Personally, I love the City of Indianapolis.
Compared to Dayton, Ohio or even Columbus, Ohio-downtown Indy is fantastic. From the marvelous restaurants and train station, to the Circle with its immense and beautiful fountains and statuary, brick roadways and horse drawn carriages to the gorgeous drive up Meridian (going north)-the Children's Museum, the wondrous zoo, etc., etc. I just love it.
And dead at night?
You have to be kidding!
Because of the concerted effort to revitalize the downtown by bringing people there to actually LIVE, people who CARE about their homes...I just cannot fathom why you think it is dead in the evening.
I have never been downtown at night when there aren't folks on the street. Ever.
And the War Memorials knock me out!
Whatever.
I have lived in Denver for ten years, Baltimore/ DC area area (Severna Park)for four years, grew up in Xenia, Ohio(just outside Dayton) and Stuttgart, GE for seven, and a small town outside Indianapolis for the last eight.
As far as this girl goes...Indianapolis offers all of the cultural aspects one could hope for (from the symphony, to the theatre to the Verizon Ctr that sponsors the huge crowd draws, ie rock stars, etc.) and is beautiful, architecturally, to boot.
I think Indianapolis is a gem.
And I think the mayor-stinks! LOL And whats her name...that black congresswoman who scares the life out of ya, does to.
And I can't stand Lugar anymore, Burton is my congress critter and I am ok with him, however.
Ah well....just needed to respond to your summation of my city with another viewpoint. :^)
I agree. Downtown Indy is bustling, at least on weekends. Who goes to downtown Chicago? During the day,yes. It was always dead at night. I don't count the Navy Pier. I lived in Dayton, too and you're right. It's been dead during the day for years, ever since the Arcade closed.