In a recent discussion concerning Indiana/Indianapolis, talent, and the tech scene, Brennan Knotts suggested that Indy needs something like NYC’s AdoptAHacker. That sounds like a great idea to me! I think a good place to start is a question that AdoptAHacker answers with their “Why NYC Rocks” page: why? Why would a developer want to pick up and move to Indy?
Thankfully, Brennan and Chris Zelenak offered their own lists of reasons they think a developer from elsewhere should choose Indy.
Chris:
- Variety of different local tech stuff. People working on online marketplaces, people working in robotics, people working in startup services, consultants who work on just about anything, college students and telecommuters for out of state biz who are here because of family, or because it’s cheap.
- Scenery. Indiana is quite pretty, Indianapolis especially so. There’s some sprawl unfortunately, but there’s some nice urban areas, some pretty wooded spots, and all usually well intermixed. Lots of camping and outdoors stuff nearby if you want to take advantage of it.
- The food and beer in Indy is pretty good imo. Indiana beer is some of the best in the world. I’m not fucking playing with you.
- Lots of hustling. Lots of new businesses starting up, trying out ideas, making things happen. Sometimes they stay here, sometimes they don’t, but it’s cool to see.
- Indy the city is doing a lot of infrastructure improvements to enhance quality of life downtown. Downtown is a really cool place to be right now, as well as some other areas around town ( Broad Ripple, Fountain Square, I’m sure others but those are the places I live in / typically go to ).
Z went on to say “It’s not a “world class city” as people like to trumpet the phrase. It’s just a good one, with a lot of cool people.” I love that quote. I imagine it’s a bit too humble to make a marketer’s tri-fold pamphlet, but that’s partly why I love it.
Brennan:
- The cost of living is very low, so if you’re trying to start a business, you’re money will go much further. Lower burn rate = longer runway
- It is a great place for families. Not all devs and entrepreneurs are in their early 20’s with no familial ties so this is important.
- The airport is very nice and airfare tends to be much lower than other airports in the region (Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville). In other words, it’s easy to get away.
- The residential options down town are blowing up. You can have the urban lifestyle if you want it (and again, it’s cheap)
- Developers are in high demand here. If you moved to Indy for a job, and that job didn’t work out, you have lots of other options for employment.
- The state is in strong financial health and has become a model for other states in the region. (If I had more time I’d link to some articles and some stats)
- You are in very close proximity to a lot of major metro areas (i.e. lots of potential customers, especially if you’re b2b) Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, Dayton, St. Louis
- (I think the great beer has already been discussed)
- We’re hosting the friggin Super Bowl this year. They don’t just let anybody do that. [Editor’s note: they let Detroit host it a few years ago. We might want to let this argument go.]
I think those two have said it better than I could. I would add, though slightly nebulous, this city feels like it’s going somewhere right now. The tech community is growing. The art community is growing. The mayor has a bicycling initiative. I could go on listing small things that, to me, indicate a cultural shift. More telling, perhaps, is this: from 2000 to 2009, the population of 18-34 year olds in Indy held steady. (If you grew up in Indiana, you understand how big of a deal that is. If you didn’t, listen: someone writes an article about the tragedy of Indiana losing that age group every year. Big deal.)
I have digressed. This is about taking one small step towards boosting the technical talent in Indianapolis. Help me do it. What do you think? Why Indy?
