By Kelsey Ligon
It’s not unusual for Carmel to find itself at or near the top of many positive city rankings, but it recently placed second to Zionsville for the title of “Snobbiest Places in Indiana.”
The rankings were compiled by Roadsnacks, a website that exists to “show you the real side of places that not everyone wants to hear.” Carmel earned the distinction because of its high home prices, high household incomes, a high percentage of residents with college degrees and a high number of private schools, theaters and art galleries.
Some of these same factors also helped Carmel place at No. 3 on the “Best Places to Live” in Indiana, according to Homesnacks, a related site.
Carmel resident responses to the article have ranged from satirical to critical.
One Carmel resident (hopefully) joked on Facebook that he crashed his Bentley while reading the article. Another drily proposed closing down the art galleries, theaters and private schools in order to combat this negative image.
On the other end of the spectrum, some Carmel residents were affronted by the article’s claims.
Carmel resident Bill Baines said he did not see the humor of the article.
“There are those of us that are uniters, and those of us that are dividers,” Baines said. “The author or authors of ‘snobbiest-places-in-Indiana’ are dividers.”
Like many others, resident Mary Sutton described Carmel as a welcoming and accepting place. She added that the residents of Carmel were “probably not as grateful for [their]many gifts.”
As for coming in second place to Zionsville, resident reactions were also mixed. While some residents said that no such race for snobbiest/nicest city existed, others, such as Phyllis Lauter, joked that they were disappointed that Carmel placed second, given the above criteria.
