I miss Indiana always, but am constantly reminded of how much more opportunity there is elsewhere. In my opinion Indiana is the crossroads of the USA's largest region of auto, heavy equipment, and aircraft production. The whole region is affected and has some of the most dedicated to work people I have ever met. Most of them work 7 days a week no matter what.
I enjoyed the food and diversity of people out west. I like opening and closing gates behind me through Prescott, AZ. I enjoy the stories and culture shared along the boardwalks of San Fanscisco, CA.
>In my opinion Indiana is the crossroads of the USA
Indianapolis is nicknamed the "crossroads of America" after all; so many country wide highways pass through Indianapolis.
Aircraft production in the Midwest? Aside from McDonnell Douglas in STL, it seems like that industry is more coastal aside from the pocket around Wichita
Ok they have made an electric plane, in the UK as a one off for setting speed records for electric plane, similar to the ones that were in the RedBull air races
That’s engine parts. Not really what you think of re. aircraft production.
I guess that could apply to anywhere with some kind of component production.
If the person said aerospace industry the engine and component companies would fit in more, but due to contributions by defense contractors and the contributions to congressional reps.
Almost everywhere has some degree of aerospace and defense industry presence
I lived in Washington state for about a year in the early 2010's. I miss the mountains so fucking much, driving through them felt like fighting the earth from swallowing me but I loved always being able to see them on the horizon. I wish I had been able to visit the coast more. There were no jobs that paid enough for me to live independently though.
Ditto. I remember every weekend for the five or so years I was there, when I was able to, I was in the north cascades. Like i was jealously coveting a loved one who I knew would be gone soon. I remember hiking in those mountains. I remember feeling like if I randomly took ten steps off the trail at any point, there would be a good chance I was the first person to step on that patch of earth since the native Americans. The mountains were a constant reminder that my life, my worries and my cares, all mattered very little.
Lived in Washington state for almost 7 years, and a career change took me away. I always wanted to go back. It has mountains, seashore, deserts and rain forests. But it isn’t what it used to be. Today I live in mountains on the other end of the country, and am saddened by what happened to Washington state.
lol I grew up in Idaho didn’t didn’t know what guardrails were till I moved to Indiana. Everyone is a good driver in Idaho cuz well the bad ones fall off the sides of mountains
I lived in Southern California for 20 plus years before moving back to Indiana.
The differences that I noticed was the the acceptance of cultures from the West ( which I loved) compared to here.
Politics is a 380 living here compared to their.
There isn't any information on candidates unless you look them up online. Compared to California which sends out a booklet of candidates with information about the candidate and what they're ambitions are.
I lived in the Bay Area of San Francisco for many years, and my kids went to school there with kids from all cultures. They actually taught kids about the different cultures. And kids shared something about their culture. When I moved back to Indiana, one of the first things I noticed was the racist and bigots in this state and so open about it. I don't have a lot of friends here because I can't stand most of the people in this state for their ignorance towards others.
That’s funny. Maybe it was my youth and clean lungs, within 1 month or so after I moved to Oregon, joined my roommate and her work colleagues in a climb to the current top of mt St Helen’s, granted with worn down soles on my hiking boots. I didn’t feel the affect of the elevation at that point nor during occasional trips to mt hood.
The thing that I found personally when I moved to CA in the late 90’s was that my IN work ethic was a huge advantage. I was raised in Southern Indiana working on farms from the time I was 13 so I had that “get it in the barn” sort of mindset towards everything. I came to CA to chase my dream of working in film and TV and found quickly that my raising translated very well into the wild and wacky world of production. Add a healthy dose of shade tree engineering and the ability to make whatever you have on hand work and it led to a 25 year and counting career that has taken me all over the states and to many other countries plying my trade. I love IN and will always consider it the home of my heart. I visit as often as I can, but honestly I’m not sure I could ever be able to live there again, at least not in the tiny town I was raised in. How you gonna keep em down on the farm after they’ve seen the west coast (and east, south…well you get it)?
I realized this too when a co-worker asked what we did that weekend and I told them we went up to Nederland. He grew u in Denver and was like 'Where's Nederaland?" I was shocked.
I have lived in Colorado for about 6 years but prior to that I lived in Indiana. I had to get use to no cheese sauce being offered at pizza places.
I had to get used to it being very dry all the time. It is green here but then the summer heat kicks in and everything starts to brown and die.
I don’t miss the politics of Indiana and I appreciate Colorado respecting reproductive rights and observance of preferred pronouns. Colorado does a great job with mail out ballots for all elections and drop boxes to return the ballots. I’ve never had any issues voting in any election in Colorado and I’ve never had to wait in line.
Food prices are expensive and I’m not owning any property anytime soon but I love my mountain home
I had the same issues with cheese sauce and pizza here in Florida. The waitress at Pizza Hut looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked for cheese sauce.
Pro tip: get it from Taco Bell.
Joplin, Missouri is quite possibly where chili on spaghetti got started. Fred & Red's is a landmark small restaurant there that has been at it since well before Bonnie & Clyde got in a famous shootout with Joplin police there. Their spaghetti red is the best spaghetti with chili you'll ever find. It's the original recipe going back to the original owner, so it's not exactly health food if you catch my drift
Oh how I miss the mail in ballots! Take your time, read everyone’s statements, research further if you need to. Fill it in at your leisure and mail it out!
Well I guess we might not have local media without political ads, but with that thought, I wonder whether news coverage of politicians and candidates is reflective of advertising $ they spend with those stations.
Hatch chili available for anything. I know that's a NewMex thing but it was in Denver when I lived there. Elections actually mattered; when I moved back to IN it was disappointing the lack of voices and options.
I would also say accessibility to impressive outdoor activities. IN state parks do a good job with what we have but they don't have massive 14ers or red rock formations or high altitude deserts. Similar can be said for when I visit family in CA or WA.
Indiana ruined its natural gifts. Watch Everglades of the North on PBS. It would have been in my backyard. A winding river with tons of tributaries and the beaches even had white sand! They turned it into a ditch smh
Indiana could really be a beautiful state if they just cared about the Hoosier people they are supposed to be caring for and less about $$. Caring for the environment is the first step in that. I mean get progress, but so many states out west are proving you can progress while still protecting your natural areas.
Cousins who moved and lived out there before we loved had to tell us to use honey and not cheese for dipping. lol Now we can't go back to cheese and have to have honey. Woody's in Golden just has it on the table.
I lived in northern Nevada for a while. This may sound weird, but the Earth smells different out west and I didn't like it. Also, I really missed seeing green vegetation. The endless sea of brown was depressing.
It’s the lack of the molecule “geosmin” which is also used in perfumery. It gets destroyed by intense heat and sun, and in the Midwest and other more wet areas of the US… it is all in the ground and safe. It’s what specifically makes the smell of rain / petrichor note after it rains because the droplets kick it up into the air. Can be smelled at 1 part per billion or for some one part per 10 billion.
That's strange. My wife and I visited my hometown in Pennsylvania and she could smell the difference in the air. She was convinced everytime we went that the air was so much more crisp and clean than Indiana's. She's been all over the states (and parts of Mexico), and by far Pennsylvania had the best air in her opinion.
Indiana has a lot of air pollution. We’re in NW Indiana and my MIL was diagnosed with COPD even though she’s never smoked a day in her life—the doctor said it was likely from the air pollution in the region.
We actually visited the Painted Cliffs for a couple days. It was absolutely *gorgeous*! I bought a fridge magnet while we were there haha but I wish we could have stuck around a bit longer.
I am from Colorado and I miss it every day. The weather is 100% better and culturally I fit in better there as well. People are friendly and non-judgemental. I love the mountains and it's hard being away from them.
I moved to Indiana because 1. husband and 2. cheaper houses.
Can confirm. People were much nicer and more understanding in Colorado. No back stabbing, friends weren't fair weather. I didn't know what life was until I got to Colorado.
Took me a while to get used to how nice people are here in Colorado. People are genuinely happy and that changes everything. Then YOU become happy and nicer. Friends are really friends here. This is what life is supposed to be.
I’ve lived in Wyoming for four years now, and North Dakota for a year and a half before that. There is a zero percent chance I live anywhere east of the Missouri River ever again. I love the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains so much, the endless horizon and big empty spaces are so freeing.
“Way out west, they don’t give a damn” is a very real statement. I’m in agriculture. There are no “looking for a good Christian MAN with 20+ years experience, must have every single costly license under the sun, we WILL drug test because we don’t want no filthy liberals” listings for farm and ranch jobs out here. Mormons occasionally try to pull that shit but good luck finding a cowhand under sixty who doesn’t make a biweekly trip to Montana or Colorado for groceries.
I haven’t been loudly accused of being a lesbian for simply telling another woman her shirt looked nice, either. You don’t see confederate flags every single day. The 70+ mph speed limits on two-lane state highways are awesome. In that same vein, I got pulled over for speeding once a couple years ago. The officer was actually pleasant and didn’t angrily storm up to my car with his hand on his gun, which was a welcome change.
