A new restaurant serving "gourmet Mexican street food" and a bar named to honor a fallen Iraq War veteran are in the works for two vacant buildings along College Avenue in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. Here are the details:
Calle 52 will serve ceviche, queso fundido, carne asada and pastel tres leche in the former Movie Gallery
location at 5215 N. College Ave. 
Plans for the restaurant, led by the proprietors of The Northside Social, call for 133 seats inside and 32 on
a patio. Calle 52 will serve dinner only at first but may add lunch. It will be nonsmoking. The owners are Nicole Harlan-Oprisu
and Tim Oprisu (who also own Old Pro's Table), Bill and Nancy Ficca and Jamie Browning (The Ficcas and Browning also own
Usual Suspects in Broad Ripple). They plan to invest about $500,000 in the project. The building owner, Glendale Partners
Inc., has applied for several variances to make way for the restaurant. The most controversial involves parking, a hot topic
in part because patrons of businesses in the area have taken advantage of the parking spaces in front of the vacant video-rental
store. The restaurant will open in four to six months. (Note: The owners reversed the rendering when they moved the patio
dining to the south end of the property.)
The Sinking Ship will serve stuffed burgers, Chicago dogs, voodoo chili and Cajun corn fritters in part
of the former home of Steck Plumbing at 4923 N. College Ave. 
The bar and restaurant will take about 4,000 square feet
of the 14,000-square-foot building, enjoying frontage on College Avenue just north of Recess. It will have seating for 90
people and is slated to open in November. The "dramatic, interesting space" will take advantage of the building's
arched steel trusses, high ceilings and sky windows, said Architect Steve Logan. The proprietors, Andy Hamaker and Damon Lyden,
also plan to invest about $500,000. They named the restaurant after a song written by their friend Jacob "Jackie"
Blaylock, who committed suicide after returning home from Iraq. Blaylock had lost two friends that were riding in a Humvee
hit by an explosive device.
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Big props to these two restaurant ventures tho. I've been watching the construction and wondering what was going to be coming soon.
What's up with the trigger-finger demolition? Instead of advocating "tearing it down" why don't we promote its restoration? Or perhaps by "tear down" you actually mean "remove poor element."
Did you know that particular Double 8 was the first drive-in store in Indianapolis (1931) and was designed by noted local architects Pierre and Wright? (They also designed Bush Stadium and the Indiana State Library, among others things.) It's definitely worth saving and the people of that neighborhood deserve to have a local grocer. It just needs a little TLC, that's all.
History: http://bit.ly/caQDG9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_streetcar_system
Lots of general info on streetcars and light rail here:
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/types/light-rail.html
Also, yes, I have used public transit as my only means of transportation for years at a time. Most of my college years were spent on the 25 to and from Speedway.
The parking comment was ridiculous. Parking will always be tight on College, but we'll find a way to do it because we like the food and we want to eat locally. I ate at the Aristocrat last weekend and had to park on Park Street (hahaha). Nobody would suffer... we would walk. Novel concept.
I'm not talking about supplanting the regional commuter line from the far northside to downtown with a streetcar. There are two different concepts here. In a perfect scenario, I'd love to have both. The regional line you're referring to is good for getting northsiders in and out of the city center efficiently, which is much needed. The appeal of a College Ave streetcar line is more the hop-on, hop-off approach - to create a linear urban neighborhood along College Ave. The bookends of Fountain Square and Broad Ripple create destinations on each end, and Mass Ave and other established neighborhoods help fill in the gaps, creating a dynamic urban corridor. College Ave has the most potential in the city because of the number of well established, urban-minded neighborhoods that straddle it, not to mention its proximity to downtown. The list of well-branded popular neighborhoods that touch College Ave is truly remarkable.
Regine,
It doesn't matter if Toronto is more dense, you said (and implied universally) that "Trolleys are only good for tourists and short circular routes. I used Toronto as an example that Streetcars/Trolleys do work as a long distance, citizen-used means of transport. (Not to mention, they're more dense because they have great transit and focus on building high-density structures, not parking lots.)
