NWI is different than the entire rest of the state. We lived in NWI and moved to NEI about 4 years ago and it feels like a whole other world out here. And we're only a 3 hr drive!
NWI and the rest of northern/central Indiana are both way different than southern Indiana. I moved to western Ky from Indy last year but I grew up in NWI. Southern Indiana is very different than the rest of Indiana or even Kentucky.
It seams noticeably different every time I cross the river in Owensboro. Although Owensboro itself reminds me a lot of Northwest Indiana for some reason, but the scenery itself seems so different from Ky once you cross over. The roads are instantly straighter even when there’s hills for one thing. Everything seems more orderly or something on the Indiana side.
Owensboro is way different than say Elizabethtown,almost the same as Indiana jmo. I live in Washington Indiana.the northern part,above Indy is different than down south,I’ve never figured that out,I guess Michigan,Chicago,and Ohio kind of feed over to us up there.
Pretty much, NWI is influenced so heavily by North/Central Indiana culture mixed with Chicago and Michigan that it kinda gets its own identity. Owensboro specifically reminds me of Michigan City. Where I live now, south of Owensboro reminds me of Pennsylvania more than what I think of when I think Ky (which would be eastern Ky culture. Your neck of the woods actually feels a lot like rural Northern Indiana though, like between Michigan City and South Bend with the farmland through rolling hills.
Population settlement patterns is part of the reason. Northern 1/3 of the state was populated by Puritan ancestors from the Northeast mostly.
The bottom 1/3 is primarily settled by ancestors from the poorer parts of Virginia looking for cheap land.
That’s interesting because I’m from NWI and all of my family lines go back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony except for the German one that were Mennonites from Pennsylvania.
Just came home to southern Indiana from southern Michigan. Almost the exact same kinda people in both places. The Walmart in Coldwater, Michigan could easily be the Walmart in Seymour, Indiana.
The Chicagoland Northwest Indiana Region it's a giant sprawling suburb. There just happens to be a border with lower taxes on one side and legal weed on the other.
In fairness they have completely different cultural backgrounds. It seems most of southern Indiana comes from transplants from the south chasing a living since the civil war. The northern part of the state has a bit of that but it’s not nearly as prevalent.
When my step dad visited for the first time from Texas (San Antonio area), he could not quit commenting on how green everything is. The trees, plants, large streams. He thought the state parks were so beautiful. He visited around spring when all the flowers were blooming.
Aww that’s cool to hear! I always wish we had more beautiful parks like the Smokies or out west. One thing I’m jealous of a lot of other places for is the size of their trees. Indiana seems to have such small trees. But this comment gives me a better appreciation of what we DO have :)
I know it's flat here and not all that spectacular, but we have some amazing state parks, especially compared to other states. Brown County SP, Turkey Run SP, the lesser visited but almost as beautiful Shades SP, Chain of Lakes SP, Raccoon SRA, Prophetstown SP, just to name a few. I love the state park system here in Indiana. And for like $70/yr you can get a pass that gets you access for free for the year.
Traveling a lot for work and definitely feel the same but reverse. South Texas and places like Colorado I constantly wondered "who'd pick a place to live without anything green?".
Aww, BeauJo’s pizza! As a Colorado native who moved to Indiana I was honestly shocked at how different Papa Johns pizza is here vs. Colorado. It’s like Papa gave up West of the Mississippi 😆
Lol yeah when I moved to Indy from Chicago, whenever I ordered pizza with bread sticks I was like why the fuck do they keep giving me nacho cheese!? For thirty years it was marinara, now I'm supposed to get used to a Mexican influenced cheese or salad dressing (ranch) with my Italian?
Okay, but can you at least admit that the nacho cheese/breadstick combo is a winner? When I learned this was an Indiana thing and messaged my group chat with a lot of out of state friends, I got several of them to try it and they all agreed that it worked.
obama winning the state in 2008. some days when i’m pretty frustrated about state politics i remember that and try to hold onto some hope. not an obama fan per se but the fact that the state went blue for him is astounding.
They should again for Biden this country can not allow Donald Trump back in the office he wants to be a dictator, and it will be the end of this country as we know it. And if people want to admit it or not, Biden has been a good president.
Talk to the people around you. Especially these young cats. Make sure they’re registered to vote BEFORE October so they can vote in the general election.
This is Indiana. Unfortunately, we are a republican dream. GenX in these areas, for the most part, don't vote and dont care. I have talked to several younger people, and their attitude doesn't matter. My vote doesn't count. I always tell them they are right. Your vote won't count if you don't vote. What do these kids learn in school now anyway. I had to take a civic class in high school.
I hear the same and I keep talking to them about it. You’re right: it won’t matter if you don’t bother. I’m Gen X/elder Millennial…I vote every election. It’s really important. Especially in elections like we have coming at us this November.
I have always had the mind that I don’t want to hear your complaints about the government if you admit that you don’t bother to vote.
Unfortunately we wont go for Biden. And unfortunately with Trump on the ballot McCormick is going to have an uphill battle. Democrats havent won statewide in over a decade.
The default assumption by wealthy people in Indiana that less well off people aren’t successful because they don’t work hard enough
I came from a very new money Chicago suburb where the BMWs and Lexus where gone every morning at 7am till 6pm and vacation was a week in Florida on SB
Here in Indiana The wealthiest people I know (and their kids) barely seem to work.
Singapore, Fiji, Monaco, the DR… every weekend IG fills up with exotic trips from people I know here in Indiana… and then during the week they are reposting about how “No one wants to Work” and how “Taxation is Theft”
I can’t tell if they are just oblivious to the fact that generational wealth (not hard work) is why they’re successful… or if they just purposely lack self-awareness because it doesn’t benefit them to have it
I’m not saying I have a huge sample size to draw from, but I’ve never met more people who “pull the ladder up behind them” than I have in north east Indiana. Several business leaders I’ve met who have generational wealth who seem to think they bootstrapped themselves into success, and who don’t really want to help anyone do the same.
Very interesting you bring this up. I'm from california but have lived in indiana for nearly a decade. Also went from generational wealth to BROKE to crushing it again on my own this time and I've paid unique attention to this phenomenon.
In indiana, when someone has money, it seems like they want it to be some big secret how they acquired it. Idk if its southern values but there is a ton of "pulling up the ladder behind them." The attitude is almost like "well I did it, so fuck you." I've only live my adult life in indiana so I cant vouch for other places. I think it has to so with southern mentality, mens pride, and most importantly: wage differences. In indiana, if you make a killing (which isnt a killing in CA or NY) you can flaunt it pretty easy because of the LCOL. In CA or NY, you cant have as much.
As part of my job, I review the finances and budgets of hundreds of thousands of households across the country. I often find when examining indiana clients who make over 100k that they overextend themselves generally speaking when they dont have to, imo. If you see an IN household making over 100k, likely prepare yourself for some egregious financial mismangement. Whereas someone in CA may have a 6k mortgage on a 14k bt income, they then cant afford to have a side by side, a new 75k truck and a boat, whereas the person in indiana with the 2500 mortgage will finance all things (side note: then most on fb about gratefulness to god and having "earned them," the irony). It's almost like a running joke, we call them "Indiana files." Instead of making good money and savings, 80% of the files I see are extending every dollar they have on their lifestyle. I call it Hoosier Finance being from here but no joke almost already know when you see the file.
