Author archives
The Chatham Arch Question Gets an Answer
The Chatham Arch Question, Part II: What Are the Consequences of Low Density Just a Mile from the Heart of Downtown?

In the first half of this two-part series I looked at the prevailing mentality articulated by some of the most influential members of the Chatham Arch neighborhood, evidenced by the Chatham Arch Neighborhood Association (CANA) and its near-unanimous opposition to the redevelopment of a long-vacant charter school site at 9th and East Streets, into a mix …
The Chatham Arch Question, Part I: Why, in Older, Formerly Crowded Districts, Is Density Still a Dirty Word?
The Marietta Progresses and Raises New Questions About Mass Ave Infill.

A few years ago, I reported on what might at the time have seen like a pretty run-of-the-mill transaction: the Marott Center downtown getting sold by its law-firm owners to a company known as Gershman Partners. It was a long-established, smartly preserved building along Massachusetts Avenue that survived from its heyday. And at the end …
PODCAST: What are we going to do about all these dead malls?
City Market (Again): Maximizing the Tenant Potential.

I first featured the plight of the City Market on my personal blog, American Dirt, back in 2009, when it was in dire straits, just as it had been for many years. Decades, even. It was a pretty grim place: most of the perimeter simply offered unnecessary seating, the central vendor stalls were only-half full, …
The Case in Greenwood: Why America Deserves Its Retail Blight.

The local media thoroughly covered the City of Greenwood’s announcement that it had finally secured a developer for the site at the southeast corner of the I-65/County Line Road interchange—a tract where numerous proposals had come to light, most prominently featuring a Cabela’s. But, time and time again, none had materialized…part of the aftermath of …
Digital Archaeology through Google Street View

“The apple that’s fresh is ripe to the core, and I rot over time and I’m not anymore.†–Sloan & Pelling I’m probably a day late and a dollar short on noticing the time-scroll feature available with Google Street View. Perhaps it’s been there for months—years even. I just figured it out its full …
From Art to Ads: Commodifying Space at the Indy Airport.

A few years ago, the still shiny-and-new Indianapolis International Airport (IND) found itself at the center of a mild controversy. The Airport Authority announced, after just three years in operation, what for some people amounted to a pretty significant concession: it was replacing one of the most prominent artistic installations with a large flat screen …