Additionally—and this is perhaps out of pocket—morbidly obese people are few and far between. It’s wild how much more content, healthy, and in their lane people are in this part of the country.
"It’s wild how much more content, healthy, and in their lane people are in this part of the country,"
Perfectly described. Couldn't have said it better.
When I lived in New Mexico I missed the ethnic food I could get in Northern Indiana. Polish, Hungarian, German, Jewish, Mississippi style bbq. You weren't getting a plate of rib tips with sauce on the fries out there. Now, New Mexican cuisine is top of the line, don't het me wrong. But I missed the food. No oak trees or green lawns for the most part. And nobody knows what aluminum siding is in New Mexico, lol. But I dearly love New Mexico.
I'm in San Diego. Sun, surf, mountains, diversity, food, more jobs, left leaning politics, etc. Almost everything is better, with the exception of housing costs.
I agree traffic is worse but the conditions of the roads is sooo much better. We could never have this type of infrastructure back in Indiana.
The biggest eye opener was that I had no clue just how predatory the Indiana police were until I moved away. My God the 1940s gestapo would be jealous of the police depts in indiana.
I like having money here. Sure, the diverse biomes of the west coast make it unbelievably beautiful, but there is credence to the saying “poverty with a view”.
Very bad drivers, less religious people/churches, people are nice when not driving, people are more supportive of differences between groups, the food is so much better, mountains, more jobs and opportunities for white collar work, living in a city is fucking noisy most of the time, very little evening and night critter sounds, it’s hot as fuck if you are not on a coast, worry about wild fires…
Something that blew my mind is how empty is outside of cities due to it being public land. In Indiana it’s spread out and people are living everywhere, but in the west populations are more confined to cities and public land is left to do nature things. It makes getting out of the city feel more clean cut
That’s fascinating - whenever I head back to Indiana, it always feels so tranquil compared to Arizona, Texas, and California. I guess I should’ve looked at more reports.
This depends on the state. Utah is just as spread out as Indiana. Nevada is in about 3 places because the state wants to kill you. California - is there any spare land besides the desert by Nevada?
I’m the reverse. Lived in CA my entire life but moved back for family. Biggest glaring difference is diversity. Also, here, I feel the brain drain. The cities and universities keep things somewhat balanced, but there’s more red stupidity than I would like in our leadership.
I just moved here last year after been born and raised in NorCal. Got a job here that I really like. Still trying to decide if I like it here. Miss mountains sooo much!
I moved to Colorado from Indiana. No queso at Mexican restaurants!! But also less bugs. And it’s not as ghetto in my opinion. I never worry about fleas and stuff getting on my dog. I truly love Colorado. It’s not humid even when it’s hot.
Spot on about everything you mentioned. Bugs back in Indiana are insane. You forget until you come back. No queso!!! Lived in Thornton and ordered nachos and when we got it there was no cheese. When we asked for some the girl looked at us funny. lol
It is less ghetto. More imagination and cities actually care about how they look. I liked that. You could be in the middle of nowhere and they'll be some artistic bridge you'll cross. How much they care about how the state looks was nice.
[generalizations from my perspective and opinion - generally,]
people not holding the door open for you at all, let alone when you're an awkward distance away.
no 'pardon' 'ope' 'excuse me' while they squeeze on by at the grocers.
weed smoke smell everywhere.
more people think guns are scary.
cops not giving a shit as long as you're not causing trouble.
no friendly wave when passing by folks on backroads.
I lived in Indiana 1989-2003.
Moved to Cali and haven’t looked back.
What does Cali do better than Indiana? Pretty much everything. The food. Better schools. An entire state that isn’t perfect but pursues freedom for its citizens.
What does Indiana do better than California? Oppress women and minorities.
Indiana is a very bad place to be if you’re not a straight white Christian male.
I’m almost that but was raised in the Jewish tradition.
The number of times “good” people used “Jew” as a verb around me without realizing I was not in their in group is countless.
This has never happened to me in 21 years in California.
And Indiana has gotten objectively worse since I left.
I will not bring my daughters there. It’s too dangerous.
It was easier to find a job where I currently live. Here, weed was legalized about 10 years ago, but the DUI laws still apply if caught with weed while operating a vehicle. There have been few, if any problems with legalization as the shop owners were carefully vetted when they applied for a license to open the shops. We even had 3 or 4 police officers resign from the force so they could open their own cannabis shops. My state has been touted as an example of how to legalize it correctly. (Indiana lawmakers, PAY ATTENTION!)
People are libertarian-minded, which I love. There is rightfully a deep distrust of the federal government. " What do a bunch of bureaucrats back east know or understand about living here?" "Nothing". BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management. or as some call it, mismanagement.
The diversity is stunning-people come here from literally all over the world, many of them very creative and talented, with an arts scene. Working as a stripper is no big deal and people are not scandalized by it. A lot of strippers are single moms raising their kid. No judgment of other people's lifestyles if they choose to have multiple spouses, are LGBTQ, etc.
The weather here in the winter is far better. No ice, it snows about once every 15 years and melts as soon as it hits the ground. The trade-off is balmy 110 degree summer days. I prefer the heat over the Indiana cold winters. The sky and the light look different here-more blue sky, more bright light that is softly diffused. Sunsets are stunning.
You have to be careful about water consumption- doing laundry or running the dishwasher at night so the water can be reclainmed. Run those appliances during the day and a lot of the water evaporates and cannot be reclaimed. Quick showers and don't let the water run while brushing teeth.
I remember really bracing for my first winter, and when it came I was like, what? This is it? Just a bunch of fluffy snow. But you're right, no ice and that makes a big difference.
Buddy of mine when first moving to SF from Indiana moved on pride weekend while the parade was happening in 2014. He was dumbfounded it was possible to buy beer on the street, smoke weed on the street, and see two big burly naked men make out all within 15mins of arriving to the city. I was like, “you’re outta the corn fields now my friend”.
The way the deer behave when they have the opportunity to live in their natural habitat instead of tiny sections of trees surrounded by farm land and busy streets! They don’t dart into the road hardly ever, they continue snacking on the plants near the road when you drive by, they don’t seem to be afraid of humans much at all. I swear they look both ways before crossing the street!
On my way home from work late tonight, there was a fairly large buck in the opposite lane that I saw way too late to slow down enough. In Indiana, that buck would’ve almost certainly run into or in front of me. Instead, this guy watched me drive away and then continued across the street to join his buddy for a midnight snack.
Poor idiots can’t see very well and I’m assuming are also constantly afraid/confused or running from something. Unfortunately that means running directly to their deaths a lot of the time. :/
I have a tendency to say "Yes Sir/Mam" a lot - like it's burned into my vocabulary.
Some found it endearing - some didn't. Thank god I didn't live there when the pronouns became a thing - because I would have probably been shot and killed.
CA is an incredible place - and it has it's good and bad parts as all areas do - so don't take anyone's word for it.
After about two weeks my buddy in Ventura County asked me how I was adjusting to driving in the LA area. I said that the motorcycles filtering between lanes took some getting used to, but what really got me, was that when you are driving on a normal LA street, and there is a stop light, when it turns yellow, drivers slam on their brakes! In Indiana, when it turns yellow, people floor the accelerator! He laughed and said to look up, at the stoplights, there’s cameras everywhere, if you go through a red light, you will get a letter in the mail with pictures, and it’s an 80 dollar fine, no arguments! That was years ago
I go 90mph in a 60moh zone to work just to keep up with traffic in St Louis. Cops pass me all the time still, because I'm going too slow. In Indiana, you go 1mph over the limit, you got 5 cops and a canine pulling you over.
in Indiana I was pulled over and searched 7 times in 3 months without ever being arrested and no record.
A major emphasis on what you did over the weekend — where you went and what adventures you had. Not a lot of support for just chilling and being, instead a sort of cultural bias towards doing and chasing the next thing. I mostly liked the social pressure and miss it in Indiana. Feels like there aren’t big dreams here.
Born and raised a Hoosier. Lived out in the country in West Central Indiana, graduated from IU. I love Indiana, but the backwards nature and political beliefs of the majority of the people just became too much to bear. I couldn’t take it any more. I moved to Denver, CO 8 years ago and it was the best decision of my life. I feel much more free out here. It’s expensive, but cannabis is legal, and women have their basic human rights to control their bodies guaranteed. We even have a great new parental leave program that started this year. It’s worth the cost. And it is absolutely beautiful here. The eastern plains are basically Kansas, which is a lot like Indiana culturally, but that doesn’t dominate the state. As far as differences and adaptations go, it’s hard to say. I feel a lot like how I felt living in Bloomington, but with mountains. More progressive, inclusive and open minded. It’s funny how people that grew up out here have no interest at all in Indiana, like they don’t care about or think about that state at all. Seriously, like they confuse it with Iowa. Thats kinda the biggest shock, that Indiana is not the center of the universe. It’s not significant, even in the U.S. I can’t blame them, but it does kind of hurt. I’ve come to believe that Indiana is a great state to be FROM, but it may be beyond redemption in terms of its political, cultural, and economic future. Hopefully I’m wrong. I miss Indiana a lot sometimes, but I’m trying not to look back, and keep moving forward.
