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Indiana has too many boring grassy spaces.
This observation strikes me every time I return from a trip, especially when I visit my mom.
Tucked away in the new suburbs of Indianapolis, my mother’s house abuts a 15-acre grass park. It is wide, open and grassy, with a few medium-sized ponds that geese soil horribly every summer.
A basic walking trail runs along the perimeter. It gets mowed weekly, and kids and couples come along sparsely throughout the day. It’s nice, but average and underutilized.
To me, it’s a quintessential reminder of a problem to fix in the state: all the front lawns, office parks and public parks that are flat, monocultured grass.
Too often, the good people of Indiana live amid landscapes that are bare, unmemorable and devoid of charm.
How can we keep and attract young talent, start-ups, dreamers and doers? Many civic leaders have spilled ink on how to improve Indianapolis with infrastructure investments, big sports centers, mall development and more. Those can help.
What is overlooked, though, is a central element of what makes great cities great: designing them to be enjoyable, to spark joy and human interest. This is a core feature of New York City, Paris and Washington, D.C. It’s something that is too rare in our metropolitan area.
Luckily, with the help of AI, we can change that, faster, easier and cheaper than ever. Within minutes, AI can visualize and plan upgraded housefronts, parks and public spaces, and virtually anyone can do it.
Using the park behind my mom’s house, I prompted ChatGPT to visualize upgrades.
I uploaded a Google Maps aerial screenshot as well as a picture of the landscape. I asked it to research the history of the park, native plant species and model park practices.
Then, I gave it a few ideas of what I think could work, including one that children especially might like: a “firefly park.” I fondly remember trying to catch them as a kid, and know to bring them back they need dramatic habitat restoration.
Pop! It spat out a gorgeous image of the upgraded park. Then, pop again! It gave me an aerial blueprint, list of plants, phased timeline, budget and super low-budget version (no buildings or playgrounds, just plantings). I asked it to package it all into a 6-page PDF memo of “Firefly Park” to present to the mayor.
Besides large parks, this simple AI-prompt sequence can be used for whatever we see walking down the street. Your front yard? Snap. Your workplace’s parking-lot corner? Upload. An empty lot? Reimagine.
This isn’t a job just for city managers. It could be the project of high school Key Clubs, corporate volunteer efforts, faith communities and more. Paired with social media, it could be a fun media project. Technology has flattened the complexity, made planning next to free and given people easy pathways forward.
Of course, a chatbot is no landscape architect, and planting still costs money. Perhaps philanthropy and government could help with grants, incentives, or technical support. Already new money is flowing to park renovation in the region from the Bezos Earth Fund and Lilly Endowment.
This isn’t just highfalutin beautification. It’s how Indiana keeps its young people and draws the dreamers and doers who start companies. Love of place is economic development.
Somewhere near you is a boring spot of grass waiting to become a firefly park. Take the picture.•
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Gemelas is chief operating officer at Climate Solutions Fund, outstanding fellow of Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation and a proud Greek-American.
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