Indiana University has released a master plan for its Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses that suggests
some dramatic changes over the next several years. The plan for IUPUI suggests Michigan and New York streets be converted
into two-way thoroughfares with center medians as part of an effort to better connect the campus and make it more walkable.
It also envisions larger and taller buildings (shown at right) to enhance the urban appeal, along with the development of
Vermont Street as a "vibrant urban streetscape" and the use of the Blackford Street area as an extension of the Cultural Trail.
Ultimately, the goal is to better connect the campus to White River and downtown. The plan was created by Washington, D.C.-based
architectural firm SmithGroup/JJR. You can check out some highlights of the plan, including more detail on the proposals for
the Bloomington campus, here and here. Thoughts?
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Welcome to Property Lines, Indy's source for neighborhood real estate news. Your host is Scott Olson, IBJ's real estate beat
reporter. Edited by Cory Schouten.
Indiana University has released a master plan for its Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses that suggests
some dramatic changes over the next several years. The plan for IUPUI suggests Michigan and New York streets be converted
into two-way thoroughfares with center medians as part of an effort to better connect the campus and make it more walkable.
It also envisions larger and taller buildings (shown at right) to enhance the urban appeal, along with the development of
Vermont Street as a "vibrant urban streetscape" and the use of the Blackford Street area as an extension of the Cultural Trail.
Ultimately, the goal is to better connect the campus to White River and downtown. The plan was created by Washington, D.C.-based
architectural firm SmithGroup/JJR. You can check out some highlights of the plan, including more detail on the proposals for
the Bloomington campus, here and here. Thoughts?
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Saw the Indy Men's Chorus "Music of Gilbert & Sullivan" at the Indiana Historical Society on Sunday evening.
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Temporary workers are not "tools" they are people and companies that keep large amounts of temp staff are cheating.
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I miss having them around. I hope one of their stores is in the general Meridian/86th Street area. I will make good use of it.
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The Fringe! Plus, the simple fact that there are so many local faves in such close proximity to each other.
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I remenber, watching the toll road, being built, through South Bend, when I was 10 years old. I believe, back then that it was estimated, that the toll road, would be paid for in 20 years and then it would be free. I am now 71, what happened? Since the power is in the people, by that, I mean that, we the people are in total control of everything. I, suggest that no one ever use the toll road again, let it go broke. We the people can control the price of everything, from groceries to gas, if we would just do it. If we don't pay the asking price, the sellers will lower the price and if we wait awhile, they will lower the price to what we accept as reasonable. I would like to know why a highway like interstate 94, is so well maintained, a much better highway, than the toll road, but has no tolls. I would also like to know why, a sitting governor, with a term limit, maximum of eight years, can lease, public property, for 75 years. Even though I have transponders in both of my trucks and will not be affected by the increase, I have been and will contine to avoid using the toll road. I make many trips from northern Indiana to Chicago, every year, and I prefer the better highway, I94!
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Let's look at the fantastic (some call it world class) Track and Field Stadium at IUPUI. The great pres McRobbie doesn't want it - it's in the way of his plan. Does anyone else see this as a huge waste of resources? And then who will pay for changing the streets to two-way and all of the construction costs to fit McRobbie's great plan - why the taxpayers of course!
As for me, I've had enough of the outlandishness from the once great, once proud institution in Bloomington. Perhaps something more realistic would be in order, don't you think?
This is what IUPUI needs.
So much for visionary master planning at IUPUI.
And don't even get me started on the streets, river, and IUPUI's sea of parking adjacent to downtown. THEY created the island effect. THEY put their campus housing by the river instead of the Canal or Indiana Avenue. The oldest university in the US (Penn in Philadelphia) and its next-door neighbor Drexel have both somehow survived decades with one-way streets running both ways (N-S and E-W) through their urban campuses, and their students somehow live through the experience of urban jaywalking.
Indianapolis, lacking expressway links inside 465, needs its urban arterial pairs in Center Twp., including New York and Michigan . Those pairs become more important if we are ever to have good bus transit in this city.
And finally, we have a number of really good urban planners in this city. Probably because they all have degrees from BSU, IU went out of town for their plan. How small and parochial can you get?
I hope this plan turns into shelf paper.
We are not exactly comparable to Philadelphia. That region has four times the population of the Indy MSA. It also has no freeway from the west side into downtown. Indy has I-70, in addition to Washington, 10th & 16th Streets, none of which are exactly choked with traffic. I really don't foresee major traffic congestion if these streets are converted to two-way.
One way motor traffic makes the best sense for NY and Michigan Streets. The cheap way to alleviate the problem walking across campus is to put a median strip down both streets that is wide enough to give pedestrian refuge, so you only have to cross one lane of motor traffic at a time. True it will slow down motor travel a little but we don't want it going too fast through campus anyway. A better solution but not cheap is to raise Michigan and NY to a second story viaduct and let campus travel unimpeded under the streets at ground level.
You have to be kidding - raise the traffic to a second story? And just who would pay for that albatross, the taxpayers? If there is a problem with crossing those streets, just exactly what is wrong with the gerbil tubes they have already used and expanding them? Let's quit finding absurd ways to stifle traffic and let the Frankenstein Monster figure it out for themselves. The fact that they did no planning years ago put them in the mess they are in.
