Urban Indy

Having worked downtown for eleven years, I’ve seen every convention group that we’ve hosted. And who are they? They are church groups and future farmers, hardware store owners and race car suppliers, firefighters and D&D masters. They fill the hotels and restaurants and bars downtown. They do some shopping, but very few are shopping at Nordstrom. Even the typical Indianapolis non-convention tourist isn’t interested in the downtown Nordstrom. They are either shopping with their family at the Zoo or Children’s Museum gift shops or they are eating and drinking before the Colts game, Final Four, or Indy 500. The tourists who do have the dollars to spend at stores like Nordstrom are not spending them downtown. They rent a car or get a car service and go to Keystone at the Crossing … Read entire article »

Indy’s soon-to-be-complete Cultural Trail has been heralded since its inception as a triumph in public-private partnership. Combining federal grants and private donations, the Cultural Trail has significantly added to the walkability of downtown without much reliance on local tax dollars. With the recent influx of development in Fountain Square in anticipation of the trail’s completion, it’s hard not to see the project as a success. My question for the day is this. Could Indy create a better transit system using a similar public-private partnership? At its core, a transit system runs up against the same basic issues that the Cultural Trail faced – primarily the repurposing of land and streets for the project. A streetcar or elevated rail system could use the Cultural Trail as its model for taking away lanes from … Read entire article »

I received this email from my wife who had it forwarded to her yesterday. I felt that it was my responsibility to spread the word about a piece of our public spaces being disturbed. See details below on a piece of public artwork that was stolen. If anyone has any information, see contact information below. —— I am the Detective/Sergeant for Downtown District IMPD. On May 13th, 2011 Sexton Companies reported that an art piece commissioned by … Read entire article »

Indianapolis, like many other cities, is looking for ways to gain revenues and cut costs. There is a great opportunity to do both at the same time to the east of Irvington. I believe that it’s safe to say that this city-owned cloverleaf at the crossroads of Washington and Shadeland is no longer necessary. Irvington has been looking to beautify the interchange. However, I believe it would be more useful … Read entire article »