First Came the Monon Trail
The inactive Monon rail line had fallen
into disrepair by the early 1990s when
Thomas Healy and a group of Broad
Ripple neighborhood residents and busi-
ness owners devised an ingenious solution.
Healy and a few other neighborhood activ-
ists were avid bicyclists; they had seen other
disused rail lines transformed into multi-
use trails and decided that this would be
an ideal use for the line in their backyards,
the Monon. Little did they know that
their efforts to create the rail-trail would
transform Indianapolis and its surrounding
communities.
“
The rail line had become a dumping
ground and eyesore,” Healy says. “We saw
so much potential, both for recreation and
for economic development, but what’s hap-
pened with the Monon has far exceeded
what we’d envisioned 20 years ago.”
When she visits other municipali-
ties, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Midwest
Regional Director Rhonda Romano cites
the Monon Trail as the model for how rail
trails can positively impact a community.
“
The Monon gives residents a safe place
to recreate as well as a way to commute to
and from work,” she says. “When people
use the trail, they tend to spend money on
those businesses surrounding it.”
In the years following the trail’s con-
struction, development around Broad
Ripple has dramatically increased, enhanc-
ing the enclave’s reputation as a hip enter-
tainment hub. Healy and others give much
of that credit to the Monon, as many of the
new businesses have risen within eyeshot of
the trail.
The pace of development has
approached breakneck speed; dozens of
projects are in the works or near comple-
tion. A $15 million multi-story office com-
plex is under construction, anchored by
a ground-level restaurant that opens onto
the trail. Another eatery owned by success-
ful local restaurateur Martha Hoover will
be opening soon; the Public Greens menu
will feature locally grown food, some of it
grown on the restaurant property itself.
“
Nearly every new development adja-
cent to the trail embraces that connection,
tying in directly to the trail,” Healy says.
“
That property is so in demand, we can
[
apply] special standards for development
to maintain the levels we’ve set.”
As Broad Ripple development
approaches a saturation point, new busi-
ness is emanating outward along the trail,
both in formerly blighted neighborhoods
and beyond the Indianapolis city limits.
After Monon construction reached the
northern border of the city, neighboring
suburbs Carmel and Westfield extended it.
Both cities have seen a great deal of devel-
opment alongside the trail. In fact, Carmel
City Councilman Ron Carter attributes a
large part of the success of the community’s
$500 million City Center project to the
Monon, which runs straight down its the
middle.
“
The Monon is an amenity, like our
version of beachfront property in the
Carolinas,” says Carter, who also served as
executive director of the local Greenways
Foundation for a number of years. “City
Center might not be here without the
Monon attracting the development com-
munity. A software company said the
nearness of the Monon was the reason
they leased space [in a nearby building]; it
was something they felt they could offer
as an important lifestyle benefit to their
employees.
“
The Monon is a major part of our
amenity package for both current and
future residents and businesses,” Carter
continues. “It sets our community apart
from others. Carmel wouldn’t be as livable
or as healthy without it.”
Then Came the Indianapolis Cultural Trail
Downtown Indianapolis and the surround-
ing cultural districts have seen a similar
increase in development and economic
vitality with the recent construction of the
Indianapolis Cultural Trail
(
indycultural
trail.org
)
.
The trail cost $63 million to
build, including $27.5 million in private
and corporate donations. That may sound
like a steep price, but the Partnership for
Sustainable Communities estimates the
trail will be directly or indirectly respon-
sible for the creation of at least 11,000
jobs, more than $860 million in economic
benefits and up to $45 million in increased
property values.
As the Cultural Trail inched toward
completion, long-vacant storefronts began
to fill rapidly. Businesses and local nonprof-
its such as Indy Reads and the Heartland
Film Festival flocked to the area because of
the trail, according to Indianapolis Cultural
Trail Inc. Executive Director Kären Haley.
“
Early on, they recognized the Cultural
robert annis
robert annis
Trails are redefining life for residents and
sparking economic development and
community revitalization in Indianapolis.
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