Hamilton County Publisher

Hamilton County ought to congratulate itself after two events last week served as prime examples of a community coming together to solve its problems. Not the back-slapping, hand-shaking kind of congratulations, but the more subtle kind of introspective self-congratulation that comes from knowing that your community’s heart is in the right place.

The first is the amazing local response to Michael Treinen’s medical emergency. When his insurance ran out, his local community rallied and you couldn’t travel more than a few bocks in Noblesville last week without being reminded of the need. School kids took collections, his friends took to the streets, restaurants stepped up and his supporters used the awesome power of the internet to leverage their efforts. As of the week-end they had far surpassed their financial goal and the money was still rolling in. Michael will get his bone marrow transplant thanks to thousands of his neighbors he doesn’t even know but who care about him anyway.

The other event is the opening of Hamilton Centers’ new home for pregnant and parenting teens, a house on Clinton Street in Noblesville called Promising Futures. The home is the culmination of more than a year’s work by the dedicated staff at Hamilton Centers, and will offer a place for teen girls who find themselves in a situation they might not be prepared for. Teen pregnancy is an emotional issue but Hamilton Centers sets the emotions aside and provides help for these young people who find themselves in an overwhelming situation.

It’s hard not to be moved by the efforts of the Hamilton Centers staff and volunteers. This is the first social service organization I’ve been closely associated with and the past year has been an education. Like many charities, it’s a privately run organization, so is always seeking new ways to find funding. But, despite the constant need for fundraising, these people persevere just because they genuinely love to help other people. It’s a wonder to behold. Their pride was evident in Wednesday’s open house as they showed the new cribs, toys, furniture and fixtures donated by the community to help those who find themselves in a tough situation.

Of course, there is always more to be done. Michael Treinen and Hamilton County’s expectant teens are a little better off today because this community has been so generous, but there are always new needs and new crises to be fixed. We’ll get to those, but let’s take a moment to thank those who did their share to work toward these solutions and to be thankful we have people like that as neighbors.

We recently installed No Soliciting signs in our neighborhood (Noble West in Noblesville). They didn’t ask me, they just did it. I have a problem with those signs for a number of reasons.

1. Who do they mean? I’m not sure who we’re trying to keep out but I just had a girl scout who lives across the street sell me a couple of boxes of cookies yesterday. She’s a neighbor and I’m happy to have her stop by to solicit me. Perhaps we didn’t mean her. My son delivers and sells newspapers. Does it apply to him? Jehovah’s Witnesses stop in from time to time. They’re not selling anything other than the promise of redemption. Are they solicitors?

2. The signs don’t seem to deter salespeople anyway. I presume we’re trying to keep out door to door salespeople who sell magazines, cleaning products, etc. The signs just went up so we’ll have to see if they work but in the past I’ve noted that people ignore them. And, I’m not sure what happens to violators.

3. I don’t like what the signs say about us. They exclude people. At the entrance to our neighborhood we let people know that some people aren’t welcome here. I don’t like that. I prefer to welcome people to our neighborhood.

I understand what our neighborhood association is trying to do but I think its wrong-headed. We need more activity on our streets, not less. We need better communication, more interaction and more openness. Excluding some people, even if they are solicitors, works against that goal.

Hey, I know what it’s like to endure an unwelcome sales pitch from a solicitor. I’ve listened to my share. I’ve bought from some, rejected many more. But my background is sales and I have sold for many years. Door to door is the toughest way to sell. Often these people are doing it because they have no other skills or are earning their way through college or some other worthwhile endeavor. It’s never a career choice. But, this is capitalism at it most basic level and they’re learning valuable lessons (primarily that there are always harder ways to make a living than their current career choice). The least we can do is open our doors and give them five minutes of our time.

Finally, I was passing a Fishers business the other day (a housing developer) and noticed a large “No Soliciting” sign on the door. Talk about hypocrisy! This business wouldn’t exist if it couldn’t solicit business, yet the owners won’t permit others to solicit them. Someone famous once said: “Nothing happens until someone sells something.” It’s absolutely true: sales makes our economy go. It’s a great American tradition. Take down the signs!

Mike

Have you ever stepped into a public space like a school, a town square or a lobby and felt uncomfortable or out of place? Often you don’t even know why, but the space isn’t inviting, appealing or attractive. Usually that’s the result of poor design and it’s amazing how often it happens, especially in public projects.

A few weeks ago the Central Indiana Community Foundation sponsored a workshop presented by an organization called the Project for Public Spaces. It’s a non-profit based in New York City that spends its time and resources studying the use of public space and offering suggestions on how to use it better. That is, designing spaces that appeal to the senses and provide that elusive “sense of place” that so many communities are seeking these days.

Considering every Hamilton County community is in the process of either studying or building its public spaces, I thought the seminar would be worth a visit. It was inspiring. There are principles that cities and towns can follow to ensure that civic projects take the “people factor” into account when designing public spaces. The problem is that most projects are “engineered” for efficiency or traffic flow or safety rather than “designed” to appeal to the senses.

I know this may sound a little touchy-feely for some but it is critically important that we consider how people will use these spaces as Fishers designs its town center, as Westfield develops its downtown, as Sheridan works on Main Street and as Noblesville renovates the courthouse square. Because of the scale and expense of these public projects we end up living with the results for years. Hundreds of communities across the country paid the cost of urban renewal efforts in the sixties and seventies that resulted in empty storefronts, sterile shopping districts and the loss of hundreds of irreplaceable historic buildings in the name of “improvement” or “development” or “progress.”

We like to think we’re smarter than that now and the mistakes of urban renewal won’t be repeated. We have organizations and ordinances in place to protect us from our own best intentions. But we, as a community, must stay vigilant to make sure that our public spaces are designed to preserve or create that unique quality that makes them appealing to people, that keeps neighborhoods intact and retail spaces vibrant.

In an effort to help further the conversation we will run a series of reports over the next few weeks in the Noblesville Daily Times. The presenters at the seminar offered a book called The Great Neighborhood by Jay Walljasper. We have permission to run excerpts in our pages. I hope they prompt discussions, ideas, reactions and conversations as each of our towns and cities develop their public spaces. Some of the suggestions seem naïve (smile, wave, greet everyone), others very ambitious (Turn around your neighborhood business district) and others just plain obvious (work with City Hall). They are all just suggestions and we offer them to get the creative juices flowing. We’ll be encouraging online feedback so be sure to check the Noblesville Daily Times frequently to see how the conversation develops.

Hamilton County is already a very special place; that’s why most of us live here and we continue to move here in droves. To keep it special it’s important that we all step up and contribute our ideas and suggestions. Our kids and their kids will be living with the results of decisions that we will make over the next few years. Let’s make sure we speak up now to ensure we build it right the first time.