Quality of life in Indianapolis

Indianapolis is in central Indiana, the Nine-County Region; it is the capital and largest city. The population is roughly 850,000, making it the 13th largest city in the America and the metro area has about 2 million (#23). Efforts to beautify and modernize the city have brought Indianapolis into the 21st century as a world-class destination for everything from business meetings and trade conventions to backpackers making their way across the States.

Indianapolis is widely hailed as the "Racing Capital of the World" because of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard as well as the "Amateur Sports Capital of America" for hosting the NCAA. The city has several attractions outside of sports including museums, a large zoo, over 100 ethnic restaurants, several arts and historic districts, and a revitalized downtown. Although Indy has been mocked with the epithet "India-noplace", Indianapolis has several attractions for visitors, with a mix of both a large metropolitan city and a simple Midwestern community. You will find beautiful architecture, monuments, and pristine cornfields in the Circle City.

When Indianapolis was founded, it was expected to be a "Great Inland Port", but the White River is non-navigable most of the year. The pay-off is that this desire for a port left the city with a gorgeous canal district, though the canal itself is only useful for recreational kayaks and paddleboats.