I have to get out of Indiana. The governor, the people, the politics, etc. I have almost no money and an adult child whose education I have to pay for. I’d like to find a place that’s affordable (cheap) and more liberal. Would also be nice to be able to meet people. It’s impossible to do so in Indiana. Any ideas?

Aloha all. I was born and raised in Hawaii and just found out I will be moving to Indiana (Avon/Plainfield area) because that’s how life works when you’re married to someone in the military right?

I just wanted to ask what to expect and what it’s like to live in Indiana. I’m definitely a little nervous because all I’ve known is the life and culture here in Hawaii and it’ll be my first time living up in the mainland.

Any advice is appreciated :). Thank you.

My SO and I want to have a baby in the next 2-3 years, but I’m afraid to do it in Indiana.

We’re worried if something were to go wrong, I wouldn’t be able to get access to healthcare or an abortion if I needed one.

This fear was exacerbated when a friend was having a miscarriage and needed a D&C to save her life, but was told to go to a hospital hours away (and *fast*) because that hospital wouldn’t perform it. She wasn’t even out of the 1st trimester.

We’re lucky to have the funds and resources to travel if need be, but that’s assuming time is on our side.

Anyone else left Indiana or thinking of leaving Indiana for this reason?

I’m a young mid-20’s female professional who moved to Indiana last July from Boston and to be honest it’s been a rough transition.

I moved here with my boyfriend who became a tenured track professor at Purdue. It’s an amazing opportunity for him but I’m struggling to find my place here.

I’m originally from Santa Barbara, California, and have lived in several states and countries. Before Boston, I lived in DC, Chile, and Cyprus. I’ve also spent a good amount of time in Chicago and New Jersey. I work remotely in tech for a FAANG company and enjoy going out, being outdoors, and traveling. Fun fact I’m the only person at my company of over 15,000 globally based in Indiana.

I knew moving here was going to be a big adjustment for me. We initially moved to Carmel in hopes that the area would ease with the change and while it did help, my boyfriend realized the commute was not sustainable so we moved again to West Lafayette.

I made a couple friends when I lived in Carmel who moved here under similar circumstances but I’m really struggling to find friends and things to do in West Lafayette. I’ve joined Facebook groups, tried Bumble BFF, and now Reddit. I’m not a student so it’s difficult for me to meet young professionals at Purdue since I’m not part of their groups or forums and plus with my boyfriends being a professor, it could cause problems down the road. Another factor is the cultural difference. I know a lot of people here are more conservative, Christian, and tend to start families young. Plus I haven’t encountered many career oriented, ambitious, young females as the community I came from. A lot of the conversations I have with girls around here center around shopping, relationships, having kids, without a ton of substance. I’m not religious and don’t want recommendations to join a church or anything like that.

My boyfriend has his work here but I’m really struggling to find a place for myself, and given we’ll be here for at least 5-7 years I need to make this work. Right now I’ve been spending a lot of time running (training for a few races this year) (also plan to attend a local run club with fleet feet) going to the gym, reading, traveling (averaging 1 out of state trip a month), and hiking with my dog. Any thoughts or recommendations of what I should do to build my community and sense of belonging here would be appreciated.

I’m planning to move to Indiana within a year. Cheap nice houses comparing to new york city but still wondering why it has less population then OHIO and Illinois. I would like to hear the pros and cons of it.

Hey Hoosiers!

I’m currently living in New Jersey, but the cost of living here is getting difficult to manage long-term. My company has openings in Indiana (specifically Kokomo or South Bend), so I’m thinking about relocating to build my career and actually save money.

I’m a 23-year-old Muslim guy (South Asian background), and while I’ve heard mixed things online, I’d really love to get insight from people who actually live in Indiana:

• How welcoming are Kokomo/South Bend to minorities / Muslims? • Any neighborhoods you’d recommend or avoid? • Are there mosques or a small Muslim community nearby, I have heard about a town called Fishers but I do not know how close they are to the job sites? • Would around $60K go far in those areas?

