Robert Pence

Overall not too bad! An abundance of impressive masonry buildings, and although some need love, for the most part they look good. Nice-looking downtown.

Neat shots!

Regarding restaurants in Fort Wayne, there's a local family-owned chain (Hall's) that's very good; quality food, nice atmosphere and good service. They have a few establishments, mostly suburban, and some convenient to I-69. Hall's Tavern at Coventry, off I-69 at Exit 102, is a good bet for an enjoyable meal. Downtown there are Toscani's, a pleasant place with classy ambiance, good food and service and reasonable prices, and just across the street is JK O'Donnell's, an Irish pub that's new and very popular. Both are downtown on Wayne Street between Calhoun and Harrison. I'm partial to Henry's, a longtime neighborhood tavern on Main Street just east of Broadway. It's only a few blocks from my house, and I can always get home safely from there so long as no one steps on my hand. The Lake Michigan shoreline for the most part is pretty nice. Michigan City's Washington Park has a nice beach. Just to the west of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore there's a large steel mill complex, but the state park and the national lakeshore have miles of beautiful clean sand beaches. The state park beach is a very walkable mile or so from the Dune Park South Shore station. I have photos somewhere that I'll have to dig up. The power plant is coal fired, not nuclear. It's owned by NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company). The plant uses scrubbers and other emissions-control technology, and there's no soot fallout or cinders on the beaches from it. Coal for the power plant is a major revenue source for South Shore Freight, the freight railroad that shares its tracks with the commuter trains. Generally they move unit trains of coal hoppers late at night after the commuter trains are all in the yards. I remember when the Pullman works burned. The original mall plans called for reuse of the Pullman buildings, but an arsonist torched them after the proposal was announced. I haven't been to Lighthouse Place in years, but as I recall one of the original Pullman brick buildings survives amid the ticky-tacky construction that makes up the rest of the mall. I'm not familiar with the model railroading club.

Very interesting. Variety from grit and ruin to delicious charm.

Michigan City and Its South Shore Trains Could South Shore Street Running Become An Asset? It's easy to see that Michigan City is in distress. The one-time vital downtown has many vacancies, little quality retail of general interest, and little pedestrian activity. Urban decay erodes the tax base, and declining property tax revenue contributes to deteriorating infrastructure, which contributes to further urban decay. Workers from the Chicago area seek enjoyable living arrangements outside Chicago's urban core, and their pursuit of those desires has created growth and stronger property values in some Northwest Indiana communities. Lately there's been discussion of providing commuter rail service to Valparaiso, and there appears to be sufficient demand to justify the investment. The main impediment to realizing that service is lack of available funds. Michigan City already has commuter rail service connecting it with Chicago, and the South Shore's on-time performance is generally reliable because its trains do not have to contend with a host railroad's freight trains for access to the right of way, an issue that is becoming increasingly problematic on some commuter rail systems. Good maintenance and capital investment in station improvements, catenary upgrades and butt-welding of rail are steadily improving the commuter experience. To resolve capacity shortfalls the railroad has ordered 14 new Sumitomo bi-level gallery cars, with the first slated for delivery in November 2008. Michigan City has amenities that can be built upon to restore the community's prestige and vitality. Washington Park, with its good beach and landmark lighthouse, is a short walk from 11th and Franklin and a pleasant escape from the glass and steel and concrete of urban centers; Lighthouse Place is a retail shopping destination for many people; and the Indiana Dunes with their trails, campgrounds and beautiful beaches are only a few minutes away by car, somewhat longer by bicycle on the Calumet Trail. I've read about proposals for relocating the South Shore tracks from 11th Street to a route farther south, parallel to the CSX tracks. Relocating the line would improve train performance, reduce maintenance costs, and make available more space for commuter parking. There's no doubt that all those advantages are real. Before taking an expensive action that challenges what remains of downtown, though, the South Shore management and community leaders should explore options that can build synergy between the valuable transportation resource that already exists, and a downtown in need of resuscitation. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) has gained widespread favor among urban planners both in creating new communities and in bringing life back to existing ones. Generally the concept involves a commuter transportation center, usually rail, surrounded by residential, commercial and mixed-use development clustered within a ten-minute walk (half mile). The relationship of downtown Michigan City and the existing South Shore route is ideally suited for TOD. Rather than moving the tracks from 11th Street, consider this: Many of the properties along 11th Street are in poor condition and most do not have a pressing need for curbside access. 11th Street isn't a significant arterial street for auto and truck traffic, either. I propose providing access to street-frontage properties via reconstructed, or where needed, newly-created east-west alleys. Many street crossings on 11th Street can be eliminated, leaving every third or fourth cross-street open. The rail infrastructure can be exhumed from beneath the asphalt and reconstructed using conventional ballast and cross-tie technology and given one or more passing sidings or possibly double-tracked at least part of the way to eliminate delays when eastbound and westbound trains meet at Michigan City. Protecting the right of way with fencing and protecting the remaining cross streets with gates and flashers will allow increased train speeds with improved safety for motorists, train crews and passengers. Enough street ROW can be left on either side of the tracks to provide access for emergency vehicles, light local traffic and bicyclists. Utility infrastructure should be rebuilt concurrently with the street and railroad reconstruction, to make the area more attractive for development. Downtown has vacant and underutilized buildings that might be restored to commercial and residential use appropriate to Transit Oriented Development. Some have been defaced with 1970s modifications, but if they're structurally sound, they could be made into attractive properties once more. The Warren Building is pretty much architecturally intact, and it's large and of an attractive design. I can visualize it as lofts/condos, with ground-floor retail. I can't testify as to its current structural/mechanical condition. The big churches appear well cared for, and they've probably been a stabilizing influence in downtown. Visually they contribute quite a lot. The downtown is fairly clean and free of tagging and other vandalism, and many buildings, though vacant, appear to be in fair-to-good condition. I like to imagine Franklin as an attractive streetscape that people want to be part of, with restored heritage buildings and appropriate infill. The South Shore trains in their present location can be an important part of making it happen.

