Indianapolis International Airport’s Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal contains two concourses and 40 gates. The Julia M. Carson Transit Center serves as the downtown hub for 27 of its 31 fixed routes. The privately managed Indianapolis Cultural Trail operates Indiana Pacers Bikeshare, the city’s bicycle-sharing system, which consists of 525 bicycles and 50 stations. Popular routes include the Fall Creek Greenway, Monon Trail, and Pleasant Run Greenway. About 110 miles (180 km) of trails and greenways form the core of the city’s active transportation network, connecting into 115 miles (185 km) of on-street bike lanes. However, city officials have increased investments in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in recent years.
Suburbs West
Within a few years, more than 200 families were tending 600 garden plots on nearly 100 acres (40 ha) of land on the city’s near north side. As consumer habits evolved and residents moved from the central city, City Market transitioned from a traditional marketplace to a food hall. Founded in 1821 as the city’s public market, the Indianapolis City Market has served the community from its current building since 1886. Other notable sites in the city include Crown Hill National Cemetery, the Indiana 9/11 Memorial, the Medal of Honor Memorial, and the USS Indianapolis National Memorial. State-specific historical institutions based in Indianapolis include the Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Humanities, the Indiana Jewish Historical Society, Indiana Landmarks, the Indiana Medical History Museum, and the Indiana State Museum.
- As of 2019, Indianapolis has been home to two major league sports teams, three Fortune 500 companies, eight university campuses, and numerous cultural institutions, including the world’s largest children’s museum.
- Founded in 1821 as the city’s public market, the Indianapolis City Market has served the community from its current building since 1886.
- Religion has played a central role in shaping the city’s healthcare, political, and social service systems.
- According to 2014 research published in the American Political Science Review, the city’s policy preferences are less conservative than the national mean when compared with other large U.S. cities.
- Amid the changes in government and growth, the city pursued an aggressive economic development strategy to raise the city’s stature as a sports tourism destination, known as the Indianapolis Project.
- IU Health is consolidating and replacing Methodist and University hospitals with a new $4.3 billion academic medical center which is slated to open in 2027.
14.7% of families and 18.9% of the city’s total population lived below the poverty line. Indianapolis’s Hispanic or Latino community was 9.4% of the city’s population in the 2010 U.S. At the 2020 census, Indianapolis had a population of 887,642 and a population density of 2,455 people per square mile (948/km2). Indianapolis is home to one of the largest concentrations of Chin people outside of Myanmar (formerly Burma), with an estimated population ranging from 17,000 to 24,000.
Indianapolis, the largest city in the state, lies at the heart of a nine-county metropolitan area. Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County oversees the city’s public health facilities and programs, including the Marion County Public Health Department, Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services, and Eskenazi Health. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is the world’s largest children’s museum with 433,000 square feet (40,227.02 m2) of exhibit space and a collection of over 120,000 artifacts. Additional venues near the central business district include The Cabaret, the Indianapolis Artsgarden, Phoenix Theatre, the Slippery Noodle Inn, and Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park, the city’s largest outdoor venue. The city’s population density of 2,455 people per square mile (948/km2) ranked 222nd among major U.S. cities.
Manufacturing has historically played a central role in Indianapolis’s economy; however, following mid-20th-century deindustrialization, the city experienced substantial industrial job losses and economic restructuring. Other major life sciences employers include Corteva, Fortrea, and Roche’s North American diagnostics headquarters. Indianapolis’s central location and extensive highway, rail, and air cargo infrastructure have positioned the city as a major logistics hub. By population, Indianapolis is the state’s largest city and the country’s 16th largest. The city’s balance excludes the populations of ten semi-autonomous municipalities that are included in totals https://www.royalspiniacasino.org/ for the consolidated city. The city of Indianapolis maintains 212 public parks, totaling 11,258 acres (4,556 ha) or about 5.1% of the city’s land area.
Many functions of the municipal and county governments are consolidated, though some remain separate. The city’s Indianapolis Speedrome is believed to be the oldest operating figure 8 racing venue in the U.S. Each Labor Day weekend, the facility hosts the NHRA U.S. Nationals, the largest and most prestigious drag racing event in the world. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series and traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend. Indianapolis, or Indy, is a metonym for auto racing, particularly when referring to American open-wheel car racing.
- Indianapolis Public Schools is the largest district in the city, enrolling about 23,000 students across 60 schools.
- The Marion county cities of Beech Grove, Lawrence, Speedway, and Southport remained autonomous under the arrangement, as did the county’s several school systems.
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- The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (1926) is the largest museum of its kind in the world and is one of the most frequently visited museums in the country.