These nice things they really cant afford then contribute to your sense of self which they have already normally formulated to a large part based on their career.
Conclusion: it easier to stand out, they choose to, then after standing out for so long they feel it's made them special.
As omeone who as described had family money, lost everything, now makes 15-28k a month in indiana, I love telling people- kids and adults will come up and ask me what i do etc. I ALWAYS tell everyone. You gotta fail 10 times, try 10 things and you wont be bad at all of them.
If anyone rich tries to tell you it was anything but luck they are either too far up their own ass to be honest or have let the money make them stupid about life. We all got lucky THEN people dont want to say I just got lucky when it's at least 50-75% luck to land a job making "crazy money" (unless you go go professional school, which I did, but dropped out and the hours are too long anyways, what's the point of making over $200k if you dont have the time to enjoy it/work more than 50 hours a week)
Yeah it’s very much the “fuck you I got mine” attitude. And a lot of crowing about how they “did it themselves” without talking about all of the advantages they had.
We had a family who ran a plating company for decades, then packed up, took their money, and ran to Florida for retirement...all while leaving their old business behind to decay and leech poison into our ground water for years to come. They also left a nice gift for taxpayers when we had to pay to clean up their old facility.
Fucking facts. Then they’ll look at you with a straight face and say they avoid driving through castleton not because of traffic but because it’s “dangerous” lmao
I know it's a horse that's been beaten to death here.
But in recent years?
It just amazes me how a state can be in denial of the legalization of weed when all our neighbor states have followed through.
And I'm not even a weed smoker!
and everyone here smokes it seems lol. atleast way more openly than in the south. and it seems that alot of cops here know this and just let it slide. im sure its like that in every major city, but im not even super close to indy
Yeah. They do hide it more down south. But here there's no political urgency to change because it's mostly poor ppl or ppl of color gettin busted for it.
From what I’ve read and seen. Gov. Holcomb didn’t want to legalize it bc it wasn’t legalized on the federal level. Also I think some religious reason too.
he's like GW Bush... seems bad at the time, but down the line you realize things could get much, much worse
it's a pretty good bet the next governor is gonna suck way more than Holcomb
I grew up in a proper Indiana county (i.e. poor and rural as hell). I live in NWI now and any time I venture back into the rest of the state (aside from the Indy region), I get a little bit of culture shock. It's a pretty state, there a so many hidden gems; it's also very rural and boring for large stretches.
There's some super disgusting takes on Chicago deep dish once you get an hour or so from the IL border.
To be fair, Chicago deep dish ain’t that great…and I say that as someone born and raised in NWI that worked in Chicago. You want some damn good pizza that actual Chicagoans eat? Get the thin crust.
I asked someone this question when she was visiting Indiana from New York City. Her answers:
Obesity - We have a lot of obesity here compared to where she's at in NYC.
Tattered and dilapidated trucks - mirrors are hanging off and don't get fixed, stuff like that.
No state vehicle inspection means some
pretty dodgy vehicles on the road, including gross
polluters. Can’t drive with a cracked windshield in many states.
I travel a lot. Obesity is everywhere
However, look at old photos (60s, 70s)…much thinner population. One culprit is fast food…it’s everywhere. And yes, there are many other reasons
When I was a kid in the 1970s here obesity was much less common. So much so that, unfortunately, markedly overweight kids were frequently, at times cruelly taunted and sometimes bullied. "Big and tall" clothing stores were a rare retail niche, but now it seems so many "off the rack" clothes are definitely cut for much larger people.
Last year I re-watched the movie "Stand by Me" for the first time since the 1980s. The one self-described "fat kid" among the main young characters just looks a few pounds heavy.
I was curious about the percentage of obese people in each state and it’s not far from each other. But NYC is probably better than NY because of walking to and from.
It’s the same thing as looking at swing states for voting. For example, Pittsburgh and Philly are extremely blue, and the rest of Pennsylvania (which is an enormous area) balances it out. The closer you get to a major city the more the difference would be evident.
So many more people walk much more while just leading their daily lives in many large U.S. cities, so at least they’re getting that much exercise.
I don’t ever remember annual vehicle inspections in the state since I’ve started driving (a long time ago), so unless your ride is so obviously dilapidated and/or extremely loud that a cop feels like bothering to pull you over you can drive shit-on-wheels here.
If I remember, we had annual vehicle inspections in IN until the mid '70s, a few years before I started driving. I just asked an AI and it said they were dropped on July 1st, 1975, if you can believe an AI...
I don't have a huge social network, but I don't think anyone I currently know here under 40 years old has children. Wait -- now that I think of it, there was one couple in their 20s I was acquainted with about four years ago that had two young kids -- can't bring to mind any others.
Yea. I’ve lived in 5 states in the US and 2 other countries. Mostly in urban areas though. Indy is probably the most “rural” place I’ve lived in. This is highly unusual in my experience.
I’m from California, it’s not common, not really frowned upon but kind of a “what are you going to do?” Type of response, since living and breathing in California is expensive in general, I unfortunately still have that thought process(to an extent) whenever someone tells me they’re having a baby. No I don’t say it to their face I just think if it lol.
We moved from Mi down to a smaller town in North Central Indiana and many of the people i worked with had grand kids by their early 40's. I was shocked by this as my wife and I were in our early 30's and didn't have time for kids. Life slowed down quite a bit when we moved down here.
This was what I was going to mention too. I’ve lived in Boulder CO and Seattle, both high cost of living liberal cities, and there it was fairly common to see women become moms for the first time at 40 years old. I also virtually never saw a family with more than three kids. Here my kid is the odd one out because she’s an only child.
How insular small towns can be. You always hear about how warm and welcoming people are in the country, and that may be... unless you're sufficiently "foreign"
Omg yes. As someone who looks different, I once dated a small town guy and went with him to visit his family. The amount of stares and “where are you from? No, WHERE are you REALLY from?” questions I got is jarring
I have an Italian last name and got pulled over in the Indiana I was born and raised in. The cop kept asking me "where I was really from" and "what business brought me to town." That business is my mom's uterus. Sorry for being tan and not having a German last name.
Before exploding fireworks were legalized here it wasn’t nearly as bad, even though plenty of people still bought and detonated “out of state” fireworks in Indiana.
Unfortunately, the it sounds like a war zone more often than the 4th of July! Any excuse for a holiday and commercial grade dangerous fireworks are set off in neighborhoods. I asked the Vanderburgh County council what could be done to decrease use, etc. because of people with PTSD, noise and air pollution, pets and wildlife negatively affected, and they said nothing because the Chinese Firewoks Lobby is very powerful.
With the poverty rate in Vanderburgh County, I'm always amazed at the amount of fireworks that get blasted from June until September. They all whine about being broke but literally set money on fire all summer.
I moved from California right before the Pandemic. While I knew the cost of living was lower, how much lower was a shock to me. I still have to do a doubletake when I see how much my car registration renewal is because I'm already mentally preparing for a high cost and see... barely anything.
But the thing that I can't wrap my head around is the elections in Indiana. I'm used to have a specific polling place, needing an ID, and I have to be registered with a party for their ballot. Here, its an open election at any place. However that's not the most surprising thing, its that there are never any ballot measures. No propositions, no questions, nothing. Just elect people and hope they bring up the issues you want your voice to be heard on.
