Your New Favorite Downtown Coffeehouse

You don't know it yet, but you have a new favorite coffeehouse in downtown Indianapolis. Calvin Fletcher's Coffee Company is on Virginia Avenue between East Street and the I-65/70 underpass. Today was my first experience there, and I'm officially in love with the place. Great service (I was thanked maybe four times for coming in), great americano, incredible pumpkin loaf, and to top it off they donate their tip jar money to a new local non-profit organization every month. Go there. You'll love it, and you'll finally get over the death of Corner Coffee and The Abbey.

2009 Election Results Rolling In

As expected, those Marion County residents who came out to vote supported the Wishard referendum by a ratio of about 5 to 1. As of 4:54 this morning, most of the precincts in Decatur, Pike, and Wayne townships are yet to report their results. Still, the current vote tally shows the "yes" votes on the Wishard question winning by a total of 33,495 to 6,811. You can see the precinct-by-precinct results here.

Yuki Sushi and Thai

I was in the Castleton area today running some errands and decided to grab a bite at the new Yuki Sushi and Thai restaurant at Castleton Square Mall. Yuki took the place of the Spicy Pickle location that closed last year across from Borders. I felt a little bit like I was cheating on Fountain Square's incredible Siam Square, but I did have a very good experience at Yuki. The Pad Thai I got for just $7 contained more bean sprouts than the similar dish at Siam Square, and that made the overall meal lighter than the oh-my-gosh-I'm-so-full experience I often have at Siam Square. I feel like the owners need to pick a mood for the place and stick with it (Top 40 radio on the speakers and CNBC soon the TV felt a bit odd), but the service was great. If the upcoming holiday shopping season brings you to Castleton, be sure to give Yuki a shot.

Wishard Referendum

Well, here it is. Election Day 2009. Tomorrow approximately 10% of Marion County residents will take time out of their day to vote "yes" or "no" for the Wishard referendum. I wanted to offer up this post as an opportunity for any readers to share their stories from the polls if they do indeed make it out to vote. Of course, opinions on the referendum itself are welcome as well.

Update: Voting this morning was pretty unsexy. Comparisons to last year's election day crowds would be silly, but I wasn't quite expecting to be the only one there at 7a. One note of curiousity was that my polling place did not have electronic voting machines this time. Did anyone else find a lack of electronic voting machines where there were some last year?

Regional Unemployment Trends

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released state-by-state September 2009 unemployment rates, and the report contained quite a bit of good news for Indiana. First, the Hoosier state added more than 4,000 jobs in the past month - more than any other state in the country. What's more, Indiana is now clearly the regional leader when it comes to economic recovery from the current recession. Take a close look at this chart that tracks unemployment rates in Indiana and its neighboring states over the past eight months. Indiana now has a lower unemployment rate than any of its neighbors, and is the only one among the group that can claim to be at virtually the same unemployment rate it had in February.

Please note that I don't mean for my tone here to seem gleeful at the sight of our neighbors struggling. I was born in Detroit and grew up in Louisville, so I have a strong desire to see the entire region do well. What heartens me is to see the Hoosier State impressively making strides to rid itself of this down economy. It makes Indiana out to be a regional economic leader, and that's something I'm very proud to see.

Fountain Square - The Future is Just Around the Corner

Ladies and gentlemen, we have liftoff. Plans are moving forward for the iMOCA (Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art) to move into the second floor of a project at 719 Virginia Avenue. The new structure will also offer 56 market-rate apartments and 8,700 square feet of street-level commercial space. The initial plan was announced earlier this year, but now the iMOCA has officially signed a letter of intent to occupy the space. Technically, this news is nearly a month old, but I'm happy to admit my recent ignorance of this development so I can have a chance to publish my joy at this news. This is a huge, huge step forward for Fountain Square, for the south side of downtown, and for the city in general. The land this new construction will be placed on is adjacent to I-65/I-70 right between downtown and the heart of Fountain Square. Alongside the planned route of the Indy Cultural Trail, this new development will connect FS to the city instantly. The 56 market-rate apartments will be a boon to future business investment in the southeast corner of Indy's core. And of course, it it a big step forward for iMOCA, which should seize this opportunity to build on its brand, in turn building upon Fountain Square's arts-based image.

