[edale]

To echo what others have already said here, Columbus and Indy have a lot in common:

- State capital located in the center of their states
- Sprawly city limits that include a ton of suburban areas in the 'city'
- Very flat landscapes with small rivers
- Good network of freeways but no rail transit

They differ in that Indy has a much stronger downtown core, but Cbus has much better urban neighborhoods. Indianapolis' downtown is quite lively and vibrant, and has (had?) a successful mall and multiple department stores. In my visits there, I remember seeing lots of retail and restaurants and a good amount of pedestrian activity. Columbus' downtown is among the worst I've ever encountered for a major city. It's just incredibly dead and boring, with really very little to see or do. I know it's improving, but it still feels very bland, with oversized streets, little in the way of retail, and severely lacking in street activity.

When it comes to neighborhoods, Columbus has the High Street corridor, which is perhaps the most vibrant continuous urban corridor in the Midwest outside of Chicago. They have neighborhoods like German Village, the Short North (which is flanked by Victorian Village and Italian Village on either side of High), the University area, and Clintonville all centered around High. These areas are very walkable and have some gorgeous, healthy residential areas. Outside of the High Street area, though, there's not much of note in Cbus. There are some gentrifying neighborhoods just east and west of downtown and some decent suburbs, but in Cbus it's all about High Street. Indy doesn't have neighborhoods that can compare to those of Columbus. Their best 'urban' neighborhoods- Fountain Square, Lockerbie Square, and Broad Ripple are either small, or just not that impressive, imo.

Indy does have better cultural institutions, I think, and you can tell that Indy is THE city in Indiana. They have a lot of monuments and grand type spaces that Columbus just doesn't have. Even their statehouse is much more handsome than the one in Columbus. Cbus feels like just another city in Ohio, while Indy feels like it's a more significant place in its state. Overall, I'd say they are pretty similar, but I'd prefer Columbus if I had to choose to live in one.