Indianapolis and the future
Traffic around Washington and
Illinois streets has been mucked up for some time, and it’ll be nice to
have things return to normal.
New hotel aims for the 5 stars
However, this is a gorgeous building and will do alot to raise the status of downtown Indianapolis.
This brought to mind several projects currently underdevelopment in
Indianapolis.? I’m positive I’ve forgotten some, but here’s my
list:
- New Simon Brothers headquarters in White River Park (Ground broken)
- New Library project (Work has resumed in the past few weeks)
- Convention Center Expansion and New Colts Stadium (Should start this summer)
- The 2 new Market Square towers where Market Square Arena once stood (Work is starting)
- Between Conseco Fieldhouse and Meridian St., in the old Wholesale
district, they are building a new restaurant and bar complex (Status
unknown) - New Indianapolis Art Museum on 38th street.? This looks to
be a massive improvement to an already beautifully groomed grounds.
(Project finished)
All of this begs the question.
Where are our mass transit plans?
Wake up Indianapolis 
, the
traffic is not going to get any better.? Especially with all of
these new people moving into the downtown area, along with the added
Airport traffic adding to an already clogged system of
Interstates.? Light-rail between the Airport, downtown, Fishers,
and spurs to Greenwood, Plainfield, Zionsville and Carmel make more sense now than ever.?
Not only that, but a more regional wide system should be thought
out.? A faster rail-based system linking regional cities and metro
areas would be a way to unite the Midwest into a more cohesive unit of
economic and cultural community.? Similar to what the Northeast or
California has done.
A rapid transit system linking Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati,
Louisville and Indianapolis will make more sense as gas prices continue
to increase.? Perhaps a hybrid system of passenger and cargo cars
on a frequent schedule would provide the level of service people
expect.?
Indianapolis is in the unique position to be the Hub of this new
“super-region”.? The question remains, does Indiana have the
leaders to seize this vision and make it happen?
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