Thanks to the Urban Times for the scoop on this, as well for simply being a fantastic publication.

Indiana's Hidden Problem - Funding Unemployment Insurance

There are few subjects I lay claim to be an expert in, and the ins and outs of unemployment insurance is not one of them. Therefore, I'm not ashamed to admit that I had not until recently come to realize how big a hole Indiana is in when it comes to our funding of unemployment insurance. Here's the skinny - states run their unemployment insurance through trust funds. The amount in these trust funds rises and falls with the natural tendencies of the economy, but they're designed to be a way for states to basically save their resources for a rainy day. While the economic picture looked sunny, Indiana lowered its taxes and increased average individual benefits. Now, with the economy in a deep hole, we've had to borrow around a billion dollars from Washington, D.C. to keep our unemployment program going.

To quote this great article from ProPublica:

Consider Indiana, which has already borrowed more than $700 million to cover the negative balance in its trust fund account. In 2000, looking at a $1.6 billion surplus, the General Assembly lowered its tax rate and increased benefits; since then, the trust fund has been slowly bleeding.

"Even during good economic times it was still being systematically drained," said Marc Lotter, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "The current economic crisis did not create the problem, it exacerbated it."

To fill the hole, Indiana recently enacted a 35 percent tax increase on businesses, but the chief financial officer of the state's unemployment insurance system said even that will not be enough to repay the federal government in time to avoid penalties.

The federal government's stimulus package gave states extra time to pay off the loans. But by 2011, Washington will start charging states interest at a rate of about 5 percent, which must be repaid out of states' general budgets.

Unemployed workers in Indiana could take another hit. The original version of the state's bill would have reduced benefits, restricted eligibility and allowed some employers to opt out of the system altogether, making their workers ineligible for benefits. The provisions were taken out under pressure from organized labor, but business leaders have vowed to continue the fight to cut benefits.

Check out this chart, clearly showing that Indiana is among the states with the most red ink on this issue.

Paying 5 percent interest on a billion dollar loan is certainly not something to take lightly. Personally, I'm trying to wade through the waters of partisan talking points on the issue to figure out what I think we should be doing. Any thoughts on the matter?

Indiana's Revenue Shortfall

There has already been lots of press coverage today on Governor Daniels' press conference detailing how the state collected $254 million less in the first quarter of its fiscal year than had been forecast when legislators put together the new budget. I don't think there's anything I can really add at this point other than to link to a YouTube video of the press conference and also draw attention to the state's website that features all the details. I recommend clicking on that second link and taking a look at the September 2009 Fact Sheet and Charts. Pages 4 and 5 of the PDF file showcase how at least 35 states nationwide have decreased K-12 funding year-over-year in the face of this recession, and how 45 states have either raised taxes or proposed measures to do so. While this $254 million hole in the budget is certainly eyebrow-raising, it's important to remember how much Indiana currently benefits from our fiscal reserves. It's not political spin at this point, it's a life vest.

More Potential Redevelopment on the Central Canal

The IBJ is reporting that adjacent industrial properties on the Central Canal downtown - representing the largest remaining parcel left for redevelopment on the walkway - are being put up for sale. The Kirkbride Bible Company building at 335 West Ninth and the former home of Hokanson Cos. Inc. at 350 W. St. Clair entered the market this weekend, with new apartment/retail/commercial buildup as the most likely result. More details can be found in the IBJ article here.

Update on Carmel City Center

I went for an epic 40-mile bike trip this past weekend, and it took me to the center of Carmel for the first time in quite a while. I have to admit I was quite surprised by the progress made on the Carmel City Center project - in fact when I first saw it I admittedly had no idea what it was.

From the perspective of the Monon, just south of the project, here are pictures of the two portions of the City Center - the retail/hotel complex and the Arts Center.














For some sketches of how the finished product will look, check out this link.