Wonderful photos! Philadelphia is so amazing.

Not bad at all. Interesting courthouse dome, but it doesn't fit the building very well in both style and scale.

Indeed I do. The "Take Back Vermont" sign was in protest of Vermont's legalizing same-sex unions. Some of the indigenous population saw that as symbolic of takeover of their turf by urban liberal outsiders. I saw those signs when I was there in 2000.

A few nice buildings here and there, but a heck of a letdown after Medina.

Good coverage. I'm too upset by it all, to think of anything else to say right now.

Good Grief! I had no idea! That's one heck of a delightful town, and the old courthouse is a real gem. What keeps Medina so lively and prosperous-looking?

Neat shot. I recognized generally what it was right away (Center Street Bridge with Detroit-Superior (Veterans Memorial) towering overhead, but it took me a minute to figure out that the flood lighted part at bottom is the pivot machinery beneath the Center Street Bridge. The unusual juxtaposition of those two bridges provides quite a few interesting compositions.

Nice hike & photos!

Designed by Yost & Packard (Frank Packard). There's a nice web site devoted to the history here

One of my favorite mall alterations:

So pretty, it hurts my eyes!

Dramatic!

Beautiful, healthy-looking downtown and a wonderful courthouse. Wood County is an Ohio pioneer in wind power. At the Wood County landfill on US 6 are four 1.8-megawatt turbines that stand 391 feet tall to the top of the rotor's arc. IIRC you can see these towering beauties from about four miles away, approaching from the West.

Nice work! Looks like it's worth a visit.

Excellent! I love the massive intricacy of the bridge ironwork in the tele shot.

Nice shot. I like the pastels in the sky, and the hint of detail in the foreground.

Chicago, so far as I can tell; the Blue Island branch diverges south of Kensington/115th Street and heads southwest for quite a ways. On the map it appears to terminate at the Rock Island District line to Joliet. The South Chicago branch is shorter and diverges from the elevated Metra Electric main somewhere between 63rd and 75th, via a cut in the center of the embankment where the tracks drop down to grade and turn eastward. The line runs southeast from there and terminates at 93rd Street, very near where the Calumet River enters Lake Michigan. It's electrified; where the line crosses Stoney Island I've seen the catenary and the Metra bilevel electrics. There's a platform in the middle of the cross street, as I recall, at the intersection on the west side of Stony Island.

Another reason to bring back passenger trains. Picture alighting from your Pullman and beckoning for a red-capped porter who loads your bags onto his cart and wheels them to your limo waiting at curbside, or better yet, has them delivered directly to your hotel. Such elegance. Air travel has become such a Philistine experience in many respects, not least of which is the proliferation of such coarse-looking luggage. All that plastic and synthetic fabric! I wouldn't think of taking my leather suitcases when flying, for fear the barbarians will damage them even more than they already have. :-(

Unless you're in a big hurry and/or on an expense account, an hour on the Blue Line for $2 still compares favorably with cab fare. It's been more than 10 years since I took a cab from O'Hare, but it seems to me it was around $20 then. I have no idea what it costs now, but I'll bet it's a bunch. Suitcase? :? For some reason, I always pictured at least two steamer trunks. :wink:

Very nice! It looks better-preserved, healthier and more prosperous than many small towns.