Fishers, Carmel among best places to live

Criteria: Population between 75k-500k and median home value between $75k-500k

Result: only 1 city with multiple communities landing in the top 10 of the list; Indianapolis.

Carmel, known for its award-winning Roundabouts and world-class Art scene has been hailed as the best town in America for a long time. The stats support what we all already know. 

With a Crime rate 5x lower than US avg, and a strong commitment to healthy living, innovative restaurants, and an expanding tech scene with unbeatable community amenities, Fishers also stands out. Now another Hamilton County town is getting some recognition...

[Player 3 has entered the chat] Noblesville joins in the mix: SmartAsset now lists Carmel, Fishers AND Noblesville among THE safest and THE most affordable places in USA. Whoa, didn't see that coming. /s

Indy vs. Boston battle for America's best suburbs

Joining Carmel as one of the best places to live in America (and the world), neighbors Zionsville and Westfield are now also ranked in the top 10 in the newest ‘Best Small Cities’ study, according to WalletHub: 

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581

Boston & Indy suburbs dominated the top of the list, with Lancaster (PA) taking the top spot. 

Not only is Indianapolis one of the fastest growing cities in America, it's the only city on the list not located in the South or West: 

https://www.inspectionsupport.com/resources/the-fastest-growing-metropolitan-areas-in-the-u-s/

Cinematic wins post-Pandi

With Hollywood on strike, there's been a good discussion whether they deserve the money. And with AI takin e'rrbody's jerbs, I'd say there's a good reason to argue that maybe Hollywood is dead. Not so fast; allow me to play devil's advocate. I present to you, 

Recent films that don't suck:

1. Top Gun: Maverick
2. Super Mario Bros.
3. The Covenant
4. Tetris
5. All Quiet on the Western Front
6. Pinball
7. Air
8. Hustle
9. A Man Called Otto
10. Nobody

Indy named in "21 Best Places to Go in '21"

The Best of the Best - in the World

When people ask why I still live in Indiana

Thanks to VisitHamCo for the list:

• Top Place to Live (Hamilton County) – CNN Money
• #1 Place to Live in America (Fishers) – Money Magazine
• Best Cities to Relocate to in America (Indianapolis/Carmel) – CNBC
• Best Cities for Young Professionals (Indianapolis/Carmel) – Forbes Magazine
• #1 Best City to Raise a Family in the Midwest (Carmel) – Yahoo Finance
• America’s Best City for Families (Fishers) – The Mortgage Reports
• Best Place to Raise a Family (Hamilton County) – Forbes Magazine
• Top Ten Best Towns for Families (Westfield) – Family Circle Magazine
• #2 Happiest Suburbs in the Nation (Fishers) – Movoto Real Estate
• #14 Best Place to Live (Carmel) – CNN Money Magazine
• #20 Best Small Town to Live in (Noblesville) – NerdWallet.com

Source: https://www.visithamiltoncounty.com/invest-hamilton-county/blog/post/best-places/

Hamilton Co tops 2 more lists

SmartAsset recently released a new study which found Hamilton County to be ranked #1 where people are best prepared for retirement. The study weighed four criteria: 401(k) performance, pension performance, local economic conditions (#1 in state), and access to financial advisors.

Another study by the same publication ranked the top places for small business owners to thrive. The study examined three factors: the percentage of people in a county with small business income, the proportion of that income to overall income and taxes paid by small business owners. Again. Hamilton County ranks #1 - beating dozens of top contenders. 

Indy-area concert venue ranked as world's top amphitheatre

The 24k-capacity music center (affectionately known as Deer Creek by locals for the past 30 years) finished 2018 as the top-ranked outdoor concert hall in the nation world. Also known as 'Ruoff' something-or-other to outsiders, it's home in Noblesville is nestled upon 228 beautiful acres in Hamilton County, recently ranked #1 place to live.

Selling over 588k tickets to 50+ shows during it's Summer Series, Indy outpaced Houston, Denver, SF, LA, DC, Detroit, Philly, Boston and even Berlin - all ranked in the top 10.

Indy's largest indoor venue, Lucas Oil Stadium, had one concert all year (Taylor Swift) which sold 55k+ tickets at 100% capacity.  

Best Suburb in America is...

Business Insider published a new ranking, proving once again which the best Suburb in the United States is. If you look closely at who landed at Numero Uno you'll see that not much has changed in the past decade or so.

Niche refreshed their calculations for 2018 due to the rising costs of big-city living and more millennials opting to steer away from suburbia. The major factors included to determine quality of living are: crime, unemployment rate, schools, new home price, income, amenities, and cost of living. 