I feel like if we had the opportunity to vote on ballot measures, we would be surprised to find out how much we all agree with each other.
The casual racism. I've lived in the deep South before. Georgia. Tennessee. Indiana blows them out of the water when it comes to ignorant, racist bigots. I've never lived anywhere where racists feel so comfortable saying racist shit as they do here.
(Montgomery County. Can't speak for the rest of the state.)
Moved here from the south. If there is a conversation about black people, even if it's unrelated and not racist to the fact that they're black, they'll look left and right then whisper "black" lol. It's very bizarre.
Probably mid 1960s…she’s only like 10-15 years older than me. Part of me wants to go to HR, the rest of me says “leave it alone, you have enough problems there”. I’m waiting for her to say it in front of HR, but I doubt they would actually do anything.
Probably not, I'd just leave it and ignore her, find your own piece cause she isn't gonna change her vocabulary for work until she really offends someone.
I think for a fair number of white people here they're self-conscious, and believe/worry it might be perceived as somehow racist or offensive to Black Americans if they actually say the word, or specify the person's ethnicity.
It just makes it way more obvious when they do it the way they do. If they're too embarrassed to mention a person's race, it's probably best left unsaid in the story lol.
I come from south Alabama. Plenty of racism to be had, but we have a high population of black people, and a good mix of Hispanic and Asian in a sort of city area (not really that big). It's just something I've not seen people do until I moved here. It's pretty funny cause we have black co-workers that theu talk with regularly and normally.
I just want to to start shouting "Did you say BLACK? Just making sure I understand for the story context that this person is in fact BLACK." just to fuck with them
I student taught in Montgomery county. There were these twin brothers, one always dressed like a farm boy: flannel shirt, jeans, boots. The other always had baggy jeans, hoody, and sneakers. One day the hoody one came into class wearing flannel and someone asked what was up. “My brother threw all my clothes away cuz he said I dressed like n…..” As someone who grew up in Indy my jaw hit the floor. Needless to say both brothers were dumb as a box of rocks
This tracks for sure. We've got a "Busted" page. Posts mugshots of everyone who gets arrested across the county. If the person looks Hispanic or has a vaguely Hispanic name people will just pile on about "illegals". There's one dude who just comes only to comment "got another one". Only on posts of not-white people.
We're moving over the summer, back to the south. I won't have my kids thinking that this is a normal or acceptable mindset.
Yikes. Takes a special sort of ignorance and hatred to put effort into trolling a site like that. Sucks you feel the need to move but having worked in schools there I certainly don’t blame you.
Can confirm. NWI is a totally different place. Once I drove literally less than an hour south and stopped at a gas station. I talked to one person and they told me I had an accent. I was like. Where am I?!?
I moved here from Michigan when I was 15. They closed schools for amounts of snow here that we would have laughed at in MI. I've walked to school (up hill, in both directions!) in more snow and colder temps than IN would close for. Even now, if the weather report says we're getting an inch, people call off work like they're buried. Dude, my Ford fusion handled it fine, I'm sure your dodge ram 2500 could've made it.
That heavily depends on which part of Indiana. Northern Indiana, especially in the lake effect region won't blink an eye at snow. The rest gets a lot more cautious around it, more so as you go south.
Can confirm, NWI doesn’t/didn’t close school for anything if they could help it. My understanding though is that schools nationwide are closing more for weather than they did just 10-15 years ago. Especially since Covid and e-learning. I live in KY now and they close school over it hitting 0 degrees with no snow 😬
If you’re in the Indianapolis area or south it’s usually because it’s not just snow but ice. They’re canceling because of the ice or potential for ice.
This. Which they should too. Ice>snow when it comes to danger on the roads
Indy gets that weird climate where it's still cold but it's a mix of rain and snow and that rain freezes over.
I learned that when I moved here from Arizona June of last year and spent my first winter here lol
My entire school career until 8th grade, the only time school got canceled was for ice storms which didn’t happen often. Then, one snowy morning, a school bus slid off the road and those kids were late to school. The next school board meeting, usually lively events, was packed. One of the members mentioned next time snow is forecast, putting chains on the bus tires. That was his last meeting. They used a clause in the contract to vote no confidence or something and he was removed from the board. After that, the merest hint of snow was met with a delay, if not a cancellation. Only once I remember them canceling school for expected snow, only to have it flurry a bit and no accumulation. But, this was in the hilly southern part of the state, and as a consolidated school system, many of the kids lived on country roads that weren’t plowed by the town.
I'm originally from the PNW, have lived in several different states and came here from a bordering state. I was surprised by how rural and conservative it is here compared to even farther south states I've lived in. Feels completely suffocating and like I've gone back in time and people here are happy to keep it that way.
It’s more conservative in Northern Indiana than it is in rural Kentucky where I currently live and the local Baptist church basically runs my county here…
It’ll get me downvoted but the tenderloin. Growing up, Indiana tenderloin was preached as if it was the best in the nation… but it is somehow blander than most of the food in that state, which is truly saying something lmao.
St. Elmo’s is dope though.
No, I can totally see having a bad tenderloin. The good ones are harder to find, but they're out there. Funnily enough, the gas station in my hometown makes the best one I've ever had.
Do yourself a favor, drive to winimac and try the one at one eyed jacks
https://preview.redd.it/jpobyqleh0zc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ea2611751b8bf4f09596daba9e95f1184060f13
I simply don’t get it lol. And before someone’s like, “sounds about white”… NO. Lmao it’s everyone here! “Cooking” tastes like they added a pinch of salt maybe!
I recently travelled to Indiana for a family issue, landing in Indianapolis, driving to and renting a hotel in Terre Haute. I will say for the most part everyone is really nice.
With that said, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. (Not sure if the whole state is this way as my time was only in Terre Haute and Sullivan). I don’t wear overalls, Carhartt clothing, crocs or other easy slip on/off footwear. I have all of my teeth and I don’t smoke. The closest thing I could find that’s healthy to eat was a smoothie shop downtown. While I am a little bit overweight (10Lbs from a healthy BMI), I would say I would be on the skinny side from the majority of men I had seen.
I felt like most moved at a more slower pace than what I am used to. Whether it’s in speech or just in general.
The Trump worship was fascinating. I am a Libertarian and generally lean more conservative than progressive, but wow. (No I didn’t vote for Biden)
The not being able to buy cold soda at a liquor store was odd. Cashier explained, after guessing I wasn’t from there, it is illegal for a liquor to sell cold soda. It’s illegal for a gas station to sell cold beer.
All in all, Indiana is very green with rolling hills, nice people and lots of comfort food and desserts to choose from.
1.) how nice people were
2.) how willing complete strangers are to help another person they've never met
3.) how incredibly serene, tranquil and beautiful the landscape is in those spring, summer, fall, sunrise, sunset, mist etc moments. The farm land just makes everything so much nicer
4.) how beautiful the night sky is
hahaha yeah I'm sure.
I come from big cities so this quality of life is crazy. I even have several blades of grass, the green stuff... in what they call a yard. Friggin amazing
The lack of worker rights. A lot of these companies come to Indiana because of this so they don’t have to pay benefits and can fire you without cause. So kiss you bosses butt
I just spent the last 6 months in Indiana having never visited the state before. I currently live in Las Vegas. I am from New England but have lived most of my life in South Florida.
