Born there. Have relatives there. Indeed, a very, very boring state with little or nothing to offer if you fall on the adventurous side.

Geographics are the pits. Will put you to sleep, yes.
Indianapolis is a nice city, so if you have to reside in the state, get as close as possible to Indy. The rest of the cities, Ft.wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Terre Haute, very boring.

It is friendly, not sure where all thiese rude experiences come from, but I have never run across that.

Very conservative, not a place for a liberal for sure. Dan Qualyle country for cryin out loud!

Probably not fair for me to make any substantial value judgements about the state, as I just passed briefly through it years ago on my way to Chicago. Like much of the Midwest, I found it flat and aesthetically uninteresting (I was used to the beauty of New England and California), although not quite as dull as Ohio (although, in fairness to Ohio, I didn't see a whole lot of that state either). John Dillinger had been a boyhood idol, so I stopped at the beautiful Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis to have my picture taken standing by John's last resting place (the historic cemetery is also the last resting place for a U.S. President, 3 Vice Presidents, 14 Senators, 11 Governors, and 16 Civil War Generals). I drove around John's boyhood town, and found the Protestant church (is there any other kind in Indiana?) outside of which he committed his first serious crime. Because I was reading Kate Millett's "The Basement" at the time, I found the simple grave of poor Sylvia Likens in a rural Lebanon cemetery (the movie "An American Crime", which I haven't seen but which I'm sure is very unpleasant, is based on Sylvia's murder in 1965; Catherine Keener plays housewife-from-hell Gertrude Baniszewski, and Ellen Page, who was in "Hard Candy" and "Juno", plays Sylvia). There was a John Dillinger museum in Nashville, which actually was a pretty town, run by the late historian Joe Pinkston, and it featured among its exhibits the trousers John was wearing when he was gunned down outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre in 1934 (it was a bit creepy even for an enthusiast like me to see the faded blood stains on the pants; then again, it was creepy to see the faded blood stains on the pillow from the bed where Abe Lincoln died after being shot in Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C.-- the house across the street from the theatre, where Lincoln was brought after being shot, is now a museum and everything is kept pretty much as it was on the night Lincoln died there, including the pillow he bled on). Other than that, nothing really made much of an impression on me. I ate crappy Chinese and Bob Evans food. I considered journeying to the town where James Dean grew up, and where he's buried, but the truth is that I've never been much of a James Dean fan, and I wanted to hurry on to Chicago. I remember being surprised at how close Chicago actually was to Indianapolis. Like I said, I can't really say anything too good or too bad about the state, but I've never lived there, never spent a great deal of time there as a visitor, and am really not up to speed on its history or culture. Still, any state that produced the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Jones, Gertrude Baniszewski, and John "Cougar" Mellencamp must be doing something wrong.

I really do not care for Indiana but Indy is a nice city.

  This is the most backwards infantile states I have ever seen!  Maybe if you are financially secure and don't care if Bubba takes all of your money for bs work and sheister-ish activities, then move here.  I am a Hoosier native and am embarrassed about it. 
Here is something to think about.  While the chamber of commerce, mayors offie and governors office tout how wonderful Indiana is and the low umeployment rate, great economy and such - in reality - Indiana is in the top five states for unemployment, the economy is on its back with no savior in sight.  The political administrations are not in touch with the real world and pass ridiculous laws - see the Marion county property taxes in 2007 for an example.
Why have so many companies left Indy?  Talk to the average resident for five minutes and ou will understand.  They are mired in the 7th grade, even if they are 50 years old!  The society here only works because it was designed for people of that mental capacity and maturity.  Talk about lack of quality in products.  No wonder GM has moved everything out of here! 
I have never seen so many small businesses that operate in the shady zone of ethics.  Nepotism is alive and flourishing here.

Good points?  No smog.  Lots of trees and great hiking trails.  The arts?  Much ado about very little.  Sort of like the appalachian family that gets all excited when they get outdoor plumbing with is hand me down at best and not usable for us, but to them it is brand spanky new!  Same concept.

