Walnut Street
Take a look at this
article from the Ball State Daily News. This is very good news. I live very close to downtown (Riverside and Wheeling) but a lot of my friends live closer to the village. Now I can convince them to go out to the downtown bar “village” for a change. I have told them before that Walnut street downtown is not very far away from the east and south student neighborhoods. It is the mental block presented by the White river that keeps students from walking I think. That’s the kind of stuff they teach us in the Urban Planning program. There needs to be some kind of connection (like the late trolley) to make pedestrians feel safe if they travel. From my house I can walk down Wheeling along the new walkway and across the bridge, but downtown feel considerably less comfortable. The first thing that happens is the road curves and splits around the police complex. The large windowless building is not a welcoming sight for pedestrians. If you skip to the east one block and pass the bail bond stores, you can enter the block of Walnut with the colorful and historic buildings. This is a much more inviting atmosphere.
There has been a problem with getting students to come downtown for a while, and this mental block is a huge part of it.
Be awesome to each other… and hit the street on foot. I promise you will see something you cannot see by car. Also look at the website for Muncie Downton http://www.munciedowntown.com/
-Tim
