Ten years ago state highway officials closed I-65/I-70 in downtown Indianapolis for three months for a rehab project called "Hyperfix." This was expected to cause a "carmageddon," but as we've grown used to many times by now, the expected traffic disaster never materialized: As the start date approached, INDOT and its partners implemented other precautions to ensure smooth traffic flow but soon discovered the additional efforts were unnecessary. For example, the State budgeted $100,000 in overtime for police, mainly to direct traffic downtown. … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2013
The Metropolitan Revolution
The Metropolitan Revolution by Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley Brookings Institution Press, June 2013 By far the most important thing that the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program has done is educate and advocate for the reality of the metro-centricity of the United States. This might seem obvious from their name, but from the behavior of all too many, this new metro reality is apparently not obvious to most. Lost in the statistics of world urbanization is the fact that the United States is already almost entirely … [Read more...]
Cities Need a “Deaccessioning Policy” for Public Assets
One of the major controversies following the appointment of Kevyn Orr as emergency financial manager for the city of Detroit has been the exploration of whether or not the art at the city-owned Detroit Institute of the Arts can or should be sold to satisfy creditors in the event of a bankruptcy filing. This obviously sent shock waves of indignation through the community. Following on from that, the Detroit Free Press took a look at what other assets could be on the auction block. In addition to extremely valuable masterpieces by the likes of … [Read more...]
Suburban Blight in Kansas City
[ This week Eric McAfee takes a look at phenomenon that is on the rise in America today - suburban blight. Early generation suburbs across America are falling into decay, bringing with them all the ills we have traditionally associated with the inner city. Eric highlights an example for us in Kansas City - Aaron. ] Over the past century, the word “blight” has undergone a curious expansion in its denotations. It was originally a botanical term referring to a disease characterized by discoloration, wilting, and eventual death of plant tissues. … [Read more...]
Will Las Vegas’ Downtown Project Succeed?
This is the second installment in my look at the Las Vegas Downtown Project. In part one I gave an overview of the project and some of the positives and success indicators. On Thursday I looked at some of the commonalities between Vegas and other small cities as a bridge to this installment. And finally today I want to look at some of the challenges I see with the Downtown Project and ask, will it succeed? As for the answer to that question, some of it is a matter of how you define success. At a base level, there's already been success. … [Read more...]