Urban Indy » Archive for July 2010
Love Your Neighborhood? Then Learn to Hate Your Streets
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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Neighborhoods, Transit
52nd Street Construction adding Bike Lanes
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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling
It’s the Details
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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian
BRICS
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, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Historical Posts
Proposal for Bank One Operations Center
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. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Historical Posts
Broad Ripple Parking Solution: Circulator Bus
On April 1st, the Broad Ripple Facebook fan page posted about a new large parking garage located on College Avenue. The post was simply an April Fools joke, but it unleashed a barrage of excited replies. Naturally, I found this frustrating. I imagine that many of the people who are longing for a parking garage don’t want to actually pay for their spot. There are plenty of $5 lots around the area that have empty spaces, and I doubt if a garage would be much cheaper than that for an all-night spot. In addition, one can always park along the street to the south a few blocks away and walk. Instead of continuing to beat my head against the wall in battle that I can’t … Read entire article »
Filed under: Historical Posts
Babe Denny and South Meridian Street
According to the latest issue of Urban Times, South Meridan Street has begun to make a push to attract more visitors. They’ve added a new Farmers Market on Tuesday evening, which is a good idea to serve the people who can’t make it to the typical lunch-hour markets around the city. One look at the street configuration of the South Meridian district displays what the promoters are up against: The red line is the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Historical Posts
Recent Comments
- GaryBell on The Catacombs of Tomlinson Hall
"Greg, Awesome shots! Not being a native to Indy I love to discover these thing…" - Otis B on Did Transit even have a chance?
""The last census report showed that Portland, Seattle and Denver, cities have ha…" - Chris on Did Transit even have a chance?
"Phil, if you reviewed the transit proposal, you would know that it is first and …" - Chris Barnett on Did Transit even have a chance?
"Rail is in the "out years" of the IndyConnect proposal. The program mainly call…" - JP on Did Transit even have a chance?
"IndyGo doesn't need fixing. It needs proper funding. * Streetcar/tram systems …"
Recent Comments