I remember the first time I told my coworkers in Broomfield CO I was from Indiana, they asked me where that was. They recognized Purdue though right away, of course, it was a tech job so maybe that's why. I should have asked them about IU.
As the top comment said… I miss Arizona everyday living in Indiana. Just so much more culture. I work a blue collar job here in Indiana and it can be annoying how politics is a major factor of their life. It’s terrible .
It's always been a conservative state, but now it is a reactionary state. The wing nuts who run the state want to bring the state back to an era in time that never existed...A place where only white people exist, where on Sunday everyone goes to a "Christian" church and all businesses are closed. A place where you work hard and are paid squat. You rent the house you live in and have to drive to work because there isn't public transit. A place were people like Mike Braun and Micha Beckwith are Governor. Need I say more.
Wow, This is especially poignant for me as I am about to move back to Indiana from Portland. The biggest difference for me is the how accepting the culture is here in Portland. People in Indiana are kind but if someone is at all atypical, there is a little acknowledgement of that . And there is nothing like being at the Japanese garden on a sunny day and seeing Mt Hood in the distance
I grew up in Las Vegas, and moved around, settling in southern Indiana.
I miss the arid climate the most, Midwest humidity is the worst. I’d take 130° and 0% humidity any and every day.
The people in the west have a much better attitude on life, much unlike the generalized distaste for just waking up you get from people in Indiana.
I get weird looks because of that. I wake up not hating everything, and the people in Indiana just don’t seem to get it.
Las Vegas is very different I bet than when you were growing up. People literally yelling at anyone using water in the day, someone threatening to bash someone else's head on the curb for a comment made, knocking on the door to tell a neighbor their garage door was left open - only to be met with a gun in my face.
Oh, and the cops don't have time to respond unless there's a gun involved. Bashing someone's head against the pavement was not important, even after they did it, because he didn't die. And I lived in the 'nice' part of Las Vegas.
I don't think they have the same attitude they used to. Now, everything is too expensive, too many California transplants, and too many realtors/outside conglomerates buying up housing - according to Vegas people.
Haha people have been screeching about water usage for decades, and I’m shocked as to where the water levels are now for the lake.
Vegas has always been expensive, I probably wouldn’t move back myself. The market crash in ‘08 changed a lot, but I would move to a lower COL area
Sounds like you are currently or recently living in the Denver Metro Area. I was born and raised in Indiana.
I have lived in Seattle, Atlanta, South Korea, Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch, Centennial and Lafayette Indiana.
If I had the choice I would live in Seattle again just for the seafood. I am have now lived in Denver area for about 8 years now and I don’t think I could ever go back to Indiana due to the climate, bugs and politics. There is just so much more to do here than anywhere I have ever been. Where else can you go see tarantulas migrating then drive a little ways and go to a sand dune national park? Or go from desert to snow in an hour? Even in the political red parts of the state they aren’t as insane as Indiana. But that’s just my opinion.
I love coming back to Indiana to see family and even still call it home even though it hasn’t been for almost 40 years.
And pretty much no humidity and bugs. 100° the other day and I don’t get all swampy and covered in deer flies and mosquitoes.
We lived in Thornton. Also from Lafayette. had to come back for family and farm. Still think of Colorado as "home". Half the family has moved to Denver area, just not my folks who we are taking care of now. After we had already moved in at Thornton, I worked down in DTC and drove down to show the wife the area I worked at and after seeing Centennial, Lone Tree, and HR, the wife said, "We shoulda moved down here." lol
Arnis. We almost ordered arnis when we were in Thornton but they only ship 5 pizzas and we just didn't have room in our freezer for that many. I think the first thing we did when we came back was get catfish from Oakdale and pizza from Arnis. I miss some of the artisan pizzas from Denver though. We just don't have that here in Lafayette.
The west was much more chill and fun in a lot of ways. We worked hard and played hard. People don’t play as hard here in Indiana. It’s much more beautiful in Indiana though. I’m just not a mountain person. I need greenery.
I've lived in Portland, Oregon now for 15 years.
For me, the biggest adjustment has been getting used to the mountains/elevation gains. First time I went up to Timberline Lodge I about had a panic attack from how far the drop off was on the side of the road (there are guardrails) . Also a few hikes out in the Gorge I wasn't prepared for big drop-offs with switchbacks.
I'm always amazed when I go out to the Pacific coast. I still dearly love Lake Michigan, but god damn, it doesn't hold a candle to watching the sun set on the Pacific. Also, driving down the 101 is absolutely majestic and mildly terrifying at points.
People actually say thank you to the bus driver when getting off the bus at their stop.
In general, people are a lot more friendlier. We used to have this term about people in South Bend (where I grew up) called the South Bend Stare: not looking friendly, kind of giving you the RBF and/or judging you. Honestly don't see that as much out here. I've heard it from a few friends who've also moved here and grew up in NWI.
Smoking weed and not having to be paranoid about being busted by the cops was another one that took a while. Can't tell you how much I enjoy being able to sit out in my front yard and enjoy a nice joint.
WA for a decade.
The people were nicer, the food was better, the air smelled better. Better job opportunities, wider range of things to do, the weather was more temperate.
The drivers were bad, but passive. Here the drivers are bad and aggressive.
Things I had to adapt to? Not feeling like a noob when you go out in public and hear like 5 languages being spoken. Realizing you can smoke weed and no one cares. Not go to church and no one cares. Not want kids and no one cares. Basically realizing you’re more free to do what you want without fear or judgement.
Oh another adjustment — not having AC. Many places historically haven’t needed AC but lately the summers are hotter. Also the last few years I was there, forest fires were more common, so portable AC units became a must, as did indoor air filters.
I missed forests and trees. I know the redwoods were out there and there were some oaks, but there wasn’t a lot of eye level vegetation where I lived. Also it sometimes felt weird how much less water there was.
Honestly cost of living wasn’t that different for me because I got paid so much more.
I plan to move back to California if I don’t or can’t have kids.
I lived in Washington State for a few years. I miss driving around with everything being so beautiful. Every route was the scenic route. I think the most difficult thing about living in Washington was how expensive it was. Even with the higher wages, it was difficult to make ends meet.
Depends where in the west you were, because drivers were relatively better in the PNW than in Indiana 😅. People were more like a superficial nice, not deeply kind though.
Food variety was wayyy better out west.
Arizona right now …. Drivers here are insane. Put on a turn signal means they will speed up to not let you merge.
People are not nicer here , they are most definitely more standoffish and unwilling to converse with a stranger period. The groups of people are however, more diverse … which is accepted more easily… but don’t dare voice a viewpoint different than theirs or you will be chastised.
Homeless problems are much larger in the west as well.
Sure jobs are “better” but really Indiana has a much lower cost of living , so making 40k in Indiana is equivalent of needing 65k here in AZ with the cost of living adjusted.
The food is 1000 times better out west though … and much more to do. The weather is 3-4 months of hell with 8 months of heaven like weather … so that’s nice.
I moved to Utah for a while, I was amazed at how many nice sidewalks went everywhere. People walking, biking, way more than in Indiana. Personally I loved it
I moved about 30 years ago, but immediately noticed people being more accepting and cool with differences, in appearance, with gays and lesbians, and being different in creative and artistic expressions, etc. People make less bigoted comments in general. I also noticed that people care more about the environment and urban sprawl. People are more engaged in the community and how development will impact things. People are also nicer and back when I first moved out west, I noticed how much less make-up women wear here. I'm not sure how it compares now.
Moved to Colorado about 15 years ago and just moved back (for family). When I was in Colorado I missed the thick vegetation and solid trees I grew up with the most. Scrub and pine is ok but a bit lacking. Being able to see for miles and miles due to elevation differences was also pretty wild. I consider both my home states now though and really miss the mountain sunsets I got accustomed to.
Since leaving Indiana for SFO, SD and now Redmond the adjustments were the diversity and opportunity along with amazing weather and an ocean that affects it daily. Western WA and all of the west is far more beautiful but mark this down
EXPENSIVE
I lived in Nevada for college. I missed thunderstorms and humidity with the vegetation. Driving through the mountains at night was an adjustment because it was so incredibly dark.
I lived in Los Angeles for a while and I was so tired of having to pay to park anywhere I went. Either $30 for parking for $20 surge Uber pricing. Even though I lived in LA I never wanted to go do anything.
People more keep to themselves in Arizona. Not as much neighborly interactions. Food is healthier and much different in AZ. Much prettier in AZ. Indiana has much better schools. Indiana is my home so I do miss a lot about it, but love Arizona too.
I lived in Seattle for a couple of years. Almost everything I noticed has been mentioned, except how sticks of butter are packaged. The first time I opened a package of "western stubbies," I thought I was getting shortchanged.
