Francesca Jarosz has an article for the Indy Star about an Indianapolis urban renewal plan that has a warm and fuzzy vision for the area north of downtown around the Monon Trail.
Neighborhood renewal leaders picture a landscape of energy-efficient homes, cozy shops and restaurants bustling with patrons, a light-rail station and plentiful manufacturing jobs — maybe even jobs making solar panels to power nearby homes.
No word on the unicorn petting zoo. But, don’t mind me, I’m kind of a grumpy skeptic when you peel away my sunny exterior. The article cites the downtown Canal District as a previous successful revitalization effort. However, take a look at the lengthy and persuasive article written by the Urbanophile on the Indy Canal District entitled Indy: The Failure of the Canal Walk. With respect to that project, he cites the hermetically sealed areas that surround the Canal. The result:
The Canal Walk can be viewed as a success in some regards – the Canal itself is quite nice, there is new development along it where previously there were rundown buildings or weedy lots, and at times you’ll see a few people strolling along it. However, if viewed against the aspirations that were publicly set for it – that it would be another San Antonio Riverwalk – the Canal has clearly failed. There is very little retail development along the canal, the developments there have generated effectively no organic spin-offs, and the Canal is generally lightly patronized.
But, back to the near north Monon project. The Monon Trail is obviously a good starting point. There has been discussion of a stop in the area along a proposed light rail system from downtown to Noblesville. Proponents have apparently identified federal funds that can be used. There is also a goal to avoid displacing existing residents. Beyond that, visions of who will live there and why seem to be kind of all over the map. IU professor David Reingold noted an “if we build it, they will come” aspect to the project. Being less refined than the good professor, I see a South Park underpants gnome aspect to the project: 1. Build stuff. 2. ???. 3. Neighborhood revitalization!
But, like I said, I can be a grumpy skeptic. I hope it works out for them.
Really want to be skeptical? Take a visual stroll down the Monon Trail from 38th Street to its terminus on 10th via Google Earth.
Or try walking it. It’s a rough neighborhood with a few bright spots. The Martindale on the Monon neighborhood has certainly helped, although that was a Bart Peterson championed project that has languished under Ballard’s lack of attention. Our neighborhood – The Old Northside – borders a large section of that area and has done a lot of work on housing renovation in Cottage Corners and on the Soccer Park, which we started and then handed over to the Parks Department. Those are some truly successful programs.
I’m guilty of only skimming the Urbanophile article, but the main problem differentiating the Canal Walk from San Antonio is accessibility. I regularly take the dog for a walk and go on photography jaunts there – it’s hard to get to and has limited parking. If not for that, it would be much better taken advantage of. But the Canal Walk is also not dead, either. I don’t see the Monon Trail project having the same accessibility issues.
I share your skepticism and agree that the lack of specifics and funding make this more of a “vision” than a “project,” but urban renewal is not exactly unheard of in that general area of the city. The Old Northside, Holy Cross, Herron-Morton and Fall Creek Place are nearby and are doing well. Also, the Monon has spurred lots of good development in other parts of the city. This concept is short on specifics, but considering the success of other nearby neighborhoods and other Monon-centered neighborhoods, I don’t think improvement is a pipe dream.
I share the above-noted concerns about the Canal, but to the extent that the Canal is a failure, it is a failure when judged against its potential, not judged against its prior existence. Compared to the blighted ditch it was 20 years ago, the Canal is a huge success.
Fall Creek Place seems to have been a great improvement, so something positive is doable. But, any City administration is going to have to give some gonzo support for something good to happen over the long term.
The light rail is REALLY going to be great, if it can be rammed through.
Just never calculate how many buses could be operated for the same amount of money –
– or consider that the number of at-grade crossings will result in street traffic delays at just the wrong times –
– or think about how a single track right-of-way will become dual tracked (or else be nearly useless as a commuter line).
Just steal the underpants, and let things take care of themselves.
Full disclosure – I could hit the existing rail line with a (really) well thrown rock, just about.
Parker, you need any help collecting rocks?
The thing will never, ever be able to draw anything close to the necessary ridership to begin paying for itself, which is why all those Republicans in Hamilton country suddenly turn into socialists. (A two-way line? The only interest is in giving white people who fled the city for a zoning-free, incontinently developed strip-mall paradise a quicker way back into town than is afforded by the surface streets the Marion county wheel tax provides them.)
And the concern for the sort of neighborhood these carpetbaggers might unfortunately catch a glimpse of on the trip would be touching, y’know, if they hadn’t been ignored for forty years while the city spent hundreds of billions propping up value of the (Old Money) land underneath downtown, which had plummeted in value because all those white people fled to the interstates to begin with. Go Colts! Go Pacers! Just don’t go to our public schools, or swim in our river.
Doghouse has a point.
