Author archives

I am an Indianapolis native who has lived in his HT off and on over the years, as well as the Deep South, the Northeast, and overseas. Trained in urban planning, I am less interested in macro/policy-level exploration of urban affairs. But when it comes to highly local and micro-level issues, you'll see me step up to the plate. The devil is in the details! My blog, American Dirt, explores landscapes urban and rural across the country (and a little bit abroad).

When the Best Preservation Efforts Go Up in Smoke

One of our Urban Indy bloggers recently pointed out this lovingly restored double with Victorian touches, easily visible on Google Streetview as recently as the last camera run-through, waaaaay back in the summer of 2009. Even from the Google photo, it’s obvious that the restoration just took place; the paint is flawless, landscaping efforts haven’t …

With the Marott Center in New Hands, Could the Property Use Some Elbow Grease?

Normally an announcement as modest as the sale of a small, well-maintained historic commercial building shouldn’t cause anyone’s pulse to race.  And, outside of this Urban Indy blogosphere, it probably hasn’t.  Truth be told, even within Urban Indy readership, nobody’s popping any blood-pressure pills.   But the change in ownership of the Marott Center on …

Putting Kessler Park on the Map

The urban advocates are nearly unanimous that our metro areas, in general, suffer from a dearth of good urban park space.  Nonetheless, it is often hard to build much of an argument for new park construction, or the requisite land assembly. After all, most American cities are seriously lacking when it comes to density, and …

CVS at 16th and Meridian – a Belated Reflection.

Try not to bounce in your chairs too much: a writer at Urban Indy has finally decided to assess the CVS at 16th and Meridian, a few years after it opened.  The general view around these parts–which probably prompted the majority of us not to feature it–was a resounding “meh” at the results, even though …

SEND new construction: multi-unit infill in two emerging neighborhoods.

It’s rare that buildings this small get a comprehensive analysis on Urban Indy.  Usually it’s just a snapshot.  But since these multi-family structures represent probably the first permits for new construction on the near south side in decades, and I, your journalist, am incapable of keeping my articles short, you get the full deal.  And, …

Empty check-in at IND.

I was torn between posting my latest here or on my personal site, American Dirt.  While most Indy-themed articles end up finding their way here, this one scrutinized airports in a way that I usually only apply to my personal site.  So I’ll paraphrase it here, but the full post is there on Dirt. It’s …

One-way spur streets downtown: not exactly spurring growth.

That most American cities suffer from a plethora of one-way streets is a blog topic in and of itself.  After all, just last week I revealed on my personal blog how Houston’s vast downtown only has five streets with two-way sections, and not one of these streets completely transects the city center.  The desirability of one-way …

Mass Ave Retail: Vibrant behind those venetian blinds?

The cranes that punctuate downtown Indy’s skyline should bear some real fruit within the next two years.  Finally.  Urban bloggers have recently observed—with no small amount of criticism—the relatively meager increase in downtown Indianapolis’ housing construction that took place during the previous decade (from 2000 to 2010) when compared to other peer cities in the …