From brownfields to greenways, housing to stormwater, and socioeconomic challenges to light rail opportunities, the area offers an unparalleled convergence of issues and opportunities.

What is Indy Proposing?
Sustainable Design Assessment Team assistance will work with stakeholders to explore a model redevelopment district on the near-north side of Indianapolis centered at 22nd Street and the Monon Trail. The proposal has its roots in a recommendation of the Indianapolis Green Commission, an advisory council to the Mayor, but garners its strength from an unparalleled convergence of issues and opportunities that lend themselves to being both place-based as well as transferable to the broader region. The first leg of a proposed light rail system connecting downtown Indianapolis with rapidly growing and congested suburbs includes proposed station at potential sites within the Smart Growth Renewal District boundaries. These possible locations include ROW intersections with 16th Street, 22nd Street, and 25th Street. At this location, the light rail line will share right-of-way with the popular Monon Trail, a popular rails-to-trails greenway and has the potential to link via a greenway spur to nearby parks and a city-sponsored industrial park redevelopment . It is also located in the heart of a collection of abandoned industrial properties, including over 30 different brownfields, several of which are currently undergoing remediation. It is also on the edge of neighborhood revitalization efforts that have seen reclamation of neighborhoods plagued with vacant lots and boarded up homes. And while such revitalization has received national awards, it also has raised socioeconomic and gentrification issues that continue to linger. The proposed Indianapolis Smart Growth Redevelopment District, with the support of the SDAT, will explore how the likelihood of a significant transit investment can be used as the catalyst to create an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable community. And perhaps more importantly, a demonstration community that teaches the Indianapolis community how to replicate its lessons throughout the region as transit is deployed.