Whether you are looking for an inexpensive and healthy way to entertain the kids or you want to keep yourself in shape, Emerson Heights has several top-notch parks and recreational trails nearby. So dust off the bike, get out the roller blades, find Fido’s leash, or lace up the walking shoes. It’s time to get out there and explore.

While most of us associate the Monon Trail (map) with Broad Ripple, the trail actually starts on 10th Street and Mass. Avenue near the Cottage Home neighborhood. Parking is available off Doorman Street and the adventurous can ride their bicycle all the way to Carmel. Or you can take the Monon trail to Broad Ripple, grab lunch, and then loop back along the Canal Towpath to the White River Trail, to the downtown Canal, and then back New York Street to your car. This path allows you to explore many different neighborhoods, parks and greenways.


It only takes seven minutes to get downtown from Emerson Heights by car, and soon it will be just as easy to get downtown by bicycle. The City of Indianapolis recently received a federal Transportation Enhancement grant to create bike paths along Michigan and New York Streets. The paths will go from White River Parkway on the west to Pleasant Run Parkway on the east. As part of the plan, there will be bicycle racks and BikePorts installed downtown. Bicycles can also be mounted on the front of an IndyGo bus if you decide to take the bus to a nearby stop and then bike the rest of the way.


If you are looking for a trail a little closer to home, there is the Pleasant Run Greenway and Trail (map), which is part of the Indy Park and Boulevard National Register Historic District. The trail starts in Ellenberger Park and goes southwest to Garfield Park. The Garfield Conservatory and Sunken Gardens make the park a destination worth seeing. The trail crosses near our neighborhood at Emerson and New York Streets. Ellenberger Park is just east of our neighborhood about half a mile on St. Clair Street. It is an easy walk, with Emerson Avenue being the only busy street to cross to get there.


In addition to being the trailhead for the Pleasant Run Trail, Ellenberger Park (map) has many facilities for family fun including a swimming pool, ice rink, tennis courts, play grounds, baseball diamonds and a 1.2 mile trail around the park. And even though it is not an official “Bark Park”, you are sure to meet lots of dogs that bring their owners out to the park in the evening. Ellenberger Park is also the location for some special events such as the recent Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert, sponsored by Community Hospitals Foundation, where approximately three thousand people enjoyed the music in an informal setting—many of them with a picnic basket.



A relatively new park and trail in the neighborhood is the Pogues Run Basin Trail and Art Park (map) near I-70 and Emerson Ave. The park is accessible by following Dequincy Street north of 21st street until it dead-ends at a trailhead. The 40-acre park is a flood control basin for Pogues Run and creates a wetland habitat. There is a 1.5-mile trail around the park. Future development of the trail will have it linking up through Brookside Park to the Monon Trail. Plans also include public art, some of which may be visible from I-70 to help create a landmark and a sense of place for the neighborhoods south of the interstate.



Another exciting future development is the Pennsy Trail. This trail is located just south of Washington Street (the Historic National Road) and sections are being developed now in Greenfield, and from Cumberland to Ritter Ave. Future development of the trail will link it with the Cultural Trail downtown. The Pennsy Trail is part of the National Road Heritage Trail that will be the first trail to traverse the state and is part of a larger statewide trail initiative announced by Governor Daniels in April of this year. Imagine being able to jump on the trail near our neighborhood and go downtown or pedal to all the way to Richmond or Terre Haute!





Intersecting many of these trails and park facilities is Emerson Avenue. The Emerson Avenue Corridor Gateway Project will extend from the I-70 interchange on the north to south of Washington Street and will create a sense of entry to neighborhoods south of I-70 on Emerson Avenue. One of the goals of the Emerson Avenue Corridor Gateway Project will be to make these trails and facilities easy to find and access. Besides being good for recreation and fitness, these trails and parks boost property values and promote economic development.


So whether you just want a quiet place to walk the dog or are looking for something much more adventurous and physically challenging, Emerson Heights has convenient access to some great parks and trails now, with more planned in the future.

In response to a request by the Emerson Heights Community Organization, the IPS School Board unanimously voted in their November, 2006 meeting to alter the IPS school boundaries so that children in the Emerson Heights neighborhood will attend neighborhood schools starting with the 2007-08 school year.

Specifically, children who live south of 10th street who attended grade school #11 (Edgar H. Evans) and school #43 (James Whitcomb Riley) will attend the elementary school in our neighborhood, school #58 (Ralph Waldo Emerson) located at Linwood Ave and New York Street beginning in the 2007-08 school year.

Also next year, middle and high-school students who live in the area between East 19th Street, North Bosart Avenue, East Michigan Street and Emerson Avenue, currently assigned to Forest Manor Middle School and Arsenal Technical High School, will be reassigned to Thomas Carr Howe Academy near Emerson Ave. and Washington Street.

The change in school boundaries gives families in Emerson Heights the option of choosing from a wide variety of high quality, neighborhood based schools including traditional IPS schools, IPS Option schools, Charter schools and Catholic schools. Previously, children in our neighborhood who attended traditional IPS schools were bussed several miles away. Some parents had elected to send their children to the neighborhood private schools or charter schools in order to keep their children in nearby schools. Those parents will now have the option of a high quality IPS neighborhood school within walking distance of many homes.

