i'm heading up to indianapolis with my girlfriend on friday, january 4th to see a pacers game. we're planning on spending the day in indianapolis. just wondered if anyone had some suggestions on what would be the best things to do? we'd like to stay in the downtown area. is there anywhere we can park for free and just walk around all day? we're both interested in museums, parks, eclectic shops and such. any help would be great. also, any cool places to eat? thanks...

I agree! The people who come up with these ideas and who ultimately pick these ugly, miniscule buildings need to be taken out of the decision making process for these types of things. 280 feet is hardly a signature or iconic structure for Indy. There are roller coasters much taller than that. I have a plan, but no one will listen to me, so all I can do is complain about the uninspiring ideas for which we in Indy have to settle because a few uncreative people are creating them. My idea would be a very costly one, but it would put Indy on the map not only nationally, but internationally, and the tourism money my idea could generate would more than compensate for the money spent to make it a reality. My plan is already illustrated, but who would listen to an unimportant guy like me?

I attend Valparaiso University, and I take the South Shore on some weekends and it is ALWAYS crowded. Last weekend there were at least a dozen passengers who had to stand up all the way to Millenium Station because of the crowds. I really hope that it gets extended down to Valparaiso and Lowell soon. The expansion is currently being studied, but is very expensive.
I also like the South Shore line because it is free to members of the military.

I like its price and convenience.

I can't think of anything I don't like. Sure it can seem a little slow at times, but when weighed with the alternative.. it simply isn't a concern that bothers me any.

Granted, I use the line for leisure rather than commuting.

^ Thanks for the update on LaPorte. I had not heard it was having such bad financial issues lately; but had read where the county was trying to get the inter-modal facility, which would be a great economic asset for county if established. Hopefully it will be. There is a lot of potential for NWIN IMO if things are planned and developed properly in the coming years, as a significant portion of the tertiary economic growth from Chicago seems destined to increasingly push over into the Indiana side of the metro area.

Welcome to the forum frank! Glad to have a NWIN member on the boards! Look forward to hopefully more posts from you about whats going on up there in the Calumet region.

That is the new Honda Assembly Plant that you saw under-construction right off I-74. Greensburg landed it last year and it will employ roughly 2000 employees when its in full operation. Indiana beat out Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Ohio to land the $550 million dollar plant in what was seen at the time as a pretty big coup for the state.
It will definitely have a huge positive benefit for Greensburg and the region, as it could potentially employ more workers than expected as has been the case with Toyota plant in Princeton, Indiana - plus support plants may locate in the region to service the assembly facility. I was very pleased to learn the state landed it, as Indiana has been struggling with its manufacturing base here of late.

You can read more about it here in a Washington Post story from last year.

Cool photos...a lil tip WOT, moderators don't like when you have all the photos in your reply. Takes up space and we know what you are replying to anyways.

The Indiana forum has not had much activity lately, so maybe a photo thread or two will hopefully jump start things back up again!

These photos were taken in July of 2006 on a particulary nice day.





Well thats a start! More to come. Hope everyone enjoyed!

Gary International Airport could be the future hub of high-speed trains heading off to cities across the Midwest if proponents of proposed high-speed rail system are successful. The system which could create 19,000 permenant jobs and create an attractive inter-city travel alternative to a host of midwestern cities only has one major catch: the 2.5 billion dollar price tag the project would cost over 10 years. The Federal Railroad commission could however pick up anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of that cost, with the states and localitie receiving service picking up the remainder; which is still a large amount of expenditures for state and local governments to handle.

Propenents are lobbying the Regional Development Authority, which is funded by Lake and Porter Counties, to spend over $220,000 on a study of the plans viability and potential routes. A member of the Regional Development Authority has stated that counties outside of Lake and Porter who could benefit and receive service should also be asked to chip in with funds if a study is authorized.

Read more in the Lake County Post-Tribune.

So would could this work? Any thoughts on the long term impact such an ambitious endeavor could have of NWIN and the rest of the state? The Midwest? Should other Indiana cities like Lafayette and South Bend step up and chip in for a study?

^ I really haven't been to fond of Mitch's handling of the state. He has a very heavy handed leadership style that seems a little out of place for a Governor without a mandate to implement the untested and IMO drastic privatization plans as he has pushed throughout his term. I don't really remember him campaigning on privitization, yet thats been basically his solution to the all the state's problems, and thus far with very mixed, if not poor, results from what I read.

I think the Democratic House has been a great offset to Governor Daniels, sadly it ony has a one seat majority, so real push back is hard. I don't have a problem with Indiana Republicans, Sen. Lugar is great for example - as are members of the Legislature, but I share rob's concern that the state Republican apparatus is aligning increasingly away from the old school populist Republicanism the state is rooted in and towards the national party inclination of a religous-right/corporate party whose interests may not always lie with sound public policy that benefits all Hoosiers.

Here is a link to an Louisville Courier-Journal Article on the Dem candidates thus far:

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.d...STS07/706170481

The Dem candidate from Indy Jim Schellinger seems interesting to me. Young and Thompson seem like push overs even for Mitch, who is definately in a position to be beat by a strong Dem challenger. Tim Roemer I think would be a great candidate if he ran, but he may be waiting for Lugar to retire or for an open seat run, or be done all together. Anybody know?