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jice

By jice
in Tennessee

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jice Burg

jice

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I took a short trip to Indy a couple weeks ago... and was blown away by the downtown there. Thought i'd share some pics. There doesn't appear to be an Indiana forum on UrbanPlanet... so, I guess my friends on the Nashville forum get the pics! I had absolutely no idea what downtown Indy looked like until I got there, but I have to say... this is exactly what i'd like to see in any developing urban area! (Possibly SoBro???) It may be a fairly small downtown... but it has pretty much anything you could possibly need within walking distance. There are tons of restaurants, many popular chains and many unique ones as well. There's a great downtown mall right in the middle of the city, which has anything your average mall has. Best of all... the feel of the city is just awesome. It really made me feel like I was walking around in NYC or some major city. The sidewalks are HUGE, like almost twice as wide as the ones in DT Nash. There is a nice mix of low/mid/high rises. The streets are mostly one way and predictable... I found it very easy to get around DT. Oh and they have those countdown timers for the crosswalks! lol. Lots of people are always out walking around DT, and many people live there. We stayed with a friend who has a place DT actually. If it wasn't for the fact that Indy is in the middle of a bunch of cornfields, lol, I might consider a relocation. It's not so fun to drive there haha. I'm not sure what all there is as far as tourist destinations either... we weren't really there long enough to find out. There is, of course, the sports teams that are pretty popular :)

Mixture of buildings...

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Streets...

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You can see part of the DT mall (Circle Centre) in the above, and the below...

(SteaknShake on the corner, heh)

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RCA Dome - home of the Colts

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Conseco Fieldhouse - home of the Pacers

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Sidewalks...

The capitol in the distance...

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The square (some kinda memorial) in the distance...

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More of the nice circular shaped square (is it still called a square if its a circle?)

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Union Station (do all cities have one or what?!)

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fieldmarshaldj Burg

fieldmarshaldj

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The square (some kinda memorial) in the distance...

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This would be the famous Soldiers And Sailors Monument, built in 1901.

http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/soldiers.html

The street surrounding it is called, appropriately, Monument Circle.

It's been 16 years since I was last in Indianapolis, and I see the skyline hasn't really changed since this time. When the spectacular Bank One (now Chase Tower) went up in 1990, it would be the last 300+ footer to go up to date (though I see a residential high-rise has been approved for next year that would be the first). Still, all in all, it has a nice downtown (despite more than a few regrettable losses of early 20th century architecture in the past 30 years, including three that stood on the site of Chase). I hope to go back there again soon. Thanks for the pics ! :thumbsup:

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it's just dave Burg

it's just dave

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I've always enjoyed Indy and I think our developments could learn some things from them.

The Nordie made me think about the concept of the convention center wrapped in street level retail and residential. Perhaps the store recreated facades, but the idea looks good.

We'll never have the wide, wide streets that other cities who came along later have, and I'm not so sure I like them from a pedestrian poing of view, but they are certainly nice.

I'd like to visit again, it's an easy city to be in.

And our Union Station can certainly look at Indy's and say, "Who's your daddy?"

Looks like you had a nice trip. Thanks for the pix.

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Hankster Town

Hankster

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I've enjoyed your pics a bunch, Jice. Thanks for posting. Indy definitely has a walkable downtown with all those wide sidewalks, etc. As Dave said, Nashville will never be able to have all the wide sidewalks that they have. Their streets are so much wider. Still, we can learn from Indy's downtown area and try to adopt the best of their's to Nashville's. I'd love to see a Nordstroms in downtown Nashville. With all the people moving in, who knows? Maybe there will be one in Nashville's future.

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downtown cliff Whistle-Stop

downtown cliff

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Thanks for the photos. I grew up about 20 miles outside of Indy, so I have always had a bias for the Circle City. Great downtown.

You mentioned tourists attractions. Just a few of the ones nearby include the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NCAA Hall of Fame, a killer zoo, an excellent art museum, a recreated 19th century village, and one of the best children's museums in the country. Oh, and in my disappointment of a hometown, Anderson, there is paramutual horse track wagering.

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jice Burg

jice

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Glad you all enjoy the photos. Indy kinda parallels Nashville in many ways I think. Both can probably learn a lot from each other. The first thing that had always came to my mind when I heard Indy was the Indy 500 and racing. I have never been a big racing fan... so the city didnt interest me too much. I guess recently the Colts have changed the stereotype a lil... the Pacers, I honestly didnt realize played in Indy lol. But... after going there... I have a totally new perspective on the city. We rarely ran into anything related to racing at all... it has a great mixture of what a great city should have. I guess my experience with Indy is kinda what most people tend to experience when they visit Nashville for the first time :)

Now that you mention it, we did drive by the children's museum at one point... and that thing seems pretty amazing. Didn't go in... but it looks like it would be worth the trip in itself, if you have kids to take.

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big larry Crossroads

big larry

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I've always enjoyed Indy and I think our developments could learn some things from them.

The Nordie made me think about the concept of the convention center wrapped in street level retail and residential. Perhaps the store recreated facades, but the idea looks good.

We'll never have the wide, wide streets that other cities who came along later have, and I'm not so sure I like them from a pedestrian poing of view, but they are certainly nice.

I'd like to visit again, it's an easy city to be in.

And our Union Station can certainly look at Indy's and say, "Who's your daddy?"

Looks like you had a nice trip. Thanks for the pix.

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big larry Crossroads

big larry

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Dude, who cares about Union Station? It is just an old building that most people don't even want downtown. It was a mall until we moved the mall to Circle Centre, which goes underneath the city's streets, all the way up to looking over the city from a few stories high. If you are good with your directions or know the downtown layout you can get from the mall to the Convention Center, then take your seat in the RCA Dome with out even stepping 1 foot outside. Nobody here is proud of Union Station, but it does show how the city has boomed over the last 20 years. That "Nordie" is a wing store to a mall as big as the Opry Land mall, but a mall that is underneath and over the top of the city. Also, our Convention Center is as big as anywhere else and has been the bread & butter of the growth of Indianapolis. It is no wonder that it is expanding to actualy use all of the land where the RCA Dome now sets. That fact is always lost when people talk about the new stadium. I think this stadium will be the 1st stadium with a retractable roof in the midwest. Walking around downtown Indy feels ahead of walking around even St. Louis now. I swear I'll miss our dome after this 1 last year because it really seems identical to the much newer home of the Rams. It has to go because it just does not have the seats to create the revenue the team & city can create. Conseco Fieldhouse has won many awards for being the best arena for any sport in America, period. It is bigger than the dome, but hold 40,000 less. That room is all about leg room and tons of amenities. I must admit I still miss the old 2 level Market Square Arena. When a big game was going down you would drive underneath this huge screen that displayed the game for all the people that couldn't get inside. It had a huge picture of Reggie Miller on the side that was amazing. The scalping, which is legal, was a profession for many during the rivalry with the Knicks.

Those are good pictures and I'm glad you enjoyed your stay. I come to Nashville every year for the Colts game & I do enjoy getting a hotel and having alot of bars & clubs within walking distance. Indy has a few spots downtown, but the "party" area with the giant clubs is located in Broad Ripple which means you'll have to drive or take a cab if you want to do any real big partying as well as take in downtown.

:thumbsup:

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BnaBreaker City

BnaBreaker

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Yeah Indy has a pretty good downtown, and I think it gets a bad wrap. It is unfortunate that the urban quality of the city falls of significantly just a mile or so in each direction out of downtown, but Monument Circle is pretty impressive and one of my favorite urban spaces in the country.

Oh, and....GO BEARS! lol

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