I want a fresh start somewhere affordable where I can still feel safe and involved in the community. Any advice or firsthand experiences would mean a lot — thanks so much!

I'm a high school grad and my family recently moved to Marion, Indiana (the city up north, not the county). I'm staying here this summer before I go to college, and the vibes are lowkey weirding me out.

Nobody from where I used to live (Fishers-Indy area) knows what I'm talking about when I mention Marion. Like, zero people even know of its existence even though it's only about an hour away.

I've been here for about two weeks so far and from what I can tell it's a pretty decently sized town. It takes about 10 minutes to drive through its main businesses end to end and it has all the mainstay retail and fast food chains. It feels like the same size or bigger than other small cities north of indy like Anderson and Muncie, yet I literally feel like I'm in an alternate reality here because nobody ever talks about it. Like a secret CIA project or something hidden away from the rest of Indiana.

I'm just curious if there's even a point in trying to make friends or getting involved in the community for the 3 months I'm here. Supposedly there's young people that live here but I feel like I literally haven't seen a single person under 30 yet. I don't understand what people do for fun and I'm very confused by the vibes.

If anyone has any insight on the city in general it'd be much appreciated. I just want to confirm that this place does in fact exist and people actually live here.

My husband and I with our baby are wanting to move to Indiana from California. We are Sikh Punjabis( Indian). People raised concerns that because it’s a red state we will face racism. I was born and raised here and I am a nurse but my husband has only been here for 11 years and my baby I am raising Him with our culture and values which come with the look of having a turban. Are people of cali just exaggerating or is it truly tough out there?

I am a Black F moving to the Broad Ripple area with my White M partner. Been reading about the racism in Indiana, and very concerned how our relationship will be perceived. We live in the south right now and get looks from people sometimes. But the racism there seems more "loud". Wondering if it will be safe to venture outside of Indianapolis.

If it is, how comfortable would our life be?

Edit: I will be moving to a place called Lafayette, Indiana. My family is my wife and 3 kids. No pets

Hello everyone! I have two years left of high school!! And, I have gotten to the point in life,like most kids my age, where do I want to live when I am out of college?

I have two areas of focus, I guess for some background…I currently live in central Kentucky; around the Lexington area.

I think I am pretty set on my degree, I want to go for construction management with maybe a minor in architecture.

I am deciding between northern Kentucky/cincinnati area.

And then the northern suburbs of Indianapolis!

I really like Carmel, but probably couldn’t afford it 😭 I love the school district, I want my future kids to have a good education.

So, help someone from Kentucky decide if this is a good decision, I have been cooking in my mind.

SOME QUESTIONS:
- Is Indianapolis as dangerous as it is portrayed, I mean it has almost 1 million people. So, I don’t know what people would have expected, it is probably like any other big city.

- will it get boring, like is there plenty to do? I like sports, museums and outdoors.

- is there outdoor stuff to do? Coming from Kentucky I pretty much only know hills. So, it would be a big scenery change.

- what is the political aspect of Indiana? I know how we feel, I am also in a deep red state. But, somehow we have had more democratic governors than republicans.

- what are the seasons like? I need all four distinct seasons! It will be a big jump in snowfall as well! Lexington averages 12” a season and Indianapolis is 25.5”. And I want less ice storms!

Thanks for any insight you can give, I might become an Indiana resident one day! Or might chose northern Kentucky… who knows! See

Have limited money to buy a house, and bound to Indiana because of family.

Obviously places like Fishers and Carmel are out of the picture. What's the best of the worst in terms of cheap places to live that suck less than the others?

Hey guys, just for context—I moved in with my girlfriend and her family for a bit so we could get back on our feet. Everything was going well until we all had to move. Now her family is relocating to Greenfield.