The point of a multi-stop line on College Ave is to get people out and about walking in neighborhoods that are already supportive of that lifestyle. And yes, I believe a lot of people would use a well-designed trolley stop at 10pm. You're right, no one's going to walk, especially if there isn't decent mass transit + numerous people out and about to keep neighborhoods safe. We keep building parking lots and skimping on excellent transit and pedestrian friendly infrastructure and your opinion will be supported. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. If we don't start taking the first steps to create wonderful transit-oriented neighborhoods, things won't change.
Toronto is known for an extensive streetcar network and I was refuting Regine's claim that trolleys were only good for short distances and tourists. Nothing to do with one city vs. another, Toronto was just an example.
www.indyconnect.org
As far as connecting the far northside and southside with downtown, I believe this should be separate from the College Ave. streetcar line. If Carmel eventually wants to link in, thats fine, but it should be later, when the mindset of the city changes after a few years of watching a successful College. Ave. line. It is time to get this going! College is the beginning. All efforts should be focused on connecting the "Destinations" of Broad Ripple Ave. and Mass. Ave.. This creates a corridor that will be used by both residents as well as those going to one of these "destinations".
This discussion is great, and hopefully people get to thinking about how much this could help our city in terms of livability.
Not connecting Fountain Square, Lockerbie, Flether Place, Cole-Noble and the other southern and eastern neighborhoods with a College line would be a huge wasted opportunity. Extending the line just a few blocks south of Mass Ave to College's terminus at Virginia Ave. would add another large urban-minded district to the line. Terminating at Mass Ave misses out on connecting most of downtown Indy to the line. That would just be silly, since going a few more blocks would add so many more riders. The majority of the cost will come from the miles between Broad Ripple and downtown. As you know, Mass Ave intersects College Ave and the Cultural Trail at the NE corner of the city, which is just down the street from the Monon's terminus. Think of how great it would be to have another intersection with the Cultural Trail along Virginia on the SE side. It would be true multi-modal connectivity!
I totally agree, the current plan doesn't address the needs of the entire region. But it's just the first phase. We only have so much money. I encourage you to fill out the questionnaires and let them know you think the plan needs to be more robust. Indyconnect is asking for our opinion so they can shape the plan according to what citizens want and need. If enough people want to fund a full system right off the bat, that would be awesome! But if no one communicates that, it's not going to happen.
Also, College Ave is what it is now because of streetcars. If you didn't know, like many of the roads in Indy, it used to have a trolley line. All of the little shopping areas at intersections exist because they were trolley stops. As a matter of fact, there's an extra lane because of the streetcars! (Indy used to have a great interurban system.) I'm not sure where you're getting the "using 3 lanes" for a streetcar system, that's certainly not necessary. Many beautiful neighborhoods in cities across the world have streetcar wires running through them. They're minimally intrusive and many find them charming. They're really barely noticeable and if the infrastructure is well-designed, quite beautiful and unique.
The areas you mentioned need attention, but so does College Ave, especially between 49th and 16th. Bookending that struggling swath with more stable neighborhoods connected by transit can have a powerful transformative effect. The whole corridor could come alive with dense mixed-use development from Broad Ripple Ave. to Fletcher Place. We should focus on creating neighborhoods that can support a transit-oriented lifestyle and we need to invest our limited funds in areas that have the best chance to support that lifestyle. I think once we have a good, touchable example of the urban lifestyle in Indy, it will help developers and communities embrace the mindset and troubled areas you mentioned like Keystone and MLK will have a better chance of getting proper transit-oriented development.
the corridor you'll are targeting has received for the past 25 years the lion's share of redevelopment monies and energies - why not concentrate on other areas that have a greater need?
or as i've mentioned work on garnering support for an underground rail system along college. a streetcar is going to displace a lot of residents and businesses. have you asked the people who live and work on college do they want a rail stop/station in front of their properties? plus people still need to park their cars to ride the streetcar!
urban character comes from density. changing the current out-dated zoning regulations like on-site parking requirement for commercial business would allow for the urban feeling much faster than a streetcar/trolley on college.
that being said, thanks for listening.
Streetcars don't take up 3 lanes. The tracks only take one lane, which can also be used by automobiles, bicycles, etc. They often run on very narrow streets. The streetcars themselves can be narrower than most buses.
Take Portland's popular trend-setting system, for example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/portlandstreetcar/4704807240/in/set-72157624284179120/
There don't have to be "stations" in front of businesses. The streetcar stops, people get on and off, then it moves on, similar to a bus. It wouldn't displace any residents or businesses.
