INDIANAPOLIS – Great Places 2020 partners have selected two additional places to support four years of implementation. Twin Aire (intersection of English/Parker) and 25th and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street will be the next Great Places. Both will receive planning assistance to create a detailed redevelopment plan and funding for early implementation efforts in their target area.
Home to a highly diverse group of 2,300 Hoosiers and with a rich history as a place of invention and craft, the Twin Aire neighborhood seeks to create a community with an identifiable center, that is walkable and offers a mix of public spaces and facilities, has quality education options, offers small business opportunities, and a mix of market-rate housing affordable for working class families and seniors. Boasting of strong partnerships between Southeast Neighborhood Development and Twin Aire Community Coalition, the effort is anchored by Citizen’s Energy Group involvement. With significant support from federal programs including the Promise Zone and the Economic Development Administration, there is significant momentum already working toward achieving the community’s vision of a centrally-located multi-purpose festival green, a greenway park along Pleasant Run, and a new park at Rural and English.
The lead partner for 25th and MLK is Flanner House of Indianapolis. Showcasing strong partnerships with Center for Leadership Development and Groundworks, including Marian University and Eskenazi Health as anchor institution partners, the 25th and MLK Great Place stands poised to increase connectivity with the completion of Fall Creek Trail, leverage the Canal, White River and Fall Creek as waterway assets that complement Riverside Park, and build upon a vibrant business corridor along MLK, home to businesses like Barbecue Heaven. Building on recent momentum in the neighborhood with a new Herron High School, the new Global Prep Indy and several innovative food enterprises, 25th and MLK can truly incarnate Dr. King’s “Dream” of a thriving, economically prosperous, diverse and peaceful community.
“The next four years will be full of critical decisions for Indianapolis that will shape its future. It can either continue its trajectory upward to be one of the leading cities in the country, or fall victim to its growing challenges of disinvestment, loss of population, and failing civic systems,” said Bill Taft, Executive Director of LISC Indianapolis. “Indianapolis must define and become the kind of city it aims to be, with a particular focus on its neighborhoods.”
In late 2014, three areas were identified as Indianapolis’ Great Places: Englewood Village (East Washington and Oxford), Maple Crossing (38th and Illinois), and River West (West Michigan and King). The Great Places 2020 initiative provided each neighborhood with urban planning, real estate and marketing consultants to create plans designed to spur growth in each place. In May 2016, Great Places 2020 partners unveiled the strategic plans for each of the Great Places areas. Structuring initial funding sources and strategic programming so that private investment follows, more than $84 million has been committed to the three Great Places from over 50 partners.
Total investment in all five neighborhoods in 2017 is expected to eclipse $20 million, which includes alignment with the United Way of Central Indiana’s Great Families 2020 initiative.
For more information on Great Places 2020 please visit www.greatplaces2020.org,