Separated Bike Paths: Safer, More Useful, and Possibly Less Controversial
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Bicycling, Neighborhoods on Sep 11th, 2017 | 27 comments
Few subjects draw the ire of neighborhood residents like bike lanes. Our posts on the Broad Ripple bike lanes featured comment threads that got almost out of control. And to this day, I still think in general these lanes are a positive change, as vehicles drive slower through the section now, and the road feels safer to the user (including pedestrians and drivers, as well as cyclists). The lanes are basically a simple coat of white paint. The pavement that was a 40-mile an hour 4 lane road is slightly less of a stroad now.
I haven’t talked much about bike lanes since the Broad Ripple Avenue ones...
Indygo’s Red Line Updates
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods, Transit on Aug 31st, 2017 | Comments Off on Indygo’s Red Line Updates
Today, IndyGo released a brand new web page highlighting the upcoming Red Line project. The page features an interactive construction map, which will be helpful in the near future. Indygo is also scheduling neighborhood talks, which are shown below. I’m planning on attending the event at Upland, which I’m sure will be interesting:
Tuesday 9/12 | 7:00 AM
Calvin Fletchers Coffee Company
647 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46203
Thursday 9/14 | 4:30 PM
Hotel Tango Artisan Distillery
702 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46203
Wednesday 9/20 | 4:30 PM
TwoDEEP Brewing Co.
714 N Capitol Ave,...
Potential New Grocery at 38th and Illinois
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods on Aug 13th, 2017 | 18 comments
The North United Methodist Church is planning on developing some of their land, which is currently underutilized. The most exciting portion of this new proposal (page 71)Â is a potential grocery store, in a neighborhood that is currently a food desert:
The land use plan looks quite good. I like that they plan on sparing the existing Ace Hardware Store, and will build around it without overwhelming it. The development would also feature new apartments and another mixed use building.
It is key to get the brand of grocery right. It would be a perfect fit for a new Aldi or Lidl. I hope this development...
The First Proposed Attempt to Tame Lafayette Square’s Sprawl
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods, New Development, Pedestrian on Jul 25th, 2017 | 12 comments
Lafayette Square has long piqued my interest for its variety of international restaurants. However, it is not the most visually attractive of landscapes, and is dominated by single-use commercial buildings and parking lots. There is an interesting rezoning request that aims to alter the dynamic, a few parcels at a time. The case starts on page 12 of the linked document.
First, a look at the property as it currently exists. A typical old suburban land use pattern. But, it has one interesting feature: Little Eagle Creek along the eastern portion of it:
The land use plan in the document is obviously a...
King Park’s Cool Idea: Using The Monon Trail as a Public Street
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Bicycling, Neighborhoods, New Development, Pedestrian on Jul 17th, 2017 | 27 comments
In the latest release of the DMD’s Hearing Examiner’s report, an interesting rezoning case was listed on page 76. King Park Development wants this strip of land between 21st and 20th Street on the Monon Trail to be rezoned from I-3 (Industrial) to D-8 (traditional urban single family housing):
Given that this strip is actually not fronted by a public street, but is instead placed between an alley an the Monon Trail, any housing development here would have to be a little creative. The rezoning case provides such an option, where 16 houses would use the Monon Trail as the public street, and...