Answering your question, I'd bet 100% of informed business owners would love having as many people as possible getting off of streetcars in front of their business, especially those with limited parking along College like the popular Taste Cafe, Kountry Kitchen, or Yats. Again, the retail intersections of north College Ave thrive because they were originally trolley stops. They were designed and built with the streetcar in mind. There are 3 lanes for vehicular traffic and 2 for parking. That 3rd lane is for streetcars.
I envision a system along College where the people that live on College use the streetcar. The residents are who we should be focusing on. Hear this: This isn't a "come see the College Avenue streetcar" attraction. This a way for people already living on and near College Ave, which just happens to be a diverse plethora of people, to travel up and down the city with ease for business and pleasure. People already drive and congest Broad Ripple, Mass Ave, and Fountain Square with cars. Adding a streetcar system would help ease auto-related congestion if anything, not contribute to it.
All that being said, I agree changing zoning is a great idea as well. Like you, I also want to see the entire region connected with mass transit and see all the blighted, ignored areas of the city redeemed. Talking about a streetcar line on College doesn't mean I don't support these other ideas or care about College Ave more than anyplace else. In my eyes, it simply has the most potential of any corridor in the city to explode with proper urban development with a little push, to get the most transit bang for the buck, if you will.
There is no direct line on College from Fountain Square, as College is one way north from Fletcher Place to Mass Ave. I'd have to take a bus downtown from Fountain Square, wait forever for a transfer just to go a few blocks over, then ride the rest of the way. A trip to Mass Ave on College from FS, which takes about 5 mins in a car, and maybe 15 on a bike, would take upwards of an hour on Indygo. As a very experienced rider, Indygo is beyond inefficient, to say the least, especially for cross-town trips.
As far as the general merits of Bus vs Rail, there are studies supporting both. But Indygo as it currently stands is as poor a service as public transit can get. Thankfully, Indyconnect also proposes expanding and redesigning bus service, so perhaps in a few years a convenient, usable College Ave bus line will happen. That would be great as well.
I don't agree, this is not simply a vanity project. It would be a wise investment in a corridor that's populated by rich and poor, and extremely multi-racial, and would have positive repercussions for a major thoroughfare that still needs a lot of TLC. College Ave south of 49th is extremely neglected. This isn't an elite upper class project in a small isolated area at the expense of the poor. I'm not sure what the "millions in investment at the the expense of the rest of the city" you're referring to are. The reality that I see driving on College every day is quite different. It's no beacon of city investment. (If we were talking about the Wholesale District downtown, you'd have a point.) Also, again, just because I'm supportive of this idea for this particular corridor, it doesn't mean I'm against investment in the rest of the city.
Regarding infrastructure, transit shelters don't have to be intrusive. Cities integrate them into existing ROW all the time for busses and trains. The streetcar doesn't have to take up 3 lanes and would affect little parking, if any. There are plenty of low-impact design solutions to provide 2-way traffic on one set of rails with minimal intrusion to existing infrastructure with reasonable vehicle headways. I can't make you believe that, but it's true.
i've used mass transit for work, play & sightseeing in most of the cities in the world. unless you are planning hour-long trolley rides there is no way not to lay two sets of tracks along college. streetcars & especially trolleys are notoriously slow especially in inclement weather.
college south of 49th street is not blighted! i'm sure people living along college would agree w/ me. yes, more commercial business would be good but it is a vibrant area. also a bus lane could easily be dedicated to provide bus service along college below fall creek without spending precious transportation dollars that could be plowed into other areas of the city, especially the northwest side.
a commuter rail from fishers could easily use the current rail lines with stops along the way. or a streetcar/trolley system to link the eastside of downtown with the westside. or traveling the length of 38th st. i could support a such a plan.
Character and good community of the people who live there aside, College Avenue is obviously struggling financially in midtown from 49th to Mass Ave, plenty of boarded-up buildings and litter-filled empty lots to prove it. (The prosperity of Broad Ripple is starting to spread south, which is great.) I've lived along College, and I'll tell you that. (For crying out loud, there are prostitutes in the stretch between Fall Creek and 16th.)
I've also used public transit in major international and American cities, since we're thumping chests.
