No. 2348 designating boundary changes to AEDA to add SEDA, LaSalle Square and Marycrest/Hurwich

Home Browse Search

that includes large areas of non-residential uses. Once a thriving neighborhood business district, h~diana Avenue now contains many substandard buildings and marginal commercial uses. As with many inner-city commerctal strips and nodes, Indiana Avenue has declined as the use of automobiles increased, shopping habits changed, and competition grew on the city's urban edges. At both the east and west ends of the neighborhood, non-residential land uses have had a major negative impact on the residential sections of Rum Village. On the east, between William and Michigan Streets, the area is dominated by small manufacturing land uses and several scrap and salvage yards. Several rail lines serving the former Studebaker complex and corridor between Michigan Street and Franklin Street are still present. Rail line use is sporadic and several spur lines have been abandoned. Nonetheless, the commercial and industrial areas remain on the neighborhood's easten~ edge and residential deterioration is evident. On the western boundary of the neighborhood (which abuts the Rum Village Industrial Park), Olive Street and its non- residential uses have intruded into the neighborhood along sections of Indiana Avenue and Franklin Street. As a result, the residential areas of these commercial corridors have deteriorated, particularly north of Indiana Avenue and west of Franklin Street. The interior of the neighborhood has pockets of residential deterioration, exhibiting itself in scattered areas in the form ol~small groupings of homes. Although nol significant in themselves, these pockets of deterioration affect the entire sub-area. Also, several areas of the neighborhood have large parcels of vacant land or numerous vacant lots interspersed among the housing sock. Two other areas are worth noting in teens of redevelopment and revitalisation challenges: the section of the neighborhood located between the rail line on the north and Indiana Avenue on the south contains a mix of vacant land, incompatible uses, deteriorating residential stnlctures and poor circulation and environmental conditions. Portions of this narrow band should be redeveloped and the land use changed. This will require careful delineation of this narrow band of land into economic development and redevelopment and revitalization sections. The second area of note is the intersection of Indiana Avenue and Prairie Avenue (S.R. 23). This intersection contains several large structures, including the former Oliver Elementary School, now a vacant, 80,000 square foot structure. This node and the Oliver School offer both a challenge and an opportunity. For planning purposes the Ruin Village Neighborhood sub-area has been divided into three (3) sectors (See Map 14): 1. The Indiana Avenue Commercial-Industrial sector; 2. The State Road 23-Indiana Avenue node; and, 3. The east and west residential sectors. hl approaching the development of the redevelopment strategy, several distinct differences are evident between the Southeast and Rum Village neighborhoods. Rum • nDDB01 47~6224v4 I)-2~'