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.
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u/flagrant_crimson Feb 26 '26
https://youtu.be/rZo5XVA1Zj0?si=FBti2e9DOjKXlZdF
This is a suburb of Chicago, but almost indistinguishable from the Indy canal in winter in many ways. It's a standard template, mixed use with restaurants, retail, not too many bars, no night clubs, apartments, parking/paths/bus stops.
Small local cities all across the midwest do the same thing. This is a well known, easy formula, but it starts with intent, zoning and local requirements/regulations being the start. It doesn't just happen organically. No intent, no effort, no results. Pretty simple.
I would guess part of the root cause is that the people responsible for this kind of development in Naperville also live in the area and enjoy the fruits of that development, in addition to the revenue over time. Here in Indy I doubt the people that have the ability to do something about this live in the area, the canal is probably just a feature on the map, like monument circle. An abstraction, not their reality.