The UrbanIndy.com relaunch!
52nd & The Monon Trail, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
If you are a local and follow the various Indy urban blogs, then you may know by now that www.urbanindy.com will be relaunching on August 2nd. I will be one of the collaborating partners of the new site. We wanted to pool all of our common resources into one site that we felt could make a bigger impact on the community as a whole. The editors of the new site will be:
Chris Corr, from DIG-B
Graeme Sharpe, from A Place of Sense
Jason Larrison, from Circle and Squares
Kevin Kastner, from the previous Urban Indy
Kirsten Eamon-Shine, from Middle West Meals
and Myself
I will still be making regular posts on my blog here so if you are a regular visitor, expect to see regular updates from me. I will still continue to keep readers up on what is going on locally that may not quite fit the theme of UrbanIndy, as well as my growing passion for transit improvements in Indianapolis. I may even *gasp* get back to what I started this blog primarily for, photography! We will just have to see.
Thanks to all of you for continuing to support urban improvements in Indianapolis!
A Travesty in the making: IPS Votes to condemn 7 properties for…. parking?
IPS School 58, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
This headline may be a little misleading, but only by a little bit. Last night, July 27th, the IPS (Indianapolis Public School) board voted 5-2 (link via Indystar) to give the school district the authority to raze 7 properties adjacent to the school. According to the local media reports, the superintendent has claimed that they need this property to perform additions to the school including new facilities, and "parking". They also cited the bus loading area as "dangerous". Also, according to this article from the Indianapolis Star, the school plans to add a library and a cafeteria that will utilize the existing parking space.
Parking lot on north side of building
While this vote doesn't represent the killing blow to owners of the property, it does display a lack of transparency on the part of IPS. I do not live in the neighborhood and do not see the normal bus loading and unloading methods so I cannot speak on that. Nor, do I know the full extent of the building improvements. The fact that IPS has declared that the school could close if these renovations are not performed though, displays a notion that they are willing to take on great expense in closing the school and locating in another facility. Whether this means building a new school elsewhere, or outfitting another location remains unclear as this is likely only lip service, but it represents a greater expense then working with what is on the ground now.
Alleyway leading to parking lot of IPS #58
I took a few moments out of my normal commute north this morning to go and observe what the lay of the land looks like. The photos in this post represent the conditions on the ground at IPS School 58. What you see is the obvious, a huge parking lot on the north side of the facility, an alleyway on the eastside, Linwood Ave on the west side and busy New York Street on the south side of the schol. The current parking solution for school employees and visitors appears to be the large parking lot to the north. There is also parking for residents of the neighborhood along the west side of Linwood; a setup that obviously belays that people travelling south on Linwood can easily pull in and park; opposite the street from the school. According to the graphic I have attached (via Indystar) you can plainly see that buses are located on the east side of the building; a parking position that can only be seen as unloading since they are not stored on these grounds. If this is in fact the current bus loading and unloading situation, I fail to see how this is "dangerous" as the loading area is adjacent to a crumbling alley that is in enough disrepair that no one is speeding on it.
IPS School 58 (from Indystar)
Additionally, the school has offered "fair market value" for the homes that they wish to raze. If you do not live in this area, one cannot grasp the fact that home values are likely not that high. Fair market value likely means giving the residents enough money to buy something else close by and incur lasting expenses.
I think by this point I am starting to lay out a good case why this is an enourmous failure by IPS to "put on their thinking cap". A move that appears blatantly stupid considering they run a public school system. According to the skyscraper city forums, where many locals talk about urban issues, residents of the area were never pulled into a community meeting to help plan any alternatives.
School 58 parking lot on north side of building
I sure do hope that some sort of compromise can be struck to avoid this issue. There are plenty of smart people in Indianapolis including urban enthusiasts and traffic planners, who I am POSITIVE can come up with a reasonable solution that avoids seizing this property. Perhaps it is something progressive like the Fresh Market solution in Broad Ripple where a parking lot was built on top of a new grocery store when faced with a similar issue. Perhaps changing the on-street parking on Linwood to the east side, and marking off a bus loading zone directly in front of the school would work. Buses unload on the right side of the vehicle anyway, and would unload directly onto the sidewalk given that situation.
