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Being that I'm from New England, that small piece of land east of New York, I should hate Indianapolis just in defense of the Patriots alone...but I don't.  Growing up on the east coast and visiting cities like Boston, New York and Philly, I knew I would never want to live in the city.  I still don't know the actual measurement of a block.  I am sure not wanting to live in the city was more about fear of the unknown than anything else.  I loved my little safe seacoast while still having the Boston Aquarium or a Red Sox game at Fenway just a short ride away.
Then in 2006, we packed up and headed to Indianapolis.  Well, just south of the city to be accurate.  We live in a nice town with over forty thousand other people.  Schools are top notch and lots to do in the community.  But I am really writing about that bigger town a mile north of us.  Indianapolis is in Marion County, however, Indianapolis encompasses all of Marion County.  It's kind of wild when you come from a state with ten counties...can you imagine if Portsmouth encompassed all of Rockingham County?
From what I understand there are approximately 1 million people in the Indianapolis area, that includes a few bordering counties like mine.  You would never know that many people live in the area just because of how the city is set up.  Don't get me wrong, it needs improvements, but my commute is generally less than 30 minutes and I work in the heart of the cIty at the State Government Campus.  Of course accidents, floods and constructiopn happen, but on a good day it's smooth sailing and a very easy commute.
When I first got here I was already planning my return to the east.  Then slowly but surely it happened...I got sucked in.  The downtown part of the city is very safe to walk around at night.  Of course I'm careful, but I am very comfortable walking down Massachusetts Ave (the theatre district) at eleven o'clock at night.  I love eating my lunch by the canal surrounded by buildings.  I love running the canal and up by the river and over by the zoo.  I never feel in danger.  I also always carry my cell phone!  The other good stuff?  Cheap parking and entertainment and amusements are around half the cost than what you pay in Philly or Boston. Back to the running for a second...it is really neat to run a race downtown whether it's a 5k or a half-marathon to have the roads closed for you and you can really see the city from the street level.  I also got to run on that big racetrack just northwest of the city, you may have heard of it...Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Recently I have enlarged my social circle and it has been so much fun!  I told my friend Elizabeth back in December that since she used to run, I was making her run the Indy Women's Only half-Marathon coming up Labor Day weekend. She said okay.  Over the last month or so I have introduced her to some of my other friends who I run with (Chrystal & Karen) and they welcomed her into running with huge wide open arms and you would think the four of us have been friends for years.  I have never seen people, let alone women be so supportive and nice to someone they just met.  We are becoming quite the running gang...we have just enlisted another recruit to run with us on other days as well.  
I love and miss New England.  I miss being around people who talk like me and say tonic or soda and not pop.  I miss the beach daily and I miss the toughness of New Englanders.  I miss the old houses and fresh seafood but something happened last Friday that I can't deny.  Derek and I were at an outdoor bar downtown Indy with Elizabeth and her husband and two guys I work and run with saw me and came over to say hi...it was then I realized that if I am running into people I know in random places...then... I must be home.