Author archives

The creator and administrator for Urban Indy. I have a background in Geographic Information Systems, and a passion for promoting neighborhood redevelopment. Indianapolis deserves more voices encouraging it to move in a direction that encourages urban living, and this is the place for that discussion.

Planet Forward on PBS

Planet Forward is a new user-driven website similar to You Tube, which features a variety of videos from the simple solutions, to the contrarian, to the innovative. I found this website by accident last night, as I happened upon the PBS special that was televised at 8 pm. The program was decent, but as usual, …

Historic Enclave: Acton

Commenter JG fortold my next Historic enclave. I was in Acton early Easter Morning and took these pictures. Amazingly, there were 2 businesses open at 7 am Easter Morning: a diner, and a small grocery store.  This is the most prominent structure downtown: I.O.O.F. buildings are always a crowd-pleaser: The Address is still Indianapolis:

Spring in Golden Hill

Golden Hill is a secluded neighborhood that manages to still be located in Center Township.  It’s an interesting place for a walk, with narrow winding streets and no sidewalks.  It’s obviously one of the first car-based suburbs in this city. This is a little park:Houses: No, this isn’t California, but you could have fooled me: …

Unexpected bike lane: Westlane Road

On our way out to New Augusta last Saturday, we traveled down Westlane Road. I was quite surprised to find that it has a dedicated bike lane, complete with signs, running down a length of it. I didn’t catch the beginning or end points, but I would guess that it was over a mile long. …

Historic Enclave: New Augusta

This is the first of a new series featuring historic enclaves within Marion County.  New Augusta, located on 71st Street, has managed to maintain a pleasant small town atmosphere a few steps to the north east of a busy intersection with Georgetown Road.  In short, this town is gorgeous: Ah, if only I had money: …

Randomly Miscellaneous

Haven’t had a link thread in a while. Here’s a quick round-up: Unsung Indy has launched, shedding light on 5 lesser-known Indianapolis Neighborhoods. I like the potential for this site. This interview with Christopher Leinberger is a few months old, but I just noticed it yesterday. I have now posted a link to the Infrastructurist. …

Do Wide, Busy Streets cause Temporary Architecture?

The empty Starbucks at Fall Creek and College is a fine example of temporary architecture. The building dates from 2005, and is already becoming a burden to a neighborhood that does not need another one. There was cautious optimism when the Starbucks first opened, however, as they employed people from the neighborhood. For this, Starbucks …

UNWA!

Yesterday I was in the UNWA neighborhood (United North West). Here are my photos: Southwest Corner of Harding and Roach: Beautiful brickwork on the North West corner: I had planned on only featuring this corner for now. However, I happend to find this stunner on the way back. This old fire station at Udell and …

Promote Your Neighborhoods

Recently, I’ve been exploring Indy’s less well-known neighborhoods, and have been finding some real gems. Starting with my post on the Southwest side earlier this month, digging deeper has been quite rewarding. The next surprising neighborhood I’ve found is on the near South Side containing the exquisite Sacred Heart church. One block east is the …

New Hope for 2 Downtown Buildings

Property Lines has updated us with news on a couple of troubled buildings Downtown. The Illinois Building, which has been vacant since 2003, has a pending meeting between Halakar Properties and the City regarding tax abatements for redevelopment as first floor retail and apartments. The McQuat Building, which has been vacant for much longer, is …