Indy Rezone Heads To Council

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission approved a new citywide zoning code called Indy Rezone on Wednesday.

The last time the code was rewritten was in 1970, with the adoption of UniGov.  For the past four years, planners, committees and the public have had helped craft the draft.  The new code aims to make Indianapolis more livable and sustainable, now and in the future.

John Neal, senior planner with the Department of Metropolitan Development, said much of the focus has been placed on enhancing neighborhoods.

“We’ve addressed things like sidewalks, for new subdivisions we’ve addressed open space, construction and configuration of streets, connectivity to existing through-fares,” he said.

The code attempts to lay the groundwork for a better-built environment that directly impacts the people living in it.  It covers thousands of changes but some of the highlighted ordinances promote walkability, protection of water supplies, transit readiness, safety and mixed-use development.

New aspects of the code include a green factor that incentivizes low impact development techniques and a vacant provision allowing for more flexible reuse options of existing structures.

The new code is also simplified to make it easier to use with a completely different structure and format.

“It used to be if you were thinking about industrial you had to look in one part of the ordinance, if you were asking about downtown it was a seperate ordinance,” Neal explained. “Now everything will be in a single ordinance, we’ll have one source of definitions, one source of calculations.”

The draft now goes to the City County Council for consideration.

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Think You’re a Blogger?

If you think you’ve got what it takes to start an popular online blog, here are some reasons to get you started:

1. Blogs widen your connections

The “blogosphere” consists of millions around the globe. Once you start writing, you will notice people responding to your post, which will help you build connections and meaningful relationships. In fact, many business today use blogs for engagement not only with their business partners, but also with their customers.

The blogosphere is a segmented global community, different not only its type of contents, but also in how people think and how it is delivered to the public. Through this function, blog gathers people together with one basic goal, which is to “connect.”

Connecting to people is essential and blog as highly interactive platform allows you to utilize this function. As you widen your readership, the more possible it is for you establish meaningful professional relationships with people.

Unlike other social media platforms, blogs are more sophisticated in a way that it gears towards a more meaningful goal than by just posting whatever you want on the internet. It creates character, which you may also want to take care of as you gain online connections.

These online connections can lead into a more meaningful goal whether you blogging to propel your career, business or perhaps your relationships with people. It provides opportunities to gain insights, information or even prospect clients if you have a business.

2. Blogs help you develop an eye for meaningful things

Although it has been stated that blogging is a free art form, the need to filter your contents may be of a personal necessity as soon as you dive into the blogging community. Your readers will encourage you to do better with your writing and content as they start commenting on your posts and ideas.

Blogs does not simply ask you to pour out whatever you want to write about, it always has to be meaningful and useful to other people. It is a never-ending process of learning and it requires dedication to be a better blogger.

Through this process, you will develop an “eye” for meaningful things—let it be about your perspective in life, your art, or your personal hobby.

3. Blogging is a healthy habit

Blogging is healthy in a sense that it creates a healthy habit and lifestyle because it practices time management, commitment, and the responsibility to do best with your craft. These are some the greatest qualities one has to embrace when blogging.

It is healthy because it allows you to free your mind by pouring out your emotions through writing, which is considered by many as therapeutic art form. Writing through blogs is like writing through journals. It can help you pour out your deepest emotions—whether it is personal or just a public opinion.

4. Blogs keep you active and updated

As a form of mass communication, blogging delivers information in the most updated manner. Blog posts have become an ideal source of news and information in wide array of topics that may be related to your field and expertise.

5. Blogs are free and lucrative

Blogs are free and many people today make money through blogs. With the use of online adverts, your blog may earn as much as hundred dollars in a week as soon as it increases in readership. In fact, many professional bloggers today earn as much as thousands of dollars a week just to post articles. They are paid to blog, and it is nice to have a hobby that pays you back.

6. Blogs inspire people

With your posts, blogging not only helps you be inspired with your craft. Rather, you can give back by inspiring others. Blogging may be life-changing experience to your readers, which many professional are experiencing today.

No matter what topic you plan to post, these things may be very useful and inspiring causing other people to do better in their lives, careers, or their business. It gives you a wonderful feeling knowing that you have made a change in the lives of others.

7. Blogs are fun and creative

Blogging, contrary to popular belief, is not all about writing. Many bloggers post contents because it is fun and creative. Perhaps, as someone who may be a fan of a particular singer or if you love cooking and you want to share it to people, one of best platforms for sharing your passion it through blogs.

Many of today’s most popular and influential bloggers started with their passion about a particular topic. Blog does not need you to be an expert about a certain topic. Rather, it just lets you speak your mind and by being creative on how you post your contents.

Blog sites cater on different multimedia platforms where you can post photos and videos of yourself or other people. It develops your creativity on how you want to design your blog and of how you plan to deliver your contents to readers or viewers.

Another good thing about blogs is that it is now a part of social media. Through different online tools, your blog and other social networking accounts such as facebook and twitter can be interconnected, allowing people to appreciate your passion and your work of art.

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