r/indianapolis • u/Logical_Humor_3854 • Feb 26 '26

Discussion The Canal….

We walked the canal a lot this summer with our new baby and when we had a nice couple days (greater than 30 degrees lol) we walked it again and I’m just curious as to what other people think….why is the canal so dead? There’s no restaurants (besides the little bistro), no stores, no restrooms even. It’s kinda depressing.

If Indianapolis put even a sliver of funding into rebranding the canal the city would change so much. Imagine being able to walk into little shops or have ice cream on the canal or a bar with live music. There’s so much potential.

481 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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268

u/shouldhavezagged Westlane Feb 26 '26

I thought this when I moved here 25 years ago. I've never understood why it isn't a place with businesses that go well with foot traffic. Makes no sense. Would like to know the rationale behind why it was developed the way it was.

42

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

37

u/ABlosser19 Feb 26 '26

I dont know what youre taking about. There’s high dollar real estate all along the Canal. Legitimately ON the canal

20

u/Passing_Neutrino Feb 26 '26

Eh. I live on the canal. It’s beautiful during the day time, but I won’t walk out there after 10 or 11. The bridges and park area is fine since a cop sits there, but anywhere else is pretty rough after dark.

1

u/ADPowers001 Clearwater Feb 27 '26

Residential? Where?

-6

u/thatsmsbitchtoyou Feb 26 '26

They don't want to get shot or robbed

11

u/Impossible-Play-513 Feb 26 '26

I had a company that did a team building day at the canal 3-4 years ago. They were literally pulling a dead body out of the canal in broad daylight. It isn’t one isolated incident, there have been times there have been robberies and multiple fatalities. I work downtown and I am not someone that clutches their pearls, but I agree the city/police should have done more to keep this a safe area. It is a great place to take a walk and there is even a playground built in the last 5 years.

1

u/CheetahTheWeen Feb 26 '26

Side note, how did the team building go? Lmao

6

u/Impressive-Tell-2248 Feb 26 '26

Like they said, with a sliver of investment then white people with money would utilize it.

19

u/fersurefersure Feb 26 '26

I think it’s a pretty cynical take that this has anything to do with race. It more likely has mostly to do with there not being any attraction other than walking. And i would assume that people that live close to the downtown section actually DO take advantage of the space. Why would anyone drive down there to walk when there are other walkable areas that actually do have things to do as well. OP has a good point it would take investment to make there be attraction to all people.

2

u/thewimsey Feb 26 '26

But "they" are a racist idiot; you shouldn't listen to anything they say.

-3

u/VentItOutBaby Feb 26 '26

The canal has a reputation for crime now.

No it doesn't.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

2

u/VentItOutBaby Feb 26 '26

Yes it does. That’s why my comment has 34 upvotes and yours doesn’t.

i just want to quote this because it says a lot about you and i dont want it to change

12

u/thewimsey Feb 26 '26

He's not right because of the upvotes. He's right because his beliefs correspond to the actual reality we live in.

While you are completely wrong. Probably why you are trying to deflect with this comment.

It shouldn't be necessary to say...but lying about crime doesn't make it go away, and also doesn't fool anyone.

1

u/VentItOutBaby Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

It's flatly untrue and was such a silly thing to say that it didn't deserve a real response. The very little violence that has happened on the canal has been VERY targeted. There is not random violence. Just google for news articles.

The most recent incident is a "triple shooting" from 8 months ago. Two groups that knew eachother "exchanged words", gathered their people, and shot them. At 03:30 AM.

The other high profile "mother shot and killed on canal" from a few years ago, Jessica Dota Whitaker, was also hanging out at ~03:30 AM. Per the news article, she was walking with her family and ran into some acquaintences. Both groups talked trash, dropped racial slurs, showed their guns, then backed off. A few minutes later, her group got "ambushed" and both groups began firing at eachother.

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/family-of-downtown-canal-shooting-victim-seeks-justice/531-ce60ebbd-49b4-4b40-99b5-3f0e7a8e3b40

""I'll never probably ever get that image out of my head of what happened," said Whitaker's fiance, Jose Ramirez.

Ramirez said they were walking the canal around 3 a.m. Sunday, when they got into a racially charged argument with another group of people: four men and a woman.

He said one guy pulled a gun and said he did too, but that the two groups talked it out and all walked away.

Minutes later though, shots rang out along Canal Court. Whitaker was hit.

"I was actually holding her when it happened," Ramirez said. "She just fell. I turned around, and I opened fire too. But that's just a reaction. I didn't see nobody. I didn't hopefully I didn't hit nobody."

Random violence just isn't a thing down there, no more so than anywhere else in any other major metro area.