While I was in Indy this evening, I ran 10 miles on the Monon Trail from 96th street down through Broad Ripple and back. What a great facility that is. And lots of people in the area are using it. It really seems to add to the quality of life in the area. I have to think that it also boosts property values for nearby properties.
But, I wonder how such a project gets accomplished. I suspect that if the government went around using its condemnation powers to acquire rights of way, there would be a great hue and cry from property rights purists who believe that government should not be defiling the sanctity of property rights for such frivolous purposes. I also suspect that if 90% of the other property owners sold out at a reasonable price, the last few people would be tempted to hold out because they know they can command a windfall premium where the project is largely in place and routing around the hold outs is impractical. I guess if you’re a government leader, and you’re sure a project is going to be a success, you just muddle on through despite the purists, and allow the rest of the community to give them the collective stink eye if they continue to protest after the project turns out to be beneficial to the community.
Anyway, you can count me as a fan of the trail. It was a pleasure to run on.
the monon is awesome. but as you surmised, some of the adjacent property owners were quite unhappy giving up their land.
They groused about it, but when they go to sell, darned if they don’t promote the fact that their land is on the Monon, and darned if they aren’t glad to rake in some extra cash as a result.
I live near the Nickel Plate in Fishers, where the Fair Train now runs, and where the Metropolitan Planning Org is pushing light rail. I would MUCH RATHER have a greenway a la Monon there instead. This one would be easy, because the corridor is publicly owned.
I would love the benefit of such a greenway on the Nickel Plate- encouraging healthy lifestyle, green benefit, property value boost. Otoh, the light rail will no encourage healthy living, will add pollution, and will reduce property values. I’ll never ride the train, but I would definitely skate the trail!
St. Atillo- I followed your link, and it was quite interesting to see that back then, Nels Ackerson represented the adjacent property owners.
The Monon Trail follows the old right-of-way of the former Monon Railroad – most of these old railroad rightofways were acquired many many years ago by some very dirty processes and schemes. Once the immense profitability of these stretches of land passed, they were converted at taxpayer expense into long, skinny public parks such as the Monon Trail.
Acquisition of land for railroads was not one of the highpoints in American legal practice!
I agree with you Wilson. On the other hand, there were a lot of benefits to the country as a whole (and obscene benefits to a few) from the railroad land acquisition.
hey doug – I entered a comment on this topic this morning and it is no where to be found…? It had a link – did I end up in spam?
By and large, the families owning the land now are not the original landowners when the railroad came in – current owners purchased knowing about the rights of way. As Mike said, there was a great deal of grumbling by Carmelites when the trail was put in place. They didn’t want “hooligans” in their back yards (’cause, you know, hooligans are known for taking frequent breaks from selling crack to go for some healthy outdoor expercise). Once it was in place, Carmel embraced the trail.
Doug, if you find yourself again in Indy and wanting a run, may I recommend the Fall Creek Trail – more picturesque and less traveled. It connects to the Monon just south of 38th Street (watch for hooligans – this is my neighborhood).
1. The right of way for the Monon was acquired in 1851. There may or may not have been shenanigans involved in obtaining the right of way – but if there were, the victims would have been the farmers who owned the land in 1851, not the homeowners who lived on former farmland 150 years later.
2. I ran across a study a couple of years ago showing that – after accounting for many variables – homes located within 1/2 mile of the monon were worth about $10,000 more than they would be if the monon did not exist. Happily, I live within that 1/2 mile zone; unhappily, I bought after the monon was put in, so premium was already included in my purchase price.:(
3. The Monon is wildly popular, especially on on beautiful weekend days; I don’t think that anyone dared hope it would be as popular as it is. One of the most gratifying things to me is to look at the restaurants and coffee shops close to the trail – on a nice day or evening you will see 10-20 bikes parked by La Piedad and the BR Brewpub.
4. The great thing about greenways is that they (often) actually go somewhere. It is very cool that I can take the Monon and ride up to Whole Foods, or to Mass Ave., or (riding a couple of blocks on the street) to Goose the Market or the Fresh Market. And using the towpath connects you to 56th and Illinois, or IUPUI if you feel like a longer ride.
While it’s unrealistic to expect that people will give up their cars for bikes in a major way, it is nice that one can use greenways to use a bike instead of a car to take care of some errands, or at least to go out to eat. (Also, parking in BR becomes much less of an issue).
The Monon is great, and the stretch you chose, although the busiest, is also the most picturesque (well, not between 86th and 96th, but from 86th to BR is great). Also, I second Brenda’s comments on the Fall Creek Trail. It’s particularly nice for bike rides with kids (or at least it seems–my boys are still too young). After the trail crosses 38th and 39th streets near the fairgrounds, it’s another five miles before there is another street crossing. The trail goes underneath the infrequent crossroads. In other words, if your child gets around the bend for a minute, you don’t have to worry that she will ride into traffic. Part of it is very secluded, and other parts pass by some nice residential areas. It’s a really pleasant ride (or run). The Canal Towpath is nice as well. I’m not much of a runner, largely because running on concrete or pavement kills my knees, but the Canal path is crushed limestone all the way from BR to Riverside Park. I don’t know enough about other cities to know how ours compares, but the Greenways system is my favorite amenity.
Not sure about the Monon, but most rails-to-trails rights-of-way are secured through federal railbanking.
Here’s a LINK EXPLAINING HOW IT WORKS.