Lifestyle
While it’s true that Indianapolis is most famous for hosting the three largest single-day sporting events in the world — the Indy 500, Brickyard 400, and the SAP United States Grand Prix — the city glitters with stellar attractions and activities. Professional teams in every major sport including basketball, football, hockey and baseball. Take in an Indians game at Victory Field, known as the “best minor league ballpark in America.” Cheer on the NBA Pacers and WNBA Fever at Conseco Fieldhouse, a monument to Indiana’s rich basketball tradition. The Indianapolis Tennis Center or some of the area’s premier golf courses draw crowds to tournaments, but they also provide excellent courts and fairways for active residents.
From sporting events to special events, Indianapolis plays the quintessential host. The Mini Marathon, the nation’s largest half marathon, the Indy Jazz Fest, Hoosier History Fest, the Indiana State Fair, and the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration are just a few of the major festivities in this area. Re-enactments, musical performances and children’s activities bring family, friends, neighbors, and visitors together. For the best of all worlds, explore the cultural, educational and recreational activities in White River State Park. The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and the NCAA Hall of Champions join the Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens in this beautiful location. Families will marvel at the nation’s only accredited combined zoo, aquarium and botanical gardens.
Those who enjoy the performing and visual arts can applaud a Broadway classic at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre, listen to the strains of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, or stroll through priceless displays at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. During the summer months, Conner Prairie invites you to concerts under the stars. Each year, more than 320,000 people visit this 19th century living history museum and frontier village where the past becomes the present. Children of all ages are enthralled by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, ranked by Child magazine as the “best children’s museum” in the nation.
From its first-rate shopping malls and charming historic retail districts to wonderful outdoor recreational areas in lush parks and deep forests, the metropolitan Indianapolis area is a study in quality of life. Wonderful communities and neighborhoods range from historic enclaves with elegant Victorian architecture to rural villages or handsome suburbs filled with new construction. Throughout the townships and counties surrounding Indianapolis, wonderful new residential communities are springing up around lakes, woodlands, rivers, and golf courses. With all the metro area has to offer, the people remain the region’s finest asset. Wherever you settle in the metropolitan area, it will be the easy smile and warm handshake of your new neighbors will make you feel immediately “at home.”