Sports?  If you are into hearing about every high school game and any type of sport known to mankind on the local TV, then Indy is the place for you.  They live and breath it.

All I can say in summary it that i brought my family back to Indy for a better and more wholesome life.  Very poor decision!  We are going back to Los Angeles immediately.

I had the unfortunate experience of growing up here, and the fortunate experience of graduating from college and moving to New York City at the age of 22. Everybody who says anything negative about Indiana is probably right because I cannot think of one good thing about that place. People there have ZERO tolerance for intelligence, creativity, goals, and aspirations. Everybody in Indiana is static, never changing and never wanting to change and progress. Halfway through my high school career there was no one to hang out with anymore because nearly everyone my age dropped out, had six kids by then, were living off of their welfare checks, driving their pick up trucks around, blasting Rascal Flats in unison with everyone else and just as happy as they could be in their blissful ignorance. Oh, everyone also likes to tell you what good christians they are before they turn around and tell you how much they hate 'n*ggers'. I realize that I am generalizing here, but I can actually say that in my 22 years of residence there I did not meet one person that did not fit this exact description, haha. (Yes 'HeavyChevy', that includes you too.) If you are an underachieving redneck with no talents or hobbies other than making babies then Indiana is definitely for you.

Indiana is a great state. Everybody says were full of hicks, but so fuckin what, Im a hick, live on a farm and proud to be that then a fuckin goth or a prep like u abercrombie fucks. As for the accent part, none of us try to speak with an accent, at least for the people in my town. I live in Jasper, Indiana in Dubois County and we are a rural community. Im proud to say that I am corn fed, dairy farmin son of a bitch from Indiana! If you dont like it here, get the fuck out!

I've lived in Indiana for four years now because I am going to Ball State. It is the worse place I've ever lived and I have lived in five other states. I am from Virginia and I am from the ACTUAL hills. The people who call themselves hillbillies around here are dull, stupid rednecks, and nothing like the real hillbillies I grew up around. Plus they really do make pathetic attempts to speak in a southern accent. They are desperate to claim a culture and have an identity but don't want to put effort or thought into creating their own. MOST of the state is flat and the little bit that is not contains mostly really old people, who are actually kind of cool. The town here (especially Muncie) have all the bad qualities of a big city and none of the good, as well as all the bad qualities of a small town and none of the good. There are a lot of losers here with no asperations or goals. There is also a small communiity of people who like to think they are living in a white-bread norman rockwell painting, but the reality is much worse. Also there is a huge meth problem in the state and the town of Muncie is still segregated (whites from blacks. The college kids around here, and at least sixty percent are from other Indiana towns, are in general very sheltered, stupid and oblivious. The area is polluted and people around here don't take any pride in their community or work. Many of the locals whine and complain about how "Their factory jobs got taken from them" So instead of joining the big club and getting a life and learning a new trade, they sit on their lazy white butts and wait for others to take care of them. The college has a lot of good oppertunities which has kept me grounded here, but still I can't wait to leave. Stay away from this state unless you want to develop an unhealthy amount of apathy to get through it without losing faith in humanity. If you don't believe me, check out the suicide rates in Indiana compared to other states, particularly Delaware County's suicide rate (Where Muncie is located)

Indiana is a nice place!  There is alot to do and see. It's a nice place to raise a family. I think it's great that the people support there local college's, be it sports or whatever. They've got ND, Purdue and many more top of line colleges. They also have a winning superbowl team "COLTS".  The whole state is not flat, some of it, but not all. Indiana is an Industrial state as well as an Agriculture state. I've seen other states that seem way more backwards then Indiana. There Technology isn't even close to par over Indiana. So all you negative posters, give me a break. You have no clue on what you are talking about.

indianapolis was sortof a dive, but the farms south of it are nice

Indiana.  Indianapolis, sort of okay.  Northern Indiana, no thanks.  Everyplace else full of hicks that think they are in the south and speak with southern accents, Evansville is especially a dump.  However Fairmount, Indiana 5 stars, the home of James Dean!