America's Most Underrated City

It's that time of the year where Indianapolis takes center stage again - on ABC Sunday afternoon, to be specific. Forbes recently ran an article touting Indy as the most underrated, partly due to being the 35th largest city yet hangs with the elite, in terms of things like value, food, sports, steak, golf, and unique activities.  You might think it's weird to list both steak and food, plus golf and sports, but when you're ranked at the top of your class, you gotta give it its own press.

Sports: 

• #1 football stadium (LucasOil)
• #1 basketball stadium (Fieldhouse)
• #1 Superbowl experience (2012)
• #1 sporting event (Indy 500)
• #1 Final Four host (8 times)
• #1 NFL Combine host
• NBA All-Star 2021 2024 host
• BCS Championship 2022 host 
• Annual NCAA Championships for Swimming, Gymnastics, Track & Field. And best of all...

Golf

• Pete Dye courses (The Fort, The Brickyard, Maple Creek)
• PGA events (Crooked Stick)
• #2 city for public golf courses (Fishers)
• #1 rated public course (Eagle Creek) & only $25 w/ cart after 3pm. Speaking of value...

Value

• Top-10 hottest destination in 2018 (Conde Nast)
• Top-50 places to travel in 2017 (Travel and Leisure)
• Luxury hotels (Conrad, Alexander) cheaper than Nashville, Cincy, Minny, & KC
• #1 convention center 
• #1 airport in North America (ACI)
• mansion-like homes listed as the most affordable in the nation (sq/ft)
• #1 in downtown walkability, including covered skyway to hotels and...

Food

• Most Underrated Food City (Conde Nast)
• Top-7 most impressive city (Thrillist)
• Top-20 US Food city (Food & Wine)
• Top-15 Hottest Food Cities (Zagat)
• the Martha Hoover empire
• exploding brewery scene with award-winning craft beers (SunKing, DareDevil's LiftOff)
• the Kimbal Musk empire & farm-2-table movement, which may or may not include...

Steak

• Award-winning St. Elmo's
• Renowned: Prime 47, Char Blue, Red the Steakhouse
• Other Favorites: Shula’s, Ruth’s Chris, McCormick & Schmick’s, Morton’s, Capital Grille, Hyde Park Prime

Unique Activities

• Children's Museum, Medical History Museum and NCAA HQ
• Award-winning Indianapolis Zoo
• Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, Newfields (IMA), and Lilly House
• World's largest mini Marathon
• White River, Monon Trail, Pogues Run, Downtown Canal
• more war memorials than any other city outside DC, including the USS Indianapolis
• Eagle Creek, Geist Resevior

Carmel ranks as Best Place to Raise a Family

If there is any doubt what's the best (small) city in America, SmartAsset has joined the pool of publications aiming to ease that speculation. The only question left to debate: is it Fishers or Carmel?

The tech company used factors such as crime, jobs, and household income to determine where's the #1 place to live. With great-paying jobs, low unemployment rate, absurdly low crime rate - both property crime and violent crime - Carmel was able to pull ahead of all other U.S. cities less than 100,000 residents.
What's not mentioned is how all the roundabouts greatly improve the flow of traffic and reduce travel time. So whether you're visiting the #1 museum in America, attending the largest sporting event, flying out of the top-ranked airport, or watching a game at the best sports stadium, you're likely to get there quickly. 

Fishers named Best Place to Live

Once again, our local municipality of under 90k residents has been voted the #1 city in America. 

Fishers, a suburb of Indianapolis, offers a low cost of living alongside high community standards, great schools, a safe environment, and top-notch local services. 

The town is attracting residents and businesses from across the globe. What makes it unique is this huge emphasis on Fishers as a place with an entrepreneurial spirit. Moody’s Analytics projects 11.6% job growth in the city by 2021. Of course, some of that booming growth brings its own issues: traffic. However, they are constantly widening roads, putting in roundabouts, and making infrastructure improvements to ease some of the congestion.

The increased traffic is a small price to pay. “It’s a wonderful place to live. There’s certainly no shortage of things to do. It’s kind of anything anyone would want, aside from having a mountain range or beach in your backyard,” says one local resident. “A small part of me doesn’t want the secret of Fishers to get out.” I think the secret's out. 

Carmel (again) named best place to live

The past 10+ years have seen countless publications praise Indianapolis and it's northern suburbs, often times ranking at the top of many national lists. However, it's been a couple years since my last power rankings post, so you may have wondered how we still stacked up.

Those questions were put to rest with the latest survey conducted by Niche. Factors include: crime, schools, jobs, cost of living, and local amenities. Despite its reign at the top, I guess some still don't recognize the name. Maybe we should rename it something more catchy, like Roundabout City, USA.

