Nostalgia time! Almost 2 years ago, I arrived in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana for the first time. I had just landed a summer internship at a planning & urban design firm and was in town trying to find temporary digs. While driving around downtown attempting to find my way around, I came across Monument Circle and its brick streets, perfect street tree canopies, and curved buildings. Upon entering the Circle, I immediately knew I was entering something special, something unique, something beautiful. As I drove around, I stared at the monument in awe, with feelings of excitement and anticipation flooding my mind. As I continued my way around, seemingly lost in a lustful haze for the place I was surrounded by and the City I was about to move to, my car decided to stall….right in the middle of the Circle. After an embarrassing and unfortunate five to ten minutes, I was finally able to restart my car and continue on my way. As I left the beautiful confines of Monument Circle, I knew I’d never be the same…I was in love.
Ok, so this is probably a bit dramatic and overkill, but I figured it would be a good way to start off my analysis on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, an unarguably beautiful urban design that acts as the physical focal point for the entire central Indiana region. From a design perspective, the Circle does little wrong: the space is very monumental and large in scale and yet, intimate and comfortable in feel. On top of this, the aesthetics are pleasing: brick streets and sidewalks, numerous and diverse planters, ornamental lighting, and great street tree canopies. The space also hits high notes on traditional urban designs as the Circle has great vertical enclosure via the tree canopies and complete horizontal enclosure via the curved buildings on all four sides.
Further, there is a great termination vista along Market Street, created by the Indiana State Capitol Building, something that provides a visual enclosure and thus exudes strong sense-of-place characteristics. On top of the great design elements, the space is pedestrian oriented, giving them the right-of-way to the non-stop traffic flowing through the Circle. This allows a level of comfort and ease-of-use to occur, making people more willing to stay and use the space for extended periods of time. Thus, from an aesthetics and form perspective, Monument Circle triumphs. And yet, something seems to be missing, something that makes good public spaces great: actual activity.
As great as Monument Circle looks, the street level activity is severely lacking. Currently, Au Bon Pain and Starbucks actually engage the street, as they both have outdoor seating options as well as large, open windows. But unfortunately, that is the extent of activity on the Circle, as the rest of the building wall is dead to the street, offering no substance to what should be an exciting and enticing public space experience. The entire north side of the Circle offers no uses for the public to frequent, but instead provides a dead wall to the street that provides a great entrance to corporate offices but does little to activate energy on the street.
The Circle needs to be articulated as the cultural focal point of the region and encourage street level retail and uses that allow the public to actually use the Circle for reasons other than sightseeing. The Circle should say ‘This is Indianapolis’ and feature local restaurants, boutiques, and galleries – places that compliment the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Hilbert Circle Theatre and have an inside-out approach to retailing, connecting the public realm with the private uses. This would make for a more interesting space and further establish the Circle as a cultural destination.
I would also suggest that Monument Circle needs to include more programmed events, similar to what Fountain Square has done in Cincinnati, to amazing successes. In addition to the large downtown Cincinnati events of Oktoberfest, etc. where the Square is the focal point, regularly scheduled events such as salsa dancing, movie night, market days, Cooking with Caitlin, local music series, etc. bring in people from around the region on a regular basis. This allows the public to use the space for their personal interests and frequent the restaurants and shops that spill onto the square afterwards. This is a proven activation method that has worked very well for downtown Cincinnati and something that Monument Circle needs to emulate. What is lacking is a large open space where such events could be held. This is why I also believe the Circle should become pedestrian only, closing the four intersections off from cars and opening the space up for future programmed events and possibly ice skating in the winter.
Overall, I believe Monument Circle is a great urban design, but an OK public space. It’s definitely a ‘place’ – a destination, something memorable and special, an undefined feeling, a space that causes emotional reactions and memories, somewhere you want to go again and again. But these sense-of place characteristics are not currently being capitalized upon, holding the Circle back from becoming a better public space. It is my belief that street level, pedestrian-oriented activation via retail and regularly programmed events will allow the space to go from good to great. Make it happen Indy! Until this occurs, enjoy the few pictures I have of the Circle, taken in the summer of 2008.