I don't see why Indiana has gotten such a bad rap, it is definitely deserves more of a middle-ground reputation in my opinion. Indianapolis is a nice city. Fort Wayne, Evansville, and South Bend are alright but nothing special. Gary is downright disgusting, but it's hardly even in Indiana. I would choose Indianapolis to live over Michigan and Ohio in a heartbeat.

Good points: It's reasonably clean, at least in and around the capital. Certain things are cheaper here, like food. The people are a lot of things, but at least they're not pretentious. They have a good zoo, the Canal area downtown is nice, and most shockingly, a quite decent system of libraries. The airport isn't packed and it's rather efficient. At first, I thought the people were friendly, but I'm beginning to see the rudeness mentioned below coming out. For a state with such a low level of education, it's surprisingly bureaucratic- you'll have to fill out numerous forms and put up with endless hassles and inconveniencies. LOTS of needless bureaucracy to boot. Little to no true diversity. Relatively little to do here. A Bible thumping state- about ten fundamentalist Protestant churches on every block. There is a lot of racism, conformity, strong anti-intellectualism, and a thinly veiled Anti-Catholicism in the air. Politically, nearly everyone is so dumb they'll buy into whatever Bush and his gang have to say. Little to no culture: by far the best thing they had to offer was a free Buddy Guy concert. The cuisine tends to be third -rate, and I have only been to 1 good restaurant- a Macaroni Grill. The Italian food in particular is a joke. This is a Bob Jones University/ Ian Paisley sort of place, and the local tv stations include several channels with phony, red-faced, white-suited "preachers" sweating out booze and demanding your life savings. Outsiders are regarded with, at best, suspicion. This place also features, amongst it's other charms, draconian laws and a repressive and brutal police force. Miles and miles of strip malls, autobody shops, supermarkets. Indianapolis as a city is fair, but outside of it is nothing but cornfields, crudely carved signs with exhortations for sinners to repent,ads for Uncle Elmus' Crab Shack and the like. The scary thing is there's actually places that are even worse.

i've been many places and lived many places but indiana rules!!!!! i luv it here!!!!!!!!! better then any place else.

It's where my family and friends are and the cost of living is cheap compared to Michigan, so I give it a 4. It doesn't get a 5 because it's a Republican state, Dan Quayle was born there, they have this scary relationship with their Hooiser basketball team, they still defend that jerk Bobby Knight to the death, and the landscape is pretty boring. So damn flat you can see Ohio on a clear day...

Indiana is place for the stupid, hicks, people born without taste buds, ugly women, anti-woman, anti-minority except Hispanic and Slovic. The weather is mixture of the north pole and louisana, has no technology, everybody is divorced with kids, no clubs just barrs, country music, dead trees, mutant weeds, algae ponds, fishing and shooting. the total opposite of the beautiful West Coast.

I was in Lafayette for about 6 months, as well as Bloomington a few years back- Frankly I have have never been in a place with such ignorant hicks in my life (outside the deep south) The people are dumb, backwards and homophobic. If you are a female or male for that matter and not married by 25 -you are marked. Boring place, mostly crappy chain stores and eateries. Lacks culture. If you move here from the northeast or west coast, be prepared to be shocked. KKK very active as well- very republican. Low cost living- but its cheapo for reasons.

Nice state with lots of things to see.

There is very little to say good about this state- hicks and red necks and uninformed people seem to dominate the culture of Indiana- well intentioned people- who enjoy living in the far past.

Cheap place to live- however the state is very conservative and anything but forward thinking. Look elsewhere if you value new ideas and concepts- Indiana is vintage retro.

This midwestern state seems to be mostly inhabited by southern hicks and red necks that are still conflicted by the states confusion on slavery 150 plus years ago. Sorry to say the pro slavery intolerant group have won. A sorry hell hole for the most part that is dumb, backward and going nowhere but down.

Why are the donuts square in TeraHaunt?

flat and hick, the 2 words that best discribe this state. its a part of the south that slipped under the mason-dixon line.

