18th and Montcalm

One of my favorite parts of living in a place with some history is finding buildings that hug street corners , especially ones that are not on major thoroughfares. This first scene is not far outside of downtown, yet it almost seems rural:Believe it or not, a bus comes to this corner, as you can …

Smart Growth Redevelopment Plan

I have obtained an exciting new plan (pdf warning) for redevelopment focused on the area near 22nd and the Monon. This plan, as you could guess, hits on all of the mantras of this blog: infill, green development, pedestrian-oriented, and transit-oriented. The plan also mentions the new Charter School at 22nd and Yandes, which is …

Skyscraper City Photo Threads

I’ll take a bit of a detour from Indy-related posts here to mention some of my favorite photographic threads over on Skyscraper City. These are just a few pics from the first page of the forum, the site is chock full of photo goodness. You could get lost for hours on this webpage if you’re …

More Fun With Zoning

In a fine example of the problem with our current zoning standards, commenter Graeme has posted this notice of a possible demolition of a historic structure for a parking lot, as well as this long IHP report. The zoning standards sadly encourage this. Fortunately, there looks to be a compromise solution to reconfigure a current …

Time for local love

The latest Indianapolis Monthly has a depressing cover for fans of local food. I haven’t talked much about local food or businesses lately, and this article has re-motivated me. Here’s a few places I’ve been recently that I recommend: Taiwan Tea House. I have to say that it is the best Chinese place I’ve visited …

Randomly Miscellaneous

Link thread: That 10th Street post seemed to garner a lot of interest, and I was led to this link. That link eventually led me to these grand plans for East Washington Street, as well as this. The internet is cool. A new Urban Times is out. The print version led me to this project …

East 10th Street

10th Street, from Woodruff Place to Sherman Drive, might be the longest stretch of dense semi-commercial development in Indianapolis. It does not have the best reputation for safety; however, during my walk, the street was alive with activity. I have always wanted to feature it on this blog, as I feel it has great potential, …

Can Do Neighborhood Initiative

I found this flyer at Yat’s at 54th and College. This looks like the same group that is working on the Uptown project; however, at a larger scale. I’ve commented on my mixed feelings on this project before, but I must admit that I’m a sucker for their optimism. The flyer includes a tiny rendering …

Riding the Rails to DC

This is the time of year when wanderlust tends to kick in for me. I looked back on my calender and notice that I haven’t traveled for more than a weekend. However, this year, I finally decided to put my money where my blog is and reserve tickets on Amtrak. I look forward to taking …

A Sense of Place in South Indianapolis

A strange phenomenon that I have noticed is the propensity of Indy citizens to refer to almost everything south of Troy Avenue as “Greenwood.” This may be because a driver down US 31 or Meridian Streets will not notice much of a difference once they cross the county line, so that it blurs together. However, …