The Essential Guide to Indianapolis, Indiana

The Red Line is a good alternative, which is a new rapid transit route that runs two blocks west of #11 East 16th Street in downtown. Although the city has slowly increased funding for transport, outside of rush hour routes, you may still find yourself with a half-hour wait or longer. Half-price discount fares are available for eligible riders with the approval of an application at the Julia Carson Transit Center in downtown. It travels through much of the city and into some suburbs. Meters accept cards, coins, and small bills and parking is free in late hours and on weekends.
Part of downtown Indianapolis, this mixed-use development has continued to expand over the years, offering all kinds of activities within the beautifully restored historic Coca-Cola bottling complex. This historic Arts and Theater District stretches for nearly a mile through downtown Indianapolis and is generally considered the city’s most vibrant area. Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is the city’s primary gateway, and it’s only 15 miles from downtown. This small but fascinating museum celebrates Indianapolis’s preeminent literary icon, and includes displays of his trusty typewriter, paintings, family artifacts, and recreated writing space.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum

Private ridesharing companies Lyft and Uber as well as taxicabs operate in the city. Sports radio stations include WFNI (ESPN Radio), WNDE (Fox Sports Radio), and WXNT (Infinity Sports Network). Since 1983, WFBQ has been the flagship station for the popular nationally syndicated radio program The Bob & Tom Show. Sports talk program The Pat McAfee Show broadcasts from the city, airing weekdays on ESPN. Indianapolis natives Jane Pauley and David Letterman launched their Emmy Award-winning broadcasting careers in local television, Pauley with WISH-TV and Letterman with WTHR, respectively.
According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 83.7% of working residents in the city commuted by driving alone, 8.4% carpooled, 1.5% used public transportation, and 1.8% walked. Urban sprawl and the absence of a comprehensive regional public transit system have contributed to Indianapolis residents driving more vehicle miles per capita than any other U.S. city. Additional publications include Indianapolis Monthly, a regional lifestyle publication; Indianapolis Business Journal, a weekly business newspaper; and NUVO, an alternative weekly that became digital-only in 2019. Notable academic libraries in the city include IU Indianapolis’s University Library and Butler University’s Irwin Library. Indianapolis is also home to the Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau, the state’s largest public library. It is home to 17 degree-granting schools, including the main campus of the IU School of Medicine, the largest medical school by enrollment in the U.S.
For statistical purposes, the consolidated city-county is organized into 99 “neighborhood areas” with most containing numerous individual historic and cultural districts, subdivisions, and some semi-autonomous towns. The White River flows 31 miles (50 km) north-to-south through the city and is fed by some 35 streams, including Eagle Creek, Fall Creek, Pleasant Run, and Pogue’s Run. The consolidated city-county borders the adjacent counties of Boone to the northwest; Hamilton to the north; Hancock to the east; Shelby to the southeast; Johnson to the south; Morgan to the southwest; and Hendricks to the west. Two of the city’s largest capital projects, the Indianapolis International Airport’s new terminal and Lucas Oil Stadium, were completed in 2008. Further consolidation of city and county units of government resulted in the establishment of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in 2007. It was the first major city-county consolidation to occur in the U.S. without a referendum since the creation of the City of Greater New York in 1898.
All skyscrapers are in a relatively compact cluster downtown. Taxi services are available 24/7 and will transport you anywhere in the city and the surrounding areas. IndyGo buses include two bike racks in the front for storing your cycle, but if they are full, then you’ll be out of luck.

Outdoors and landmarks

• Small milestones mark all of the major cities along this All-American Road.
• Its theater hosted vaudeville performances and anchored the local jazz scene from the 1920s through the 1960s.
• Nearby communities include Carmel (north), Lawrence (northeast), Beech Grove (southeast), Greenwood (south), and Speedway (west).
• During the mayoral administration of Richard Lugar (1968–1976), the city and county governments consolidated.
• The city’s growing immigrant population has contributed to a rise in global cuisine, with some 800 ethnic restaurants opening in recent years.

Menu favorites include house-made pastas and their famous house-made grilled breads. The oldest continuously operating bar in Indiana is a great place to listen to live music, enjoy cold drinks, and enjoy a classic pork tenderloin sandwich (a local delicacy). With great cocktails, a hot dance floor, and drag nights, Tini is an LGBTQ+ haven and cocktail bar on Mass Avenue, Indy’s main downtown street. The historic venue features traditional German hospitality with outdoor seating perfect for enjoying bratwurst, schnitzel, live music, and 12 different types of imported draft beers.

