Indianapolis, St. Louis and the Perception of a Successful City

(Listen to "Lessons from Indianapolis" from St. Louis Public Radio's St. Louis on the Air with myself and Ripley Rasmus, Senior Vice President, Director of Design at HOK as guests.)

Indianapolis is an incredible Super Bowl host city. Lucas Oil Stadium fits so well architecturally within the downtown. It's only a seven block walk to the center of the city. Most of the city's big hotels and restaurants are nearby. Indianapolis has a relatively compact, walkable downtown. The stadium has a Walk Score of 72. Indianapolis nailed this Super Bowl because of infrastructure. Indianapolis knocked it out of the park as host city for Super Bowl XLVI.

All of the above has been said in the past week about Indianapolis, Indiana. The city has been lauded for its hosting of sports events. This isn't a revelation to many who have attending an NCAA Final Four, or countless Olympic trials and other events there. The city has great facilities. What's more difficult to understand is the great chasm in rhetoric between Indianapolis and St. Louis. None of this is meant to put down Indy, but as an attempt to understand the rave reviews and why a city like St. Louis may never gain such a reputation.