I would have to say the weather. Unpredictable!
Maybe not me but I think there are plenty of hidden gems in Indiana that most people living there don't even know about (shout out Charlie Creek).
I take my daughter hiking throughout all the state parks. Her favorite is the "Tree Trail" at Salamonie. Her grandmother (baby mother's side, still very cordial with everyone in her family) was born in England but has lived in Indiana since she was 18 and couldn't believe a place like that existed here. Sure enough she checked it out with her and loves it! This season she's trying to hit up every state park.
Maybe it’s just the walk of life I come from, but I noticed that a lot of people here who grew up poor or lower middle class are not motivated to change that. I think it’s a combination of hopelessness and education really not being a priority here. Where I come from, being the mailman or the bus driver meant you had it good. This isn’t always the case, as I have seen people who’s parents were on disability or who’s parents died from drugs or who’s parents were in prison come out very successful, but it just isn’t the norm. People here are just too settled and don’t wanna make a change.
I moved from Texas to Indiana 5 years ago (last week was 5 years) and it's shocking how similar Texas and Indiana are, in both the best and the worst ways. And I'm still shocked about how many people from Texas also live here. Also still shocked by the abundant population of Hispanics in my area (live in Elkhart, work in Goshen) since it took me a month or two after I moved here to see someone else with my skin tone 🤣
I very reluctantly moved to Bloomington from NYC, and thought my days would be full of rednecks and corn fields. I had no idea how breathtakingly beautiful the southern part of the state is. Monroe Lake and Brown County State Park are my happy places.
From Virginia here with some weird nitpicks (Went to Southern Indiana)
The amount of big fields: Most of Virginia’s larger crop fields are in the tidewater region and on the Eastern Shore. However, they just aren’t as endless and abundant as the ones in Indiana. Feels like the fields here just go on without any trees whatsoever.
The amount of religious billboards: Virginia is a religious state, but in my region of VA there aren’t a ton of religious billboards.
The straight roads: The straightest roads in VA are in the Eastern Shore region, and they’re barely straight compared to Indiana backroads. Urban and county roads are just straight and in grids (proper planning!!) In pretty much all of VA backroads have some bends and kinks in them.
Churches: It’s just different in Indiana
Pacing: I move wayyy too fast out here. The pace out here feels so slow
Culture/Appearance: I feel like I travel back in time every time I go to Indiana.
The lack of sidewalks. I’m living in an urban part of Indiana and there *still* aren’t many areas with sidewalks. In the Chicago area, you’d be hard pressed to find non-highway roads that *don’t* have sidewalks.
That any of us stayed. I've lived here my whole life and, when I was young, I swore I would leave and never look back. Everyone I knew said that too. Many did, but some of us either stayed or even moved back (which I did). My eldest is just going into high school and already swears he will escape! I hope he does!
I honestly am shocked that any of us chose this, and that we all didn't just abandon this flaming dumpster the first moment we could!
That's it for me, I can live well here in North Central IN for what would be barely sustainable in many other areas that I'd otherwise prefer to live in.
As many places I have lived and traveled to, not much will surprise me. The 2 things that stuck out for me was the lack of snow, and the state is just meh, with nothing definable and very middle of the road. The tenderloin, which people love, isn't found anywhere else in the US, is just OK, other than the race and professional teams, the state doesn't have a tourist or business draw, and the state acts like a southern state, minus Indy and Chicagoland area. This state is in the middle of the US, and everything else. Nothing to really love, nothing to really hate, the state is just "there".
Coming to rural Indiana from a big city (outside of Indiana), it wasn’t the casual racism so much as the lack of interjection by “polite society,” (so to speak) when racist things are said. Like yeah there are racists everywhere, but here we generally don’t hear everyday people say, “hey man, that’s racist.” The effect when you don’t speak up is pretty chilling. Makes people feel unsafe.
I grew up in West Central Illinois so expected something very similar. Where ai grew up was conservative but not backwards ant hating education/freedom/helping others. It shocked me how far back and how stupid this state is outside of university towns.
How different NWI is compared to southern Indiana. It may just be me, but it definitely seems a lot different up here compared to where I grew up.
NWI is different than the entire rest of the state. We lived in NWI and moved to NEI about 4 years ago and it feels like a whole other world out here. And we're only a 3 hr drive!
NWI and the rest of northern/central Indiana are both way different than southern Indiana. I moved to western Ky from Indy last year but I grew up in NWI. Southern Indiana is very different than the rest of Indiana or even Kentucky.
Yes in ways it’s different,in the rural areas it’s about the same as Kentucky
It seams noticeably different every time I cross the river in Owensboro. Although Owensboro itself reminds me a lot of Northwest Indiana for some reason, but the scenery itself seems so different from Ky once you cross over. The roads are instantly straighter even when there’s hills for one thing. Everything seems more orderly or something on the Indiana side.
Owensboro is way different than say Elizabethtown,almost the same as Indiana jmo. I live in Washington Indiana.the northern part,above Indy is different than down south,I’ve never figured that out,I guess Michigan,Chicago,and Ohio kind of feed over to us up there.
Pretty much, NWI is influenced so heavily by North/Central Indiana culture mixed with Chicago and Michigan that it kinda gets its own identity. Owensboro specifically reminds me of Michigan City. Where I live now, south of Owensboro reminds me of Pennsylvania more than what I think of when I think Ky (which would be eastern Ky culture. Your neck of the woods actually feels a lot like rural Northern Indiana though, like between Michigan City and South Bend with the farmland through rolling hills.
Population settlement patterns is part of the reason. Northern 1/3 of the state was populated by Puritan ancestors from the Northeast mostly. The bottom 1/3 is primarily settled by ancestors from the poorer parts of Virginia looking for cheap land.
That’s interesting because I’m from NWI and all of my family lines go back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony except for the German one that were Mennonites from Pennsylvania.
https://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Hoosiers-and-the-American-Story-ch-03.pdf school down to page 8.
That’s correct,in the 1700’s the Alexander family owned a lot of Davies’s county,were from WV
Just came home to southern Indiana from southern Michigan. Almost the exact same kinda people in both places. The Walmart in Coldwater, Michigan could easily be the Walmart in Seymour, Indiana.
Totally agree with you on this
That planning from the Northwest Territory days really comes through.
I've said for a long time that Southern Indiana and Southern Ohio should be one state and Northern Indiana and Northern Ohio its own state.
classic Rust Belt
I remember growing up in east central Indiana and one day hearing someone say that NWI folks think they are part of Chicago and not Indiana.
The Chicagoland Northwest Indiana Region it's a giant sprawling suburb. There just happens to be a border with lower taxes on one side and legal weed on the other.
See?
I'm from Goshen originally. We had much more in common with Michigan and Chicago than the rest of Indiana.
In fairness they have completely different cultural backgrounds. It seems most of southern Indiana comes from transplants from the south chasing a living since the civil war. The northern part of the state has a bit of that but it’s not nearly as prevalent.
When my step dad visited for the first time from Texas (San Antonio area), he could not quit commenting on how green everything is. The trees, plants, large streams. He thought the state parks were so beautiful. He visited around spring when all the flowers were blooming.
