As a central Illinois native, I know not to spend more than a day or so in Indiana if I can possibly avoid it. I'm right there with the writer on the need to escape as soon as you can, although I never made it farther than Minnesota.
(Incidentally, I love Minneapolis with my whole heart - it's all the good of the midwest with very little of the bad)
Yeah, but he grew up in the Ferris Bueller suburbs of Chicago, not corn country. So while I sympathize with your urgent need to escape, in his case I think it's a symptom of (perhaps mild) dysfunction.
(Incidentally, I love Minneapolis with my whole heart - it's all the good of the midwest with very little of the bad)