One thing most of these projects are forgetting is that practical things like IPS trump nice houses and transportation.
I’m moving to Indianapolis next year. I would *love* to live in a dense area where I can walk to most things I need. However, I’m not going to gamble my kid’s future with IPS, and I can’t afford private school. I don’t want to live in the suburbs, because a car-based layout runs counter to my goals. We’re looking to move to Carmel or Fishers now. :(
I’m the target market for something like this, but they’re misdirecting their resources.
I live next to the Nickel Plate corridor in Fishers, where this glorious light rail is slated to be built. On the whole, I’d rather have a greenway & trail a la Monon than the light rail.
Funny enough, Jason, this not terribly dense area of Fishers does allow me to walk to many of the things I use: an excellent 38-acre park, post office, library, restaurants, farmers market, ice cream shops (yay, plural!), and YMCA. The one thing it lacks? Multi-purpose trails.
When I look at what the Monon gives nearby residents, it’s a million miles better than light rail. Gets people exercising, greens it up, improves property values. Light rail? I’d never ride it, since I don’t have a final destination downtown job. But that’s less green (directly speaking) than a trail, hurts property values, and costs a BILLION DOLLARS more besides.
Sorry, Jason, you have required me to put in a plug for my neighborhood, Irvington. While some of the surrounding areas leave much to be desired, the neighborhood itself is stable and relatively safe, the Washington Street business district has lots to offer (and streetscape improvements begin next year, I think). The homes there are not nearly as expensive as similar models in Butler-Tark and M-K, and you could easily afford Catholic school tuition at Lourdes, Little Flower, or Holy Spirit with what you would save in monthly mortgage payments compared to Carmel. Also, while at this point I probably would not consider sending our kids to a neighborhood IPS school, the Center for Inquiry, an IPS magnet school downtown is very well-regarded (jokingly called the “Center for Irvington” based on the number of kids from our neighborhood who go there). Also, the Irvington Community charter schools are well-regarded. We have college-educated, professional neighbors who send kids to all of those schools. And I’m not just some childless utopian spouting off. We have two little boys under the age of three, and we just bought our dream home in Irvington and will be here for the long haul.
Thanks for the info, John M. I’ll take a look. We have to sell our house here first, so there is plenty of time to research places like that.
I agree Mike, I’d take greenways over light rail ANY day. Very cheep to make (or convert, as the case with the Monon.) My new job is in the Castleton area, and it is seriously lacking in bike-friendly lanes.
Apologies for joining the game late, that said, “No word on the unicorn petting zoo.” is my nomination for Line of the Year.
A few notations — there are many differences between our Canal and San Antonio’s – lack of parking is not one of them. It could be perhaps of something called “The Alamo” which is two blocks away. It could be due to the fact that San Antonio brings in conventions where the conventioneers actually spend money…not the FFA convention. (Although the FFA folks seem nice enough – not many participants buying steak dinners) And the proximity of said facilities to riverwalk vice canal.
Doghouse is spot-on, yet again.
Jason, Jason, Jason are you blind? I send multiple children to IPS and they will be well educated through 8th grade. Do yourself a favor and take some time and spend one day observing Catholic School and one day in an IPS magnet school. Also, ask yourself, why is there a wait list at 2, 56, 84, 91, etc.? Or move to Fishers…good luck.
Miles,
I’m not blind, but I’ll admit I’m not completely informed. My children go to a Lutheran school right now, and I have never been more confident in the way they teach. I went to a different Lutheran school growing up, and what I covered in 8th grade there wasn’t touched on again until 11th grade advanced classes. However, this was all in Seymour and Columbus.
I have heard nothing good about IPS, except your comment. I have a friend that is an IPS teacher that advised me against IPS. I have gone to https://www.greatschools.net, and found Carmel and Fishers schools to be in the 8-10 rating, while IPS schools are lucky to get past a 4. I designed the computer networks for Indianapolis Met and 21st Century Charter School, so I’m a little familiar with some people’s desire to get out of IPS.
The fact that there is a wait list at the good IPS schools you’re suggesting says that until I get through that wait list, my girls will be in a school that no one wants to be in. The same goes for for the charter schools I have mentioned, but I’m not as confident in their abilities as I am in the Fishers or Carmel school system from the information I have gathered.
I WANT to find a good public school in Indianapolis that I know I can send my girls to (not put on a waiting list). I have seen good things about Washington Township schools, so I’m hopeful there. I’ve had my fill of suburban sprawl and a car-centric urban planning.
My point is, your motivation to escape sprawl and car-centric life is a noble one – you don’t have to sacrifice that because of misperceptions. The ONLY way to know is visit for yourself. It seems that you are leaving the education of your children to what others tell you. “greatschools.net”? OY!
Of course, remember every individual school is different – no one who is credible thinks all IPS schools are the same.