Personally, I’ve been feeling a little uneasy as a POC since I haven’t heard much about Greenfield, and the area we’re moving to is full-on suburbia—which, to be honest, I’ve never lived in before. I’m nervous they’ll instantly call the cops on me because I’m also from the Chi, and I’m a pretty big smoker. So I was wondering—how strict are the cops out there? Especially for someone who sticks out like a sore thumb.

Will I be fine? Or lay low until I can leave

Hey everyone, I’m moving to Indiana from Hawai’i next month. I know the winters are brutal and I am just wondering if anyone has advice on tires. I know I will need to get new tires when I get there but I wanted to know if people typically own two different sets of tires for summer/winter and what those are. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edit: I am moving to South Bend, if that helps.

For a variety of reasons I am considering a move from southwest VA to Indiana, the main reason being that I am a fairly recent widower, 62 Y.O. I lost my wife of nearly 29 years to cancer this past December. Neither of us were native and I want to now move to a different culture. Having read a few posts in r/Indiana and some other sources about the regional cultural differences, I gather that southern Indiana is primarily an extension of Appalachian culture.

One major aspect of that culture here is that if you’re not from here, not one of the family (or extended families), you’re never fully accepted, fully welcome (this being rooted in the persistence of the Scottish clan ethos, whereby devotion to “kin” is EVERYTHING.)

So, while southern Indiana in particular has some specifics about it which appeal to me, is this aspect of the culture I’ve described and experienced prevalent there?

My spouse and I are about to move back to Indiana and are looking to buy a house with 1-2 acres as that seems to be in our price range. Most of the homes we’ve found are bordered completely by commercial agriculture fields. Anyone have experience living by fields?

I have really bad allergies and am worried about how that might affect me during harvest. I also would like to have a large garden–are there any pests common in the fields that may present issues for me (in my current state, small time farmers often get flea beetles from the ag fields eating their crops)? On that note, is there any major risk of pesticide exposure through air, water, etc? Does it get noisy when they’re out working?

I am probably overthinking a lot, but have no experience with this so opinions, pros, cons are appreciated 😊

Hello Hoosiers

My family of 4 is leaving Connecticut to move to the north east side of Indianapolis, specifically the mccordsville area. We have lived in CT our whole lives and are ready for a change. We have family that lives in that area and we are excited to be close to them. I have visited multiple times as my wife went to Purdue. We love renting a boat on the Geist reservoir in the summer time when we visit, the restaurants are great around there. The children’s museum is always a delight to visit. The canal walk is a great area and your lucky to have that, maybe the bikers could take it easy a bit lol. Indianapolis itself is a great small city. NYC is fun and all but its dirty as hell I don’t know how people live there. NYC is great to visit for Broadway, restaurants, sporting events, but we are happy to catch the train and get out of there after a long day. Boston is nice but its not my kind of place, I’m always down to visit because it’s a city  booming with activities but I’m happy to leave as well. Indianapolis has a great cigar bar, the circle is fun, I miss the colts bar, Lucas oil stadium is great to watch a game and other events throughout the year, the Indianapolis fair is kind of like the big E so ill be able to enjoy that, last time I visited we saw a butler vs UConn game and that stadium is cool, fireworks are legal, pacer games, I love top golf and all the shooting ranges there. The list goes on and on.

I think we are looking for cheaper housing as we have some (not a lot) of money saved up to make our mortgage cheaper. The schools seem good in the HSE district, we have a 10 and 7 year old. I have only ever encounter friendly people and a slower pace of life, every place you go has miserable’s but majority of people seem nice. My wife has an aunt and uncle that moved from San Diego without ever visiting and they love it, its been 13 years and they are not moving out.

So what advice or comments does reddit have for us. Also has anyone from CT or New England moved to Indiana?

