Mayor Listens to Diversity Concerns 

     Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson expressed his confidence  the Crook Creek Steering Committee’s efforts to transform the blighted Michigan Road Corridor in Pike Township.

Peterson delayed his December 21 Pike Township town hall tour for seven extra minutes to gather more information about steering committee’s progress since Crooked Creek Northwest Community Development Corporation (CCNCDC) was awarded a three-year $150,000 Greater Indy Neighborhoods Initiative (GINI) grant money in August.

Peterson told the group this program is different because it has the money to implement the vision for neighborhood improvements. It is about revitalizingIndianapolis neighborhoods through collaborative efforts and resources within the community. He also lauded the program for its design to rely on networking among people to transform the area. He considered networking experience invaluable and to be more important than the grant money.

He considers GINI to be one of the most exciting programs occurring in his administration. “It gets me out of bed in the morning,” he said.

Peterson explained why he had confidence in the group to accomplish its goals. “When moving through the (grant application) process, a lot was said about Crooked Creek,” he said.

The CCNCDC’s previous studies and assessments of the area captured the attention of the grant review committee. Many of the competing grant applicants were not this well prepared.

The previous studies identified the area’s weaknesses and strengths; therefore, the group can now focus its efforts to developing a quality of life plan for change.

“You have the curse of high expectation,” he quipped. 

The mayor had an opportunity to see some of the grant money at work when he met the full-time staff person Maggie Lewis. One of Lewis’ functions is to recruit more of the Hispanic population into the process.   

After the steering committee meeting, Lewis accompanied the Mayor to Huachinango Restaurant to network with the Hispanic business owners. Mary Jane Gonzales of Indiana Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was present at the meeting. One of her goals is to increase the Hispanic involvement at the grassroots level. It is the steering committee’s goal to have 100 to 300 stakeholders involved in the process during the three years.

            Alicia Chadwick, CCNCDC executive director, explained 300 participants would be an optimal number to cover the turnover in participation as people move in and out of the area. Chadwick noted that people were beginning to want to become involved. She explained that some high school kids have offered to build bus shelters along the corridor.

Charlie Garcia, business owner of GM Construction, said he supports this improvement effort that has now been dubbed LINCC (Let’s improve Neighborhood of Crooked Creek). Garcia’s business is located at 60th and Michigan

Chadwick noted that it is important for business owners like Garcia to become involved. She noted the “mom and pop” businesses are not as organized with the revitalization efforts on Michigan Road compared to Binford Boulevard. Chadwick is hoping Garcia can rally a strong business coalition that would model Binford Boulevard’s success.

She also credited the GINI grant for Mercy Housing’s decision to come to Indianapolis in January to conduct an exploratory housing study. The visit is to see if there is some type of housing project that could be part of the GINI project.

 “At this point, there is nothing definite,” she said.

Mercy Housing is a non-profit group that was founded in 1981 by Sisters of Mercy in Omaha that provides affordable housing to low and moderate-income people. Chadwick noted this chapter is from Denver.

One of the concerns the group has identified is a lack of affordable senior housing.

“The area lacks an interim stop between living in a home and nursing home,” Chadwick said.

Peterson was intrigued by the collaborative efforts of different organizations and businesses that will soon have to prioritize their individual visions into a “collective vision” to improve the Michigan Road Corridor from 38th Street to 86th Street. The corridor’s east and west boundaries is one census tract wide on each side of the road.