As a gay man interested in architecture who has lived in Indianapolis and other large cities, I can agree with much of what you say about Monument Circle. You should know, however, that during the 80′s and 90′s there were many shops and even a small park on the south side of the circle. There was an ecellent restaurant right next to the Hilbert Theatre. Commercial ventures just foundered. People wouldn’t walk from the other shopping up to the circle. For some reason, the commercial heart of Indianapolis has never been in the circle. True, CC Mall draws away from the Circle, but commercial life in Indianapolis has always centered on Washington Street between Meridian and Illinois.
The park on the southwest quadrant was temporary while the land was vacant and succumbed to the Emmis buliding because they were able to make the land pay. The storefronts on the Northwest quandrant, became the Anthem Blue Cross bulding, and the rest was always office / corporate space.
There were many events that used to happen in the closed off circle. CircleFest, the Strawberry Fest, and many others. The simple truth is that Strawberry Fest, happens but is underadvertised, and CircleFest simply was so popular that it outgrew the space available on Monument Circle. Other such events that outgrew the circle were moved to Military Park or White River Park where more space was available.
The NW quadrant was a JC Penney department store following, I think, the demolition of the English Opera. House. Then, once JC Penney went away, the same structure was remodeled twice, within a few years, into, after the second remodel, the present WellPoint headquarters with not-the-best retail storefronts, including bad or no signage. Rick Wagner is right that the commercial center, or at least retail center, of Downtown was, before the demolition that preceded Circle Centre Mall and still to some extent, Washington St., with the prime real estate running, I think, between Ayres and Block’s. Even today, I believe the highest street retail rent in Indianapolis is on the NW and NE corners of Washington and Meridian. Total rents in Circle Centre are probably higher but maybe not for all Circle Centre spaces. Note that even McDonald’s closed on the Circle some years ago.
I’m an Indianapolis native myself, and I have to agree with everything you said except one very important point–closing the Circle to car traffic full time. I believe this would have an absolutely devastating effect on businesses and attraction to The Circle. closed to traffic on special, maybe even weekly, events–Yes! on a full time basis–NO! one of The Circle’s greatest strengths is it’s inherent ability to accommodate both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. the relatively smooth flow of traffic on the circle, with it’s notable lack of stop lights, crosswalks or directional information of any kind, is a testament to the willingness of people to behave in public when given good design, and they know they have to. part of the draw for tourists–local, domestic and international–is that they can drive thru first, often by accident as you did yourself that first time, and say “wow, look at this! i want to get out and explore it more” which they would never be able to do if the road were closed to traffic full time. another reason i think this would be a disastrous idea, is, as you have noted, the lack of pedestrian oriented development on the circle’s northern half. without the shops and restaurants you mentioned to draw people there, and without the casual car traffic to remind people that it’s there, a fully pedestrianized circle would die a slow, painful death. if we can get the retail commercial development to grow the full circumference of the circle first, then let’s talk about closing the street to cars on a more frequent–but never full time–basis.
sorry for the rant-ish nature of this comment, but having heard this argument more than once, i feel the need to quash it whenever possible.
First of all, I find your thoughts on Indianapolis fascinating (and I LOVE Cincy, as well.) An inside-out style of place management for Monument Circle would work wonders, but remember the city you’re dealing with. The “Artsgarden”? How much more conversely outside=in can you get than plopping an overbearing overhang on top of a major downtown intersection designed specifically to suck up street life and relocate it elsewhere? (That thing positively screams, “Planners in this city are afraid of city life.”)
Any strategy to improve Monument Circle also needs to take into account surrounding streets. The adjacent urban fabric is surprisingly torn/boring/lifeless/dull/fractured (take your pick)for a major American downtown. Whenever I have found myself, like you, grooving at the wonder of Monument Circle, I am painfully aware that in downtown Indy, That’s–All–There–Is. Of this kind of fine urban design, anyway.
