Indiana's Akron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great photos INK! Fort Wayne is a great city. I've been going there since I was kid, my mom's side of the family is all from there. The Komets are my favorite minor league hockey team and their downtown is really on the upswing.

 

Only thing I don't like about Ft. Wayne is the new baseball name. I grew up with the "Wizards." The Tin Caps name is just dumb, or as many locals refer to the team.... "The Pot Heads."

Great shots!

Hmmm. Looks familiar.

 

Things are looking a bit better, now. The Courtyards by Marriott is nearing completion, Calhoun streetscaping is complete and looks good, and the scaffolding is off the courthouse.

 

There was a lot of griping about the Tin Caps' name at the start, but I think most people have gotten used to it now. People thought "Wizards" was stupid/silly when it was first announced, too, and all the naysayers said no one would go to a ballpark downtown. All attendance records have been broken since the move. Say the word, "change" about anything in Fort Wayne, and people's eyes get wide and they start to hyperventilate, but they get used to it and everything's OK after a short time.

^We were here before they were.  They are trying to be us! :D

 

Just an FYI, Fort Wayne and South Bend's CSA is around 570,000ish each.  Evansville isn't a slouch either around 350,000.  Indiana has a ton of micropolitan areas as well but it makes sense being towards a much more populated region of the country than, say, a Missouri or Iowa.

'the region' (NW Indiana/suburban/exurban Chi/Gary) as its called here in Indiana is officially the 2nd largest population center in Indiana.  I do believe anyway.  Sure, it is considered suburban Chicago I suppose, but I believe there's over 700,000 people in 'the region'. 

watch out -- ink is muscle'n in on rob's territory!  :laugh:

 

nice job, there is a great sunny and summery feel on this thread. i really love the newish ballpark.

 

Looks like downtown Ft Wayne has a nice mix of architecture from quite a few eras.

Meh, urbanized doesn't really show the market size nor "impotance" of a city, though one could argue "feel."  I think using CSA in this case is appropriate for Fort Wayne's stature in Indiana.

I always thought downtown Fort Wayne was a good model for Dayton since they cleared out so much of the old junk, and also put in a lot of landscaping to fill some of the empty spaces (like the park in front of the courthouse, and the conservatory near the convention center).

 

So what's left is actually in good shape and apparently economically viable.  I'd bet downtown Ft Wayne has a lower vacancy rate than Dayton.