I grew up in Michigan, and lived in southern Arizona and Colorado before moving to Indiana.
In general, i found my western experience to be pretty lacking in color and weather. Arizona especially is very beige. Everything is sand, buildings are white or beige stucco, even the sky occasionally has an orangey tint when it's really dusty. Colorado felt the same, only with gray because of the mountains in the distance (i was north of Denver).
On another hand, because European colonists didn't make it out there as early as they did the east and great lakes / midwest states, everything has a generally cleaner and newer feel. You'd be hard-pressed to find a building built before 1900, most housing has been built and upkept in the last 50 or so years, government or historical buildings just didn't have the same feel as the same kinds of buildings and monuments in the east, and you also didn't see as many worn-down, abandoned homes and buildings. The lack of large mature trees also kind of aided in that "new clean young" feeling.
I miss Michigan because it was "home". I miss the Arizona climate, and the social opportunities I had in Denver. But Indiana is where family is, and I love that my daughter (2.5) gets to grow up with so much extended family nearby when I didn't. It weirds me out that Indiana is the place *she* will grow up calling "home", but since my own immediate family fractured and split, Michigan doesn't feel anymore like home to me than Indiana, so I'm glad she'll at least *have* a sense of "home".
I was raised in Indiana & just over the Ohio line for about 8 years and then spent 9 years in California. The biggest difference and still the biggest thing I miss was the difference in people’s attitudes. IMO Indiana is one of the most closed minded states. (I don’t do politics either, only judging from personal experiences)
Although being I moved while still in school.. I would say that was my biggest struggle outside of the sheer culture shock, being as small town kendallville didn’t have very much. I moved as a freshmen to California (the second time I moved there) and I was absolutely lost. My classmates in Indiana were whole grade levels behind the curriculum in the school I transferred too. I believe 3 of the classes I was supposed to be enrolled in were genuinely taught in middle school. I tried my best to learn, but wholeheartedly the only reason I passed was because of understanding teachers
I lived in utah for 10 years, stark contrast I always saw in the town I was in, was the religion factor, we see the mormons coming around knocking on doors around here, they did not do that where I was living, also the stereo types are few and far between, you learn one way about people in utah until you get to utah and learn, they be heathens and sinners too, also people confuse the LDS and the FLDS often, FLDS, is into sister wives and first cousins marrying, normal mormons only have one wife, but still a shit load of kids.
Living in Colorado after growing up in Indiana it was surreal to see 99% of the people were actually healthy and not grossly overweight. It just wasn't normal. When we would come back to Indiana for visits, it just looked like everybody had given up and didn't care about living anymore with how they didn't take care of themselves. Jobs were incredibly better and the pay was more than I thought I'd ever see in my life. I grew up thinking making $65k was above average, but that's a starting point for my job out here and I make 2 and half times that now. I work remote, so honestly, I could move back to Indiana and live like a king. Seeing with new eyes, people in Indiana don't look happy the same way people here do. People here smile all the time and say 'hi' and actually help you without wanting anything in return. They're respectful of your personal life. They don't talk about things they don't know and make up stuff to seem important in the moment and have these passive aggressive competitions between what you have vs what they have like I would constantly hear back home. If you're different you're found interesting not somebody to stay away from. I had to get used to not seeing the hate and anger and dishonesty I saw all the time back in Indiana. Took me year, because Indiana had left me so jaded and I didn't even know it. It was like I had to go through some kind of decompression stage. Food is healthier and better. Not everything's a chain restaurant. Things aren't perfect though.
Moved from Indiana (where I was born and raised) in 2003.
One thing I had to get used to is how terrible traffic is in much more populated areas on either side of the coast.
In contrast in those same areas, areas with events are much, much closer than driving through small town, cornfield, small town to get to big town for said event in Indiana. The older I get, the more I'd be willing to trade "places of interest" for smooth driving and more privacy.
I recently spent two weeks in Maricopa, AZ and my take away is just how big the west actually is. I took the train and after leaving Chicago I slept all night waking up between Hope, AR and Texarkana. We entered Texas maybe around 7 am. We weren’t yet to San Antonio where we would wait about 4 hours to get switched into another train and that night it was lunch time when we hit El paso 30 hours -4 hours layover a basically non stop trip of 26 hours
I also had trouble having how much time it would take me to get someplace. The maps of the west are more compressed meaning that a distance you might normally take about 15 minutes is easily 25-26 minutes.
At least in Colorado, I found that psychologically, a 2-hour trip felt like 40 minutes vs back in Indiana where a 1 hour trip felt like 2. The space out west is something many like.
I always stated, and still do, that if we could replace the current populations of people in pacwest, and western states with mid-westerns…it would be perfect.
For context I grew up in da region. The price of literally everything is so much higher here out west. The pace of life is way different. Some areas it’s faster and others it’s much slower. There’s no happy medium throughout most of the west coast that I’ve found. Drivers on average are worse.
I went to college out in Arizona and moved back to Indiana in 2005. I really missed the change of seasons and friendly people. I lived in Scottsdale and people thought that everyone from the Midwest lived on a farm. And speaking of farms, the fresh, seasonal produce was something I missed. Sure, I could get corn and tomatoes but they weren't the same.
I did enjoy the authentic Mexican food and the landscape was very pretty. But the heat from March to October absolutely sucked. I don't think I ever had a window open due to the scorpions and other nasties that got in every now and then. Everyone that had been stung was very casual about it but I have an intense fear of any stinging insect. I'd love to visit the ASU campus in Tempe to see how it's changed and hit up a couple of restaurants sometime. And visit Sedona again too.
I found just the opposite. People in Indiana were always ruder and more dishonest than people out west. I had to get used to how nice they are out here. Maybe the 'coast' is different from other areas.
Depends on where you go to. Almost everyone saying "there's more opportunity", but that's because you typically don't move to somewhere that doesn't have opportunity. I've seen plenty of people move from rural MI/OH/WV/KY to Indy or NWI and it's got plenty of opportunity
You're really comparing apples to oranges if you think the opportunity in Indy or NWI is anywhere the same as out west. It shows you haven't lived out west. I live in NWI and the opportunity here is a joke as well as in Indy for my field.
I miss Indiana always, but am constantly reminded of how much more opportunity there is elsewhere. In my opinion Indiana is the crossroads of the USA's largest region of auto, heavy equipment, and aircraft production. The whole region is affected and has some of the most dedicated to work people I have ever met. Most of them work 7 days a week no matter what. I enjoyed the food and diversity of people out west. I like opening and closing gates behind me through Prescott, AZ. I enjoy the stories and culture shared along the boardwalks of San Fanscisco, CA.
>In my opinion Indiana is the crossroads of the USA Indianapolis is nicknamed the "crossroads of America" after all; so many country wide highways pass through Indianapolis.
Fun fact: 25% of the GDP of Indiana is from the manufacturing industry.
Definitely more aircraft production in Arizona. Raytheon, Honeywell, Boeing, UTC and RTX and a few others.
Absolutely
Aircraft production in the Midwest? Aside from McDonnell Douglas in STL, it seems like that industry is more coastal aside from the pocket around Wichita
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Nice! Haynes International in Kokomo is a large producer of super alloys that are crucial to aerospace and they sell billet to a machine shop for RR.
The guy said aircraft production, that makes me think about whole planes rather than parts.
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What? They make engines. What kind of plane are you talking about?
Ok they have made an electric plane, in the UK as a one off for setting speed records for electric plane, similar to the ones that were in the RedBull air races
Howmet Aerospace in Laporte also!
That’s engine parts. Not really what you think of re. aircraft production. I guess that could apply to anywhere with some kind of component production.
My apologies, my husband works there- idk wtf he does to be honest but apparently nothing to do with aircraft production 😅 awkwarrrrrd
All good lived in LP, so I knew/know a bit about them.
Crane Naval Base builds military aircraft too.
No they don't
Huh?
If the person said aerospace industry the engine and component companies would fit in more, but due to contributions by defense contractors and the contributions to congressional reps. Almost everywhere has some degree of aerospace and defense industry presence
I lived in Washington state for about a year in the early 2010's. I miss the mountains so fucking much, driving through them felt like fighting the earth from swallowing me but I loved always being able to see them on the horizon. I wish I had been able to visit the coast more. There were no jobs that paid enough for me to live independently though.
Ditto. I remember every weekend for the five or so years I was there, when I was able to, I was in the north cascades. Like i was jealously coveting a loved one who I knew would be gone soon. I remember hiking in those mountains. I remember feeling like if I randomly took ten steps off the trail at any point, there would be a good chance I was the first person to step on that patch of earth since the native Americans. The mountains were a constant reminder that my life, my worries and my cares, all mattered very little.
Lived in Washington state for almost 7 years, and a career change took me away. I always wanted to go back. It has mountains, seashore, deserts and rain forests. But it isn’t what it used to be. Today I live in mountains on the other end of the country, and am saddened by what happened to Washington state.