- For his presidential inauguration, marking the first visit from a president-elect in the city’s history.
- It is home to 17 degree-granting schools, including the main campus of the IU School of Medicine, the largest medical school by enrollment in the U.S.
- In the 2020 census, Indianapolis was among the 20 largest cities in the U.S. by both population and land area.
Events
Broad Ripple Village has a dense cluster of bars, restaurants, galleries, and shops centered around Broad Ripple Park, a 62‑acre park bordering the White River. Indianapolis is also within driving distance of major Midwest cities, including Chicago (three hours); Louisville, Kentucky (two hours); and Nashville (4.5 hours). The restaurant emphasizes community connection in its menu and partners with local farms to source ingredients.
The library collection contains nearly 1.7 million materials staffed by 410 full-time employees and has a circulation of 14.6 million, making it the ninth largest library by circulation in the U.S. Central Library’s special collections include the Center for Black Literature & Culture, the Chris Gonzalez Collection, and the Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room. Three religiously affiliated universities based in the city are Indiana Bible College, the University of Indianapolis, and Marian University. Martin University, Indiana’s only Predominantly Black Institution, was founded in 1977 and is located in the Martindale–Brightwood neighborhood. IU Indianapolis is an R1 urban research university that enrolls about 25,000 students in 330 different bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs. According to the Indiana Department of Education, about 75 private, parochial, and independent charter schools operate throughout Marion County.
Healthcare
The State Capitol (1878–88), just west of the circle, is constructed of Indiana limestone and has a central rotunda 234 feet (71 metres) high. The hub of the city, Monument Circle (1901), is the site of the 284.5-foot (87-metre) Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. These facilities and the city’s position in the midst of the Corn Belt, near large coalfields and consumer markets, have combined to make it an important commercial, financial, and industrial centre. The Marion county cities of Beech Grove, Lawrence, Speedway, and Southport remained autonomous under the arrangement, as did the county’s several school systems. Although automobile manufacturing eventually left the city, the Indianapolis 500 (held annually in late May on the weekend preceding Memorial Day) has become one of the world’s premier auto races, attracting enormous crowds. The first 500-mile (800-km) auto race, held there in 1911, was won by a locally made Marmon race car.
The availability of new federal lands for purchase in central Indiana attracted settlers, many of them descendants of families from northwestern Europe. The city was platted by Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham on a one-square-mile (2.6 km2) grid. Indianapolis proper covers 368 square miles (950 square kilometers), making it the 18th-most extensive city by land area in the country. Indianapolis (/ˌɪndiəˈnæpəlɪs/ ⓘ IN-dee-ə-NAP-ə-lis), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. The Near Eastside is made up of a patchwork of neighborhoods which are generally safe and have historic buildings interspersed with some urban blight as a product of White Flight. Indianapolis is a generally safe city, but some areas of the city are prone to crime.
Visual arts
Experience Indianapolis the local way and discover the neighborhoods and lifestyle of some of Indy’s coolest and most historic areas. Other major hospitals include Ascension St. Vincent Hospital – Indianapolis, Community Hospital East, Community Hospital North, and Franciscan Health Indianapolis. Other public hospitals include the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center (managed by the Veterans Health Administration) and the NeuroDiagnostic Institute (managed by the State of Indiana). Eskenazi Health operates ten primary care sites across the city, including the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital. The Indiana Department of Transportation manages all Interstates, U.S. Highways, and state roads within the city.
Historic Irvington
Some federally-designated endangered and threatened species are native to the Indianapolis area, including several species of freshwater mussels, the rusty patched bumble bee, Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, and the running buffalo clover. Some 57 species of fish can be found in the city’s waterways, including bass and sunfish. Birds native to the area include the northern cardinal, wood thrush, eastern screech owl, mourning dove, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, and wild turkey. In recent years, local raccoon and groundhog populations have increased alongside sightings of American badgers, beavers, mink, coyotes, and red fox.
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (1926) is the largest museum of its kind in the world and is one of the most frequently visited museums in the country. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (1969) includes Herron School of Art (1902) and an internationally renowned medical centre. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals, machinery, plastics, wood and paper products, and transportation and electrical equipment (including televisions and audio equipment) are major products. People of European ancestry have long constituted the great majority of the population, but their proportion has diminished, and the number of African Americans has increased to more than one-fourth of the total.
Growth occurred with the opening of the National Road through the town in 1827, the first major federally funded highway in the United States. A combined county and town government continued until 1832 when Indianapolis was incorporated as a town. Indianapolis became a seat of county government on December 31, 1821, when Marion County, was established. On January 11, 1820, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital. This tract of land, which was called the New Purchase, included the site selected for the new state capital in 1820.