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.
July 28th, 2010 - 11:39
Well-said, Curt.
As I pointed out on SSC, the “taking” isn’t the only hurdle. To convert residential land to school/parking use will require a rezoning, and that is a public process where citizen input is more highly valued than before the IPS Board. Further, they must convince DMD Planning staff to support their proposal, something that is unlikely given that they conducted no neighborhood public planning process.
IPS is unwise to proceed with the taking before they get the rezoning done, because they may never be permitted to use the land for their intended purpose. In fact, proceeding with the taking seems likely to galvanize opposition.
July 28th, 2010 - 14:33
One more instance of what a school bully IPS can be. Schools should be good neighbors. An elementary school shouldn’t need a huge parking lot, only the teachers and staff use the lot regularly. This would be a great time for IPS to come up with a creative solution that doesn’t result in taking the homes of nearby citizens. That’s outrageous! Schools in all big cities manage to get children loaded and unloaded from busses even in densely packed urban areas. An addition can be creatively managed on the existing property for far less money than a new school. The threat to close the school is how IPS is hoping to get its way and we all know that is not an idle threat coming from this school system. Maybe there could be some creative mingling of ideas between the need to keep neighborhood libraries open and the need for this school to have a library.
July 28th, 2010 - 16:40
The housing stock they are looking to tear down is in good condition. South of New York and east of Lynwood there are commercial properties that could be acquired and moved. These properties unlikely add much to the neighborhood other than jobs, but could easily do that from a different but nearby location.
There is likely a large enough footprint there for staff parking, and New York despite being four lanes is not that busy through there.
July 28th, 2010 - 22:59
This truly is a travesty. I still can’t quite figure out why this is necessary. Why do they need so much additional parking? What is the current lot being used for and why isn’t it enough? Based on the aerial you provided, it looks as though the current lot is largely underutilized and poorly layed out.
This is just yet another example of urban schools being suburbanized. More and more, we’re seeing new schools in urban areas being built in super suburban ways – far setbacks, sprawly campuses, and of course, excessive parking. Here we’re seeing an attempt to redirect an urban school into a suburban one. Ridiculous!
July 29th, 2010 - 10:21
Greg, I think the supposed parking issue is that they are planning to build an addition that will take up part of the existing parking lot. I agree with you that the current parking lot probably could be better configured, but it does double as the school’s playground. That’s not to disagree with your overall point, which is similar to a point I made on SSC–IPS is trying to compete with suburban schools on their terms instead of embracing the density (and recoginzing that this literally irreplaceable housing stock is one of the best things going in the IPS district). I have to believe that through some combination of design, street parking, and possible off-site parking that they could come up with a solution.
“Solution,” New York Street isn’t really four lanes there anymore. It has two one way (eastbound) lanes, a bike lane, and two 24-hour parking lanes. It’s much less of a pedestrian obstacle than it was before the reconfiguration for bike lanes. Google Maps now has 2010 aerial photos of the area, and you can see that the photo of school 58 is taken during a school day (with roughly 35 cars in the lot). Again, keep in mind that there are parking lanes on both sides of NY that can be used 24 hours a day (no rush hour restrictions like before). In the block that includes the school and the half-blocks immediately east and immediately west, there are FIVE cars parked on the street in an area that conservatively could hold 24 cars. Most of the houses in that area have off-street parking of some sort. On SSC, CDC Guy made a good point about female faculty perhaps not feeling safe walking there, but we are talking about walking a block or less on a well-lit arterial street with lots of commuters. It’s a city!
July 29th, 2010 - 17:24
As I said on SSC…I have been known to ridicule “pie in the sky” planning efforts that produce cookie-cutter solutions that ultimately lead nowhere. But that is not to suggest a lack of respect for planners or the planning profession or all planning exercises.
This is a perfect case where a professional planner could run a transparent public process to draw out and refine the very kinds of solutions that we onlookers have proposed. And when the rezoning case comes up, I can’t imagine that DMD Planning staff would look very favorably on IPS’ choice not to do so.
July 30th, 2010 - 01:39
Public relations nightmare is the key, as you said–great work. I just can’t imagine people from elsewhere in the near-Eastside–particularly those who are fighting for the continued revitalization of their neighborhoods–to be in favor of this. Who among IPS thinks this will actually win them good publicity?
Congrats on being part of the collaborative blog, by the way–from a distant vantage point, I will definitely be looking forward to reading it!