The City of Carmel, Indiana is located just north of Indianapolis outside of the I-465 beltway. This city has come to a crossroads on which direction to head in, and they have choosen one that is often not by most communities.
They have decided to implement density, smart growth, and new urbanist principles into their future development/redevelopment goals. My friend and I traveled their over the last weekend and explored Carmel's downtown and a development called West Clay. We were amazed with what we found and inspired by what CAN happen with new development as opposed to what normally happens.
First off we found a condo development just outside of downtown Carmel:
Just down the street was some other new development...I guess its your typical auto-repair/oil change businesses:
Now downtown, there is a lot of infill development taking place with more to come:
Here are some of the existing bldgs (the first bldgs are a couple of years old):
Some dude going in for some cash (fake):
Some cool dude just hangin' with a local:
Now here is the West Clay development:
First off some of the single-family housing stock (notice no driveways and unique architecture). This development has trails, rear-loaded garages on alleyways, and has small lots/setbacks.
Here is the community center: with higher density, commercial uses, parks, and gathering places:
Well so long for now, I will treat you with some downtown Indy next. For more photos of Carmel check out my photobucket site for the entire collection:
http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e33/UncleRando/
I'll leave you with my favorite pic from the trip (already saw it):
Here are a couple other projects going on in Carmel, Indiana:
Anson
This is one of the first projects I know of that is trying to mix light industrial uses with residential space.
Gramercy: Project Info
City Council just approved this project to move forward (with resident opposition to the density)...it is supposed to imitate an early 20th century Manhattan.
City Center
Carmel City Center is the at the site of the picture with the large dirt area. The project is under way and foundations were being laid.