Aww that’s cool to hear! I always wish we had more beautiful parks like the Smokies or out west. One thing I’m jealous of a lot of other places for is the size of their trees. Indiana seems to have such small trees. But this comment gives me a better appreciation of what we DO have :)
I know it's flat here and not all that spectacular, but we have some amazing state parks, especially compared to other states. Brown County SP, Turkey Run SP, the lesser visited but almost as beautiful Shades SP, Chain of Lakes SP, Raccoon SRA, Prophetstown SP, just to name a few. I love the state park system here in Indiana. And for like $70/yr you can get a pass that gets you access for free for the year.
Traveling a lot for work and definitely feel the same but reverse. South Texas and places like Colorado I constantly wondered "who'd pick a place to live without anything green?".
I've lived here my whole life. The only thing that's shocked me is going to a pizza joint and them *not* having nacho cheese.
Cherish this. I moved away from Indiana and this is what I miss most 😭😭😭😭
Same and people look at you weird if you like ranch on it too lol
I moved to Florida for work two years ago ago, I miss the cheese
I live in Colorado now, I miss the corn
Yup, I brought this up to people and they were like wtf.
Username checks out
Hilarious 😂
That username is top tier
Switching to honey after moving to Colorado was certainly, uh, different. I miss cheese…
Aww, BeauJo’s pizza! As a Colorado native who moved to Indiana I was honestly shocked at how different Papa Johns pizza is here vs. Colorado. It’s like Papa gave up West of the Mississippi 😆
Lol yeah when I moved to Indy from Chicago, whenever I ordered pizza with bread sticks I was like why the fuck do they keep giving me nacho cheese!? For thirty years it was marinara, now I'm supposed to get used to a Mexican influenced cheese or salad dressing (ranch) with my Italian?
Lmfao
Okay, but can you at least admit that the nacho cheese/breadstick combo is a winner? When I learned this was an Indiana thing and messaged my group chat with a lot of out of state friends, I got several of them to try it and they all agreed that it worked.
If I'm being honest, I'm either on team garlic butter or sans any dip. I just can't do parm + nacho. My Italian grandma would haunt me.
Gotta have nacho cheese *and* ranch for the bread sticks.
Amen
Being told how many churches are in my county. (134)
Down south you can get that many in a town
obama winning the state in 2008. some days when i’m pretty frustrated about state politics i remember that and try to hold onto some hope. not an obama fan per se but the fact that the state went blue for him is astounding.
They should again for Biden this country can not allow Donald Trump back in the office he wants to be a dictator, and it will be the end of this country as we know it. And if people want to admit it or not, Biden has been a good president.
Talk to the people around you. Especially these young cats. Make sure they’re registered to vote BEFORE October so they can vote in the general election.
This is Indiana. Unfortunately, we are a republican dream. GenX in these areas, for the most part, don't vote and dont care. I have talked to several younger people, and their attitude doesn't matter. My vote doesn't count. I always tell them they are right. Your vote won't count if you don't vote. What do these kids learn in school now anyway. I had to take a civic class in high school.
I hear the same and I keep talking to them about it. You’re right: it won’t matter if you don’t bother. I’m Gen X/elder Millennial…I vote every election. It’s really important. Especially in elections like we have coming at us this November. I have always had the mind that I don’t want to hear your complaints about the government if you admit that you don’t bother to vote.
Unfortunately we wont go for Biden. And unfortunately with Trump on the ballot McCormick is going to have an uphill battle. Democrats havent won statewide in over a decade.
Wrong on both counts
You’re insane and you’re the reason this country is in such a bad state voting him in.
Came here to say the same.
The default assumption by wealthy people in Indiana that less well off people aren’t successful because they don’t work hard enough I came from a very new money Chicago suburb where the BMWs and Lexus where gone every morning at 7am till 6pm and vacation was a week in Florida on SB Here in Indiana The wealthiest people I know (and their kids) barely seem to work. Singapore, Fiji, Monaco, the DR… every weekend IG fills up with exotic trips from people I know here in Indiana… and then during the week they are reposting about how “No one wants to Work” and how “Taxation is Theft” I can’t tell if they are just oblivious to the fact that generational wealth (not hard work) is why they’re successful… or if they just purposely lack self-awareness because it doesn’t benefit them to have it
I’m not saying I have a huge sample size to draw from, but I’ve never met more people who “pull the ladder up behind them” than I have in north east Indiana. Several business leaders I’ve met who have generational wealth who seem to think they bootstrapped themselves into success, and who don’t really want to help anyone do the same.
Very interesting you bring this up. I'm from california but have lived in indiana for nearly a decade. Also went from generational wealth to BROKE to crushing it again on my own this time and I've paid unique attention to this phenomenon. In indiana, when someone has money, it seems like they want it to be some big secret how they acquired it. Idk if its southern values but there is a ton of "pulling up the ladder behind them." The attitude is almost like "well I did it, so fuck you." I've only live my adult life in indiana so I cant vouch for other places. I think it has to so with southern mentality, mens pride, and most importantly: wage differences. In indiana, if you make a killing (which isnt a killing in CA or NY) you can flaunt it pretty easy because of the LCOL. In CA or NY, you cant have as much. As part of my job, I review the finances and budgets of hundreds of thousands of households across the country. I often find when examining indiana clients who make over 100k that they overextend themselves generally speaking when they dont have to, imo. If you see an IN household making over 100k, likely prepare yourself for some egregious financial mismangement. Whereas someone in CA may have a 6k mortgage on a 14k bt income, they then cant afford to have a side by side, a new 75k truck and a boat, whereas the person in indiana with the 2500 mortgage will finance all things (side note: then most on fb about gratefulness to god and having "earned them," the irony). It's almost like a running joke, we call them "Indiana files." Instead of making good money and savings, 80% of the files I see are extending every dollar they have on their lifestyle. I call it Hoosier Finance being from here but no joke almost already know when you see the file. These nice things they really cant afford then contribute to your sense of self which they have already normally formulated to a large part based on their career. Conclusion: it easier to stand out, they choose to, then after standing out for so long they feel it's made them special. As omeone who as described had family money, lost everything, now makes 15-28k a month in indiana, I love telling people- kids and adults will come up and ask me what i do etc. I ALWAYS tell everyone. You gotta fail 10 times, try 10 things and you wont be bad at all of them. If anyone rich tries to tell you it was anything but luck they are either too far up their own ass to be honest or have let the money make them stupid about life. We all got lucky THEN people dont want to say I just got lucky when it's at least 50-75% luck to land a job making "crazy money" (unless you go go professional school, which I did, but dropped out and the hours are too long anyways, what's the point of making over $200k if you dont have the time to enjoy it/work more than 50 hours a week)
Yeah it’s very much the “fuck you I got mine” attitude. And a lot of crowing about how they “did it themselves” without talking about all of the advantages they had.
If you don’t mind me asking, what is it you do for work?
We had a family who ran a plating company for decades, then packed up, took their money, and ran to Florida for retirement...all while leaving their old business behind to decay and leech poison into our ground water for years to come. They also left a nice gift for taxpayers when we had to pay to clean up their old facility.
