IND or MEM base....the good the bad,the ugly?
 

Hey guys,

Just wondering if I could get some insight on choosing a base of either IND or MEM, from people who have lived there. What are cities like for travel,leasure,QQL, $ ect.... From what Ive read IND and MEM are pretty comparable as far as cost of living, and IND is safer to live in (I know I was shocked too:D).Well at any rate, any input on the good, the bad or the ugly would be appreciated. Thanks

I don't know much about Indy , but spent a few months in training over in Mem . And honestly its one of the worst environments I had to spend
Time in. Just a ****@y culture and
Attitude over there over all. Now sure there are nice places but they are no where near the airport .

The only thing I find nice comparing to the two is you don't get snow in Mem versus Indy.

Good luck.

Seriously consider your choices hard about Mem .

Thanks, snow/ cold isnt really a factor in my choices, I've been living in northern part of the midwest for the past 25 years( IND is quite a bit more south than my current, so the winters would be alot more mild). I was not expecting to hear you say that the culture was poor in MEM, what happend to the southern hospatility?

The area around the Mem airport= hell on earth. Mem area in the suburbs (20-25min drive) is nice. Do yourself a favor and talk to people who actually live in IND/MEM. Pilots judging the "airport areas" is not a good barometer of the overall city. If you are interested in Mem look up Germantown and collierville (if you have kids), and east Memphis/midtown/Cordova if you don't have kids. You can also look at southhaven MS. That's about where "Mem" folks live with a few exceptions.

Thanks for the replies, I have a friend that lives in MEM in Cordova. I really don't know anyone that lives in the IND area. Anyone live in IND ?

If you are thinking mem or ind look a little farther to dtw. Don't believe all the bad press, about 10 miles away from the airport and it's really nice, plus you have the best regional terminal in the us. Mem is shrinking-dtw is growing for now at least

IND is a very nice city to live in; lived there the first 9 months or so of 2006. Quite affordable, good airline service to lots of places for the size of the city, safe as long as you're not in the bad part of downtown or near-East end, and within one day's drive to almost the entire country. They don't call it "Crossroads of America" for nothing.

Avon, Brownsburg, Eagle Creek, Carmel, Noblesville, Fishers are all really nice areas (and they progressively get further from the airport in that order). Your commute to the IND terminal can be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how far out you live; I was around Allisonville Rd/86th St. when I lived there and it took me about 25 minutes to get to the old employee parking lot.

Indy really doesn't get inundated with snow; I'd say its more of a hot/humid climate than it is a snowy/wintery climate. Overall, its fairly temperate...MUCH moreso that Memphis.

I lived in Memphis the first seven years with the airline and grew up in Indy and live there now. There is very little in comparison as IND is much better in a lot of ways. Downtown IND is infinitely better and safer.

If you are a sports fan, you will have something going on all year round from the Colts to NCAA Tournaments to the 500 and Nascar race. You're a few hours from CVG, ORD, SDF and STL so a lot to go check out in other cities as well.

If you enjoy summer water activities, there is USABLE water in the are for skiing, tubing, jet skiis, boating, etc.

Memphis has some very nice areas and housing is much cheaper in the nicer areas but is farther removed from the downtown area.

I didn't mind living in Memphis but IND has a lot more attraction.

IND international is on the SW side of Indy, suburbs that lie within 10-20min of the airport include Avon, Brownsburg, Camby, Greenwood, all nice places with low crime. If you are a city person the airport is about a 10 minute straight shot on I-70 from downtown. Lots of new nice houses downtown, old northside. (Downtown up to 16th St)

Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville, Geist, McCordsville, are very nice too, however they are all on the Northside/Northeast/East side and you could have a 45min-1hr15min commute depending on traffic.

I'd be careful on living anywhere inside I-465 except the immediate downtown area.

what are some good areas that are a 20-30min ish commute in IND?