Indy tops many more lists

As mentioned in numerous posts on this blog, central Indiana is continually ranked as one of the best places in America.

Here's some more proof:

• TIME "Top 10 Best Cities to Start New Career" 
• New York Times "52 Places to go in 2014"
• USA Today "Best Convention City" 
• Livability "Top 10 Downtowns" (#3)
• Locality "Most Affordable City for Yuppies"
• US News "Best State Government"

Some factors that determine these top rankings include:
the Indy 500 "Best Bucket List Sports Event"
the Children's Museum "Best Museum for Families"

In addition to being dubbed the "Amateur Sports Capital of the World", Indianapolis stands above the rest partly due to their professional team's success, shrine-like sports venues, NCAA HQ, F1 Grand Prix, PanAm Games, Superbowl(s?), the annual NFL Combine, 8* Final Fours, and the Track & Field and Swimming & Diving championships - just to name a few.


* including 2021

America's most surprising city

click image for full article

 "Clean-cut Indy is the state capital and a perfectly pleasant place to ogle racecars and take a spin around the renowned speedway. The art museum and White River State Park have their merits, as do the Mass Ave and Broad Ripple 'hoods for eating and drinking."

Update: Lonely Planet also listed Indianapolis in their Best in the US list.

Hoosiers have sexiest dreams

According to the American DreamsCloud Index, Indiana residents report dreaming about sex more than any other state.

Among all users who report their dreams to DreamCloud, your Hoosiers lead the nation in content related to sexual intercourse, pregnancy and babies. Could this be related to the survey that recognizes Indianapolis as the #1 sexually satisfied city? Or another survey that reports Indianapolis men are willing to spend the most on a first date? Or another survey that rates the kinkiest places?

Whatever's in the water, I'll have another glass.

Carmel and Fishers named America's safest place to live

This one caught my attention - not just because of the city that grabbed the #1 spot, but the cities that grabbed the top TWO spots.

Carmel just barely beat out Fishers for the #1 ranking on Movoto's List, calculated by the lowest number of violent crimes per capita (highlighted by both towns having no murders last year), how many victims of crimes, and also property crimes - most falling under the category of 'theft'.

I've already highlighted the #1 ranking bestowed upon the Indy-area in numerous other categories including affordability, livability, sports, jobs, schools, etc. and this one simply adds to the prestige that makes this metropolis so great. 

Lucas Oil Stadium ranked #1

The stadium that Peyton built, erected a year after the Colts won the Superbowl, sits alone at the top of the rankings - much like its neighbor down the street, Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Not only does Indianapolis provide a safe, affordable, compact downtown with plenty of hotspots, the city also offers the best basketball and football venues in the country. To top that off, the city also boasts impressive products on the field as well. How impressive? Well, both the Pacers and Colts are ranked #1 this year (or have been), while featuring the best young-pro-athlete-duo around: Paul George and Andrew Luck.
Anyway, back to Lucas Oil... Retractable roof? Check. Food variety? Check. Scenic view of the city? Check. Wide-open hallways allowing for easy access and decreased traffic? Check. With over 350 concession stands, lines rarely take more than a minute or two.  The stadium and the city also masterfully hosted a Superbowl last year.

Lets take a look at the other factors making Indy #1:

• professionals
• Airport
• dating
• jobs
• sex
• affordable homes
• spectator events
• sports

Indy bachelors spend the most on first date

Another national study [this time a dating site called WhatsYourPrice] has Indianapolis listed as the top-ranked city; $226 - the average amount men were willing to spend for a chance at love. Miami and Philly placed 2nd and third, respectively. What does that say when single men are willing to drop an amount equal to a car note or pair of Jordans, on a first date. Wise investment strategy, if you ask me. Generous men make better lovers. We already know Indy is #1 in that.

Indy #1 City for Young Professionals

Factoring in college-grad unemployment rate (1.9%), cost of living (#1) and wages (73% higher than non-college-grads), SurveyDonkey has named Indianapolis the top place to live for college graduates. This is the gazillionth* time Central Indiana has taken home top honors in a similar category. National publications have taken notice, have you?

* rough estimate

Indy features nations best young pro studs

1. Indy: Paul George and Andrew Luck
2. Washington: Bryce Harper and RG3
3. San Fran: Buster Posey and Colin Kaepernick
4.  L.A.: Mike Trout and Blake Griffin
5. Houston: JJ Watt and James Harden
6. Chicago: Derrick Rose and Jonathan Toews
7. Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby and Andrew McCutchen
8. Tampa: Steven Stamkos and Doug Martin
9. ATL: Julio Jones and Justin Upton
10. Dallas: Dez Bryant and Yu Darvish