Jeremy Kranowitz accepted his new role as President and CEO of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) in September. Hailing from Connecticut, Kranowitz had little familiarity of the city of Indianapolis. With his new responsibility at hand and his family living in the Northeast for the remainder of the school year, he decided to get to know several of the neighborhoods – by living in different Airbnbs.

“I ended up staying in 15 different neighborhoods around the city over 15 weeks,” said Kranowitz in an email. “Each week, I tried to find a cool place in that neighborhood to eat, something interesting in the neighborhood itself, and whenever possible, a KIB project nearby.”

He said exploring different neighborhoods had a big role in his transition to Indy and his leading role at KIB.

“It [was] helpful to understand how KIB is truly working in almost every one of the 99 neighborhoods in Indy,” he said. “It will help as I communicate to citizens around the city how KIB has and continues to make Indy a better place to live, work, and play.”

Kranowitz documented his experiences in blogs on the KIB Community Journal, each title starting with “Operation My Indy.” At the bottom of the posts, he also added his own recommendations for the neighborhoods, including places to eat and what to do.

He has since found an apartment until his family moves out to the area.