More gerbil tubes? No
Peds and cars need to be able to co-exist. It just doesn't work well at faster than 30 MPH, and definitely not well at 40+ which I suspect is common there.
I do like the idea of a new name that doesn't include IU and PU. That was really stupid. Almost as stupid as whomever thought the IU part should be referred to as ewwee. Rant over.
My hope is that the university will become an educated advocate for better urban development not only on their campus, but throughout the Regional Center.
We have a number of excellent designers that certainly could keep up with the latest and greatest buildings of IUPUI (Law School, Informatics, etc). It seriously bugs me that IUPUI continues to take their need for professional services out of town, then come back to town when they need local support. If IUPUI isn't going to support their ideas and plans locally from start to finish, they won't get my support for big changes.
Once, a Univeristy Architect said we don't hire big name architects. The along comes Robert Stern & Associates to design a limestone box (cutting edge, let me tell you). The University regularly turns its back on local professionals as well as the City of Indianapolis (hey, let's a couple giant limestone boxes at the most prominent corners of the univeristy -- that will make a nice connection to the city). The university is in need of some serious grovelling.
I also agree that the one way streets should remain one way. I dodged traffic there for years, and it is not impossible, or even difficult to do. Putting to two way traffic not only will congest traffic, at at a time when we do not need to, but it makes it more dangerous for pedestrians and cars. Every intersection will have multiple turn movements making it more likely to have accidents, and trying to cross 4 or 5 lanes of two way traffic means danger can come from anywhere. put a 10' center pedestrian median in the middle and have the IUPUI Cops run radar. by providing a refuge, peds only have to cross him two lanes at a time. Slowing down the traffic and synching the traffic lights will help as well.
I agree with taller. IUPUI will quickly run out of land. Because they are landlocked, they cannot grow in any direction. So they need to go up now to save from having to demo down the road and build up later. There should not be another classroom or dorm that is not 5 stories or more. Create pods where a student in med major has most if his classes in one building. Put dorms in the upper floors that are med only. Do this for other majors as well.
Finally, IUPUI does need to secede from both iu and Purdue. They missed out when ICU changed its name to Uof I. But IUPUI needs to quit being a step child of iu. Btown has no reason to let IUPUI grow the way it should, because it will draw away from the mother campus.
I don't have strong feelings about the one-way streets, but *do* feel strongly that if Michigan and NY were built densely right to the edge of the sidewalk (with decent width sidewalks of course) that traffic would slow down. Right now the broad open lawns abutting the streets make drivers feel they are on a freeway, so why not zip along at 40+? And those open expanses make pedestrians feel too exposed and like they have too far to walk. It's just a lousy pedestrian environment all around.
Also: Herron School of Art is not only an exceptionally well-done building, it's far and away the BEST art student facility I've ever been in (I've been in lots). If the rest of the campus was the same caliber The School Formerly Known As IUPUI could be a first-rate campus.
IUPUI does seem to be stepping up with the architecture. I'm sure your words are welcome to local architect Jonathan Hess (think Eiteljorg Museum) who designed the new Herron school. I don't know why he hasn't spun off his own firm yet, but when he does, he's getting my resume.
Check out the law school as well if you haven't already. Interestingly, it was designed by SmithGroup (with Ratio as local). SmithGroup, despite being national, is top notch on the institutional side and I respect them a lot.
IUPUI's Informatics building also looks good, but the interors are a train wreck...
The University of Indianapolis has been trying to get the transportation department to make Hanna Ave. more pedestrian friendly for some time now, they have not had much luck with that, I don't know why IUPUI would think they could change the one way streets on their own. Maybe they have political pull that U of I doesn't.
I have always thought that IUPUI should be named Indianapolis State University or something like that and a real push to get a Div I football team should be a priority. As a person who attended both the Indy and Bloomington Campuses, IUPUI is a totally dfferent school with dfferent graduaton req's. You cannot transfer and expect the same req's.
Calming: ok. Choking: not.
Forget any Football team until IUPUI gets away from IU. It was like pulling teeth to be allowed to get a D1 bball team. Rumor has it that IUPUI had to make concessions to IU to get it. Restriction on recruiting and quality of facilities so that they do not suck players from IU.
I'm not sure what you mean about the Law School: it sounds like you're impressed. In fact, and what is far more interesting about it, the Law School is a blatant copy of the Catholic University law school outside of Washington D.C. It's just so far away that no one ever recognizes that the architect took a generic building design and applied it to the IUPUI site without real concern for site location, campus design, or its proximity to the City.
Cookie cutter design, whether big or small, just doesn't impress me much. Yeah, actually, it's pretty depressing considering that particularl location.
I never did like that IUPUI decided to call the basketball team the Jaguars, that's just too derivative. It wasn't even the students that came up with the name, like it oughta be in college, the administration paid some foreign corporate consulting firm big money to come up with that. If they do put in any more gerbil tubes the IUPUI Fighting Gerbils would be a better name.
I'm trying to understand your point here. Do you propse to increase congestion to get people out of their cars? Ideally, it would be nice to reduce traffic on campus by increasing use of public transportation. But can that happen? What's the status of the IndyGo Red line that went from Dtown to IUPUI? I thought that was discontinued.
With bloomington being less than an hour away, the larger, taller buildings don't seem feasible.