IPS School #58 on Indy's east side
If IPS is willing to pay for the incredible expense of 7 properties, razing them and the high cost of a parking lot, then alternative solutions should be sought out that are progressive, efficient, send the right message that they are genuinely interested in positive progress for the community and do not create a public relations nightmare.
Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market perseveres despite midwest heat
Broad Ripple Farmer's Market, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
This past Saturday, my wife, son and I left the house early for a client meeting. We had hoped to be able to beat the heat that weather forecasters were predicting and make it to the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market before the full frontal assault of the mid July sun hit us. This however, was not to be. We made it out of our meeting around 11:30 but decided to still make the short trek through the village up to the high school and visit the market.
What we found, were many like minded folks! It was a crowded event taking place. We did our best to navigate the stroller through the crowd and ended up with ribs, potatos, watermellon and apples. All locally grown. All eaten by us this weekend.
If you get a chance, make a trip out and support local sources. Its economical, and healthy.
Ridiculous transit costs rear their head again
Charlotte, NC 7th to 9th street overhead
Today I read an article out of Charlotte, NC that they want to extend their LYNX Light Rail Blue Line a couple of blocks. The current end point is at 7th street in downtown Charlotte. They want to extend it to 9th street.
According to google maps, this is a grand total of 850-ish feet. FEET!! Not even a 1/4 mile. According to the article, the expense of extending this line is estimated at $25 million bringing us to nearly $30k per foot of extension.
In the realm of expensive transit projects, this has GOT to take the cake. Upon further examination, there is already a single line of electrified track that exists there that was used by the heritage trolley system. Whether or not the sub-grade is robust enough to support the greater weight of the S70 light rail vehicle is beyond my conclusion right now but lets say for a moment that it isnt and that they have to replace the sub-base. That is still a ridiculous amount of money. They dont need to build a maintenance yard. They don't need to buy new overhead electronics. The supports for the wire are there. Im pretty sure this extension wont require another vehicle to maintain headways. ROW aquisition cannot be that much as there appears to be space there.
Charlotte, NC Existing platform @ 9th Street
Where is this unrealistic price tag coming from? Why do I care? Because I pay taxes, and they have asked for federal funds to help extend this. So I ask, where is the expense? Some explaination can be found here with some real commentary fom CATS (Charlotte Area Transit System) officials. I still think the costs are ridiculous after reading the article.
My first visit to the Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station
Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
This past Friday, I had to work late. I didn't even get home until about 7:30pm which was a downer. So when my wife asked if I would like to go out for ice cream, I of course said YES! This was a great way to get out and walk and salvage what was left of the evening. We gathered up the kid and were out the door in short order. We ended up going to Greeks Pizzeria in Broad Ripple which was our first visit after driving past the place dozens of times and saying that we should stop. The pizza was pretty good! The breadsticks were a little buttery, but tasted good. We had a meat lovers type of pizza. What made it was the crust! Very crunchy and tasty. However, the ingredients were very good as well.
Next, we made our way back to the trail and walked for a bit. On our way back down, we approached the new Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station. It was around 9:30pm and the deck was still full. We went inside and had to wait on a few people and stepped up and made our choice. We each got a "single scoop" sugar cone for $2.80. What we thought was one schoop ended up being three scoops piled on top of the cone. This is what they call a single scoop. The inside of what was once a stop along the old Monon Railroad, has been nicely renovated. It appears they are still using the old single pane glass windows. The intereior decorations have been tastefully done with a nod to it's history in the form of many old photos of the train running through the area, and some detailed maps framed, of the old Monon rail system. They have lent a thought to being green as well. Where most ice cream shops let you taste the ice cream before you buy, BRICS does this too. Instead of getting a plastic spoon though, they hand you a real metal spoon with a glass on the counter to return it. Also, they have recycle bins placed around the property to gather up what may be left of a customer's stay. I was pretty impressed by the tasting spoons. They are doing what they should be doing of course, as a consumer though, I just do not see it that often.
