Downtown Indianapolis Part I - War Memorial Plaza

[Supertall]

Here are some pics from a couple of weeks ago of Indianapolis.

^Big Ten Banners in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament.

^One Indiana Square, 504 ft. It is the third tallest in Indianapolis.

^The Indiana War Memorial has a musuem dedicated to all the wars fought in the US.

^The brutalist Federal Building, the base really contradidcts with the rest of the tower.

^The Bank One Tower, is the tallest building in Indiana.

^300 North Meridian Building is the fifth tallest in Indianapolis.

^SBC Building, is one of the older of the tallest buildings in Indianapolis.

^The Indianapolis Star has it's headquaters in this buidling.

^Statue of Lincoln at University Park, right across the street from the War Memorial.

This is part one, part two will feature Mass Avenue, and part three will feature Lockerbie.

 

[BKM]

Cool pics. I'm an ex-Hoosier myself (Fort Wayne), and when I was last back in my home state, I visited Indy. I was actually pretty impressed. I liked Broadripple, downtown, and the neighborhoods near Butler University a lot.

 

[H]

There is a town club there on the circle I ate at once with my uncle. I remember it was pretty impressive. There seemed to be alot going on around there.

Indy has a great downtown and seems to be getting better.

 

[Gedunker]

War Memorial Plaza is bounded on the north by the Indianapolis Public Library designed by one of my favorite Beaux Arts architects Paul Phillippe Cret. It is an outstanding public building. Just west of it is the Scottish Rite building, quite a pile. I personally like the Indianapolis Federal Building (I can't remember the architect's name but he also designed the new addition to the Children's Museum and it is quite good).

Thanks for the cheap tour of Indianapolis!

 

[lakelander]

Great pictures, that 300 North Meridian Building really looks impressive. I wish I would have stopped in the city a couple of years ago, instead of staying on the interstate and driving right through it.

 

[GRID]

I've always been impressed with that bigger-than-expected HOOSIER skyline!

 

[mediagiant]

Reply from a lifer

I was born in Indy, and I believe I'm in the first half of a life sentence.
It most certainly does not rock. Indianapolis is basically one big strip mall/suburb.

The densities are very low, even by Midwestern standards, and the public transportation is one of the worst on the planet. (The man who runs it described it as "the unfriendliest bus system in the world.") It's one of the most automobile-centric cities you can find.

The skyline could definitely use some architectural help and some more density.

So why don't I move? Well, the one thing that does rock about Indy is the low cost of living. And that's probably why nobody wants to build anything interesting, because it will make the city more attractive and increase the property values, defeating the only good reason to live in Indianapolis.

In recent years they've done a lot to make it more attractive to visitors, particularly sports and conventions. But I'd recommend just about any other city.

 

[jread]

I went to Indianapolis once. Was not impressed.