urbanOut

News broke yesterday that plans to pedestrianize Monument Circle and prohibit car access for one month in August is getting scrapped.  Apparently, the city received so many complaints from residents and numerous businesses that they decided to get rid of the idea and go back to the drawing board.  Still though, the city is hoping to make monumental changes to the Circle in the near future that is “something bold, something innovative” said Jen Pittman, the city’s Director of Marketing.  Originally, the plan to limit automobile traffic for one month was meant to test the feasibility of making the Circle pedestrian-only but it was this one month timeline, Pittman says, that ultimately caused trepidation from residents and business owners.  The city acknowledges that the Circle might not be ready for such a plan and more discussion is needed with all stakeholders before any significant change is implemented.   

When the news originally broke that the Circle was pedestrianizing, I offered my support for the policy but criticized the Circle’s readiness in this article.  While I do believe a pedestrianization acceleration is taking over the United States and Indianapolis should be looking at creative ways to cater to this movement, I am glad to see this one month plan is being taken off the table and more discussion is going to take place.  Essentially, I agree with Curt Ailes over at Huston Street Racing in his recent post about this topic – the city needs a legitimate plan for the Circle, not just a one month trial by fire idea.  Quite simply, a one month timeframe was too short to come to any concrete conclusions regarding the success of the idea, thus rendering the experiment pointless.  So now what…well as Curt put it in his article, “now that we are back at square one, how about a REAL plan Indianapolis?”

For a REAL plan to unfold for Monument Circle, I offer four suggestions, outlined below, all learned from Fountain Square in Cincinnati, a space that famed urbanist and journalist William Whyte called “the best public square in the country.”

• The city needs to work with building owners that directly front the circle and transform the ground level space into pedestrian retail that spills out onto the Circle.  Fountain Square in Cincinnati recently implemented such changes and to dramatic successes – the Square now features numerous bars, restaurants, and other pedestrian retail that didn’t exist until a few years ago.  In Cincinnati’s case, the city successfully worked with 5/3 Bank and transformed the ground level space abutting the Square into something more pedestrian friendly.  Indianapolis could do the same. 
• The Circle needs more programmed activities and on a regular basis, not just for special events.  Fountain Square again provides an example of how to implement such ideas – whether it’s movie nights, salsa dancing, market days, or coffee tastings, there is always something going on that brings in a wide array of people.  Monument Circle lacks such regularly scheduled events and real programming on a day-to-day basis, something that is critical to increasing pedestrian activity and spinoff development. 
• If it doesn’t already, Monument Circle needs a management group that oversees events, programming, maintenance and security (if it does the Group needs to do a better job!).  Essentially, they would be in charge of programming the space and raising money and find sponsors to fund such events.  In Cincinnati, the Fountain Square Management Group LLC was created in 2006 to do manage the programming of the space.  As time has gone by and Square event popularity has increased, the Group has managed to raise incredible amounts of money and find numerous sponsors to create bigger and better events throughout the year. 
• Changes outlined in the first three bullet points need to be a part of an overall design overhaul of the Circle.  Change needs to take place all at once to create increased excitement and energy in the district.    Again, Fountain Square implemented a complete overhaul in recent years, closing off the space and redesigning the entire area.  The excitement of the new space and the energy it created pumped life into downtown Cincinnati, and the city has seen unprecedented spinoff development as a result. 

If these ideas are a part of the city’s new ‘plan’ for Monument Circle, I think residents and business owner’s fears about the spaces pedestrianization would be eased.  Certainly, the Circle would be ready to go the way of so many other public spaces across the country – and not just for a month, but permanently.  This way, with a full plan in place, the stage could be set for Monument Circle’s space to live up to its design and become a great place.