We observed, ate and then took our leave as our newborn was starting to get a little fussy. As we left around 10pm, the serving area was packed! I should have taken a photo of that, but there must have been 20-30 people waiting on ice cream. Nice to see a new local spot doing well for itself already!
Suburban Bridge Design: Getting it right or wrong?
Lone Flag, Olio Road, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
In the past, I have blogged about a suburban bridge being built in the Fishers/Noblesville area of Indianapolis. As part of my ongoing commitment to see this project through to the end, I stopped last night on the way home from work, and snapped some photos of the progress as they inch closer to completion.
Workers have been spending a lot of time on the overpass itself over the freeway. I did not manage to walk up there, but I did explore the round about that is being constructed on the western side of the bridge. What I found, was a lot of pavement, a lot of concrete, and a lot of space for... pedestrians and bikes?? I laughed when I saw it but the wisdom cannot be discounted. The bridge is in fact being built to handle future development of the area. Where the bridge is currently located, sidewalks seem like a strange part of the project. There are corn fields on two corners, and development land on the other two. All 4 corners seem to be years away from being developed, if I had to guess.
Gravel sub-base for sidewalk, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
Last week, the streetsblog network shed some light on a project in downtown Cleveland where sidewalks and bike-ways were deemed un-necessary by Ohio Department of Transportation for a bridge project. They approached the subject from what I consider to be a very flawed point of view.
There will be a sidewalk on this side too
When I read about cities perpetuating bad practices, and then suburban areas creating winning situations, it really makes me wonder... aren't cities in all their wisdom suppose to be getting this right? History has proven that nothing is assured, so this stark contrast should not be surprising. However, I still get a good chuckle out of the irony.
Round about on the North side of the bridge, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
But still, are sidewalks like this really going to be used? Are people going to brave large expanses of un-regulated traffic? Notice how much space will need to be crossed in the photos. There will be two lanes of traffic in each direction once this is open for service later this year.
Looking South, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
In any case, it will look really nice when it is complete. There are plenty of subdivisions on the east side of I-69 and should any of the residents of these wish to travel across a couple of round abouts and the freeway, there will be plenty of nice sidewalks to get them there.
Streetcars or LRV: Are decisions being based on the technical merits?
Portland Streetcar via flickr user Portland Urban Condos
A common theme that seems to play out, and which has been getting a lot of scrutiny lately, is how expensive it is to construct rail transportation systems in America. If you are curious, there are plenty of studies out there that compare Spain's efforts to expand its light, and high speed, rail lines. In doing so, they have cut labor to save the capital costs associated with this.
In America, labor unions usually dictate public works projects. As such, they also charge heavily inflated costs when compared to other forms of labor. If we accept that this is not going to change anytime soon, then we must look at other ways of trimming costs.
I have been doing a somewhat in depth study of the differences between what is widley considered a "streetcar" and what is widley considered a "light rail vehicle".
A "streetcar" is what you find operating in downtown Portland, Seattle, and more commonly in nearly every major city in Europe and called a Tram. They are typically operated urban areas of high density and operate at slow rates of speed due to their mixed use with traffic or pedestrian areas. What this has done, has propped up a reputation that streetcars are slow and that they are used for urban circulator types of duty. This would also be an incorrect reputation in that the ones operating in Portland at least, are based off of a design created by Skoda, in the Czech Republic. Their designed top speed is nearly 45mph. What this says, is that a streetcar effectively can compete with automobiles and buses in a non-freeway environment. Say, a busy city street.
A "light rail vehicle" is what you would find operating in a mulitude of major American cities. Portland has the MAX. Dallas has DART. I could go on but most of them operate a type of train car that is much heavier than a "streetcar" as explained above. It also has a marginally higher passenger capacity. With the additional weight, comes a much larger footprint that it must carry in the form of more sub-base. Gravel. Dirt. Ballast. Concrete. etc... Exactly why this is, I am trying to track down. When looking at the total unloaded weights spread out among the available axles, the streetcar and LRV are very similar. A Skoda car weighing 61,600lbs divided among 4 axles computes to 15,400 per axle. Conversely, a Siemens S70 weighs in at 96,800 unloaded but is spread among 6 axles returning 16,133 per axle. The carrying capacity of the S70 is higher but does this neccesitate such a different sub-base? I question whether the vast depth disparity between the two (see images below) really tells us the story. I have an email lodged with some people more involved in this line of work daily to get a better answer.
