Indy Greenways Looks To The Future
Posted by Scott Russell in Neighborhoods on Sep 12th, 2013 | 7 comments
For many Indianapolis residents, the local system of greenways has become a favorite staple of our community. It’s encouraging and exciting to think how far the system has come in the 22 years that have past since the Indy Greenways Foundation was formed in 1991. Over the course of the summer, the foundation has traveled around the city to collect ideas and feedback about how the greenways systems should develop from here, and just recently they made their 2013-2023 Master Plan public. The plan is available here.
It’s a comprehensive, 102-page document, and there is a LOT to get excited...
A Simple Solution to Stem Public Discontent
Posted by Scott Russell in Neighborhoods on Aug 23rd, 2011 | 6 comments
Twice over the past few days I’ve overheard discussions and complaints about how slow construction has been on the Cultural Trail in Fountain Square. In both cases, I interjected and explained that two of the main reasons for delays were the separate discoveries of buried historic rail lines and underground vaults. Both times I shared that information, the conversation quickly switched to how awesome it was that construction crews had discovered these artifacts of the city’s past. While there was still impatience over the Cultural Trail’s completion date being moved, these...
A Public-Private Partnership for Transit
Posted by Scott Russell in Neighborhoods on May 24th, 2011 | 14 comments
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...
Downtown as Home
Posted by Scott Russell in Neighborhoods on Feb 22nd, 2011 | 30 comments
What happened in downtown Indianapolis between the 1970s and the present day is often referred to as one of the best examples of urban revitalization in recent years. This is with good reason. Thirty years ago, the city’s nickname was ‘naptown’, today we’re preparing to host the Super Bowl. It would be wrong to deny or discount the massive changes for the better that have benefited the Circle City over these last three decades.
But it’s not enough.
To oversimplify things a bit, the growth in Indy’s downtown has been driven by civic and government leaders focused on three...