The change in school boundaries comes out of a larger EHCO initiative that recognizes the connection between good schools and good neighborhoods. The Good Schools, Good Neighborhood Initiative seeks to make both current residents and potential residents aware of the broad range of excellent schools that serve the Emerson Heights neighborhood and to work with education providers to make those choices as attractive as possible. This year, EHCO had several neighborhood meetings in which schools were discussed. Two of those meetings included members of the IPS School Board and our November meeting featured Dr. White as our guest speaker.

Neighborhood schools encourage greater parental participation, community involvement and pride. But not only is School 58 a neighborhood school, it also has excellent ISTEP test results. We greatly appreciate the IPS Board and Dr. White for being willing to have a dialogue with our neighborhood and being responsive to our requests. Also, a big thank-you to the EHCO leadership for making the meetings happen.

The Executive Committee for the Emerson Heights Community Organization distributed copies of proposed bylaws at the June meeting. The proposed bylaws are an attempt to document the organization as it is currently running and is proposed to replace outdated bylaws drafted in 1990. A discussion and possible vote of the bylaws will be held at the July meeting.

All residents are encouraged to attend this meeting to give input on the proposed bylaws. You can also e-mail any comments/input to emersonheights@aol.com.

Copies of both are available by clicking on the links below.

Old_Bylaws.pdf

Proposed_Bylaws.pdf

On the horizon for the eastside of Indianapolis is the long awaited Pennsy Greenways Trail which is in the final stages of design. Residents and businesses are hopeful that the trail will create an economic boon for the eastside community of Indianapolis. The proposed 5.5 mile multi-use trail will be a resource to both the transportation and recreation systems of the Indianapolis Area. It will connect with the planned Cumberland Pennsy Trail from German Church Road at the east border of Marion County, and with the Pleasant Run Trail linking eastside neighborhoods like Historic Irvington with Garfield Park and ultimately the White River.

The Pennsy Trail has aroused so much excitement on the eastside because of the example set by the Monon Trail. Greenways trails do many things to enhance a community.
"We anticipate the Pennsy Trail will be a tremendous catalyst for positive change along the corridor. Our greenways provide recreation and a greater sense of community to neighborhoods. They also spur the type of commercial and residential investment that strengthen a neighborhood," stated Peggy Boehm, the new Greenways Administrator for Indy Parks.

The Penn Central Rail corridor has had a variety of owners beginning with the completion of the rail line in 1853 under the Indiana Central Railroad. The corridor runs parallel to the existing Old National Road which most people recognize as Washington Street or U.S. 40. As the Pennsylvania Railroad expanded west to reach new development; it acquired the stretch of track between Indianapolis and Richmond in 1921. The corridor then became known as the "Pennsy". Shortly after the merger of the Pennsy with the New York Central Railroad in 1968, the Penn Central rail line claimed bankruptcy. In 1982, the Indiana Central line that contains Pennsy Trail was formally abandoned by the railroad companies.
Upon its completion, the Pennsy trail will be an instrumental piece in helping the state of Indiana fulfill their statewide initiative of having a recreational trail run from Illinois to Ohio.

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This past March, several neighbors on the eastside, realizing the need for a strong collaboration to represent neighborhoods within the boundaries of Emerson, East Washington, Linwood, and Michigan, came together to form the Bosart-Brown Community Organization (BBCO). The BBCO's focus is to bring together existing and newly formed block clubs within the boundaries as one collective voice and to encourage and assist in the establishment of more block clubs within the organization.

BBCO won't take the place of the individual block clubs but hopes to act as a forum for the learning and sharing of information and resources for block clubs within the organization.

Emerson Heights welcomes the Bosart-Brown Community Organization and we look forward to working with the new organization.

To learn more about the Bosart-Brown Community Organization, contact President Don Borden at 375-9755.

Historic Workshop and Books on urban design.

Tina has posted information about historic workshops taking place in Chicago and Kurt has posted information about two books of possible interest to neighborhood residents in our forum on Historic Preservation All Things Old Are New Again

One of the advantages of living near-downtown is that there is always something going on. Mary has posted information in the Forum about the Acoustic Open Stage on Wednesday nights at our very own Sports Bar and Kurt has posted information about Contra dancing at the Athenaeum on Tuesday nights. The first Friday of the month downtown art galleries are open for a tour.

If you are aware of other local venues for art, music, dance, etc., be sure to post it in the Forum under "The Coffee House".

Link to "the Coffee House".

Emerson Heights is part of the Near East Side Community Organization (NESCO), a coalition of more than a dozen active neighborhood associations who work collectively to address issues and challenges on Indianapolis’s east side. Since 1970 NESCO has provided a unified voice for the neighborhoods through its community policing, zoning, code compliance, and liquor license review committees. It has also brought neighbors together at special events such as the annual Feast of Lanterns celebration, its Happy Haunted Halloween party, and its popular pub crawls.

For much of its history NESCO has received significant funding from the city of Indianapolis, but in recent years that support has dwindled. In the most recent budget the city is offering $7,500 to help NESCO pay for the salary of a full-time coordinator for six months. NESCO must apply for the money and must match it with its own funds. NESCO is actively seeking revenue to pay for its portion and welcomes donations of any amount. If you’d like to help support this valuable community asset, contact George Hanlin, Emerson Heights’s NESCO representative, at 322-0866 or georgehanlin@yahoo.com.

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