Tuscon Streetcar Sub-base Section
Denver Light Rail Sub-base Section
I have blogged about these infrastructure related differences before, when I advocated for a streetcar along College Ave from downtown Indianapolis to the Midtown neighborhood of Broad Ripple. This differentiation is exactly where a cost savings could be gleaned in the form of labor, if we are to believe the information on sub-base grading described above. The selling point of streetcars has been in their comparitavely cheap labor. They don't typically require as much utility relocation which is one of the major expenses of the light rail footprint; getting pipes and electrical stuff out of the way.
Given all of the above, would it be reasonable to say that if we could somehow employ streetcars in place of light rail and manage to carry the capacity that the light rail vehicle can, due to it's ability to link multiple units together, why wouldn't we choose this technology? I have been pondering just such a question and began to examine the technical differences between the two technologies. I first looked into the capability of linking a streetcar with another. It is possible. Physically at least. (see image below). Whether or not this provides any electronic control between cars remains to be discovered.
Skoda Tram via flickr user BLINKY73
Older style tram coupled between cars via flickr user m_bauer
I even went so far as to contact United Streetcar / Oregon Iron Works and ask them what the capability of linking their 10 T3 vehicle together in such a manner. I spoke with their president Chandra Brown who was not going to have any of that talk apparently. So I cannot say whether or not this is possible. She stated that no one has approached them about such a project here in America, and that if they did, the request would be met with a stiff cost increase to accomodate. However, the 10 T3 IS based off of the Skoda technology employed in Europe, and they make a 14T model that appears to have just such a capability; albeit a bit longer. Additionally, the overall tone I got from Ms. Brown @ Oregon iron Works was one of non-adaptability which raises a larger issue that makes the conspiracy theorist in me come alive. Would a company like this purposely not try to innovate a product? Have they tailored their business plan to be a niche market in the form of a low speed type of product? After listening to Ms. Brown, I found her claims to be a little inflated in regards to adding large expense to the cars cost; since the technology is obviously available and I imagine easily adaptable. And even if the electronic capability is not there, this is a manufacturing operation that does not require a great deal of investment and likely some programming and multi-conductor cable to connect the cars. This type of labor does not equal a TON of money and I can't conceive that this would make the effort so cost prohibitive as to negate the advantage of a streetcar and its infrastructure.
Skoda 14T, Photo via flickr user carnero.cc
So where does this leave me? I maintain that the technology is there, and that the capability exists to employ streetcars in a coupled manner in place of a light rail vehicle, where the capacities are such that the system would not become bogged down. If this is the case, then cities looking to break into the rail infrastructure game should be looking at how they can greatly reduce their costs via technologies that can make this happen. It is statistically proven that ridership is at its lowest when a system opens. A streetcar with it's lower capacities and deployed in a manner that is expandable via coupling with a second or even third vehicle, could provide a large cost savings over light rail. The majority of the general public would never know the difference either. Not to be purposely deceptive, but it could still be branded as light rail and most people would never know that the technology is what is commonly called a tram or streetcar.
Streetcar / European Tram technology is proven, and is in service today and represents a divergent thinking when compared to light rail and its realtively inflated costs.
As always, I welcome reader input and suggestions.
EDIT: Engineer Scotty of the Dead Horse Times penned an article right after mine on this topic as well that is well worth the time spent reading it.
How terrorism is guiding transportation choices in northern MX
Matamoros, MX Canon Powershot A560
In thinking back on my recent trip to Matamoros, MX I was exposed to a chilling reality that people of this region have come to live with. Namely drug related terrorism. It has effectively changed every day life for residents of this border town in a major way. A former co-worker of mine works at the manufacturing plant I visited and in talking to him and other native Mexicans I got a sense of what everyday life is really like. Just days before I visited, the shoe-in candidate for governor of the state of Tamaulipas was gunned down, along with body guards, sending a resounding message about positive change: it's not happening anytime soon! Digging deeper, my ex coworker drives an Avalanche truck back and forth from Brownsville TX over the border daily. He recently requested a new vehicle to commute daily with: a clapped out minivan. This is one case. Another of his subordinates recently bought a Nissan sentra to replace the nice truck he is still paying for. The underlying theme here should be coming clear: drive a nice truck? You must be a drug dealer and/or member of a rival cartel. Another worker there said it's a sad time to be a Mexican citizen. I feel for these people first, because I've become good friends with a lot of them over the last couple years and also the humanist side of me.
