Do you find these pictures of downtown INDY shocking? (Indianapolis: mover, how much)

[A2DAC1985]

I was using Google maps again and decided to take a closer look at Indy from above. I put a border around Michigan, South, East, and West Streets because (at least for me) that is considered "Downtown" Indy. Looking at the first picture, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

But then in the second picture, something seems a little "off" .

And that's because in the third picture I have highighted all the parking lots and garages that are visible. And quite frankly I was when I first saw Downtown that close from above. It certainly doesn't seem like there are that many when actually walking around.

Are you shocked? In a good or a bad way?

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

I was using Google maps again and decided to take a closer look at Indy from above. I put a border around Michigan, South, East, and West Streets because (at least for me) that is considered "Downtown" Indy. Looking at the first picture, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

But then in the second picture, something seems a little "off" .

And that's because in the third picture I have highighted all the parking lots and garages that are visible. And quite frankly I was when I first saw Downtown that close from above. It certainly doesn't seem like there are that many when actually walking around.

Are you shocked? In a good or a bad way?

Emailed Mayor Greg Ballard yesterday asking him to go all in and get CME group to relocate to Indianapolis since obiviously Illinois isn't passing the Tax Relief for them.
only 3 hour move too and since as you mentioned we have all those parking spaces that can be converted into a brand new CME exchange building.
CBOE also would do well in Indy. Either or

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

Emailed Mayor Greg Ballard yesterday asking him to go all in and get CME group to relocate to Indianapolis since obiviously Illinois isn't passing the Tax Relief for them.
only 3 hour move too and since as you mentioned we have all those parking spaces that can be converted into a brand new CME exchange building.
CBOE also would do well in Indy. Either or

Some of the parking lots/garages are of significant size and close together. In general, though, they are scattered over the area and not of any size to build a structure/complex large enough for CME. And is Indianapolis, as it currently stands, ready to take on the kind of transportation issues associated with having a global trading center in a city?

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Some of the parking lots/garages are of significant size and close together. In general, though, they are scattered over the area and not of any size to build a structure/complex large enough for CME. And is Indianapolis, as it currently stands, ready to take on the kind of transportation issues associated with having a global trading center in a city?

yes compare traffic rush hour in Indy to Chicago.
Plus were about ready to lanch the mass transit system here in Indy.
Heck Reelected Mayor Greg Ballard was at the statehouse yesterday the day after winning talking to the state rep about getting a referendum passed to fund mass transit.
Also Indy's Centralized Location with I-65/70/69/74 servicing the city and connects us to the rest of the country unlike any other city.
Plus we have an International Airport to supply CME with the Private jets and a regional airport if the main one reaches capacity. Also theres the Indianapolis Executive airport too.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

I was using Google maps again and decided to take a closer look at Indy from above. I put a border around Michigan, South, East, and West Streets because (at least for me) that is considered "Downtown" Indy. Looking at the first picture, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

But then in the second picture, something seems a little "off" .

And that's because in the third picture I have highighted all the parking lots and garages that are visible. And quite frankly I was when I first saw Downtown that close from above. It certainly doesn't seem like there are that many when actually walking around.

Are you shocked? In a good or a bad way?

78k Downtown Parking spaces. Not a lot for a car centric city to be honest and actually not enough as there are 120k workers downtown during the day. 18k more than Denver which has 60k parking spaces downtown.

For the record, downtown is 16th Street to the North, I-70 to the South, I-65 to the East and The tracks on the west side of the White River to the West. You missed a lot

[sweetana3]

The big parking lot on the south end of the photo is closed and being built on(North of South was the name). The ones around the tower on the north west side of the photo are private to the tower. Market Square has had a number of proposals but with the restrictions placed on the design and contents by all the entities involved, it has not gotten off the ground.

We also need to remember that most of this land is in private hands and is not available for purchase. It is hard to get a big project off the ground when the land is in little bits here and there and little tax money available to spark the deal.

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by msamhunter

...For the record, downtown is 16th Street to the North, I-70 to the South, I-65 to the East and The tracks on the west side of the White River to the West. You missed a lot

Noted. But I wasn't terribly concerned about anything else other than the one square mile encompassed by Michigan, West, South, and East. If the lines are pushed out further then even more parking lots and structures come into play.

What, for me, was so shocking about that little square mile was how much space it took up. It looks like a solid 25% of that one square mile is devoted to parking facilities, many being lots. It just seems like a lot of space is being wasted.

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Noted. But I wasn't terribly concerned about anything else other than the one square mile encompassed by Michigan, West, South, and East. If the lines are pushed out further then even more parking lots and structures come into play.

What, for me, was so shocking about that little square mile was how much space it took up. It looks like a solid 25% of that one square mile is devoted to parking facilities, many being lots. It just seems like a lot of space is being wasted.

that will be fixed soon when we have a major Mass Transit overhaul.

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

...Heck Reelected Mayor Greg Ballard was at the statehouse yesterday the day after winning talking to the state rep about getting a referendum passed to fund mass transit...

Indy Connect? If that's what you're talking about then... I don't see it. It seems to be too little, too late. The cost of gas is going to continue to rise and everyday the final sticker price for light rail, bike lanes/paths, sidewalks, etc. is going to go up. The airport to downtown line should have been built in the late 90's, expanded upon in the early 2000's, and right now Indianapolis should be starting work on rail that connects everything into a fully intergrated transportation network that combines pedestrian, bicycle, auto/bus, light and heavy rail.

But they aren't. It's upsetting to me.

I would buy into the plan more if there was more of a vision for the future in it, but there isn't.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Indy Connect? If that's what you're talking about then... I don't see it. It seems to be too little, too late. The cost of gas is going to continue to rise and everyday the final sticker price for light rail, bike lanes/paths, sidewalks, etc. is going to go up. The airport to downtown line should have been built in the late 90's, expanded upon in the early 2000's, and right now Indianapolis should be starting work on rail that connects everything into a fully intergrated transportation network that combines pedestrian, bicycle, auto/bus, light and heavy rail.

But they aren't. It's upsetting to me.

I would buy into the plan more if there was more of a vision for the future in it, but there isn't.

Some of that is already in place just a matter of re-purposing a few things. Union Station is highly underutilized and houses AmTrak and Greyhound. It's in the plans to be the "hub" which makes since as it's Union Station. You are correct, a line from the Airport into downtown should have been done and honestly should be high on the priority list IMO. I look at it in two phases, transportation into downtown via light rail/brt and then transportation within downtown.

As compact as Indy likes to advertise itself, a walk from Lilly to Wishard is a nice jaunt. I know they have like the red/blue/brown/purple or whatever they call those lines downtown but I think a People Mover type system would be good. Of course the current PM is all private dollars with free public use as long as you are travelling between the hospitals and/or IUPUI. A line from the core to say IUPUI and/or WRSP/Zoo I think would be beneficial esp. if it could at least be a public/private partnership.