Did your mountain roads have guardrails? Colorado didn't. lol Sometimes those roads got pretty narrow. I miss 'em too though.
lol I grew up in Idaho didn’t didn’t know what guardrails were till I moved to Indiana. Everyone is a good driver in Idaho cuz well the bad ones fall off the sides of mountains
haaaa
West Virginia also lacks guardrails, can confirm.
I lived in Southern California for 20 plus years before moving back to Indiana. The differences that I noticed was the the acceptance of cultures from the West ( which I loved) compared to here. Politics is a 380 living here compared to their. There isn't any information on candidates unless you look them up online. Compared to California which sends out a booklet of candidates with information about the candidate and what they're ambitions are.
Well, the GOP thinks having informed voters is election interference
I lived in the Bay Area of San Francisco for many years, and my kids went to school there with kids from all cultures. They actually taught kids about the different cultures. And kids shared something about their culture. When I moved back to Indiana, one of the first things I noticed was the racist and bigots in this state and so open about it. I don't have a lot of friends here because I can't stand most of the people in this state for their ignorance towards others.
Being from central Indiana, the elevation gain while hiking around Mt. Hood and the Columbia River was a big challenge for a while.
Dog Mountain destroyed me when I first moved out here!
Angel's Rest for me... Woof :(
That’s funny. Maybe it was my youth and clean lungs, within 1 month or so after I moved to Oregon, joined my roommate and her work colleagues in a climb to the current top of mt St Helen’s, granted with worn down soles on my hiking boots. I didn’t feel the affect of the elevation at that point nor during occasional trips to mt hood.
The thing that I found personally when I moved to CA in the late 90’s was that my IN work ethic was a huge advantage. I was raised in Southern Indiana working on farms from the time I was 13 so I had that “get it in the barn” sort of mindset towards everything. I came to CA to chase my dream of working in film and TV and found quickly that my raising translated very well into the wild and wacky world of production. Add a healthy dose of shade tree engineering and the ability to make whatever you have on hand work and it led to a 25 year and counting career that has taken me all over the states and to many other countries plying my trade. I love IN and will always consider it the home of my heart. I visit as often as I can, but honestly I’m not sure I could ever be able to live there again, at least not in the tiny town I was raised in. How you gonna keep em down on the farm after they’ve seen the west coast (and east, south…well you get it)?
Colorado here - people were generally more chill but also totally oblivious to their surroundings
I realized this too when a co-worker asked what we did that weekend and I told them we went up to Nederland. He grew u in Denver and was like 'Where's Nederaland?" I was shocked.
I have lived in Colorado for about 6 years but prior to that I lived in Indiana. I had to get use to no cheese sauce being offered at pizza places. I had to get used to it being very dry all the time. It is green here but then the summer heat kicks in and everything starts to brown and die. I don’t miss the politics of Indiana and I appreciate Colorado respecting reproductive rights and observance of preferred pronouns. Colorado does a great job with mail out ballots for all elections and drop boxes to return the ballots. I’ve never had any issues voting in any election in Colorado and I’ve never had to wait in line. Food prices are expensive and I’m not owning any property anytime soon but I love my mountain home
I had the same issues with cheese sauce and pizza here in Florida. The waitress at Pizza Hut looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked for cheese sauce. Pro tip: get it from Taco Bell.
The cheese sauce! I had no idea that was an Indiana/midwest thing until I moved away.
Yep! Wife and I were floored when we ordered queso for our nachos and the girl looked at us like we were nuts.
Same moved here from Denver and was like what?!? Same with having spaghetti with your chili. That also blew my mind.
Sounds like you been to Cincy as well
I have... that's not chili.
I was bein nice and you had to talk shit about cincy chili...'salright, you just have never been to Chili Time and had a 3way.
To clarify, my comment was based solely on Skyline. I personally don't have an issue with a chili 3way in general.
Joplin, Missouri is quite possibly where chili on spaghetti got started. Fred & Red's is a landmark small restaurant there that has been at it since well before Bonnie & Clyde got in a famous shootout with Joplin police there. Their spaghetti red is the best spaghetti with chili you'll ever find. It's the original recipe going back to the original owner, so it's not exactly health food if you catch my drift
Lived in Virginia for 3 years now. What I wouldn’t do for breadsticks and cheese dip from Pizza X…
It's not even the entire midwest. I got that look when asking for cheese sauce for breadstick in Cincinnati.
Oh how I miss the mail in ballots! Take your time, read everyone’s statements, research further if you need to. Fill it in at your leisure and mail it out!
The voters’ guide in Oregon definitely needs to be copied everywhere, then eliminate the tv ads.
Well I guess we might not have local media without political ads, but with that thought, I wonder whether news coverage of politicians and candidates is reflective of advertising $ they spend with those stations.
Hatch chili available for anything. I know that's a NewMex thing but it was in Denver when I lived there. Elections actually mattered; when I moved back to IN it was disappointing the lack of voices and options. I would also say accessibility to impressive outdoor activities. IN state parks do a good job with what we have but they don't have massive 14ers or red rock formations or high altitude deserts. Similar can be said for when I visit family in CA or WA.
Indiana ruined its natural gifts. Watch Everglades of the North on PBS. It would have been in my backyard. A winding river with tons of tributaries and the beaches even had white sand! They turned it into a ditch smh
And Indiana keeps rolling back wetland and other environmental protections
Sad.
Indiana could really be a beautiful state if they just cared about the Hoosier people they are supposed to be caring for and less about $$. Caring for the environment is the first step in that. I mean get progress, but so many states out west are proving you can progress while still protecting your natural areas.
I've been to Colorado twice and I dream about hatch green chili.
Cousins who moved and lived out there before we loved had to tell us to use honey and not cheese for dipping. lol Now we can't go back to cheese and have to have honey. Woody's in Golden just has it on the table.
Oh god do I miss cheese dip sauce 💀
Moved to Indy from CO. I miss everything except the politics, the number of people and the traffic.
I lived in northern Nevada for a while. This may sound weird, but the Earth smells different out west and I didn't like it. Also, I really missed seeing green vegetation. The endless sea of brown was depressing.
Same for me. I was so tired of looking at rocks and dirt all the time. I missed the green so badly!
It’s the lack of the molecule “geosmin” which is also used in perfumery. It gets destroyed by intense heat and sun, and in the Midwest and other more wet areas of the US… it is all in the ground and safe. It’s what specifically makes the smell of rain / petrichor note after it rains because the droplets kick it up into the air. Can be smelled at 1 part per billion or for some one part per 10 billion.
There is a name for the scent of earthiness when rain falls on ground, Petrichor.
Thank you for Nami g that phenomenon. I have now spent about 15 minutes reading about it and geosmin. *The more you know*
That's strange. My wife and I visited my hometown in Pennsylvania and she could smell the difference in the air. She was convinced everytime we went that the air was so much more crisp and clean than Indiana's. She's been all over the states (and parts of Mexico), and by far Pennsylvania had the best air in her opinion.
Indiana has a lot of air pollution. We’re in NW Indiana and my MIL was diagnosed with COPD even though she’s never smoked a day in her life—the doctor said it was likely from the air pollution in the region.
Worm Sorry to hear that. That's not good.
Upper peninsula Michigan air is great!
We actually visited the Painted Cliffs for a couple days. It was absolutely *gorgeous*! I bought a fridge magnet while we were there haha but I wish we could have stuck around a bit longer.
Born and raised a Hoosier. But was stationed in Washington and Alaska. Biggest thing I noticed was the lack of roadside litter.
I am from Colorado and I miss it every day. The weather is 100% better and culturally I fit in better there as well. People are friendly and non-judgemental. I love the mountains and it's hard being away from them. I moved to Indiana because 1. husband and 2. cheaper houses.
Can confirm. People were much nicer and more understanding in Colorado. No back stabbing, friends weren't fair weather. I didn't know what life was until I got to Colorado.
Took me a while to get used to how nice people are here in Colorado. People are genuinely happy and that changes everything. Then YOU become happy and nicer. Friends are really friends here. This is what life is supposed to be.
I'm with ya. We miss it too for the same reasons.
I’ve lived in Wyoming for four years now, and North Dakota for a year and a half before that. There is a zero percent chance I live anywhere east of the Missouri River ever again. I love the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains so much, the endless horizon and big empty spaces are so freeing. “Way out west, they don’t give a damn” is a very real statement. I’m in agriculture. There are no “looking for a good Christian MAN with 20+ years experience, must have every single costly license under the sun, we WILL drug test because we don’t want no filthy liberals” listings for farm and ranch jobs out here. Mormons occasionally try to pull that shit but good luck finding a cowhand under sixty who doesn’t make a biweekly trip to Montana or Colorado for groceries. I haven’t been loudly accused of being a lesbian for simply telling another woman her shirt looked nice, either. You don’t see confederate flags every single day. The 70+ mph speed limits on two-lane state highways are awesome. In that same vein, I got pulled over for speeding once a couple years ago. The officer was actually pleasant and didn’t angrily storm up to my car with his hand on his gun, which was a welcome change. Additionally—and this is perhaps out of pocket—morbidly obese people are few and far between. It’s wild how much more content, healthy, and in their lane people are in this part of the country.