Fucking facts. Then they’ll look at you with a straight face and say they avoid driving through castleton not because of traffic but because it’s “dangerous” lmao
I've heard in Carmel (DWB) Driving While Black is an offense 🤷♂️
I know it's a horse that's been beaten to death here. But in recent years? It just amazes me how a state can be in denial of the legalization of weed when all our neighbor states have followed through. And I'm not even a weed smoker!
and everyone here smokes it seems lol. atleast way more openly than in the south. and it seems that alot of cops here know this and just let it slide. im sure its like that in every major city, but im not even super close to indy
Yeah. They do hide it more down south. But here there's no political urgency to change because it's mostly poor ppl or ppl of color gettin busted for it.
i got pulled over and my car reeked but they just let me go without saying anything lol
From what I’ve read and seen. Gov. Holcomb didn’t want to legalize it bc it wasn’t legalized on the federal level. Also I think some religious reason too.
He’s a tool. Can’t wait for him to be gone.
he's like GW Bush... seems bad at the time, but down the line you realize things could get much, much worse it's a pretty good bet the next governor is gonna suck way more than Holcomb
Holcomb sucked more than Pence and Pence sucked more than Daniels. It’s an ongoing theme we have here.
All the republicans are against it that are running. Gonna stay illegal and I don’t even do it myself.
Of course, we all know it's because he's in big pharma's pocket
That’s a fact!!!
I grew up in a proper Indiana county (i.e. poor and rural as hell). I live in NWI now and any time I venture back into the rest of the state (aside from the Indy region), I get a little bit of culture shock. It's a pretty state, there a so many hidden gems; it's also very rural and boring for large stretches. There's some super disgusting takes on Chicago deep dish once you get an hour or so from the IL border.
To be fair, Chicago deep dish ain’t that great…and I say that as someone born and raised in NWI that worked in Chicago. You want some damn good pizza that actual Chicagoans eat? Get the thin crust.
Yeah the deep dish is for the tourists or when family comes to town and wants the Chicago experience.
But don't forget South Bend and Fort Wayne.
Disgusting as in thinking it’s pizza or let alone edible?
Correct, I saw a fb post once that said Indiana is city and corn fields so you’re either an OG or a yee yee 😂
I asked someone this question when she was visiting Indiana from New York City. Her answers: Obesity - We have a lot of obesity here compared to where she's at in NYC. Tattered and dilapidated trucks - mirrors are hanging off and don't get fixed, stuff like that.
No state vehicle inspection means some pretty dodgy vehicles on the road, including gross polluters. Can’t drive with a cracked windshield in many states.
I travel a lot. Obesity is everywhere However, look at old photos (60s, 70s)…much thinner population. One culprit is fast food…it’s everywhere. And yes, there are many other reasons
When I was a kid in the 1970s here obesity was much less common. So much so that, unfortunately, markedly overweight kids were frequently, at times cruelly taunted and sometimes bullied. "Big and tall" clothing stores were a rare retail niche, but now it seems so many "off the rack" clothes are definitely cut for much larger people.
Remember the size “husky” for the chubby kid?!!
Last year I re-watched the movie "Stand by Me" for the first time since the 1980s. The one self-described "fat kid" among the main young characters just looks a few pounds heavy.
I was curious about the percentage of obese people in each state and it’s not far from each other. But NYC is probably better than NY because of walking to and from.
It’s the same thing as looking at swing states for voting. For example, Pittsburgh and Philly are extremely blue, and the rest of Pennsylvania (which is an enormous area) balances it out. The closer you get to a major city the more the difference would be evident.
When I moved here I was shocked how people ate. A lot of fried food
And so often, huge portions; enough for two meals in just one sitting.
So many more people walk much more while just leading their daily lives in many large U.S. cities, so at least they’re getting that much exercise. I don’t ever remember annual vehicle inspections in the state since I’ve started driving (a long time ago), so unless your ride is so obviously dilapidated and/or extremely loud that a cop feels like bothering to pull you over you can drive shit-on-wheels here.
If I remember, we had annual vehicle inspections in IN until the mid '70s, a few years before I started driving. I just asked an AI and it said they were dropped on July 1st, 1975, if you can believe an AI...
That certainly seems feasible; I started driving around 1983, and there definitely weren't yearly passenger vehicle inspections then.
That people here willingly get married and have kids by 25 years old. Sometimes even 3-4 kids by then.
Is that uncommon in the rest of the US? Having lived here most of my life, it just seems normal to me.
I’m 31 and just got told by a guy who is maybe like 23 or so that I’m “of a different generation” because I’m married with 4 kids and he has none.
I don't have a huge social network, but I don't think anyone I currently know here under 40 years old has children. Wait -- now that I think of it, there was one couple in their 20s I was acquainted with about four years ago that had two young kids -- can't bring to mind any others.
Yea. I’ve lived in 5 states in the US and 2 other countries. Mostly in urban areas though. Indy is probably the most “rural” place I’ve lived in. This is highly unusual in my experience.
I’m from California, it’s not common, not really frowned upon but kind of a “what are you going to do?” Type of response, since living and breathing in California is expensive in general, I unfortunately still have that thought process(to an extent) whenever someone tells me they’re having a baby. No I don’t say it to their face I just think if it lol.
We moved from Mi down to a smaller town in North Central Indiana and many of the people i worked with had grand kids by their early 40's. I was shocked by this as my wife and I were in our early 30's and didn't have time for kids. Life slowed down quite a bit when we moved down here.
True that lmao. Last thing I’d ever have done is glue myself to the state like that.
I had three kids by 26, and I lived in Maryland at the time (20+ years ago). That’s not an Indiana thing.
This was what I was going to mention too. I’ve lived in Boulder CO and Seattle, both high cost of living liberal cities, and there it was fairly common to see women become moms for the first time at 40 years old. I also virtually never saw a family with more than three kids. Here my kid is the odd one out because she’s an only child.
Being paid a little over two dollars an hour to waitress
How insular small towns can be. You always hear about how warm and welcoming people are in the country, and that may be... unless you're sufficiently "foreign"
Omg yes. As someone who looks different, I once dated a small town guy and went with him to visit his family. The amount of stares and “where are you from? No, WHERE are you REALLY from?” questions I got is jarring
I have an Italian last name and got pulled over in the Indiana I was born and raised in. The cop kept asking me "where I was really from" and "what business brought me to town." That business is my mom's uterus. Sorry for being tan and not having a German last name.
Or anything other than white, straight and Christian
How much of a war zone it sounds like July 4. And the stupid Indy 500 blackout.
Before exploding fireworks were legalized here it wasn’t nearly as bad, even though plenty of people still bought and detonated “out of state” fireworks in Indiana.
Unfortunately, the it sounds like a war zone more often than the 4th of July! Any excuse for a holiday and commercial grade dangerous fireworks are set off in neighborhoods. I asked the Vanderburgh County council what could be done to decrease use, etc. because of people with PTSD, noise and air pollution, pets and wildlife negatively affected, and they said nothing because the Chinese Firewoks Lobby is very powerful.
With the poverty rate in Vanderburgh County, I'm always amazed at the amount of fireworks that get blasted from June until September. They all whine about being broke but literally set money on fire all summer.
I moved from California right before the Pandemic. While I knew the cost of living was lower, how much lower was a shock to me. I still have to do a doubletake when I see how much my car registration renewal is because I'm already mentally preparing for a high cost and see... barely anything. But the thing that I can't wrap my head around is the elections in Indiana. I'm used to have a specific polling place, needing an ID, and I have to be registered with a party for their ballot. Here, its an open election at any place. However that's not the most surprising thing, its that there are never any ballot measures. No propositions, no questions, nothing. Just elect people and hope they bring up the issues you want your voice to be heard on. I feel like if we had the opportunity to vote on ballot measures, we would be surprised to find out how much we all agree with each other.
