Urban Indy Turns 10: A Look Back, a Look Ahead

This website was born ten years ago on this date. When this blog first started, I was using actual film in an actual camera and scanning the photos. I took these particular photos to be developed at Cord Camera, which is now a fried chicken restaurant on Mass Avenue. I didn’t have a smart phone or a social media account, with the exception of MySpace.

Urban Indy continued on as a solo project for a few years, then in 2010 I had some meetings with other bloggers to try to restart Urban Indy as a collaboration. We had a few really solid years, and some of this blogs best posts are from that era. This was temporary, as we had to say goodbye to major contributors, who moved on to other cities. I stayed here, along with others who provided e-mails, blog posts, and behind-the-scenes knowledge. Fortunately, we’ve also been able to add other authors to reignite the fires.

Usually we toil a bit under the radar. Other times, we touch a nerve, and have to shut down the comments. Sometimes, even, we actually get a major organization’s attention. Throughout it all, we’ve tried to remain informative and even-keeled (these are 2 of our most frequently read posts, and both are a healthy zero-percent click-bait).

I intend to keep this website mainly as you have known it throughout the years. The content will remain free and searchable. I’ll keep writing new posts. There is plenty of development going on in Indy. And that is something that I’ve rarely mentioned: I am almost completely dependent upon the city itself to keep changing. Urban Indy wouldn’t exist after a decade if Indianapolis was stagnant. There are still successes and failures and projects and just interesting stuff going on. And I intend to continue to push for a more equitable transportation network…sometimes sweating the details, sometimes dreaming, sometimes paying attention to others who catch what I miss. There are always new opportunities for the city to do something better.

Special thanks to all those who have posted, guest posted, commented, tweeted, and facebooked over the past 10 years. We couldn’t have gotten this far without Indy’s online and public network of citizens. Thank you.

Finally, don’t forget to join us this Saturday at 2 pm for the East Side bike ride!

Comments 8

  • Bravo! Happy Birthday UI!

  • Memory lane. Still mad enough about the IMA closing off bike access from the Canal Trail that I haven’t renewed my membership since.

    • Same here. I used to point to the IMA as one of my favorite things about living here. Now it may as well be a country club.

      • Now that the Love sculpture has been moved inside, the IMA’s monetization project is complete. I had been curious as to how they were planning on monetizing their most famous piece. Now we know!

        It’s also somewhat ironic, as Robert Indiana supposedly missed out on lots of money because he didn’t protect the intellectual property of the Love piece properly.

      • You know, it’s amazing in retrospect that in the IMA debate no one pointed across the street at Crown Hill. Although a private entity, it functions in a similar manner to the way IMA’s grounds used to: as a large public park with generally open and free access and the bonus of an underpass to cross 38th.

      • First, congrats. Keeping a project like this alive for a decade is a lot of work. Thanks for your contribution to Civic life in the Circle City.
        Second, I’ve heard IMA is reconsidering its bike policy. Installed a bike rack at the top of the hill after crossing the Canal. IMA is trying to figure out how to attract people to the new beer garden. (Hint: make it accessible by bike.)

  • I’m so glad I found this website 5 years ago. It’s great to be able to connect with other like-minded individuals here in the city!

  • Congratulations on this milestone! I look forward to your continuing to keep us aware and loving our home.

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