Not to be a copy cat- I would tend to agree with madvillany- this state for the most part seems depressed, with rude people (especially to anyone who looks 'strange or different') No matter the economy sucks- the populace seems unable to make the needed social and behavioral attitudes to promote changes to allow fresh air and new ideas in. Very conservative politically-to the point of as said below 'reactionary'. Indianapolis is one faint ray of hope- the rest is a large step backward.

Call me biased, but Indiana in general seems like a mistake, an afterthought of downstate Illinois or Ohio. Indianapolis is an up-and-coming city, though very suburban and bland; the Colts are the best thing worth mentioning here. Other cities and towns look depressed, insular, and boring: Gary looks particularly noxious, but if industrial landscapes are your bag then you're in heaven. Indiana has quite possibly the most boring terrain this side of Illinois, and the people aren't any more reassuring. Most of the people I've met and dealt with from Indiana were rude and obnoxious. The state's religious right-wing reactionary atmosphere doesn't help matters, and the fact that there's too much of an obsession with high school/college basketball to be consistent with good mental health makes for some scary combos.

Same as downstate Illinois, all cornfields and midwest conservative hicks. But they do love basketball, my fav sport, so that rates 2 stars.

I can't believe all of the negative comments about this state. These people either have never been or haven't been there long enough to judge. Granted, Indiana does have it's number of hicks and some backwards people...but hello! Every state does! I live in the Northeast now and believe it or not, there are hicks here too! I can't believe the number of comments about rudeness in Indiana either. Midwesterners are some of the nicest people in the country. Indiana is a great place to raise children too. Growing up in a small town there, I loved all aspects of my childhood. Fresh country air, lots of land to run around on, close family and friends (although living in a small town also means everyone knows you business). I also lived in Indianapolis for a while and that city is so underated! There is plenty to do. Overall I think Indiana is a beautiful state. They are not stuck in the 1950's (although maybe a few of the older generation might be, but so what...they're nice people with good morals), they are not hateful toward minorities (I'm sure there are some people that are...once again every state has hateful people), and they certaintly aren't the armpit of America. For anyone who thinks Indiana sucks, just check out some places like Turkey Run State Park, Indiana Dunes National Rec. area, many other state parks, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the Motor Speedway, downtown Indy and some of the posh martini bars, Bloomington, the country stores and antiques of the Amish region, the Covered Bridge Festival, the Feast of the Hunters Moon, I could go on and on.

Bordering on right wing reactionary- there could not be a more red state-very narrow views on important issues facing us as a nation. Very uninformed populace that is rather blind to the realities of a new world order- Not particulary friendly to ethnics, gays,Jews etc etc. Stuck in a time warp of America in 1950-

Indianapolis seems like it would be a decent place to live, but to the rest of the state, i would have to say, no thanks!

Having lived in IN for many years, I like it, but I have to be objective. It's not a very pretty state for the most part. Okay, the landscape/view is plain boring in most parts and ugly in others! It is true, there isn't much to do out of the ordinary. The one thing that does surprise and dismay me is to hear that a few people were treated so rudely here. In my experience, the friendly people are the best thing about this state. Indiana does have a surprising number of rednecks in some areas, but I think every state in the Union does, honestly. It is also absolutely true that the KKK has quite a history in IN, but it isn't something IN is proud of.

When I lived in Chi I had the misfortune of being forced to drive through this state on my way to and from VA. I had uniformly bad experiences but one sticks out. I stop at a truckstop hours from Kentucky. They've rack after rack of rebel flag decals; now whatever that flag might mean down south it only means one thing two hours from the Mason-Dixon line. (Also, the clan took over the state government in the 30's and currently has it's headquarters in Terra Haute). Then the woman at the counter was rude as heck to me. Everyone in this state is rude as far as I can tell, the landscape is boring, and the food stinks. On top of the casual bigotry there's Indianans pretty unwholesome obsession with college sports to the exception of everything else; need I mention the University of Indiana and Bobby Knight? Win or not they wouldn't tolerate him for ten seconds down at Chapel Hill. It's like someone magnified everything I don't like about the South and took away everything I love about the place. Not the armpit of the midwest, no Indiana is the armpit of the nation.

