How Do You Improve America's #1 Place to Live? | Sue Finkam, Carmel Mayor

On today's show I sat down with Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam about how Carmel grew from rapid early-2000s expansion into a 106,000-resident city voted the nation's best place to live, driven first by schools and later by walkability, arts, and distinct districts like the Art & Design District, Midtown, and City Center.

Mayor Finkam credits Mayor Jim Brainard's success to listening to residents and selling a long-term vision, including architecturally significant development, public art, and roundabout-centered design standards.

She addresses misconceptions that Carmel is snobby or uniformly wealthy, noting district diversity, 110 languages from 90 different countries spoken in schools, and local poverty concerns that led to a food access commission.

Mayor Finkam outlines her leadership priorities of keeping Carmel safe, clean, and beautiful, plus government modernization, cultural "one team" operations, and public safety innovations like drone first responders and advanced firefighter helmet technology.

If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast.

You are going to learn about:

- How Carmel Grew So Rapidly

- Misconceptions About Carmel

- Mayor Finkam's Priorities to Making a Better Carmel

Check out these great clips from the show:

00:00 Carmel Vision Teaser

00:29 Guest Introduction: Sue Finkam, Carmel Mayor