Laserfiche WebLink
area interspersed with several commercial strips and nodes and non - residential edges. <br />However, unlike the Southeast Neighborhood, Rum Village has not undergone the <br />same degree of decline and deterioration. The neighborhood boundaries are generally <br />considered to be the railroad tracks (north), Main Street (east), Olive Street (west), <br />and Ewing Avenue (south). The neighborhood is divided by State Road 23 (Prairie <br />Avenue) which runs on a diagonal from southwest to northeast across the <br />neighborhood. (See Map 13.) Sections of this corridor have developed into <br />commercial uses and residential uses have been converted to non - residential uses. <br />The residential street grid pattern is also interrupted by a large area of land in the <br />middle of the neighborhood (Donald, Swygart, Kemble, and Bruce) that is used by <br />the Army Reserve for its training center. Indiana Avenue, running east to west across <br />the north edge of the neighborhood, is another section of the neighborhood that <br />includes large areas of non - residential uses. Once a thriving neighborhood business <br />district, Indiana Avenue now contains many substandard buildings and marginal <br />commercial uses. As with many inner -city commercial strips and nodes, Indiana <br />Avenue has declined as the use of automobiles increased, shopping habits changed, <br />and competition grew on the city's urban edges. <br />At both the east and west ends of the neighborhood, non - residential land uses <br />have had a major negative impact on the residential sections of Rum Village. On the <br />east, between William and Michigan Streets, the area is dominated by small <br />manufacturing land uses and several scrap and salvage yards. Several rail lines <br />serving the former Studebaker complex and corridor between Michigan Street and <br />Franklin Street are still present. Rail line use is sporadic and several spur lines have <br />been abandoned. Nonetheless, the commercial and industrial areas remain on the <br />neighborhood's eastern edge and residential deterioration is evident. On the western <br />boundary of the neighborhood (which abuts the Rum Village Industrial Park), Olive <br />Street and its non - residential uses have intruded into the neighborhood along sections <br />of Indiana Avenue and Franklin Street. As a result, the residential areas of these <br />commercial corridors have deteriorated, particularly north of Indiana Avenue and <br />west of Franklin Street. The interior of the neighborhood has pockets of residential <br />deterioration, exhibiting itself in scattered areas in the form of small groupings of <br />homes. Although not significant in themselves, these pockets of deterioration affect <br />the entire sub -area. Also, several areas of the neighborhood have large parcels of <br />vacant land or numerous vacant lots interspersed among the housing stock. <br />Two other areas are worth noting in terms of redevelopment and revitalization <br />challenges: the section of the neighborhood located between the rail line on the north <br />and Indiana Avenue on the south contains a mix of vacant land, incompatible uses, <br />deteriorating residential structures and poor circulation and environmental conditions. <br />Portions of this narrow band should be redeveloped and the land use changed. This <br />will require careful delineation of this narrow band of land into redevelopment and <br />-35- <br />5/21/93 <br />