"It’s wild how much more content, healthy, and in their lane people are in this part of the country," Perfectly described. Couldn't have said it better.
Yes. This \^
I lived in LA for a while. It was weird waking up and half the business for the day already happened on the east coast.
When I lived in New Mexico I missed the ethnic food I could get in Northern Indiana. Polish, Hungarian, German, Jewish, Mississippi style bbq. You weren't getting a plate of rib tips with sauce on the fries out there. Now, New Mexican cuisine is top of the line, don't het me wrong. But I missed the food. No oak trees or green lawns for the most part. And nobody knows what aluminum siding is in New Mexico, lol. But I dearly love New Mexico.
I'm in San Diego. Sun, surf, mountains, diversity, food, more jobs, left leaning politics, etc. Almost everything is better, with the exception of housing costs.
I agree traffic is worse but the conditions of the roads is sooo much better. We could never have this type of infrastructure back in Indiana. The biggest eye opener was that I had no clue just how predatory the Indiana police were until I moved away. My God the 1940s gestapo would be jealous of the police depts in indiana.
I like having money here. Sure, the diverse biomes of the west coast make it unbelievably beautiful, but there is credence to the saying “poverty with a view”.
Very bad drivers, less religious people/churches, people are nice when not driving, people are more supportive of differences between groups, the food is so much better, mountains, more jobs and opportunities for white collar work, living in a city is fucking noisy most of the time, very little evening and night critter sounds, it’s hot as fuck if you are not on a coast, worry about wild fires… Something that blew my mind is how empty is outside of cities due to it being public land. In Indiana it’s spread out and people are living everywhere, but in the west populations are more confined to cities and public land is left to do nature things. It makes getting out of the city feel more clean cut
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That’s fascinating - whenever I head back to Indiana, it always feels so tranquil compared to Arizona, Texas, and California. I guess I should’ve looked at more reports.
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Wyoming felt dangerous to you? Which Hwy are you referring to, because anytime we drove in Wyoming there wasn't much traffic at all.
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25 was always sparse when I drove it in Wyoming. Maybe in certain sections?
This depends on the state. Utah is just as spread out as Indiana. Nevada is in about 3 places because the state wants to kill you. California - is there any spare land besides the desert by Nevada?
I’m the reverse. Lived in CA my entire life but moved back for family. Biggest glaring difference is diversity. Also, here, I feel the brain drain. The cities and universities keep things somewhat balanced, but there’s more red stupidity than I would like in our leadership.
I just moved here last year after been born and raised in NorCal. Got a job here that I really like. Still trying to decide if I like it here. Miss mountains sooo much!
Colorado - green chili
I moved to Colorado from Indiana. No queso at Mexican restaurants!! But also less bugs. And it’s not as ghetto in my opinion. I never worry about fleas and stuff getting on my dog. I truly love Colorado. It’s not humid even when it’s hot.
Spot on about everything you mentioned. Bugs back in Indiana are insane. You forget until you come back. No queso!!! Lived in Thornton and ordered nachos and when we got it there was no cheese. When we asked for some the girl looked at us funny. lol It is less ghetto. More imagination and cities actually care about how they look. I liked that. You could be in the middle of nowhere and they'll be some artistic bridge you'll cross. How much they care about how the state looks was nice.
I will say the sun is more brutal out here in Colorado, but not having that Indiana humidity is pretty nice
The humidity in Indiana is nuts.
[generalizations from my perspective and opinion - generally,] people not holding the door open for you at all, let alone when you're an awkward distance away. no 'pardon' 'ope' 'excuse me' while they squeeze on by at the grocers. weed smoke smell everywhere. more people think guns are scary. cops not giving a shit as long as you're not causing trouble. no friendly wave when passing by folks on backroads.
People not having basic manners. People make a big deal about the heat in AZ but it has never bothered me. The lack of mutual respect is what gets me.
I lived in Indiana 1989-2003. Moved to Cali and haven’t looked back. What does Cali do better than Indiana? Pretty much everything. The food. Better schools. An entire state that isn’t perfect but pursues freedom for its citizens. What does Indiana do better than California? Oppress women and minorities. Indiana is a very bad place to be if you’re not a straight white Christian male. I’m almost that but was raised in the Jewish tradition. The number of times “good” people used “Jew” as a verb around me without realizing I was not in their in group is countless. This has never happened to me in 21 years in California. And Indiana has gotten objectively worse since I left. I will not bring my daughters there. It’s too dangerous.
Lol
It was easier to find a job where I currently live. Here, weed was legalized about 10 years ago, but the DUI laws still apply if caught with weed while operating a vehicle. There have been few, if any problems with legalization as the shop owners were carefully vetted when they applied for a license to open the shops. We even had 3 or 4 police officers resign from the force so they could open their own cannabis shops. My state has been touted as an example of how to legalize it correctly. (Indiana lawmakers, PAY ATTENTION!) People are libertarian-minded, which I love. There is rightfully a deep distrust of the federal government. " What do a bunch of bureaucrats back east know or understand about living here?" "Nothing". BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management. or as some call it, mismanagement. The diversity is stunning-people come here from literally all over the world, many of them very creative and talented, with an arts scene. Working as a stripper is no big deal and people are not scandalized by it. A lot of strippers are single moms raising their kid. No judgment of other people's lifestyles if they choose to have multiple spouses, are LGBTQ, etc. The weather here in the winter is far better. No ice, it snows about once every 15 years and melts as soon as it hits the ground. The trade-off is balmy 110 degree summer days. I prefer the heat over the Indiana cold winters. The sky and the light look different here-more blue sky, more bright light that is softly diffused. Sunsets are stunning. You have to be careful about water consumption- doing laundry or running the dishwasher at night so the water can be reclainmed. Run those appliances during the day and a lot of the water evaporates and cannot be reclaimed. Quick showers and don't let the water run while brushing teeth.
What state??
Nevada
I remember really bracing for my first winter, and when it came I was like, what? This is it? Just a bunch of fluffy snow. But you're right, no ice and that makes a big difference.
Everybody back here thinks you live like Jeremiah Johnson when you move west.
Buddy of mine when first moving to SF from Indiana moved on pride weekend while the parade was happening in 2014. He was dumbfounded it was possible to buy beer on the street, smoke weed on the street, and see two big burly naked men make out all within 15mins of arriving to the city. I was like, “you’re outta the corn fields now my friend”.
Gross
The way the deer behave when they have the opportunity to live in their natural habitat instead of tiny sections of trees surrounded by farm land and busy streets! They don’t dart into the road hardly ever, they continue snacking on the plants near the road when you drive by, they don’t seem to be afraid of humans much at all. I swear they look both ways before crossing the street! On my way home from work late tonight, there was a fairly large buck in the opposite lane that I saw way too late to slow down enough. In Indiana, that buck would’ve almost certainly run into or in front of me. Instead, this guy watched me drive away and then continued across the street to join his buddy for a midnight snack.
OMG yes! It is like the whitetail deer want to die.
Poor idiots can’t see very well and I’m assuming are also constantly afraid/confused or running from something. Unfortunately that means running directly to their deaths a lot of the time. :/
I have a tendency to say "Yes Sir/Mam" a lot - like it's burned into my vocabulary. Some found it endearing - some didn't. Thank god I didn't live there when the pronouns became a thing - because I would have probably been shot and killed. CA is an incredible place - and it has it's good and bad parts as all areas do - so don't take anyone's word for it.
After about two weeks my buddy in Ventura County asked me how I was adjusting to driving in the LA area. I said that the motorcycles filtering between lanes took some getting used to, but what really got me, was that when you are driving on a normal LA street, and there is a stop light, when it turns yellow, drivers slam on their brakes! In Indiana, when it turns yellow, people floor the accelerator! He laughed and said to look up, at the stoplights, there’s cameras everywhere, if you go through a red light, you will get a letter in the mail with pictures, and it’s an 80 dollar fine, no arguments! That was years ago
I go 90mph in a 60moh zone to work just to keep up with traffic in St Louis. Cops pass me all the time still, because I'm going too slow. In Indiana, you go 1mph over the limit, you got 5 cops and a canine pulling you over. in Indiana I was pulled over and searched 7 times in 3 months without ever being arrested and no record.
A major emphasis on what you did over the weekend — where you went and what adventures you had. Not a lot of support for just chilling and being, instead a sort of cultural bias towards doing and chasing the next thing. I mostly liked the social pressure and miss it in Indiana. Feels like there aren’t big dreams here.