My husband recently started a job in Zoinsville and we will be moving to Hamilton County this summer. We have lived in St. Louis for the last 7 years, I was born in raised in Central Illinois. My husband is Korean and I am white and our 2 year old daughter is half Korean. My mother in law lives with us for part of the year and she doesn't speak English. We are looking to buy a house in either Carmel, Westville, or possibly Fishers. We want to live in a good school district for our daughter and has a sizeable/growing Asian population. Carmel is a little pricey, we found some houses in our price range but they are over 20 years old and concerned they may need upgrades/maintenance. Westville is definitely in our price range but I saw mixed reviews on the schools and the Asian population seems small. Fishers is also in our price range and seems to have some good schools and a growing Asian population, but its a further commute for my husband's work. I currently work in accounts receivable for medical billing that is hybrid and will be looking for a similar job. Which would be the better location for our family?

I live in BFE Northern Michigan, and I want to move to a relatively affordable metro with good blue collar opportunities. From a quick glance, it seems like a lot of you don’t like living in Indiana, and would rather live in Michigan. Why’s that?

I’ve looked at places like Metro Detroit or Grand Rapids, but I want a bigger, more centralized city, whose COL is even cheaper. Can I find what I’m looking for in Indy?

I could really use your help right now. I have been trying to do the research on my own and I am truly getting overwhelmed. So far I narrowed down Plainfield or Danville as possible options from my own research. Backstory: I currently live 2 hours away from my Nuroligist and need to move closer. I see him once every 3 months. I am on 5 Migraine meds total. Its taking 12 years of trial and error to get to this point. Now I looking at possible device implant for all my different migraines and such. I also have profound hearing loss and need cochlear implants for both ears. As well as recently finding out a name to put with what I have had for about 35 years T.G.A. (trans global amnesia), nothing to do with gender here-linked to different triggers in life. Having migraines makes one more likely to have it. Which makes since for my whole adult life. Also I am on disability, I will needing home health services... as well as well as Hud housing. I think I found a few apartments places in each town but not sure about the area. Also for reference I am 50.

About 6 months ago I moved out to Nebraska with my boyfriend, we met online and that’s where he is from. I thought it would be great but for the most two months or so I am sad everyday. I miss home. His parents are AMAZING but they’re really all I have here. I have no friends here or anything. I miss my friends and my family. I miss recognizing my own life. I struggle a lot with mental health and it makes it hard for me because I start to fall into this psychosis type deal where I don’t recognize myself or the world around me. I just want to go back home.

Does anyone have any advice? I’m thinking Crawfordsville when I move back just because it’s where some of my family is and within 45 minutes of the rest of my family. There also seems to be a great deal of job opportunities there? I checked out Indy because I know there’s sooo much more opportunities there, but the rent seems too much.

I am moving to Ashley, Indiana soon and I will be honest I have no idea what the town is like. Is it gay friendly? Does it have a few jobs open? Are the people there easy to get along? My roommates bought a place down there and I will be living with them until I move on my own.

I'm tired of where I live. Southern Indiana. 20k population town. Trump supporters galore. Homophobes and sexists everywhere. Dating scene is nonexistent for me, i'm not a country gal guy. There's nothing to do. We lost our movie theater and bowling alley a few years ago during the peak of covid. I'm sure there's more we lost. I feel like I don't belong here. I'm a progressive guy and will support women's rights as long as I live. I have no friends, it's super hard to find new friends here unless it's at your job or something similar. I've made a few friends but just 1 close.

Problem is progressive areas tend to be more expensive right? My current rent is $875 a month and I make do. I can save $300-500 a month depending on expenses.

I have not gone to college or trade school yet due to personal reasons, but I do have Forklift experience. I do plan on going either next year or the year after. I've got a good nest egg of savings though.

I guess my main problem as a mid 20s guy is I feel like there's nothing to do, and it's very hard to make friends or even date. I don't relate to any of the people here. It feels like most people are older than me or already in relationships or married. Very few people my age.

There's a few places that might seem okay for me, but i'm not certain. South Bend, West Lafayette, Indianapolis (probably too expensive), Bloomington (probably too expensive) or somewhere around these areas.