Indianapolis and City Planning
Topic: Indianapolis Living
Posted: Fri, Nov 4, 2005 
Several of us IndyScribers had a long and rambling discussion at lunch today of Indianapolis, city development, city history, and urban planning. It's funny how all of us, despite our varied careers, are intensely interested in civic development, an occupation that's related to nothing that we actually do. I think if I had to pick a new occupation, city planner would be one of my potential choices.
I've written about (and we've read several) books about Indianapolis and it's history. Here are a few interesting titles more generally about city development.
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by Steven Johnson
I'm in the middle of this book, and it's a bit weighty (I'll have to re-read in when I'm done) but a fascinating look at the science of organizational complexity; how organized systems (cities are one example) are created without a universal architect.
Cities in Civilization: Culture, Innovation, and Urban Order
by Peter Hall
I have this book, but have never had a chance to sit down and read it. It's an examination of urban life by looking at the golden age of several historically influencial cities in history and drawning comparisons between them href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0871138980/">Cities: A Magisterial Exploration of the Nature and Impact of the City from Its Beginnings to the Mega-Conurbations of Today
by John Reader
The City: A Global History (Modern Library Chronicles)
by Joel Kotkin
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
by Jane Jacobs
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
by Andres Duany
Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
by James Howard Kunstler
Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century
by Peter Geoffrey Hall, Peter Hall
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Comments
1. Nov 13, 05 01:33 AM | Norm said:
If I were going to be planning the development of Indianapolis ... this would be the first book on my list:
Title: Soil survey of Marion County, Indiana / United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service in cooperation with Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station.
published: [Washington, D.C.] : The Service, [1978]
Description: iv, 63 p., [54] fold. p. of plates ( 1 col.) : ill., maps ; 29 cm.
A good understanding of the soils and how they relate to landuse and planning can save millions of tax dollars. As a home buyer ... it can be the key to buying a home that will suit you needs and appreciate in value over the long term.
2. Nov 13, 05 08:32 PM | Brent said:
Based on this perspective, is there an area in Indianapolis that you wouldn't reside because of the soil? What should a perspective home buyer look for, good and bad?
On a somewhat related where-not-to-live-because-of-environmental-factors topic... when I was working on my SPEA degree in Bloomington, one of our classes required us to go to a city-council meeting. At the meeting, I had the pleasure of listening to a developer request a permit to develop a 100 acre parcel of land. This request drew some conversation because it was located in a flood plain with a 1-year flood interval. With surprisingly little debate, and the promise that a couple retention ponds would be built, the city-council approved the request.
Seeing how this unfolded, I'd be reluctant to buy a house in an area I didn't know. You really need to see an area in different weather/seasons.
3. Nov 17, 05 10:59 AM | Norm said:
Brent as you mentioned ... a flood plain is a very poor choice. It's better suited for parks and golf courses. I wouldn't want a house built on any type of soil that have been classified as poorly, or very poorly drained ... and depending on the landform position I might eliminate some of the somewhat poorly drained soils as well. You would not want a basement in those houses under any condition ... at least one that you wanted to be dry. The problem is that those soils are the most common in the glaciated landscape we live in. The best soils would be some of the old glacial terraces, fans, or kames where you have enough sand and gravel to make them well drained. These soils are mapped Fox or Ockley in Marion County. My second choice would be the moderately well drained Miami and Williamstown soils.
4. Nov 17, 05 02:45 PM | Norm said:
Here is a soils web site that you may find useful. The Soil Data Mart is where you can run soil reports and/or download soil data to use with GIS data viewers.
http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/Default.aspx