Indianapolis as a Can-Do City.
Indianapolis has pulled off a nearly-impossible task: hosting a Super Bowl in a cold weather city without a week-long barrage of complaints from sports journalists. A notoriously fickle bunch had glowing reviews, and left them wondering how we did it. That was a surprise to me, as my initial reaction when Indy won the rights to host the 2012 Super Bowl was one of dread of the potential for negative press. But the city shined, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling, Featured, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian, Transit
Immediate Threat to Bike/Ped Funding
We are in a crisis as far as transportation infrastructure goes. The nation and individual states have heavily over-invested in single user roadways and highways that they can no longer afford. The continued push by some lawmakers has been to try and remove dedicated cycling and pedestrian funding from the transportation bill. Members of the House are currently drafting a bill to eliminate programs such as Safe Routes to School and Bike/Ped positions in state DOTs. This is an urgent request to email your representative and let them know, Bike/Ped infrastructure isn’t a desire, it is a basic need and a logical way to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil, the auto and expensive infrastructure! http://www.capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=60927571&PROCESS=Take+Action … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling, Featured, Pedestrian, Transit
Friday Fun – Downtown Indy Parking Lot Map
We have been trying to do a series of posts labeled Friday Fun. This week’s entry is perhaps not so fun when you examine the implications, but I took a few minutes and did a 20,000 foot parking snapshot; and Im positive I’ve missed some spaces, but here is a rough look in a roughly downtown-ish part of Indianapolis. Some of the lots are under redevelopment with City Way (SE quadrant) and the recently announced Block … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Pedestrian
Buses-N-Beers
On Saturday, January 21st, join Urban Indy bloggers Saturday Graeme Sharpe, Joe Smoker, and I for a one-of-a-kind excursion to promote Mass Transit and responsible beer tasting (ok, so there will be some beer drinking, not just tasting) in advance of the upcoming Super Bowl. IndyGo is FREE during Super Bowl weekend, so this is intended to be a bit of a guide for guests, as well as a promotion of local businesses in some of our favorite Indianapolis neighborhoods. And as far as this Saturday is concerned, Graeme has a few free bus passes for the first few people to show up at Twenty Tap. Here is our very simple schedule: Around 4 PM, meet at Twenty Tap at 54th and College. Wait outside for the IndyGo Bus 17 at either 5:10 or … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pedestrian, Transit
Friday Fun: The new Jos. A Bank downtown
Man, what a difference removing a tacked-on facade from the 1970′s can make! The revitalization of a few long-downtrodden blocks along East Washington Street is one of the more interesting developments of the past few years. The Cultural Trail along here seems to be helping draw more foot traffic as well. Here’s a reminder of what this building looked like during renovation: I’ve longed for this stretch of historic buildings to be revitalized, and it seems … Read entire article »
Filed under: New Development, Pedestrian
Indianapolis Regional Transit Plan heads to the Statehouse
Today, the final Indyconnect plan was released for public review. The plan released today, is the plan that officials will be taking with them when they go to the statehouse in the 2012 short session. Included in this plan are pieces of the former two releases but with some notable changes. Chief among those changes, are the finalized proposal to include only Marion and Hamilton Counties in the initial phase. The NE Corridor, already under study, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling, Featured, Pedestrian, Transit
Pedestrians at Risk in our Cities
It’s no secret that pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries have been rising in our cities. As more people explore active transportation options they are coming into conflict with vehicular traffic. A recent article on USA Today shows that this is a real problem and it is reaching a new level of visibility in the debate on transportation in the US. Most people understand that the faster a vehicle is driving, the more dangerous it can be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian
Guest Post – Broad Ripple Bike Lane Background, by Thomas Healy
The Broad Ripple bike lanes are the most contentious project that Urban Indy has ever covered. The article posted by Curt Ailes turned out to be the most commented on the site, but it was getting so heated that I decided to shut down the discussion for the time. We have reached out to one of the major players in the process, Tom Healy, member of the Broad Ripple Village Association Board, in the hopes of adding some additional background information about how the bike lanes came in to existence. I hope this article can shed a bit of light on the situation (the original article with images can be viewed here via pdf). ——————————————————————————————————————————————————- Aspirations for bike lanes on Broad Ripple Avenue date back to the mid-1980s when the Mayor’s Bicycle … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling, Featured, Neighborhoods, Pedestrian
Meridian Kessler Moving Forward with Form-Based Codes
My neighborhood, Meridian Kessler, has been doing some behind-the-scenes maneuvering to promote the implementation of Form-Based zoning codes in the neighborhood. Form-based codes are the logical antidote to the current use-based zoning that is in place in much of the United States. Urban Indy will be highly supportive of the Meridian Kessler Neighborhood Association’s push for this important and much-needed change. The first public meeting will be held at Developer Town at 53rd Street and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling, Featured, Neighborhoods, New Development, Pedestrian, Transit
46th Street Rebuild Indy Critique
The Indianapolis DPW contracted this job out during 2011. I am not 100% sure of the overall scope involved since I have seen reconstruction of 46th from College Ave all the way to Emerson and even beyond that. For the purposes of this post, I am going to focus on the section that is bounded by College Ave on the west and Keystone Ave on the east; the portion that I have personally witnessed a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bicycling, Pedestrian
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