In this chapter excerpt from  “How America Can Bike and Grow Rich, the National Bicycle Greenway in Action” here is a bit about Ray Irvin and the impact he has had on this city:

Through Indy Greenways (IG), the infrastructure Ray built for people power through several different Mayoral administrations, caused a whole new Indianapolis to emerge. So much so, that it is now a nationally respected leader in the Greenway universe.

Under Ray’s watch, with also the help of Indiana University, he had been able to document the rise in property values of those homes located in close proximity to IG’s growing network of trails. This as the numbers of its users, even today, has not stopped growing. Many informal communities have also emerged in Indianapolis as people get out on to the IG pathways where they are no longer separated from one another by glass, plastic or metal.

Once a dying Rust Belt City, because of the still virile Indy Greenways that Ray has left behind, Indy has also witnessed a new vitality. It has become desirable to the class of people most American post industrial cities are just now realizing they need to attract in order to keep their economies growing. Called the Creative Class by noted author and economist, Richard Florida, this is the new generation of college graduates who work in high-tech businesses and knowledge intensive industries such as biotech, information technology and telecommunications. 

Do get a look at this chapter. It touches on how it was from Indy that America’s first coast to coast highway, the Lincoln, became a reality. You will also learn that how in their going forward we know some of its present day players and the work they continue to do  will play a key role in fleshing out the national greeway puzzle.