The Sunday Post - Dec 14, 2025: Traction Yards, Smart Housing Metrics, and Indy’s Next Move
- Michael-Paul Hart
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
A weekly report from Councilor Michael-Paul Hart — Building the Smartest City in America.
Volume 1, Issue 6
SmartIndy Housing and Homelessness Committee: What We Did and What’s Next
This week, we hosted the first SmartIndy Committee meeting focused on Housing and Homelessness.
The purpose is simple: build the Smartest City in America through community engagement and smart policy creation. Not talking points. Not vibes. Measurable progress.
Our first benchmark goal: Know where Indy stands
We are using the IMD Smart City Index as a real framework to measure how strong a city is, and where it is falling behind. The IMD model focuses on residents' lived experience and evaluates cities across key dimensions.
If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.
Results from Meeting #1
We appointed a chairman: Nick Morrison
We set a recurring schedule: Second Thursday of every month
We set our first deliverable: Establish a baseline measurement of Indy housing affordability, using a global smart city benchmark approach
What I need from you
If you care about housing affordability, homelessness, neighborhood stability, or public safety, I want you engaged. The smartest city does not get built by elected officials alone. It gets built when the community shows up, challenges assumptions, and helps shape solutions.
Holiday Fun with Smart Indy - Join Us - ITS FREE
A Big Downtown Signal: Circle Centre Becomes “Traction Yards”
This week, we got meaningful news about the future of downtown Indy.
Hendricks Commercial Properties announced “Traction Yards” as the new identity for the Circle Centre redevelopment. If you have followed their work at Bottleworks District and Ironworks, you already know they do not think small. They build places people actually want to spend time.
That matters. A lot.
What stood out to me is the direction: not an enclosed mall trying to survive, but a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood that includes housing, street-level activity, public space, and new reasons for people to be downtown beyond game day or convention week.
That is the kind of shift that helps cities win long-term. You do not “save” downtown with one project. You rebuild it by creating daily foot traffic, more residents, and safer, more active streets.
The Bigger Opportunity: Indy Needs a Mall Reinvention Playbook
Traction Yards is not just a downtown story. It is a signal of a national trend: the mall era is changing, and cities that plan early will win.
Here in Indy, we should be thinking bigger than one site:
Washington Square (a focus I talk about often, and will keep pushing)
Lafayette Square (huge potential, huge need)
Castleton (still surviving, but we should plan for the future)
Glendale (a transformation, but it has taken real time and persistence)
Look at how a site is being transformed in Maryland:
Here is the point: we need a citywide strategy for these legacy commercial properties across the metro.
As a leader on the Council, I am going to keep pressing for a practical plan that answers questions like:
What does “success” look like for each site?
What infrastructure is needed?
What zoning or policy barriers slow redevelopment down?
How do we attract the right developers while protecting neighborhoods?
This is smart growth. This is long-term thinking. This is how Indy becomes the Smartest City in America.
Winter Update: What to Expect Under Indy’s New Snow Policy
Track Plows in Real Time
We are heading into real winter weather, and this is a good moment to share a simple reminder.
A neighbor asked me a fair question: “Will plows reach my street?”
Snow Route Priorities
Indy uses a tiered approach:
Priority 1: Major thoroughfares
Priority 2: Connector streets and key routes
Priority 3: Residential streets (including many neighborhood streets)
When Streets Get Plowed
Priority 1 begins at 0 to 2 inches
Priority 2 begins at 2 inches
Priority 3 begins at 4 inches
Contractors and Residential Streets
When conditions warrant, DPW can activate contractors to help cover Priority 2 and Priority 3 routes.
Two key reminders:
Most residential areas should expect one reliable pass once Priority 3 deployment begins
Private streets (some HOAs) are not plowed by the City, so HOA-managed plowing still matters if you want guaranteed service
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Thank you for reading Indianapolis City Council Updates 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.
