Say what you want about aesthetics; I’m not talking about exposed power lines today. The unfortunate development featured here has undoubtedly already faced the scorn of many urban advocates, but I don’t want to offer a critique as much as a narrative. I have obliquely featured the near-northside Indianapolis neighborhood, Fall Creek Place, multiple times
I have up to this point generally shied away from the topic of urban sprawl because I see it as a hydra with no easy or politically viable solution. Then it occurred to me that few of my blog topics merit a quick fix, and, even though my own views on suburban growth no doubt
My intention these past few weeks since taking pictures of the interior space was to formulate a potential solution for the long-ailing Market. The City obviously beat me to it, as last Thursday’s article can attest. Nonetheless, with none of the access to pedestrian counts, revenue sheets, or expense reports that the city leadership surely
Out of concern of the length of the previous post, I have taken what was going to be the second half of the analysis and divided it in half again. This part will evaluate the tenant composition of the City Market, both current and hypothetical, as well as some successful food vendors who have consciously
With new, independently owned restaurants and shops opening in downtown Indianapolis even in this weak economy, why does the City Market continue to underperform just as it has for years? It claims to be one of only five original Public Market Houses in the country, and one of only a handful of other original market
In the spirit of the Halloween season, I can’t resist but to reference a recent article from Retail Traffic magazine, which observed that, amidst these prolonged economic doldrums, retail landlords who are suffering from extensive vacancies are succumbing to the allure of “pop-up” stores. These tenants earn this name because they tend to pop-up for
In the past I’ve mused obliquely about how signage can influence the overall character of a retail district. Lo and behold, the character of a retail district can, in turn, influence the type of signage as well. And what better place to demonstrate this than in some of the most heavily trafficked retail locations in
With this post I break with my longstanding (almost two months!) tradition of featuring primarily outdoor landscapes—here I include my first interior. Witness below a fashionable bar I visited on a trip with a few friends: The photo quality is poor, but anyone can tell it is scarcely a dive bar. From the plasma screen on
I recently had the chance to explore dying shopping centers in out-of-state locations that disprove the trends I observed at Lafayette Square and Washington Square Mall. In many regards, the retail decline at these two locations has advanced much further than the aforementioned two, and yet they remain open due to a resilient flicker of
The enclosed shopping mall may be the one urban incarnation from the twentieth century that the cultural elite has maligned from its inception.Intellectuals and social reformers of the late 19th and early 20th often extolled the early streetcar suburbs as a respite from overcrowding, poor sanitation, and social decay they had witnessed in the cities—however,
Say what you want about aesthetics; I’m not talking about exposed power lines today. The unfortunate development featured here has undoubtedly already faced the scorn of many urban advocates, but I don’t want
I have up to this point generally shied away from the topic of urban sprawl because I see it as a hydra with no easy or politically viable solution. Then it occurred to
My intention these past few weeks since taking pictures of the interior space was to formulate a potential solution for the long-ailing Market. The City obviously beat me to it, as last Thursday’s
Out of concern of the length of the previous post, I have taken what was going to be the second half of the analysis and divided it in half again. This part will
With new, independently owned restaurants and shops opening in downtown Indianapolis even in this weak economy, why does the City Market continue to underperform just as it has for years? It claims to
In the spirit of the Halloween season, I can’t resist but to reference a recent article from Retail Traffic magazine, which observed that, amidst these prolonged economic doldrums, retail landlords who are suffering
In the past I’ve mused obliquely about how signage can influence the overall character of a retail district. Lo and behold, the character of a retail district can, in turn, influence the type
With this post I break with my longstanding (almost two months!) tradition of featuring primarily outdoor landscapes—here I include my first interior. Witness below a fashionable bar I visited on a trip with a
I recently had the chance to explore dying shopping centers in out-of-state locations that disprove the trends I observed at Lafayette Square and Washington Square Mall. In many regards, the retail decline at
The enclosed shopping mall may be the one urban incarnation from the twentieth century that the cultural elite has maligned from its inception.Intellectuals and social reformers of the late 19th and early 20th
