Indianapolis, the crossroads of America, is home to nearly a million people. If Indianapolis’ crime index were an SAT score, it would have earned a total score of 880 (3rd percentile). Sometimes it’s not easy living in a place like Indianapolis.

There are many things that "every IUPUI freshman must do!" You must walk along the canal, eat at one of Indianapolis’ finest restaurants, watch over your shoulder wherever you go, swing dance at fountain square, never go out alone, and...wait. They never told me that at orientation. Indianapolis’ crime index is in the third percentile, meaning that 97 percent of all other cities in the United States are safer. The murder rate in Indianapolis is nearly four times higher than the national average. These statistics are the stuff of nightmares, for parents at least. If you look at it, life in Indianapolis isn’t as bad as it seems.

Forbes has rated Indianapolis as the eighth best city in the nation for ‘business and careers.’ Looking at the housing market in Indiana, it is evident that the economy is on an upward swing. Cultural centers are emerging from Indianapolis’ diverse culture; Broad Ripple Village, Fountain Square, Mass. Ave, and the Indianapolis City Market are all examples of the expanding Indy experience. The city is a quickly growing epicenter of culture. On Massachusetts Ave, Silver in the city sells patriotic Indiana merchandise; in the City Market, Twenty-Two Juice brings West Coast trends to the midwest in the form of Açaí berries; the Riolo Center offers an assortment of exotic Latin American dances including Salsa and Bachata. The budding Indianapolis culture is well on its way to blooming into Indiana’s cultural epicenter. But a high crime rate is a necessary risk that you’ll have to take.

The crimes statistics may give you a bad impression of the people of the Indianapolis, yet those same people are the life-force of the city. We are the ants that give power to the economic powerhouse that is developing in the midwest. If you would take a walk downtown, you would see the important business people scurrying hurriedly in random directions; you would see shop-owners, kitchen workers, lawyers, and tourists (yes, tourism is a $10.3 billion industry here in Indiana). You will see the busy busy workers that drive and fuel (they literally pay for) your education, transit, etc. Our city is not a list of things to do or a statistical conclusion that one in nineteen homes are broken into; Indianapolis is a complex interlocking of millions of bureaucratic, sociological, psychological, and structural systems that give essence to our great city. Now when you look outside your window and see someone walking, remember that they are not "just another unique individual," but that they are your neighbor and benefactor.