The cost might be right, and your house may be lovely. However, there are some drawbacks to retirement in Indiana. Here are some negatives that go along with retiring in the Hoosier State.
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- The Lack of Bragging Rights - The city of Richmond is no Key West. The cornfields have no ocean view. There are miles and miles of farmland. Snowbirds flee this state in the winter. If you are looking to retire to a resort-like vacation destination, this isn't it. You're in the modest Midwest.
- The Weather - Let's talk about the weather. Indiana weather is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Meaning, it's sometimes oppressively hot and humid in the summer, and sometimes it's miserably cold and icy in the winter. The state just can't boast year-round pleasant weather. Sometimes, it's downright miserable. On the bright side, you'll get a taste of all four seasons.
- The Middle-ness of It All - If you have ever watched the ABC sitcom "The Middle," a show that appears to poke fun at the struggles of a working-class family in Indiana, then you have an idea what middle America is like. It is also sometimes known as "flyover country," which is a term that describes the fact that coast-dwellers only see the state from the window of an airplane. Here's tv trope's definition of this part of America: "conservative-leaning rural/suburban areas where Wal-Mart, chain restaurants, church, high school football, and the Republican Party are pillars of local communities." It's a stereotype for sure, but there's also some truth to it.
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- Corn Dots the Landscape - You're going to have to drive through a lot of cornfields to get to a metropolis. There are a lot of small towns in Indiana to love. However, if you're itching for the big city, the closest you'll come is Indianapolis, where there's shopping, museums, zoo, aquarium, and sports venues. The Visit Indy website boasts that the Indianapolis 500 complex is so large that Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Coliseum and Vatican City can all fit inside the iconic oval, covering 253 acres. You might have to drive through that many acres of cornfields to get there.
- The Prozac Claim to Fame - Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, headquartered in Indianapolis, pioneered Prozac. It's an antidepressant you might need if coming up with an antidepressant is one of the state's claims to fame.
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