Why do people have to live this way? I don't see any change coming either when high profile politicians are gunned down in broad daylight. The reality from a transportation enthusiasts point of view though is interesting when exploring the fact that simply surviving for fear of getting gunned down guides the transportation choice.
Running from Hurricane Alex
Hurricane Alex approaching Brownsville, TX, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
Well, I get to find out first hand just how good South Texas' freeway system is tomorrow morning as I will be hightailing it out of Brownsville headed for Houston. Here is a shot of Alex approaching, taken in Brownsville.
Hurricance Alex from Brownsville, TX, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
Father’s Day in Indianapolis, a photo tour
Full Bike Rack @ Henry's on East, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
This past Sunday, was my first Father's Day. My wife and son had put together a large plan of things to do for the day. First, we started with breakfast @ Henry's on East who make a pretty good sausage and egg croissant. We did a lap around the block of Mass Ave, Park Ave and East Street before getting in the car to make our way to the next stop. Here are a few photos from our trip around the block.
Classic Car, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
Our next stop, was going to be the IMA and it's new 100 Acres Art's Park. The grand opening was planned for Father's Day. However, we made a stop by one notable construction project going on located on the NW Side of downtown. The Fall Creek YMCA is being mowed down to make way for a brand new mixed use development. Here is a shot of the demolition progress thus far. There are still floor lamps and drapes hanging in each room. It looked like something out of post war eastern Europe...
Fall Creek YMCA, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
After that, we headed over to the IMA. We arrived around noon-ish in hopes of beating the would-be crowd for the Grand Opening of the 100 Acres Arts Park. The park is located on the grounds of the IMA, but is considered a bit of a walk (especially if you have a stroller) from the main building. As such, the IMA was offering a shuttle from the main building, down 38th street and dropping off along the White River parking lot area.
IMA Trolley Shuttle, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
We managed to fold down the stroller and pack in and make the short journey over. The trolley was merely a bus painted up to look like a classic streetcar. Too bad there isn't a REAL rail streetcar in Indy. 
Once we got off, and walked into the park, we were greeted by a TON of people and all sorts of festivities. There was a giant grasshopper greeting people right at the entrance.
Giant Grasshopper & my son, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
As we went further into the park, most of the trailway was paved with some sort of clay. It was squishy and moist, but we were able to easily push the stroller along, even deep into the network of trails through the woods. We made it as deep as the visitor's pavilion where we took a rest and had some water.
100 Acres Visitor's Pavilion, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4
After running into a few friends, Mark Cline of Fun-City-Finder, and Graeme Sharp of local blog A Place of Sense, we made our way back to the trolley pick up. What followed was a taxing wait in the very hot Indiana heat of the weekend. I could feel my pores going wide open as the swear poured forth! We managed to keep little Oscar cool with fans and when the trolley made it's way back, we got on and into some air conditioning; a welcome feeling indeed! The ride back however, was much longer. The roads in this area are designed in such a way that you cannot simpy turn back and go the roughly 1/4 mile back up 38th street to the IMA building. We had to take a 4 mile route back through some side streets with a stop at the Major Taylor Velodrome to pick up more people. By the time we made it back to the IMA, we were drenched in sweat and ready to get off! The large amount of people made for a stuffy ride back, but I wasn't complaining. Now, if we could just manage to find a way to get this many people on an IndyGO bus, we would be doing great! I leave you with a parting shot of your's truly all drenched in sweat riding the trolley back. Hope you all had a great Father's Day! I sure did! 
Your's Truly on IMA Shuttle Trolley, photo by my wife, Nikon D90 w/ Tokina 12-24 f4