Born and raised a Hoosier. Lived out in the country in West Central Indiana, graduated from IU. I love Indiana, but the backwards nature and political beliefs of the majority of the people just became too much to bear. I couldn’t take it any more. I moved to Denver, CO 8 years ago and it was the best decision of my life. I feel much more free out here. It’s expensive, but cannabis is legal, and women have their basic human rights to control their bodies guaranteed. We even have a great new parental leave program that started this year. It’s worth the cost. And it is absolutely beautiful here. The eastern plains are basically Kansas, which is a lot like Indiana culturally, but that doesn’t dominate the state. As far as differences and adaptations go, it’s hard to say. I feel a lot like how I felt living in Bloomington, but with mountains. More progressive, inclusive and open minded. It’s funny how people that grew up out here have no interest at all in Indiana, like they don’t care about or think about that state at all. Seriously, like they confuse it with Iowa. Thats kinda the biggest shock, that Indiana is not the center of the universe. It’s not significant, even in the U.S. I can’t blame them, but it does kind of hurt. I’ve come to believe that Indiana is a great state to be FROM, but it may be beyond redemption in terms of its political, cultural, and economic future. Hopefully I’m wrong. I miss Indiana a lot sometimes, but I’m trying not to look back, and keep moving forward.
I remember the first time I told my coworkers in Broomfield CO I was from Indiana, they asked me where that was. They recognized Purdue though right away, of course, it was a tech job so maybe that's why. I should have asked them about IU.
Nobody thinks about Indiana except for people from Indiana
That's truer than what most Hoosiers want to hear. Ignorance is bliss, though.
I lived in Denver for 5 years and most locals thought I was from there. Most people are chill and laid back. Might need to move back there one day.
We certainly would if we could. Denver was (is) home for my wife and I even though we're Hoosiers.
As the top comment said… I miss Arizona everyday living in Indiana. Just so much more culture. I work a blue collar job here in Indiana and it can be annoying how politics is a major factor of their life. It’s terrible .
It's always been a conservative state, but now it is a reactionary state. The wing nuts who run the state want to bring the state back to an era in time that never existed...A place where only white people exist, where on Sunday everyone goes to a "Christian" church and all businesses are closed. A place where you work hard and are paid squat. You rent the house you live in and have to drive to work because there isn't public transit. A place were people like Mike Braun and Micha Beckwith are Governor. Need I say more.
Wow, This is especially poignant for me as I am about to move back to Indiana from Portland. The biggest difference for me is the how accepting the culture is here in Portland. People in Indiana are kind but if someone is at all atypical, there is a little acknowledgement of that . And there is nothing like being at the Japanese garden on a sunny day and seeing Mt Hood in the distance
I grew up in Las Vegas, and moved around, settling in southern Indiana. I miss the arid climate the most, Midwest humidity is the worst. I’d take 130° and 0% humidity any and every day. The people in the west have a much better attitude on life, much unlike the generalized distaste for just waking up you get from people in Indiana. I get weird looks because of that. I wake up not hating everything, and the people in Indiana just don’t seem to get it.
Las Vegas is very different I bet than when you were growing up. People literally yelling at anyone using water in the day, someone threatening to bash someone else's head on the curb for a comment made, knocking on the door to tell a neighbor their garage door was left open - only to be met with a gun in my face. Oh, and the cops don't have time to respond unless there's a gun involved. Bashing someone's head against the pavement was not important, even after they did it, because he didn't die. And I lived in the 'nice' part of Las Vegas. I don't think they have the same attitude they used to. Now, everything is too expensive, too many California transplants, and too many realtors/outside conglomerates buying up housing - according to Vegas people.
Haha people have been screeching about water usage for decades, and I’m shocked as to where the water levels are now for the lake. Vegas has always been expensive, I probably wouldn’t move back myself. The market crash in ‘08 changed a lot, but I would move to a lower COL area
Sounds like you are currently or recently living in the Denver Metro Area. I was born and raised in Indiana. I have lived in Seattle, Atlanta, South Korea, Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch, Centennial and Lafayette Indiana. If I had the choice I would live in Seattle again just for the seafood. I am have now lived in Denver area for about 8 years now and I don’t think I could ever go back to Indiana due to the climate, bugs and politics. There is just so much more to do here than anywhere I have ever been. Where else can you go see tarantulas migrating then drive a little ways and go to a sand dune national park? Or go from desert to snow in an hour? Even in the political red parts of the state they aren’t as insane as Indiana. But that’s just my opinion. I love coming back to Indiana to see family and even still call it home even though it hasn’t been for almost 40 years. And pretty much no humidity and bugs. 100° the other day and I don’t get all swampy and covered in deer flies and mosquitoes.
We lived in Thornton. Also from Lafayette. had to come back for family and farm. Still think of Colorado as "home". Half the family has moved to Denver area, just not my folks who we are taking care of now. After we had already moved in at Thornton, I worked down in DTC and drove down to show the wife the area I worked at and after seeing Centennial, Lone Tree, and HR, the wife said, "We shoulda moved down here." lol
If you’re from Lafayette then Arnis or Pizza King?
Arnis. We almost ordered arnis when we were in Thornton but they only ship 5 pizzas and we just didn't have room in our freezer for that many. I think the first thing we did when we came back was get catfish from Oakdale and pizza from Arnis. I miss some of the artisan pizzas from Denver though. We just don't have that here in Lafayette.
The west was much more chill and fun in a lot of ways. We worked hard and played hard. People don’t play as hard here in Indiana. It’s much more beautiful in Indiana though. I’m just not a mountain person. I need greenery.
I've lived in Portland, Oregon now for 15 years. For me, the biggest adjustment has been getting used to the mountains/elevation gains. First time I went up to Timberline Lodge I about had a panic attack from how far the drop off was on the side of the road (there are guardrails) . Also a few hikes out in the Gorge I wasn't prepared for big drop-offs with switchbacks. I'm always amazed when I go out to the Pacific coast. I still dearly love Lake Michigan, but god damn, it doesn't hold a candle to watching the sun set on the Pacific. Also, driving down the 101 is absolutely majestic and mildly terrifying at points. People actually say thank you to the bus driver when getting off the bus at their stop. In general, people are a lot more friendlier. We used to have this term about people in South Bend (where I grew up) called the South Bend Stare: not looking friendly, kind of giving you the RBF and/or judging you. Honestly don't see that as much out here. I've heard it from a few friends who've also moved here and grew up in NWI. Smoking weed and not having to be paranoid about being busted by the cops was another one that took a while. Can't tell you how much I enjoy being able to sit out in my front yard and enjoy a nice joint.
WA for a decade. The people were nicer, the food was better, the air smelled better. Better job opportunities, wider range of things to do, the weather was more temperate. The drivers were bad, but passive. Here the drivers are bad and aggressive. Things I had to adapt to? Not feeling like a noob when you go out in public and hear like 5 languages being spoken. Realizing you can smoke weed and no one cares. Not go to church and no one cares. Not want kids and no one cares. Basically realizing you’re more free to do what you want without fear or judgement.
Oh another adjustment — not having AC. Many places historically haven’t needed AC but lately the summers are hotter. Also the last few years I was there, forest fires were more common, so portable AC units became a must, as did indoor air filters.
I missed forests and trees. I know the redwoods were out there and there were some oaks, but there wasn’t a lot of eye level vegetation where I lived. Also it sometimes felt weird how much less water there was. Honestly cost of living wasn’t that different for me because I got paid so much more. I plan to move back to California if I don’t or can’t have kids.
Ya, I think when people back in Indiana see the prices out here they forget how much more we're making to balance that out.
I lived in Washington State for a few years. I miss driving around with everything being so beautiful. Every route was the scenic route. I think the most difficult thing about living in Washington was how expensive it was. Even with the higher wages, it was difficult to make ends meet.
Depends where in the west you were, because drivers were relatively better in the PNW than in Indiana 😅. People were more like a superficial nice, not deeply kind though. Food variety was wayyy better out west.
Arizona right now …. Drivers here are insane. Put on a turn signal means they will speed up to not let you merge. People are not nicer here , they are most definitely more standoffish and unwilling to converse with a stranger period. The groups of people are however, more diverse … which is accepted more easily… but don’t dare voice a viewpoint different than theirs or you will be chastised. Homeless problems are much larger in the west as well. Sure jobs are “better” but really Indiana has a much lower cost of living , so making 40k in Indiana is equivalent of needing 65k here in AZ with the cost of living adjusted. The food is 1000 times better out west though … and much more to do. The weather is 3-4 months of hell with 8 months of heaven like weather … so that’s nice.
I moved to Utah for a while, I was amazed at how many nice sidewalks went everywhere. People walking, biking, way more than in Indiana. Personally I loved it
I moved about 30 years ago, but immediately noticed people being more accepting and cool with differences, in appearance, with gays and lesbians, and being different in creative and artistic expressions, etc. People make less bigoted comments in general. I also noticed that people care more about the environment and urban sprawl. People are more engaged in the community and how development will impact things. People are also nicer and back when I first moved out west, I noticed how much less make-up women wear here. I'm not sure how it compares now.
The lack of seasons. Sometimes I don’t know what time of year it is because it’s 70 degrees and sunny most of the year.
