Although much regenerated in recent decades, the "Gothic Quarter" still exudes a lived-in atmosphere that makes it anything but an outdoor museum.

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The modern capital has become an outdoor museum for post-modernist architecture.

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The funkiest of all is the kitschy but very cool downtown Neon Museum (2012), an outdoor walk-through collection laid out like an artful junkyard, connected with walking paths, steps and ramps to showcase the city's neon legacy.

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The budding art and food scene continues just outside of downtown in neighbourhoods like Broad Ripple, which is home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and a 152-acre outdoor art garden complex.

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During the fall season, life at the museum gets even more interesting: how about pie-eating contests and Amish outdoor furniture for sale?

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