The successful place-making infrastructure you've described along College Ave is the direct result of the streetcar line that previously existed.
The plan you just "supported" is the plan outlined by indyconnect which is the plan you complained about in earlier posts. Which tells me something.
Again, there are unobtrusive ways to build single track 2-way systems with decent vehicle headways (easy to find online) that will perform well in bad weather. That's what I can't make you believe, though you can research it for yourself.
Peace.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/02/china-to-build-ginormous-buses-that-cars-can-drive-under-video/
As for people and businesses being displaced, that is not going to happen. Maybe put out a little during contruction, but that passes with time. And there are ways of dealing with construction while it is going on through smart planning ahead of time.
Do not let poor decisions be guided by ignorance
from my experience i would wager the people who live on college have not been consulted. also i seriously doubt a trolley system is going to rid the streets of prostitution. if fact, it may bring in more prositutes since they would be able to go to work on the trolley! lol
@curt in this day and time, cars are reality even in cities w/ great public transportation options. it's not something you can change. it's not about "having more room to drive"; it's about how feasible is placing two lines of rail tracks on a rather narrow residential street that "works". stations will need to be built; more parking will be needed - people will still drive to ride the trolley/streetcar. what's wrong with a bus? there's seem to be a fixation on trolleys/streetcars? why?
no i don't look at this as a project of the elite because the elite in this city will never ride public transportation on a consistent basis.
keystone, 86th, 38th or mlk are a better choices than college if one's goal is to support economic growth within the city.
ps. most cities have municipal parking located in major commercial districts. one can talk all day, everyday about the benefits of public transportation but when the temperature is below 25 deg or above 85 not to mention ice/snow/sleet people are not going to use a trolley/streetcar to shop or dine on college. that's why i consider this project a vanity project.
38th Street just had a major investment in car travel and I would be curious to see the economic development that this drove.
Cities don't build an entire regional transit system at once - usually not even a full line. They start with a segment of a line and go from there. I think where to start is a good question.
The NE route and College are not similar ideas. One is a regional commuter line based around getting suburban residents to their jobs downtown and then back again. The other is a hub to hub shorter distance route based around getting to and from "places".
Both pass through significantly large areas of high-income residents, as would any line that reaches the suburbs - of course, to varying degrees.
Whichever line gets chosen, it is important that the line goes to places where people actually want to go. Having a line that just coincides with high concentrations of cars doesn't guarantee success, because those cars end up turning at some point. Most people driving on 38th didn't start at the east end of 38th just to drive to the west end of 38th.
also my questions about if the residents have been consulted and the effect on on-street parking were never answered.
No one could say for sure because it isn't a real project - its just talk on blogs and such, but the college line, one could presume would be like any other recent light rail project (whether it's shuttle or not)
I really doubt if any neighbors have been talked to since its just hypothetical talk about where a line could go.
Residents likely have a range of opinions. Even those so opposed to a fixed line that they would move if it were built would benefit by the line since it is very probable that many people will want to live along a fixed line; thus property values along College will nudge upward. I don't know any resident who wouldn't happily surrender a lane (or 2 or 3) of cars for a fixed line, but obviously they exist.
Anyhow, the wishes of College St. residents is only one factor to consider.
My guess is the businesses would almost universally support the idea so long as there was a stop within reasonable distance of their store and parking was not materially hampered. Not hard.
People who don't live right on College who would use the route also have a big say. There seems to be a lot of them out there.
Then there are the 'future residents.' If the line is built, College will fill up with people who move there because of it. They, obviously, will be 100% in support of the line.
All the last cities I've lived in (Nashville TN, Portland, Seattle, SLC, Phoenix) have been at this same debate. All ended up building something. All have plans to expand what they built and ridership on all has exceeds projections (except SLC, which had overly optimistic projections; although TRAX is very popular and continues to expand). The idea that nobody will ride the thing or won't ride when it is hot, cold, or rainy is simply wrong. The same people who say that then say, "We just need better buses," which are the very vehicles that few people ride. If the only justification for a fixed line is that people ride them more, then Boom! Dynamite!
Currently they re hosting a series of soft openings nd looking for a Grand Opening in mid March to Early April 2011.
653 E. 52nd Street Indpls, In. 46205
317-920-8121