Love Your Neighborhood? Then Learn to Hate Your Streets
Posted by Graeme Sharpe in Neighborhoods, Transit on Jul 29th, 2010 | 0 comments
Indianapolis neighborhoods are great. Our city consistently ranks as a top location for inexpensive housing costs. With our diverse and creative citizens, the neighborhoods have always been full of interesting people who care about their communities.
Increasingly, our urban neighborhoods are under threat. Everyone recognizes how crime, pollution, and blight can ruin an area, but few people realize that the greatest risk to communities is one that we invite welcomingly – the automobile. If you are a young American, there is nothing more dangerous than the keys in your pocket. Nothing is...
52nd Street Construction adding Bike Lanes
Posted by Curt Ailes in Bicycling on Jul 29th, 2010 | 1 comment
Years ago, a construction project brought some of the first bike lanes to Indianapolis on 52nd street in midtown Indianapolis. The reconstruction stretched from Keystone Ave on its eastern-most point and ended at the Monon Trail on the west end. With this reconstruction came the addition of a bike lane in both the eastbound and westbound shoulder, abutting the sidewalk. The project failed to address points west of the Monon, and what resulted was a divide in the landscape with the west side appearing as a bombed out and depleted looking stretch of street from the Monon to College Ave.
This summer,...
It’s the Details
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods, Pedestrian on Jul 26th, 2010 | 5 comments
I thought I would kick off the new blog by asking a simple question: What makes a residential neighborhood street a pleasant place for a walk? I’m featuring some examples from around my neighborhood, but these features exist all around the city.
Sidewalks that are separated from the street by a grassy or tree-lined median provide a feeling of comfort for the pedestrian. The tree canopy has the additional benefit of providing shade in the summer, and protection from the wind in winter. The street is relatively narrow, and cars are parked along the street, which has the affect of slowing down...
BRICS
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Historical Posts on Jul 23rd, 2010 | 3 comments
Through the magic of twitter, I discovered that Curt from Huston Street Racing was at BRICS the same night that I visited. He beat me to the punch with his post, but I won’t let that stop me.
There is a lot to love with BRICS. It’s good ice cream, so it’s hard to go wrong, but there’s much more than that to the story. BRICS reuses the long abandoned Monon Train Station, and there are reminders of this history throughout the shop.
The interior is clean and attractive, and features something I’ve never seen before: A single rotary turning two separate fan blades,...
Proposal for Bank One Operations Center
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Historical Posts on Jul 16th, 2010 | 15 comments
This proposal has been floating around the web and on Skyscraper City, but I have yet to post it here. This is the site plan:
They are planning on reusing the frame of the operation center, because it was built with enough strength to withstand armored truck deliveries. The development group, Milhaus, has a relatively new blog that I have added to my links.
I hope they can get started on this project soon. That block is so bleak at this point that any sign of progress would be welcomed. Hopefully, another project could come in some day to fill in that last surface parking...