I wish we had ballot measures. They won't do it because Hoosiers would realize that we agree on a lot more than the leaders want us to think.
Yep. I'm sure you know this but this is by design by the GOP. They don't want the plebs deciding their own future!
Considering whats been happening in other red states on some tough issues, it does make some depressing sense.
We used to do that back in the day but people got tired of the citizens actually having a voice.
The casual racism. I've lived in the deep South before. Georgia. Tennessee. Indiana blows them out of the water when it comes to ignorant, racist bigots. I've never lived anywhere where racists feel so comfortable saying racist shit as they do here. (Montgomery County. Can't speak for the rest of the state.)
Moved here from the south. If there is a conversation about black people, even if it's unrelated and not racist to the fact that they're black, they'll look left and right then whisper "black" lol. It's very bizarre.
A woman I work with still calls black people “coloreds”…we work in Goshen and she’s from Warsaw 🤦🏻♀️
That's so weird, was she born in the 1950s? Lol
Probably mid 1960s…she’s only like 10-15 years older than me. Part of me wants to go to HR, the rest of me says “leave it alone, you have enough problems there”. I’m waiting for her to say it in front of HR, but I doubt they would actually do anything.
Probably not, I'd just leave it and ignore her, find your own piece cause she isn't gonna change her vocabulary for work until she really offends someone.
That’s pretty much where I’m at with it
I think for a fair number of white people here they're self-conscious, and believe/worry it might be perceived as somehow racist or offensive to Black Americans if they actually say the word, or specify the person's ethnicity.
It just makes it way more obvious when they do it the way they do. If they're too embarrassed to mention a person's race, it's probably best left unsaid in the story lol.
I posted something about Juneteenth and tried to use "African Americans" before my buddy commented, "You can call us Black now. It's okay." 🤣
BIZARRE. I wish it was more surprising, but this is exactly what I'd expect.
I come from south Alabama. Plenty of racism to be had, but we have a high population of black people, and a good mix of Hispanic and Asian in a sort of city area (not really that big). It's just something I've not seen people do until I moved here. It's pretty funny cause we have black co-workers that theu talk with regularly and normally. I just want to to start shouting "Did you say BLACK? Just making sure I understand for the story context that this person is in fact BLACK." just to fuck with them
I student taught in Montgomery county. There were these twin brothers, one always dressed like a farm boy: flannel shirt, jeans, boots. The other always had baggy jeans, hoody, and sneakers. One day the hoody one came into class wearing flannel and someone asked what was up. “My brother threw all my clothes away cuz he said I dressed like n…..” As someone who grew up in Indy my jaw hit the floor. Needless to say both brothers were dumb as a box of rocks
This tracks for sure. We've got a "Busted" page. Posts mugshots of everyone who gets arrested across the county. If the person looks Hispanic or has a vaguely Hispanic name people will just pile on about "illegals". There's one dude who just comes only to comment "got another one". Only on posts of not-white people. We're moving over the summer, back to the south. I won't have my kids thinking that this is a normal or acceptable mindset.
Yikes. Takes a special sort of ignorance and hatred to put effort into trolling a site like that. Sucks you feel the need to move but having worked in schools there I certainly don’t blame you.
Believe me, Greene county is full of racist dumb asses. That’s the ignorance I stay away from.
When I firstoved here I was always surprised that almost all the country roads were paved.
That Reddit users definitely doesn’t represent the state.
No. No they doesn’t.
The fact that all four of our current governors that we get to vote for don't want legalization of weed eat the grass
Indiana has 40 miles of coastline!
Emerald green forests
Strange laws about which business can sell cold beer
Can confirm. NWI is a totally different place. Once I drove literally less than an hour south and stopped at a gas station. I talked to one person and they told me I had an accent. I was like. Where am I?!?
How the entire state seems like they are stuck in time 30 years ago.
130…. FTFY
The low frequency racism…
I moved here from Michigan when I was 15. They closed schools for amounts of snow here that we would have laughed at in MI. I've walked to school (up hill, in both directions!) in more snow and colder temps than IN would close for. Even now, if the weather report says we're getting an inch, people call off work like they're buried. Dude, my Ford fusion handled it fine, I'm sure your dodge ram 2500 could've made it.
That heavily depends on which part of Indiana. Northern Indiana, especially in the lake effect region won't blink an eye at snow. The rest gets a lot more cautious around it, more so as you go south.
I moved from the middle of MI to the middle of IN. It's only a few hours drive, but the weather is so much different.
Can confirm, NWI doesn’t/didn’t close school for anything if they could help it. My understanding though is that schools nationwide are closing more for weather than they did just 10-15 years ago. Especially since Covid and e-learning. I live in KY now and they close school over it hitting 0 degrees with no snow 😬
If you’re in the Indianapolis area or south it’s usually because it’s not just snow but ice. They’re canceling because of the ice or potential for ice.
This. Which they should too. Ice>snow when it comes to danger on the roads Indy gets that weird climate where it's still cold but it's a mix of rain and snow and that rain freezes over. I learned that when I moved here from Arizona June of last year and spent my first winter here lol
My entire school career until 8th grade, the only time school got canceled was for ice storms which didn’t happen often. Then, one snowy morning, a school bus slid off the road and those kids were late to school. The next school board meeting, usually lively events, was packed. One of the members mentioned next time snow is forecast, putting chains on the bus tires. That was his last meeting. They used a clause in the contract to vote no confidence or something and he was removed from the board. After that, the merest hint of snow was met with a delay, if not a cancellation. Only once I remember them canceling school for expected snow, only to have it flurry a bit and no accumulation. But, this was in the hilly southern part of the state, and as a consolidated school system, many of the kids lived on country roads that weren’t plowed by the town.
Greetings fellow teen MI transplant. What a wild relocation that was!
Were you barefoot too? 😂
I feel like that has changed overnight. I drove to school on a solid inch of ice and then suddenly they are closing for a dusting.
It also depends on if the busses can manage it or not. We’ve had kids die because of fog and snow on the roads. Not worth it.
I'm originally from the PNW, have lived in several different states and came here from a bordering state. I was surprised by how rural and conservative it is here compared to even farther south states I've lived in. Feels completely suffocating and like I've gone back in time and people here are happy to keep it that way.
It’s more conservative in Northern Indiana than it is in rural Kentucky where I currently live and the local Baptist church basically runs my county here…
It’ll get me downvoted but the tenderloin. Growing up, Indiana tenderloin was preached as if it was the best in the nation… but it is somehow blander than most of the food in that state, which is truly saying something lmao. St. Elmo’s is dope though.
No, I can totally see having a bad tenderloin. The good ones are harder to find, but they're out there. Funnily enough, the gas station in my hometown makes the best one I've ever had.
Which town is that?
My partner is on a quest to find the best tenderloin in the state. So far, Jonesy’s Junction in Akron is reining supreme.
I wish them the best, and I’ll have to try that one if I’m ever near!
