Indianapolis from the top

cwilson758 · #1 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 3:34 PM**

I took these pics from the top of teh AUL building, which is the city's second-tallest. At the top is the "Skyline Club," which my BF is the director.

"Urban Canyon:"

This is the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium (LOS):

War Memorial, American Legion Mall, St. Joe:

Mass Ave, which is the angled Street. The vacant lot behind the small flat-iron building will be a new 10-story condo and retail proect. Pre-sales have been met and the site is already roped-off:

This is the Canal area. Look at all of those wonderful suburban apartments. The vacant lot at the bottom will be the "Cosmopolitan," which will be retail, condos and apartments:

Close-up of Riley Towers and the St Joe/Chatam Arch neighborhood:

Midtown:

Illinois Street:

IUPUI (Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis. This university is booming. Just last month there were 5 construction cranes hovering above the campus. If you look closely, you can still make-out 3 of them:

Monument Circle:

This is a portion of the State Government complex. More importantly, the 6-story building surrounded by parking and suburban streets is the site of a new convention center hotel complex. It will have at leats a 30-story JW Marriott and a 17-storuy Residence Inn. This was chosen over a beautiful 44-story Hotel InterContinental. This site is in a pedestrian no-mans land and is very controversial because the City is giving $50M to the project and the design is horrible. The local paper called it "Hotel Mundane." Criticism on location, the fact that it is not pedestrian friendly and it not being attached to Circle Centre are just a few of the gripes:

The 44-story tower would have been built east of the pointy-topped building that is east of the Dome:

soleri · #2 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 3:43 PM**

Question: does downtown have significant retail besides the Circle Center? Night life?

Evergrey · #3 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 3:53 PM**

Wonderful downtown but that city loses its urban character pretty quickly outside downtown. Great shots though... the circle is definately one of the coolest things in any US downtown.

bartzman · #4 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 4:00 PM**

great pics...am i totally wierd for thinking that indianapolis looks kind of like a less-dense Calgary?

cwilson758 · #5 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 4:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by soleri

Question: does downtown have significant retail besides the Circle Center? Night life?

The majority of retail is in Circle Centre; however, there is street-level access to TJ Maxx, Nordstrom, and Parisian...um, Carson's. There are a number of small boutique shops along Mass Ave too. Night life is different. South Meridian Street is the focal point of bars and night clubs and there are quite a few. Mass Ave also has a couple of bars/night clubs and then there are neighborhood taverns through out. Restaurants are all over the core and new ones seem to open monthly.

Buckeye Native 001 · #6 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 5:07 PM**

Looking good!

RockMont · #7 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 10:34 PM**

Hey Mr. Indy Guy. Is this thing called the "Skyline Club" open to the public, or is it an exclusively private club? Also what is a "BF"? Just curious about that one. Very nice shots! Spectacular! Go Colts! Win one for Payton Manning. His poor old MANning, Archie never so much as had a winning season.

john_mclark · #8 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 11:30 PM**

is the LOS a new football stadium or new baseball?

john_mclark · #9 Posted **Feb 1, 2007, 11:34 PM**

if you went to high school you would know that a BF is a boyfriend or best friend

Ex-Ithacan · #10 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 12:07 AM**

Seeing these pics made me wish I was sitting in St Elmo's eating a shrimp cocktail while they're cooking my steak.

Nice shots, thanks.

bigcubfan · #11 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 1:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by john_mclark

is the LOS a new football stadium or new baseball?

It'll be the new home of the soon-to-be Super Bowl Champ Colts, hopefully the site of the 2011 Super Bowl, a Final Four every 4-5 years, and numerous other high profile events too numerous to mention.

themaguffin · #12 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 2:19 AM**

Impressive downtown. Put something on those outer lots and wow, so much potential...

It's unfortunate that the convention center project will be disconnected.. any chance that the gap can be filled?

Wheelingman04 · #13 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 4:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Wonderful downtown but that city loses its urban character pretty quickly outside downtown. Great shots though... the circle is definately one of the coolest things in any US downtown.

I agree.

fflint · #14 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 7:32 AM**

That's a great vantage from which to view Indianapolis.

The circle is a great urban space, but you know--so is the neo-classical plaza here--in the language of architecture, it says "this is a capital city.":

LMich · #15 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 7:36 AM**

Indy has some great monumental plazas and architecture, but I have to agree with a few others in that I think it looks kind of strange/out of place seeing how quickly the urbanity drops off right outside the core. Still, it's better to have these great plazas and accompanying than to not have them at all.

Robert Pence · #16 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 1:22 PM**

Spectacular views!

cwilson758 · #17 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 2:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockMont

Hey Mr. Indy Guy. Is this thing called the "Skyline Club" open to the public, or is it an exclusively private club? Also what is a "BF"? Just curious about that one. Very nice shots! Spectacular! Go Colts! Win one for Payton Manning. His poor old MANning, Archie never so much as had a winning season.

The "Skyline Club" is a private, members-only deal. My boy-friend is the director of the club, so I go up there from tuime to time.

GO COLTS

cwilson758 · #18 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 2:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fflint

That's a great vantage from which to view Indianapolis.

The circle is a great urban space, but you know--so is the neo-classical plaza here--in the language of architecture, it says "this is a capital city.":

I agree. I think that this photo does a pretty great job of showing what you will get when you come to Indy. Monuments, old churches, small historical buildings and neighborhoods, mid-century urban renewel, and new construction all with a midwestern backdrop.

Obviously, the core is to the right of this pic where there are shiney new skyscrapers and all that is associated with a large population center, but this pic is a good barometer of what you expect.

RockMont · #19 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 2:56 PM**

I thought you were a guy, sorry about that. Unless you're a gay man. Not that it matters, I just wanted to correct my mistake, if indeed it was that.

Best Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwilson758

The "Skyline Club" is a private, members-only deal. My boy-friend is the director of the club, so I go up there from tuime to time.

GO COLTS

cwilson758 · #20 Posted **Feb 2, 2007, 2:58 PM**

I am a guy and yes, I am gay!

I have a pic of Kylie Minogue in my avatar. I figured that would give it away immediately.