Smith: For a city this big, Downtown is safe 7.10.11

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Dear Mr. Tully,

Let me tell you a story.

On my first trip to Indianapolis, actually to Indiana, I flew in and dropped my bags at a Downtown hotel a little after 10 on a Tuesday night. I wanted to do some exploring, knowing that the city could be my future home if I took a job at The Indianapolis Star. But experience had taught me that exploring any city in the Midwest, on foot, at night was usually a bad idea.

So I wandered over to the concierge and asked skeptically: "Is it safe to walk around?"

He laughed and said, "Oh, yeah! It's very safe!"

That was six years ago.

Since then, I've not only taken a job Downtown, but like a growing number of people, young and old, I've decided to move into an apartment Downtown.

I ride my bike Downtown. I do my grocery shopping Downtown. I hang out in Downtown bars and coffee shops at odd hours of the night.

Not once have I ever feared for my safety. And I can't say I've met many people who live or work Downtown who say they have, either.

Maybe it's that my definition of "safe" is different from yours. Or maybe it's that the type of environment I expect out of Downtown is different from what you expect.

To me, living in and venturing into the urban core of any city means accepting a certain amount of chaos.

I expect to see lots of people milling about at all hours of the day and night.

I expect to see and meet people who don't look or sound like me.

I expect to dodge messengers on bikes, executives texting on smartphones, mothers pushing strollers and noisy IndyGo buses. I expect to roll my eyes at pushy guys who use lame pick-up lines and wince at the smell of hot dogs wafting from food carts on Monument Circle.

This is the cool, harmless chaos of a city.

And yet, Indianapolis has more.

We have a canal where people jog and read. We have outdoor concerts, museums within walking distance and parades that attract thousands. Plus, people Downtown are actually friendly -- something that, believe me, is a rarity. We say "Hello" to one another on the sidewalk. We say "Excuse me."

Perhaps it is this prevailing Hoosier hospitality, this feeling of living in a small town, that leads some to believe that Indianapolis is -- or should somehow be -- exempt from the crime and ugliness of any other city.

We're not. We're the 11th-largest city in the United States.

There always will be people who get mugged here.

There always will be people who get pickpocketed.

There always will be a homeless person harassing somebody for money.

There always will be people shouting curse words at the top of their lungs.

There always will be people who get shot.

There always will be people who get stabbed.

This isn't necessarily something to celebrate. But it is part of living in a city.

That said, I'm as dismayed as you are about the recent rash of shootings, muggings and fistfights along the canal.

The fact that a 21-year-old tourist was robbed at knifepoint by three teens on bikes is just ridiculous.
But it happens. It happens everywhere tourists go. And it's going to happen as Indianapolis continues to grow and attract more out-of-towners.

This doesn't mean public safety shouldn't be a priority Downtown. It most certainly should.
To me, though, the question isn't whether Downtown is "safe."

No city, especially one the size of Indianapolis, will ever be completely safe, as in free of crime.
The questions Hoosiers need to worry about are whether Downtown feels safe enough for the people who live and visit here. And, more important, whether it feels safer than the downtowns of other cities our size.

Considering all the tourists and residents I saw wandering around Downtown the other night, I'd say the answer to both is yes.

Contact Star columnist Erika D. Smith at (317) 444-6424, erika.smith@indystar.com, on Facebook or on Twitter: @indystar_erika.

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