GA Street possibilities (Indianapolis, Marion, Boston: crime, how much, luxury)

[msamhunter]

Conventions interested in using Georgia Street following Super Bowl success - fox59.com (http://www.fox59.com/sports/superbowl/wxin-conventions-interested-in-using-georgia-street-following-super-bowl-success-20120209,0,2159011.column - broken link)

Looks like both GenCon and Firefighters are wanting to utilize Georgia Street after seeing its success during the super bowl. Excellent idea IMO. If only they made it pedestrian only, that would have been even better but they have one lane each side. If done right, the 8 million dollar investment could definitely pay off. Next up Indiana Avenue.

[Broadrippleguy]

Msam ill make this easy.
The possibilities are ENDLESS!
There we go

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by msamhunter

Conventions interested in using Georgia Street following Super Bowl success - fox59.com (http://www.fox59.com/sports/superbowl/wxin-conventions-interested-in-using-georgia-street-following-super-bowl-success-20120209,0,2159011.column - broken link)

Looks like both GenCon and Firefighters are wanting to utilize Georgia Street after seeing its success during the super bowl.

How do you know Georgia Street was a success? The taxpayers paid millions to remodel it, and the street was then quickly given to a private company, Indianapolis Downtown Inc.

How do you know that Indianapolis taxpayers made their money back off remodeling the street? How do you know they ever will, now that IDI owns it?

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by GregHenry

How do you know Georgia Street was a success? The taxpayers paid millions to remodel it, and the street was then quickly given to a private company, Indianapolis Downtown Inc.

How do you know that Indianapolis taxpayers made their money back off remodeling the street? How do you know they ever will, now that IDI owns it?

The Super Bowl Village was a successful event. Other groups now want to use the space. Even the Indy 500 wants to expand its presence downtown thanks to the early success of Georgia Street. One event does not make it a bonified success, but the momentum sure is building.

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

The Super Bowl Village was a successful event.

Proof? How much did it cost taxpayers to bring in Super Bowl Village, and how much did Super Bowl Village return to the taxpayers?

bonified

That's not a word.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by GregHenry

Proof? How much did it cost taxpayers to bring in Super Bowl Village, and how much did Super Bowl Village return to the taxpayers?

The benefit to taxpayers is not necessarily going to be measured in real dollars. The U.S. spent a lot of money building the interstate highway system, with no real direct benefit to taxpayers. Should we have never bothered with interstates? That is where economics becomes less about real measurable dollars and more about asking yourself if the benefit of something is worth the money spent, regardless of a direct profit. Clearly, you think the Super Bowl was not worth it. Clearly a lot of people do.

Originally Posted by GregHenry

That's not a word.

Bona fide - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

The truth is out, I am a human who struggles with my cell phone's keyboard. Burn me at the stake!!!

[msamhunter]

Let's see, 8 million to redo GA street, take a conservative 400k taxpayers in Marion County so a one time payment of $20 per person and it's paid for and the residents claim more free space for public use and a pedestrian friendly street. Let's compare that with oh, Boston's 22 BILLION dollar big dig boondoggle, that was done to merely reclaim space and you have no room to say a word. Did people show up for work quicker after it was completed, uh, no. The same people are still late every single day. It returns nothing to the taxpayers of MA or the US citizens who handed out billions in their federal dollars to complete it. Where's my return on my investment?

[Broadrippleguy]

Great point Msam.

[Toxic Toast]

Here is another article highlighting the potential of Georgia Street:

Group will encourage businesses to build on Georgia Street's Super Bowl 2012 success | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

Scotty's Brewhouse is not mentioned or even on Georgia Street, but Scotty has been quite vocal about his desire to see Georgia Street closed to car traffic, and a permanent open pedestrian area created. If we can get the business community downtown on board with this, the possibilities are endless.

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

Here is another article highlighting the potential of Georgia Street:

Group will encourage businesses to build on Georgia Street's Super Bowl 2012 success | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

Scotty's Brewhouse is not mentioned or even on Georgia Street, but Scotty has been quite vocal about his desire to see Georgia Street closed to car traffic, and a permanent open pedestrian area created. If we can get the business community downtown on board with this, the possibilities are endless.

I see IDI didn't wait long to take control over their street.

Georgia Street Super Bowl: Georgia Street to be transformed to continue success after Super Bowl - fox59.com (http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-georgia-street-super-bowl-georgia-street-to-be-transformed-to-continue-success-after-super-bowl-20120213,0,3331012.column - broken link)

This is a disaster in the making. 4th Street Live 100 miles North.

Another failed Indy project in an area of town nobody visits. Overwhelmingly most of the Indianapolis city limits are dirty, blighted, with too-small roads. Indianapolis needs to spend its money on the city, where the work will actually do some good, instead of wasting taxpayer funds on its cash-drain needless luxury item of downtown.

Indianapolis has been pouring millions into downtown since the Hudnut administration, and downtown still can't build anything without more millions in tax dollars. All this while the city rots and decays into a very dangerous high-crime battlefield.

Let downtown take care of itself. The city needs to worry about the city and not downtown.