There’s something irresistibly exciting about a neighborhood in transition.  To witness positive change and flurries of new activity can spark feelings of optimism and new life in a place which has seen decades of decline and disinvestment in the past.  Windsor Park Neighborhood on the near east side of Indy has experienced significant change over […]

  At 3PM sharp, neighborhood children flocked to the back door of Omar’s Bakery. Walking away with bags of broken cookies, they’d skip across the street to get milk, all given for free from neighbor to neighbor. In the heyday of the Martindale-Brightwood area, before the interstate came, the community thrived. Veteran HCA artist William […]

Almost five years ago, Kris and Amy Owens moved into their house on College Avenue in the Old Northside.  Amy is a professional dancer, singer, ballet instructor, and model with the locally-based Helen Wells Agency.  Kris teaches performing arts and serves as the theater director of Ben Davis High School on the west side of Indy.  Amy’s […]

When Dan and April Barber decided to leave Atlanta a few years ago, they were faced with a choice between two cities: Houston and Indianapolis.  Dan was looking for a new job as an IT solutions architect and had received job offers in both of those places.  Although Atlanta was April’s hometown, after living there […]

“In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. . . .What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what […]

James and Esther Bulow had been happily inhabiting their small apartment in the historic St. Joseph neighborhood for several years when the reality began to creep up on them:  they desperately needed more space.  They lived in a 2-bedroom, 750-square-foot apartment in a near-perfect location; they could (and did) walk almost everywhere they needed to go.  The […]

“We’re FINALLY home!” Rick and Trish Cobb, along with their three sons, moved into the Mapleton-Fall Creek Neighborhood in May of 2016 and immediately felt like they had FINALLY come home! Their journey to downtown began via The Oaks Academy. Trish landed a job there in August of 2012 teaching middle school math, and their […]

What changes the nature of a place over a span of three decades?  What spurs transformation in neighborhoods and cities over time?  How do life, energy and vibrancy return to streets and communities that were once considered decayed, lifeless, crime-ridden and worthy of demolition? Such was the case in the 1960s and ’70s of the Old Northside and many […]

photo credit: Melissa Williams When Ann Pumphrey and her husband Adrian found out they were expecting their second child almost five years ago, they were faced with a decision.  At the time, they lived in a rented two-bedroom flat in London with their toddler.  Everything they needed was located within a 10-block radius of their […]

Pat and Stephanie Hickman first stepped foot in Indiana in November of 2012 for a job interview.  They were already familiar with Indy, and from the very beginning hoped this was where they would land. They were attracted to how the city was divided into neighborhoods. “We had heard that Indy was a big city with a small […]