Ooooh, that was so mean.

My last blog post had some disparaging remarks in it regarding this area of the country, our fair city in particular. I had not made the remarks but some pollster or trender or someone felt it would be a good thing to make some lists pointing out the worst of the worst. Our little town featured in the top ten of a couple of the lists. I want to say more about that...because I think often that those kinds of remarks can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies and mostly they can be motivated by mean-spiritedness....and real ignorance...stupidity....dumbness.

And so the question hanging in the air becomes, "What is good about southern Indiana?"

I am not a native but an implant...or sub-plant...or immigrant. We moved here because the kids moved here and took the grand children with them. We had fine schools and churches in our old area of Ohio but no, the grand children had to go live with their parents. Who wrote the book on that?

Anyway, digression over...there are many things that recommend this area to the casual observer, all of which have been overlooked by those with nothing better to do than to create the "Ten worse...." lists. Shame on them.

There is a dandy zoo here with an Amazonian Rain Forest that showcases wild animals from all around the equator, Amazonian being an adjective and not pertaining to a country in particular. Seven hundred animals are showcased, from six continents on this 50-acre site.

If you like to gamble there is a waterfront casino. If you want to lose big money, not too far up the road is a huge (not exaggerating)  old hotel with another casino nearby.

Our library system is top-notch as a center for learning and has been progressive in the technology required for modern-day informational research.

Two local universities ranked high in many academic fields add to the level of intelligent citizenry.

A world-class symphony provides the highest level of music and dance.

First class theater arrives in season.

Children's theaters give the youngest residents a chance to shine on stage.

Local community theatres provide the same opportunity for adults.

The area is one of the first stops for national restaurant chains to showcase new menu items and for new restaurants to be unveiled, several dozen last year alone. No they did not all make it but provided great cuisine, or at least fun, for the short-term.

A world class arena, Ford Center, offers top-name performers and performances.

Two hours, or less, away one can find St. Louis, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Nashville. We sit right smack dab in the middle of the four of them. Why borrow big city problems when you can get all the benefits with none of the hassle yet be a short drive from any of them?

A six mile 'greenway' winds its way through the city. Soon it will attach itself to the river walk in a neighboring county to increase the enjoyment of living on the river. Forty two miles of trails are available throughout the city.

Two major medical centers provide the finest health care for residents. A designated Heart Hospital, Women's Hospital,  Children's Hospital, Cancer Center, Trauma Centers and top-notch orthopedic services are only minutes away from any  resident.

Right in the middle of town there is a 300-acre nature reserve and recreation area. We boast of 13 historic districts, five museums, 65 parks and 21 recreational areas.

One of our high schools is ranked in the top ten of all high schools in the country.

Our waterfront is the permanent home of USS LST 325 (Landing Ship Tank) used during World War II, an Arctic expedition and by the Greek navy. 

The Fall Festival is the largest street festival in the country. Brain sandwiches (a local crowd pleaser), puppy chow, and every imaginable kind of fried food is featured.

We've got horse racing, drag racing, ice hockey and baseball plus the university teams. We've got the Fantasy of Lights during the holidays and more churches than you can shake a stick at.

The more I add to this list the more curious I become about what those pollsters were thinking when they named us to the most miserable places to live list. This is a grand community. I suppose it's all in your perspective. You look for the negative, focus only on the unfavorable, you can find it anywhere. This is what I often accuse the media of doing, zeroing in on one aspect of a story or event and with bias that they sometimes if not often cannot recognize, claim they have reported both sides of the story. For our little city, to be put on a negative place to live list shows great bias, limited knowledge of life here and mean-spiritedness.

Take that, Business Insider.

And that's what I think about it.