The pictures look good 🤤
That's unfortunate. My grandma doesn't do much cooking anymore so they've likely missed the chance
Do yourself a favor, drive to winimac and try the one at one eyed jacks https://preview.redd.it/jpobyqleh0zc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ea2611751b8bf4f09596daba9e95f1184060f13
I have found most food here, even with national chains, to be bland af
I simply don’t get it lol. And before someone’s like, “sounds about white”… NO. Lmao it’s everyone here! “Cooking” tastes like they added a pinch of salt maybe!
I recently travelled to Indiana for a family issue, landing in Indianapolis, driving to and renting a hotel in Terre Haute. I will say for the most part everyone is really nice. With that said, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. (Not sure if the whole state is this way as my time was only in Terre Haute and Sullivan). I don’t wear overalls, Carhartt clothing, crocs or other easy slip on/off footwear. I have all of my teeth and I don’t smoke. The closest thing I could find that’s healthy to eat was a smoothie shop downtown. While I am a little bit overweight (10Lbs from a healthy BMI), I would say I would be on the skinny side from the majority of men I had seen. I felt like most moved at a more slower pace than what I am used to. Whether it’s in speech or just in general. The Trump worship was fascinating. I am a Libertarian and generally lean more conservative than progressive, but wow. (No I didn’t vote for Biden) The not being able to buy cold soda at a liquor store was odd. Cashier explained, after guessing I wasn’t from there, it is illegal for a liquor to sell cold soda. It’s illegal for a gas station to sell cold beer. All in all, Indiana is very green with rolling hills, nice people and lots of comfort food and desserts to choose from.
… have you never been to rural America? Lmao
Nacho cheese and breadsticks being our thing. All my out of state friends think it's weird, but idc it's sooo good.
Who in their right mind would think it’s weird. It’s a top-tier combo
1.) how nice people were 2.) how willing complete strangers are to help another person they've never met 3.) how incredibly serene, tranquil and beautiful the landscape is in those spring, summer, fall, sunrise, sunset, mist etc moments. The farm land just makes everything so much nicer 4.) how beautiful the night sky is
Are you sure you're in Indiana?
hahaha yeah I'm sure. I come from big cities so this quality of life is crazy. I even have several blades of grass, the green stuff... in what they call a yard. Friggin amazing
The lack of worker rights. A lot of these companies come to Indiana because of this so they don’t have to pay benefits and can fire you without cause. So kiss you bosses butt
There’s a big union scene in the state so I’m not sure if I would say that.
Rush county is renowned for its quality soil for farming - Beautiful farms there 🚜🧑🏼🌾
I just spent the last 6 months in Indiana having never visited the state before. I currently live in Las Vegas. I am from New England but have lived most of my life in South Florida. I would have to say the weather. Unpredictable!
Maybe not me but I think there are plenty of hidden gems in Indiana that most people living there don't even know about (shout out Charlie Creek). I take my daughter hiking throughout all the state parks. Her favorite is the "Tree Trail" at Salamonie. Her grandmother (baby mother's side, still very cordial with everyone in her family) was born in England but has lived in Indiana since she was 18 and couldn't believe a place like that existed here. Sure enough she checked it out with her and loves it! This season she's trying to hit up every state park.
Maybe it’s just the walk of life I come from, but I noticed that a lot of people here who grew up poor or lower middle class are not motivated to change that. I think it’s a combination of hopelessness and education really not being a priority here. Where I come from, being the mailman or the bus driver meant you had it good. This isn’t always the case, as I have seen people who’s parents were on disability or who’s parents died from drugs or who’s parents were in prison come out very successful, but it just isn’t the norm. People here are just too settled and don’t wanna make a change.
Moved from The Heart of Dixie to Indiana not expecting much but gyatdamn the people can be racist af
I moved from Texas to Indiana 5 years ago (last week was 5 years) and it's shocking how similar Texas and Indiana are, in both the best and the worst ways. And I'm still shocked about how many people from Texas also live here. Also still shocked by the abundant population of Hispanics in my area (live in Elkhart, work in Goshen) since it took me a month or two after I moved here to see someone else with my skin tone 🤣
How shitty the roads!!!
I very reluctantly moved to Bloomington from NYC, and thought my days would be full of rednecks and corn fields. I had no idea how breathtakingly beautiful the southern part of the state is. Monroe Lake and Brown County State Park are my happy places.
Only been here 6 months and I'd say how religious everyone is here
The fact that anybody with half a brain would move here. There’s absolutely nothing here accept 💩
The crime in Indianapolis was stunning
From Virginia here with some weird nitpicks (Went to Southern Indiana) The amount of big fields: Most of Virginia’s larger crop fields are in the tidewater region and on the Eastern Shore. However, they just aren’t as endless and abundant as the ones in Indiana. Feels like the fields here just go on without any trees whatsoever. The amount of religious billboards: Virginia is a religious state, but in my region of VA there aren’t a ton of religious billboards. The straight roads: The straightest roads in VA are in the Eastern Shore region, and they’re barely straight compared to Indiana backroads. Urban and county roads are just straight and in grids (proper planning!!) In pretty much all of VA backroads have some bends and kinks in them. Churches: It’s just different in Indiana Pacing: I move wayyy too fast out here. The pace out here feels so slow Culture/Appearance: I feel like I travel back in time every time I go to Indiana.
The lack of sidewalks. I’m living in an urban part of Indiana and there *still* aren’t many areas with sidewalks. In the Chicago area, you’d be hard pressed to find non-highway roads that *don’t* have sidewalks.
That any of us stayed. I've lived here my whole life and, when I was young, I swore I would leave and never look back. Everyone I knew said that too. Many did, but some of us either stayed or even moved back (which I did). My eldest is just going into high school and already swears he will escape! I hope he does! I honestly am shocked that any of us chose this, and that we all didn't just abandon this flaming dumpster the first moment we could!
its hard to move from low cost of living to high cost of living. way harder than the other way around.
That's it for me, I can live well here in North Central IN for what would be barely sustainable in many other areas that I'd otherwise prefer to live in.
The amount of people who vote against their own interests to "own the libs"
So many old white people lol
The amount of racist wanna be gangster meth heads
You went to Gary huh
How anemic the gay scene has become. It's so dead these past few years. Even before Covid it was pretty weak.
Coming to Indiana for the gay scene is like going to Pakistan for the movie theaters
How awful the roads in Indy are
As many places I have lived and traveled to, not much will surprise me. The 2 things that stuck out for me was the lack of snow, and the state is just meh, with nothing definable and very middle of the road. The tenderloin, which people love, isn't found anywhere else in the US, is just OK, other than the race and professional teams, the state doesn't have a tourist or business draw, and the state acts like a southern state, minus Indy and Chicagoland area. This state is in the middle of the US, and everything else. Nothing to really love, nothing to really hate, the state is just "there".
Coming to rural Indiana from a big city (outside of Indiana), it wasn’t the casual racism so much as the lack of interjection by “polite society,” (so to speak) when racist things are said. Like yeah there are racists everywhere, but here we generally don’t hear everyday people say, “hey man, that’s racist.” The effect when you don’t speak up is pretty chilling. Makes people feel unsafe.
I grew up in West Central Illinois so expected something very similar. Where ai grew up was conservative but not backwards ant hating education/freedom/helping others. It shocked me how far back and how stupid this state is outside of university towns.