I agree with Nick, too, about not closing the streets. Look what that did (here) in Chicago to State Street in the 1980s/1990s? We’re still feeling the negative after-effects. In my hometown of NYC, the pedestrianized, bus-only Fulton Street Mall in Brooklyn is shabby and down-market because of the lack of more diverse through-traffic.
There are opportunities for creating an ice rink or other modestly sized outdoor activity near to the Circle. That combined with enlivening the Circle while respecting its longstanding nature might generate good, complementary interest from locals to use the area in more frequent, engaged ways.
Thanks for the responses. I agree with most of everyone’s comments on this but I do disagree with the general sentiment regarding pedestrianizing Monument Circle. I cannot think of one business on the Circle (and there really aren’t that many) that rely on car traffic for business. I also don’t see cars really ‘activating’ the space either. I do think it is a long term trend in the US to pedestrianize spaces like Monument Circle. Times Square, Herald Square, and the Summer Streets movement show that we are moving in this direction. Planners are wary of these ideas because of the pedestrian mall movement of the past and its utter failure. My thought is that ‘that was then and this is now’; Americans now have a more urban mindset and are more open to these types of spaces. We should look at such ideas once again. I did a piece on this very topic for urbancincy.com. Check it out: http://www.urbancincy.com/2009/10/pedestrianization-acceleration-of.html
I love your analysis Greg. While I too champion greater pedestrian accommodation, it can be very difficult as Mike pointed out above. In places like Indianapolis there quite frankly isn’t the level of activity required on a day-to-day basis to keep the space lively.
It works at Cincinnati’s Fountain Square because there are no streets that need to be closed off on a day-to-day basis, and the square actually functions as a public gathering spot. Monument Circle, on the other hand, functions both as a public gathering spot and as a means of egress for automobiles. Consequently this means that part of the space’s programming is reliant on automobiles, and in Indy’s case, I would say primarily on automobiles.
I think if you were to change Monument Circle to a pedestrian only space 100% of the time you would end up with an odd space. Certainly for events and gatherings, and maybe even a weekly market on a Saturday and/or Sunday would be great.
Indianapolis suffers from its glut of public spaces with inadequate downtown population density to animate them all. The huge number of civic plazas (second only to Washington DC), many of them well designed, with a mostly low-density, parking lot strewn urban fabric around them means that its hard for individual spaces to find a reason for being. Few of the plazas are busy outside of festivals and parades.
But Monument Circle is an exception, and I’d have to disagree with your assertion that its even mediocre. I’ve only been to Cincinnati’s Fountain Square on a frigid day in February, so I have no good basis of comparison. But I agree with your commenter Nick that shutting the circle off to cars would be a mistake: the car pedestrian interplay that makes it generally safe actually enlivens in. (I will admit that they are re-considering it while integrating the Cultural Trail–not a wise decision in my book.) Closing it off for specific programs might work, but in good weather, the south side of Circle is often busy in the evening even without a specific program. I wish that, as you say, Americans now “have a more urban mindset” but the fact remains that those seeking urban living are a small niche compared to those who want a big house in the ‘burbs. Witness the growth of Carmel, Fishers, and Plainfield compared to Center Township. And Indy is not alone in this–this characterizes almost all fast growing metros.
The interplay between cars and pedestrians at Monument Circle is a bit of an achievement. Have you been to Lee Circle in New Orleans? For being generally the most walkable big city in the South, it’s a travesty. The scale is almost identical to Indy’s Monument, but it has no broader purpose than to cycle traffic–designers have not cultivated a respect for pedestrians at all. It even has a stoplight on one portion. And, despite the fact that a streetcar passes through, it is impossible to board or disembark the public transit while traversing through the circle. It’s not that pleasant for drivers either. The result is a dead zone of surprisingly low land value despite being close to the WWII museum, Ogden Museum, and all the restaurants of the Warehouse District. Lee Circle is so bad, in fact, that it had a gas station on one corner, and then after Katrina the City approved another gas station on a different corner, while the original one promptly closed and remains shuttered! What an eyesore.
Monument Circle may not be perfect, but I’d like to give it more credit than simply being mediocre. The Canal Walk, on the other hand…