Does Indianapolis Have An Identity Crisis?
Recently, I had lunch with a friend of mine in the heart of the city. It was a very nice north side eatery. The food was great, however as I looked at the “yuppiesque” crowd of patrons they reminded me of what I call “hybrid hypocrites”, they are the people who want mass transit so poor can take the bus but they would never get out of their Prius to use it themselves.
I laughed and chuckled at that dichotomy, but then it got me to thinking a bit more globally about Indianapolis. And I have honestly come to believe that fundamentally, Indianapolis as a whole has an identity crisis and it’s not really sure what it wants to be.
Indianapolis was always described to me as either the world’s biggest small town or the big city with a lot of small town amenities. Of course the downside of that is with small towns, can come the “small town” attitude that the world ceases to exist at the town limits.
This tug of war between big city and small town attitudes manifests itself in a number of our public policy debates; mass transit, the convention business, infrastructure, arts funding, human rights ordinances, public safety, township government and consolidation, the role of professional sports teams, downtown development, taxes, charter schools, etc.
Eventually, Indianapolis is going to have to make a decision about what exactly it wants to be. I think Indianapolis is a city with a lot of promise and potential and is a lot better off than a lot of other places of similar size. From my study of previous Mayors ; Lugar, Hudnutt, Goldsmith, Peterson and Ballard, each has contributed to the city’s growth and maturity whether it was making the city the amateur sports capital of the world, focusing on it convention business, or addressing badly needed infrastructure needs. However the one thing each Mayor has had to combat is the attitude of complacency and that things are just fine as they are and nothing needs to change.
I hate to break it to Indianapolis, but you’re the 12th/13th largest city in America. It’s something you’re going to have to reconcile and the sooner you do it, the better you will be.