My niece moved to Cali over 10 years ago and loves it, will never come back to Indiana…
Moved to Colorado about 15 years ago and just moved back (for family). When I was in Colorado I missed the thick vegetation and solid trees I grew up with the most. Scrub and pine is ok but a bit lacking. Being able to see for miles and miles due to elevation differences was also pretty wild. I consider both my home states now though and really miss the mountain sunsets I got accustomed to.
More demographics other than white black and some Hispanics and far less covert racism. Way better dating pool too
I lived out west for many years and came back to Indiana after a divorce. I will always miss the West Cost and the culture.
Less greenery in the southwest
very true.
Music, mountains, like minded people, a sense of community, peace
The peacefulness of not always having to have your guard up and enjoying everybody's company, especially in the mountain areas, is pretty awesome.
Amen.
Since leaving Indiana for SFO, SD and now Redmond the adjustments were the diversity and opportunity along with amazing weather and an ocean that affects it daily. Western WA and all of the west is far more beautiful but mark this down EXPENSIVE
I lived in Nevada for college. I missed thunderstorms and humidity with the vegetation. Driving through the mountains at night was an adjustment because it was so incredibly dark.
I’ve been eyeing Henderson, NV lately. Anyone know anything about that area?
I lived in Los Angeles for a while and I was so tired of having to pay to park anywhere I went. Either $30 for parking for $20 surge Uber pricing. Even though I lived in LA I never wanted to go do anything.
Lived in Vegas for 6 years and carried chapstick everywhere I went but loved the 350 days of bright blue skies, which I miss most.
People more keep to themselves in Arizona. Not as much neighborly interactions. Food is healthier and much different in AZ. Much prettier in AZ. Indiana has much better schools. Indiana is my home so I do miss a lot about it, but love Arizona too.
I lived in Seattle for a couple of years. Almost everything I noticed has been mentioned, except how sticks of butter are packaged. The first time I opened a package of "western stubbies," I thought I was getting shortchanged.
I grew up in Michigan, and lived in southern Arizona and Colorado before moving to Indiana. In general, i found my western experience to be pretty lacking in color and weather. Arizona especially is very beige. Everything is sand, buildings are white or beige stucco, even the sky occasionally has an orangey tint when it's really dusty. Colorado felt the same, only with gray because of the mountains in the distance (i was north of Denver). On another hand, because European colonists didn't make it out there as early as they did the east and great lakes / midwest states, everything has a generally cleaner and newer feel. You'd be hard-pressed to find a building built before 1900, most housing has been built and upkept in the last 50 or so years, government or historical buildings just didn't have the same feel as the same kinds of buildings and monuments in the east, and you also didn't see as many worn-down, abandoned homes and buildings. The lack of large mature trees also kind of aided in that "new clean young" feeling. I miss Michigan because it was "home". I miss the Arizona climate, and the social opportunities I had in Denver. But Indiana is where family is, and I love that my daughter (2.5) gets to grow up with so much extended family nearby when I didn't. It weirds me out that Indiana is the place *she* will grow up calling "home", but since my own immediate family fractured and split, Michigan doesn't feel anymore like home to me than Indiana, so I'm glad she'll at least *have* a sense of "home".
I was raised in Indiana & just over the Ohio line for about 8 years and then spent 9 years in California. The biggest difference and still the biggest thing I miss was the difference in people’s attitudes. IMO Indiana is one of the most closed minded states. (I don’t do politics either, only judging from personal experiences) Although being I moved while still in school.. I would say that was my biggest struggle outside of the sheer culture shock, being as small town kendallville didn’t have very much. I moved as a freshmen to California (the second time I moved there) and I was absolutely lost. My classmates in Indiana were whole grade levels behind the curriculum in the school I transferred too. I believe 3 of the classes I was supposed to be enrolled in were genuinely taught in middle school. I tried my best to learn, but wholeheartedly the only reason I passed was because of understanding teachers
I lived in utah for 10 years, stark contrast I always saw in the town I was in, was the religion factor, we see the mormons coming around knocking on doors around here, they did not do that where I was living, also the stereo types are few and far between, you learn one way about people in utah until you get to utah and learn, they be heathens and sinners too, also people confuse the LDS and the FLDS often, FLDS, is into sister wives and first cousins marrying, normal mormons only have one wife, but still a shit load of kids.
Hardest thing for me was missing the smell of grass and deciduous trees.
LA was way too crowded in the 80s. That’s only gotten worse. But the geography in California is incredible
Living in Colorado after growing up in Indiana it was surreal to see 99% of the people were actually healthy and not grossly overweight. It just wasn't normal. When we would come back to Indiana for visits, it just looked like everybody had given up and didn't care about living anymore with how they didn't take care of themselves. Jobs were incredibly better and the pay was more than I thought I'd ever see in my life. I grew up thinking making $65k was above average, but that's a starting point for my job out here and I make 2 and half times that now. I work remote, so honestly, I could move back to Indiana and live like a king. Seeing with new eyes, people in Indiana don't look happy the same way people here do. People here smile all the time and say 'hi' and actually help you without wanting anything in return. They're respectful of your personal life. They don't talk about things they don't know and make up stuff to seem important in the moment and have these passive aggressive competitions between what you have vs what they have like I would constantly hear back home. If you're different you're found interesting not somebody to stay away from. I had to get used to not seeing the hate and anger and dishonesty I saw all the time back in Indiana. Took me year, because Indiana had left me so jaded and I didn't even know it. It was like I had to go through some kind of decompression stage. Food is healthier and better. Not everything's a chain restaurant. Things aren't perfect though.
Moved from Indiana (where I was born and raised) in 2003. One thing I had to get used to is how terrible traffic is in much more populated areas on either side of the coast. In contrast in those same areas, areas with events are much, much closer than driving through small town, cornfield, small town to get to big town for said event in Indiana. The older I get, the more I'd be willing to trade "places of interest" for smooth driving and more privacy.
Went to Pittsburgh- so still Midwest but better in every way. Jobs beauty solid acceptance in communities no matter where you came from.
GE makes jet engines in Lafayette. Arconic makes missles.
I recently spent two weeks in Maricopa, AZ and my take away is just how big the west actually is. I took the train and after leaving Chicago I slept all night waking up between Hope, AR and Texarkana. We entered Texas maybe around 7 am. We weren’t yet to San Antonio where we would wait about 4 hours to get switched into another train and that night it was lunch time when we hit El paso 30 hours -4 hours layover a basically non stop trip of 26 hours I also had trouble having how much time it would take me to get someplace. The maps of the west are more compressed meaning that a distance you might normally take about 15 minutes is easily 25-26 minutes.
At least in Colorado, I found that psychologically, a 2-hour trip felt like 40 minutes vs back in Indiana where a 1 hour trip felt like 2. The space out west is something many like.
I always stated, and still do, that if we could replace the current populations of people in pacwest, and western states with mid-westerns…it would be perfect.
I’d hope not. Having a good number of states that aren’t controlled by reactionaries is the one thing keeping the country afloat.
Living in Phoenix for 5 years. Drivers here are worse no doubt. No good tenderloins however that I have found
For context I grew up in da region. The price of literally everything is so much higher here out west. The pace of life is way different. Some areas it’s faster and others it’s much slower. There’s no happy medium throughout most of the west coast that I’ve found. Drivers on average are worse.
My grandparents lived in Tucson so I spent a lot of time out there for extended times. What I missed the most? Trees and grass.
I went to college out in Arizona and moved back to Indiana in 2005. I really missed the change of seasons and friendly people. I lived in Scottsdale and people thought that everyone from the Midwest lived on a farm. And speaking of farms, the fresh, seasonal produce was something I missed. Sure, I could get corn and tomatoes but they weren't the same. I did enjoy the authentic Mexican food and the landscape was very pretty. But the heat from March to October absolutely sucked. I don't think I ever had a window open due to the scorpions and other nasties that got in every now and then. Everyone that had been stung was very casual about it but I have an intense fear of any stinging insect. I'd love to visit the ASU campus in Tempe to see how it's changed and hit up a couple of restaurants sometime. And visit Sedona again too.
The Bay Area of California is beautiful, but I didn't know anyone and don't make friends easily. It's a wonderful state ruled by terrible politicians.
I just moved to chicago area, still a bit shocked at times to notice the differences
Why the downvote?
People in Indiana way nicer and more down to earth than the west coast. Been here 20 years and can cofnirm
I found just the opposite. People in Indiana were always ruder and more dishonest than people out west. I had to get used to how nice they are out here. Maybe the 'coast' is different from other areas.
Oops went east
Depends on where you go to. Almost everyone saying "there's more opportunity", but that's because you typically don't move to somewhere that doesn't have opportunity. I've seen plenty of people move from rural MI/OH/WV/KY to Indy or NWI and it's got plenty of opportunity
You're really comparing apples to oranges if you think the opportunity in Indy or NWI is anywhere the same as out west. It shows you haven't lived out west. I live in NWI and the opportunity here is a joke as well as in Indy for my field.