If you look at the average household income in Carmel, IN. Then compare it to, say, Darien, CT. Then consider, Darien's per capita debt load works out to about

If you look at the average household income in Carmel, IN. Then compare it to, say, Darien, CT. Then consider, Darien's per capita debt load works out to about 2% of the average annual per capita income. Carmel's per capita debt load works out to roughly 25-30% of its average annual per capita income. (And that's being kind and using the average per capita income. It gets even uglier for Carmel if we do these comparisons at the median.) Given all that, it's not hard at all to bet on failure. You can play at being Darien if you have Darien money. If you don't, you're just being fiscally irresponsible. There's nothing about the Carmel story that says 'competence'.