When negotiating the introduction of typically suburban corporate chains in an otherwise urban neighborhood, it typically takes an inordinate amount of fancy footwork. Most American cities have a “Midtown”—either explicitly or implicitly named—that suffered colossal disinvestment from the 1950s onward, or perhaps even as early as the Depression. Now, thanks to their proximity to revitalizing
My latest post is at Urban Indy. Though the focus is on case studies regarding road spurs in Indianapolis, the situation exists in cities across the country. This seemingly unremarkable photo of traffic in downtown Indy shows the easternmost “spur” of Maryland Street, a primary downtown road that was converted to one-way eastbound in the
My latest post is available on Urban Indy, featuring a work in progress: the Gateway South Arch in Indianapolis, at the point where Madison Avenue and U.S. 31 diverge. It is the first phase of an extensive plan to improve the streetscape for a part of town that has seen considerable flight of businesses to
My latest post–a short one (for me at least)–is now up at Urban Indy. It focuses on the Mozzo, a newly completed multifamily residential development in the Sacred Heart neighborhood, fronting the increasingly active Virginia Avenue commercial corridor. By and large it’s a satisfactory building, with a massing that befits the old neighborhood just a
Earlier this past fall, I featured the accomplishments of the City of Kokomo, Indiana in reinventing itself over the past few years, after two decades of rust-belt, deindustrialized stagnancy. Civic leadership successfully elicited a certain degree of buy-in among its constituent, all toward sundry capital improvements, the likes of which most similarly sized cities still
Across the country—but particularly in the heavily industrialized Northeast and Midwest—smaller cities have confronted the grim realities of the unflattering “Rust Belt” moniker, and all of its associated characteristics, with varying degrees of success. With an aging work force, difficulty in retaining college graduates, and a frequently decaying building stock, the challenges they face are
I can’t resist the occasional opportunity to showcase egregious impediments on sidewalks, particularly in locations where it seems like the arguments for pedestrianism are strongest, like in the downtown of this country’s 29th largest metropolitan area, Kansas City, Missouri. The east side of Grand Boulevard just north of East 10th Street offers a continuous, urban
With any urban infrastructure project dedicated exclusively to separating pedestrians from vehicular traffic, the benefit is typically a double-edged sword. While the investment may allow pedestrians to cross on their own volition at any point in time, it also expedites the flow of traffic at higher speeds through what could be a pedestrian-dense area. Instead
About 36 hours ago I added a new blog post on Urban Indy, which is accessible through this link. It focuses on some putative improvements to Emerson Avenue on the southeast side of Indianapolis. For many in metro Indy, the south side has a reputation that ranges from neutral to negative. By some psychological assessments,
As much as street-level engagement for large projects in city centers should, by this point, seem like a foregone conclusion, it continues to amaze how many big ticket items—in cities of widely varying size—either engage in terpsichorean negotiations around it or neglect it completely. When developers confront a zoning ordinance or design guideline that insists
When negotiating the introduction of typically suburban corporate chains in an otherwise urban neighborhood, it typically takes an inordinate amount of fancy footwork. Most American cities have a “Midtown”—either explicitly or implicitly named—that
My latest post is at Urban Indy. Though the focus is on case studies regarding road spurs in Indianapolis, the situation exists in cities across the country. This seemingly unremarkable photo of traffic
My latest post is available on Urban Indy, featuring a work in progress: the Gateway South Arch in Indianapolis, at the point where Madison Avenue and U.S. 31 diverge. It is the first
My latest post–a short one (for me at least)–is now up at Urban Indy. It focuses on the Mozzo, a newly completed multifamily residential development in the Sacred Heart neighborhood, fronting the increasingly
Earlier this past fall, I featured the accomplishments of the City of Kokomo, Indiana in reinventing itself over the past few years, after two decades of rust-belt, deindustrialized stagnancy. Civic leadership successfully elicited
Across the country—but particularly in the heavily industrialized Northeast and Midwest—smaller cities have confronted the grim realities of the unflattering “Rust Belt” moniker, and all of its associated characteristics, with varying degrees of
I can’t resist the occasional opportunity to showcase egregious impediments on sidewalks, particularly in locations where it seems like the arguments for pedestrianism are strongest, like in the downtown of this country’s 29th
With any urban infrastructure project dedicated exclusively to separating pedestrians from vehicular traffic, the benefit is typically a double-edged sword. While the investment may allow pedestrians to cross on their own volition at
About 36 hours ago I added a new blog post on Urban Indy, which is accessible through this link. It focuses on some putative improvements to Emerson Avenue on the southeast side of
As much as street-level engagement for large projects in city centers should, by this point, seem like a foregone conclusion, it continues to amaze how many big ticket items—in cities of widely varying