Update on Indy – October 26: SmartIndy Hosts Mayor Ballard, Leadership in Action, and Building a Smarter Future
- Michael-Paul Hart
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Councilor Michael-Paul Hart
Working to Make Indianapolis the Smartest City in America
🗓️ District Updates & Upcoming Meetings
Completed HOA Meetings & Events (Sept - October)
Hidden Lake Estates HOA
Forrest Creek HOA
Woodsong HOA
If I haven’t attended your neighborhood meeting recently, please reach out. One challenge I face is that public records don’t always list the current HOA presidents. If you can help connect me or share contact information, it’s a big help in staying engaged and responsive.
🔍 Addressing Top District Issues:
Walmart (East Washington Street) I’m working to set a meeting to discuss safety and upkeep. If you’ve noticed specific issues; such as lighting, litter, or parking lot conditions—please send me a message. Your feedback guides our approach. This is a follow up from the cleanup behind the store.
Durga Properties / Washington Square Mall: I’ll be meeting with the property’s attorney next Tuesday, October 28. My focus remains accountability and a path toward meaningful redevelopment, not just patchwork fixes.
Knoll Ridge Apartments: Next week, I’ll meet with the Cumberland Town Manager and Council Members to discuss next steps for Knoll Ridge. This includes exploring a potential AARP grant available in January, an opportunity that could support senior-related community improvements. I’ll share details after that meeting.
🏠 Rethinking Housing: What Smart Solutions Could Look Like in Indy
My recent visit to 8Forty, a modular housing initiative, sparked a meaningful conversation about
What’s possible here in Indianapolis?
Imagine a city built to encourage creative, scalable housing; not slow it down. Across Marion County, we already have the right ingredients: thousands of churches with available land and utilities, builders ready to move fast, and nonprofits eager to invest in people-first housing. If each church hosted just two small units, we could house about 3,000 residents in supportive, neighborhood-based settings.
The bigger vision is a city conducive to innovation, where zoning, permitting, and infrastructure work together to make good ideas real. We can explore partnerships with BAGI to modernize ordinances, AES and Citizens Energy to lower hookup costs, and LISC or federal partners to expand funding options.
This is where SmartIndy comes in. Our team is exploring how to connect these efforts: builders, churches, utilities, and policymakers to create a coordinated model that truly works.
It’s not about one project; it’s about building an environment where smart housing can take root and every partner has a role in the solution. That’s how we move closer to making Indy the Smartest City in America.
🎟️ Join Us: SmartIndy Fundraiser with Mayor Greg Ballard
We’re hosting our next SmartIndy fundraiser with special guest Mayor Greg Ballard.
If you care about safer neighborhoods, smarter housing, and accountable local leadership, this is an evening you’ll want to be part of.
📍RSVP linkat SmartIndy.org
Every ticket supports community-led innovation and helps SmartIndy keep building momentum across Marion County.
🏛️ Fisher Phillips Report: Strengthening City Policy
Since August, I’ve served on the Follow-Up Working Group for the Sexual Harassment Investigative Committee.
Councilor Dan Boots invited me to help identify follow-up questions from the Fisher Phillips report and develop stronger city policies to ensure safe, respectful workplaces for all City employees.
Our bipartisan group of Councilors Boots, Bain, Nielson, Delaney, McCormick, and I has met weekly to move this forward. I want to commend Councilor Brianne Delaney and Councilor Boots for the extra hours they’ve dedicated to gathering input from departments and external experts.
Our next public discussion takes place October 28 during the Rules and Public Policy Committee meeting.The session is open to the public, and I encourage anyone interested to attend or share feedback directly with me.
After this phase, we’ll transition from research into policy drafting—ensuring Indianapolis leads by example with modern, proactive standards.
Thank you for reading and for supporting common‑sense leadership. Together, and with the community driving accountability, we are turning bold ideas into real‑world results.
Accountability, Transparency and Local Leadership
See you next week with more updates from the Neighborhood.
