced for an area with plenty of land. I think the scenery is not as good as many as when one looks east is no better than Indiana or Kansas, i.e. pool table flat and with no trees!

Denver will benefit from being THE City of the Rocky Mountain time zone. Boise and Albuquerque are of some size but not a big destination and Denver's airport is a strategic air hub in the north American travel network.

I would agree that Chicago, Minneapolis-St Paul, and St Louis are "above it", simply because the size & scope of those metros are larger. As far as Midwest cities, I would also put Detroit & Cleveland & Cincinnati above it, too.

I agree that Indianapolis is more on the tier of Kansas City and Columbus (and Milwaukee & Oklahoma City, not mentioned).

Standing tall on a hill at a sudden major bend & fun swing along a major river, I would say Kansas City has more of surprising & unique snazzy, jazzy, snappy & upbeat urban element about it than the other two. It's also very much a true "river city" like St. Louis, famous for bar-b-que and jazz music. Indy or Columbus are not located on major navigable rivers, like Kansas City and St Louis and Cincinnati are, and that makes a difference.

Indianapolis seems like a maybe bit stranger (and less understood) major American metro than nearby Columbus is to me, but still, there's something more startling, intense, edgy about Indianapolis, all while still seeming like a very typical & everyday Midwestern cornfield-surrounded metropolis, that I like better than Columbus. The layout of parks and monuments, which fall right on straight, linear lines, at certain pivotal, orderly points -- kind of like what you see in DC -- helps put a tunnel-focus on the skyline, standing tall in the center of the city, the center of Indiana.

Columbus, on the other hand, is kind of "American as Apple Pie" to me, which is kinda boring to some people, the smack center of an All-American very popular Midwestern state, all while Indianapolis struggled with its identity for years, despite having the broadcast Indy 500, a capitol city smack dab in the middle of a more transitional, less popular & populous state than Ohio. Yet, it's very impressive how far that city has come, imo. It's a very likable town now, imo.

I also like Downtown Indianapolis a bit better than Downtown Columbus, as it feels like the upbeat & lively heartbeat & epic center of the town. I like Downtown Columbus well enough, though, as it is plenty busy, too, and I like its handsome, tidy and almost preppy (like Alex Keaton) skyline on the Scotia River in Central Ohio. They are both nice, likable, decent-sized metros.

Nearby, true river city "Bohemian" Cincinnati beats both of them with its one-of-a-kind beauty & solo uniqueness, imo -- almost like a "New Orleans of the Midwest" in a kinda way.

I agree that Denver's eastward panorama is "nothing to write home about." It is dull, mostly brown, and almost featureless. Still, there's something exhilarating to me how the city is built upon the high, windswept prairie that slowly builds & builds in elevation, until it finally reaches the mile high line, at the abrupt, jagged line of the Rockies. It's called the "Queen City of the Prairie." With snowflakes fluttering down sometimes into June, the major sports, highly educated and high tech town, set against the backdrop of the Rockies, has a strong civic pride & personality that is understandable. Like anywhere, though, high & dry Colorado is not for everybody, though. (And, yes, I am surprised that the city isn't growing even more out on the open prairie. However, suburban SE Aurora and Parker are pushing out that way.)

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Lol That this thread started 10 years ago. I never would have believed a thread that old would be lingering near the top...