November 2021 Update
Welcome to our new Rethink Coalition email!
Each month or so we’ll provide updates on Rethink’s work and share informative pieces about highway infrastructure from across the country. We’ll show you how the Inner Loop shapes the way we live, work, and visit the city of Indianapolis, and how rebuilding it differently can create opportunities to position Central Indiana as an economic driver for the state.
We’ve had a whirlwind of activity since releasing the results of the Inner Loop Visionary Study in August (see more below). We’ve made numerous presentations to stakeholder groups, met with many key leaders, and have plans for more meetings and presentations in the upcoming weeks. If you haven’t seen the Study, please go to our website and take a look! The Executive Summary provides an excellent overview of what is possible for Indianapolis. Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Visionary Study Q&A
The Rethink Coalition partnered with the Indy Chamber to hire Arup Inc., a globally respected engineering and transportation planning firm, to compare a rebuild “as is” option with a recessed interstate alternative that would reduce the physical footprint, reconnect downtown neighborhoods, and create development opportunities. The resulting study offers an in-depth analysis on the feasibility of rebuilding the rest of the Inner Loop (the sections not currently under construction) using recessed highway construction, comparing the physical, economic, and social impacts of the recessed option vs. rebuilding it as-is. In presenting the findings, we hear a lot of questions! Click here for answers to some of the most common.
In the News
We hope you saw James Briggs’s October 7, 2021 piece in the Indy Star, Missing North Split Sections Reveal What Indianapolis Lost in I-65, I-70. Briggs reflects on the massive amounts of land that the North Split takes up, mourns the future opportunities lost to the highway construction, and calls us all to get involved in working to ensure that other parts of I65/70, when rebuilt, serve us better.
Matching Campaign
We need your support to ensure we can do all the work necessary to engage the community and all stakeholders in conversations about the future of the I-65/70 Inner Loop. A generous donor has agreed to match each dollar through the end of the year up to $15,000. We hope you’ll become a Rethink supporter by making a gift to this matching campaign. Together, we can rebuild the Inner Loop better.
WHAT WE'RE READING
Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
Klinenberg explores the concept of social infrastructure, the physical places and organizations that shape the way people interact. Social infrastructure is different than social capital—a concept commonly used to measure people’s relationships and interpersonal networks. Social capital can grow when social infrastructure is vibrant, fostering contact, mutual support, and collaboration among friends and neighbors. Klinenberg explains that how we build our infrastructure affects our social infrastructure and can mean the difference between life and death, as was the case with people caught in the Chicago heatwave in 1995.