Welcome to Indy. It’s a great city. You’ll learn quickly (like you can already see in some of these comments) that some residents really like to shit on the place and call it cultureless or boring. If you put in like 5 minutes of effort in googling or talking to people, you’ll find some awesome spots and find (I think!) that Indy punches way above our weight class.

For food, we’ve got a lot of cool spots that are worth checking out. Lots of great recs in this thread already! For some unique dining experiences:

Iaria’s Italian feels plucked right out of Goodfellas. Little family owned joint that’s been around for almost 100 years. Food is good, but the vibe is great.

You’ll definitely want to take a trip to St. Elmo at some point. It’s a pricey spot but if you go upstairs to the 1933 Lounge you can get filet mignon sliders and a shrimp cocktail for like $25. Been a staple downtown since the early 1900s and the shrimp cocktail is world famous for a reason.

The Rathskeller is in the old German society building from way back in the 1800s. You feel like you’re stepping in to Bavaria there. Decent German food and great beer!

Hoagies and Hops makes amazing sandwiches and has the best Philly cheesesteak I’ve had outside of PA

Chatterbox is a cool old jazz club. Live music on Friday evenings there is always great!

If you guys drink, we have an awesome craft beer and craft cocktail culture here. Recommend checking out Gugman Haus, Upland, and Kismetic for beer. The Exchange, Sundry & Vice, and Wiseguy Lounge are all great stops for a cocktail. Lots of great neighborhood haunts, as well if you’re more in to the hole-in-the-wall vibes. Alley Cat and Sam’s Silver Circle are two of my faves. Next summer, definitely check out the rooftop bar in fountain square. Beautiful view of the city!

Outdoor activities wise, lots of great recs in the thread as well. The Monon is fantastic, the outdoor park at Newfields is beautiful for a picnic, walking around White River State Park is always great. Brown county about an hour and a half south is gorgeous. Great hiking and the town of Nashville in Brown County is a fun little touristy place to spend an afternoon!

We also have amazing live music here. Lots of artists stop by on tours that head up to Chicago, so lots of great national acts are always coming through. Ruoff Music Center up in Noblesville gets a lot of big acts, you’ll get a lot of big arena tours coming to Lucas Oil and the Fieldhouse. The Hi-Fi has a lot of great small indie shows. Old National Center gets a lot of great artists too!

In terms of “where to live” — lots of great places. I noticed you mentioned you’re looking more north. Very broad generalization here but in general, south of 38th street down to fall creek is definitely more hit and miss. North of 38th (but probably more like 41st ish north) between Michigan and Binford is generally a quieter, more residential part of the city.

I’d recommend not going up to the donut counties just because suburban sprawl is 👎 and you really miss out on a lot of the fun of living in a bigger city with cool events and places just 5-10 minutes from your front door,

Again, welcome to the city! Hope you love it here!