Currently Browsing: Neighborhoods
Friday Fun: Self-Driving Cars (in 2009)
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods on Sep 23rd, 2016 | 1 comment
There’s been a lot of talk in urban circles about how the implementation of self-driving vehicles will impact transportation in the future. Most of that talk is way out of my league, but I do have experience actually riding in a self-driven vehicle. Back in 2009, my wife and I visited Japan, and we checked out their futuristic island outside of Tokyo called Odaiba. It happened to include this exhibit for self-driving cars that visitors could ride in for free. So, we figured, why not? Who knows if we’ll ever do this again?
Apologies for the poor quality. It’s a video of a video, shot...
The Cultural Trail in front of Conrad Hotel: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Bicycling, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian, Transit on Sep 16th, 2016 | 28 comments
The crown jewel in our city’s livable infrastructure, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail has been cited in almost every publication or promotional piece. Most recently, it was mentioned in The Vogue magazine. But there is one half of a block where it basically stops in deference to a hotel’s valet parking zone. The Conrad has insisted that it is trying to be a good neighbor, but that it has no choice but to use this zone for vehicles. A few weeks ago, this was the hilariously sad scene:
After seeing this photo, I tweeted out a joke that they might as well host a tailgate party on the remaining...
Remixing East 52nd Street
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Bicycling, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian, Transit on Aug 30th, 2016 | 13 comments
The running center turn lane on East 52nd Street (and many other streets around town) is a monument to traffic engineering winning over everything else:
This configuration has bugged me for years. There is an unprotected bike lane, yes, but also a very narrow sidewalk with poles in the middle of it. I decided to see what else could be done with only 48 feet of right-of-way width, as shown below:
There’s a great tool for this task on the web called Streetmix. It enables citizens to imagine different street configurations. There were a number of constraints that I worked with:
10 foot travel lane...
Guest Post from Kate Dobson: Vote Yes on Election Day
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods on Jul 23rd, 2016 | 0 comments
This is the 4th article in a series of guest posts in support of expanded transit access in Indianapolis. The first three can be seen here, here, and here.
T.S. Eliot wrote, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
In 2014, I spent nine months in northeast Brazil teaching English. This region of Brazil is stereotyped within the country as backwards and slow in contrast with the economically and culturally more developed southeast region. As a Midwesterner who has heard a fair share of...
Guest Post from Nick Ison: Sustainability and Connectivity: Values that move us
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Neighborhoods, Transit on Jul 23rd, 2016 | 15 comments
This is the 3rd post in a series of guest posts in support of increased transit access in Indianapolis. The first 2 can be read here and here.
In 2005, I moved from Indiana to attend college in Boston. Next came Philadelphia and Princeton to pursue a job and a masters degree respectively. When I returned to live at College and Kessler in 2014 though, I was anxious. Big east coast cities have a lot to offer a young professional, and I was worried that Indianapolis wouldn’t stack up.
What I quickly found, however, was just the opposite: when friends from New York would call and complain about...
