Study Shows How Cultural Trail Will Pay Big Dividends to Indianapolis
by Brian Payne, President, Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF)
In early November, I attended the CEOs for Cities national meeting in Chicago, Ill. CEOs for Cities is a national organization that works with a cross-sector network of urban leaders to create next generation cities that excel in talent, connections, innovation and distinctiveness and are therefore able to best address the challenges of the day.
The meeting discussed the findings of a new study, City Dividends by Joe Cortright, an economist from Portland, Oregon, which “calculates the monetary gains the top 51 metros could realize if they increase their college attainment by one percentage point (The Talent Dividend), reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by one mile per person per day (The Green Dividend) and reduce the number of people in poverty (The Opportunity Dividend) by one percentage point.” (from www.ceosforcities.org)
The study reports that our metro area could gain an additional $1.3 billion by realizing the Talent Dividend; $305 million through the Green Dividend; and $138 million in one year from the Opportunity Dividend.
The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick addresses the Talent Dividend by helping attract and retain more highly educated, creative talent to Indianapolis who want to live in a more walkable urban, vibrant and connected place. It also helps address the Green Dividend by providing a safe and beautiful pathway for walking or biking that connects you directly to every major arts, cultural, heritage, sports, and entertainment venues and within a few blocks of the largest employers in the downtown area.
According to this study, one could deduce that the Cultural Trail will help Indianapolis realize and redirect an additional $1.6 Billion per year toward more positive economic development.
The Green Dividend requires walkable, sustainable cities. Yet, people need a reason to walk. They need to be conveniently connected to places and the journey needs to be interesting as well (i.e. other people need to be there, too). They also need to feel safe and comfortable walking (i.e. parallel parking can provide a comfortable buffer and provide a safer walking environment). The Cultural Trail provides the connectivity, safety and inspiring environment that will draw more people, creating a vibrant urban experience.
Another speaker and a renowned leading environmentalist with Serrafix, Douglas Foy said “Cities are for people, not for cars.” He offered five related key messages/strategies for cities:
1. Cities that are greener are inherently more efficient.
2. Cities that focus on pedestrians will have a competitive advantage.
3. Zoning of the past 100 years has been a huge mistake.
4. Cities must maintain transit systems and make them better.
5. Cities should use conjestion pricing tools and other incentives to get people out of cars, such as shared cars, shared bikes and shared parking.
Lastly, the meeting noted five characteristics of great cities:
1. Great neighborhoods
2. Urban density for effective transit
3. Not-for-profits leading and creating intellectual property
4. Water that is celebrated
5. Green energy
None of this is shocking or necessarily new information. However, it is helpful to show the monetary benefits associated with making incremental improvements, such as increasing our college educated population by ten percent or reducing our VMT by one mile per day. It’s also helpful to have outside sources giving us a very clear roadmap for success based on research, trends and examples.
Indianapolis is a great city that keeps getting better. We still have our work cut out for us to remain competitive for talented, highly educated employees and residents who can live anywhere in the world. This study is one more important source showing that the Cultural Trail offers very tangible and economic benefits that the City of Indianapolis will reap for decades to come.
Tags: bicycle-friendly, ceos for cities, green, Indianapolis Cultural Trail, mass transit, pedestrian-friendly, talent attraction, walkable urbanism
January 13th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Hello Brian, Gail and all the Cultural Trail staff! I was an intern for the Cultural Trail in the summer of 2007 and I just wanted to say that I am so thoroughly impressed with how the trail has progressed over the past several months. Kudos to everyone for putting this extraordinary vision into motion and creating something fresh and exciting in Indianapolis! I am eagerly anticipating the completion of the 2009 slated projects and can’t wait to see what the trail has in store as far as public art installments. I can’t say enough how wonderful I think the Cultural Trail will be for our city…congratulations on your accomplishment thus far!!