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Census Bureau, the Indianapolis (balance) encompasses a total area of 367.9 square miles (953 km2), of which 361.6 square miles (937 km2) is land and 6.3 square miles (16 km2) is water. It is situated 98 miles (158 km) northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio; 107 miles (172 km) north of Louisville, Kentucky; 164 miles (264 km) southeast of Chicago, Illinois; and 168 miles (270 km) west of Columbus, Ohio. Indianapolis is located in the East North Central region of the Midwestern United States, about fourteen miles (23 km) south-southeast of Indiana’s geographic center. In 2020, the George Floyd protests in Indiana prompted a series of local police reforms and renewed efforts to bolster social services for mental health treatment and homelessness.

Neighborhoods to Visit

The city’s first luxury hotel in nearly two decades is housed within the historic 1926 Illinois Building, and is recommended by Travel+Leisure’s A-List advisor Maria Diego. The property includes downtown’s only hotel spa, fine dining, and luxurious marble bathrooms with deep-soaking tubs in every room. From the historic Slippery Noodle Inn—Indiana’s oldest tavern—to creative cocktail bars and farm-to-table restaurants, Indianapolis has big-city luxuries without losing an iota of small-town charm. Other prominent city residents have included Charles Warren Fairbanks (vice president under Theodore Roosevelt), authors Booth Tarkington and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery.
The Williams Institute reported that the Indianapolis metropolitan area had an estimated 4.6% LGBT adult population in 2020, totaling about 68,000. Much of this growth can be attributed to thousands of Burmese-Chin refugees who have settled in Indianapolis, particularly Perry Township, since the late 1990s. In 2015, Brookings characterized the Indianapolis metropolitan area as a minor-emerging immigrant gateway with a foreign-born population of 126,767, or 6.4% of the total population, a 131% increase from 2000. The consolidated city is coterminous with Marion County, except the independent municipalities of Beech Grove, Lawrence, Southport, and Speedway. Severe weather is not uncommon, particularly in the spring and summer months. The city lies at the transition between USDA plant hardiness zones 6a and 6b.
During the administration of the city’s longest-serving mayor, William Hudnut (1976–1992), millions of dollars were invested into sports venues and public relations campaigns. During the mayoral administration of Richard Lugar (1968–1976), the city and county governments consolidated. As in most U.S. cities during the civil rights movement, the city experienced strained race relations, including 1969 riots. While campaigning in the city in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy delivered one of the most lauded speeches in 20th century American history following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

It is a planned municipality, its layout resembling that of Washington, D.C., with radiating streets that converge on Monument Circle at the city centre. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. You value the authentic experience a meal provides – the process, the artistry, the connection to a place and a culture. Between ballet lessons, soccer season, and art classes, you know that vacations are a precious time for the family. You go where your team goes and judge a city by its arena food. IU Health is consolidating and replacing Methodist and University hospitals with a new $4.3 billion academic medical center which is slated to open in 2027.

• The 8-mile-long (13 km) Indiana Central Canal is the oldest extant artificial facility in the city, dating to the 1830s.
• Menu favorites include house-made pastas and their famous house-made grilled breads.
• Some 22% of residents identified as religiously “unaffiliated”, consistent with the national average of 22.7%.
• Founded in 2018, the Indy Shorts International Film Festival is one of 34 film festivals in the world used to qualify for the Academy Awards.
• The White River flows 31 miles (50 km) north-to-south through the city and is fed by some 35 streams, including Eagle Creek, Fall Creek, Pleasant Run, and Pogue’s Run.
• All skyscrapers are in a relatively compact cluster downtown.

Sports (other than events)

In a few minutes, you can go from a sleepy and peaceful cornfield to a vibrant downtown. Today, Indianapolis is known as the “Crossroads of America” due to its centrality in America’s Interstate Highway System. The pay-off is that this desire for a https://www.royalspiniacasino.org/ port left the city with a gorgeous canal district, though the canal itself is only useful for recreational kayaks and paddleboats. Although Indy has been mocked with the epithet “India-noplace”, visitors will encounter a mix of a large metropolitan city and a simple Midwestern community. For those who want to bike around, the city also has a bike rental program through the Pacers Bikeshare program, with free 30-minute rides for Marion County residents. Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are also readily available and popular for short trips within the city.
As a consolidated city-county, Indianapolis’s city limits are coterminous with Marion County, except the autonomous and semi-autonomous municipalities outlined in Unigov. In 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a FedEx facility on the city’s southwest side, killing nine (including the gunman) and injuring seven others. Ballard pursued several environmental sustainability efforts, including establishing an office of sustainability, installing 200 miles (320 km) of bike lanes and trails, and spearheading a controversial deal to start an electric carsharing program.