Indiana is the armpit of the midwest. The weather sucks and aside from Indianapolis; there is absolutely nothing to do here. The people here think that their sh*t doesn't stink and they are rude as hell.

The only place in Indiana that I have visited is Evansville. While I was going thru this small city, I felt really comfortable, and the people were really down to earth and nice. Evansville reminds me of a hard working people town. It was clean too. I would visit this town again, and I would love to see the rest of the state as well. :)

I love Indianapolis, especially downtown. The canal is great. It is actually a nice city.

It's cold, ugly, and the people are rude. No reason to live here. No reason at all.

Indiana rocks...people are friendly and there is a lot to do if you know where to look. It is also wonderful in the spring, summer and fall.

Look, I live in Southern Indiana currently. Gotta love it. But really......It is a great state.

I lived in Indiana, near Indianaoplis, as a kid so my okay rating of Indiana is really for sentimental reasons. But I must say there was nothing outstanding about it. When we moved from there to Oregon I was literally amazed. I thought I had moved to some kind of fantasy land. Oregon was so green and virtually everything about it seemed superior by comparison. I visited my childhood hometown again as an adult and it was just as I remembered it. Oh! Then CastleBee mentioned the lightening bugs. I must admit I do miss them. That's something I don't see where I am now.

Well, I see Indiana is ranked 46th out of 50 on the list. No surprise to me - I lived there from the age of 10 to 16, and spent endless days waiting in the ice and wind for the school bus - even got frostbite once. The town of Anderson was cold in other ways besides the weather. The people were unfriendly, even in businesses. I have more bad memories than I can count of that place - the only state I've lived in that I don't like. And yet....when I go back to visit after all these years, I find that there are some really wonderful people in Indiana, once you get out of Anderson. Even some of our better politicians have come from Indiana. And I can't help but really like the city of Bloomington. So - I give it 3 stars (if I were in my early teens again, I'd give it much less).

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna, I really do think that all the states have great things and not-so-great things about them. What those things are depend on the individual you are talking to at the time. From my experience, the really great things about a particular place don't always hit you in the face - like a gorgeous mountain or magnificent lake or a city full of exciting things to do. Sometimes, they are things that take more time and maturity to appreciate. They may be things that you take for granted in the same way you might feel - but not always notice- the love of your parents or the wisdom of your grandparents. And, if you always had these things, you may never actually realize their full worth until you have to do without them. Indiana, like my grandparents house, is not an exciting or fancy place. It is instead a comfortable, solid place, where good and hardworking people have quietly made their living on the land and in industry and business for a very long time. As is the nationwide trend, our farmland is slowly eroding into housing developments, but it can still be seen for miles and miles outside the cities and towns. The landscape to the north is flat, the earth still black and rich. The southern half of the state lacks the industry of the north, but boasts gently rolling hills dotted with a huge variety of trees that make up the sweet-smelling and inviting woods. Winters can seem bleak and ugly, but springtime always brings us the dogwood, redbud, crocus and robins to announce the growing season. Delicious morel mushrooms pop up their heads and are quickly claimed by enthusiastic gatherers. Summers are humid and green, "lightening bugs" dance through yards and fields and locusts sing their high-pitched songs. In the fall, the air is crisp and invigorating and the trees blaze gold, yellow, red, and orange. And though Indianapolis is not New York or Chicago, we do have a nice selection of museums, theatres, malls, antique shops, racetracks and sporting events. Hollywood does not visit often, but, when it does drop by, it leaves with memorable films like "Hoosiers" and "Breaking Away". Our history includes people and points we are proud of (Dean, Letterman, Vonnegut, Notre Dame, the Indy 500) and those we would rather forget (Manson, Jones, the KKK, Public Education Issues). All that combines to be well, possibly not so different from so many other places, but still unique and special to those who have come to appreciate it and to call it home.