Neighborhood News – 4/16/13

April 16, 2013• cleanup, community, feast, indianapolis, meetings, near eastside, neighborhood, NESCO, news, volunteer, Weekly News• nescommunitybuilder

Great Indy Cleanups!

Saturday April 20, 2013 from 8/9am – noon there will be people wandering the streets of the Near Eastside. Not just wandering – oh no! – they will be picking up garbage and random items from the streets and alleys to clean up our neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods are doing contests, some are having refreshments, most will probably have coffee (a requirement in my book!). Check with your neighborhood association to see what your neighbors are planning for the Great Indy Cleanup. If you aren’t doing anything for this day – you can join another neighborhood or organization who is out there working on cleaning up our community. You can also just get outdoors and pick up trash, leaves, and other miscellaneous items right around your own block through the Every Litter Bit Program http://www.kibi.org/every_litter_bit_helps. Head on over to http://www.greatindycleanup.com for more information.

– Megan, Near Eastside Community Builder

Near Eastside Bike Dates

Near Eastside Bike Summit

Request for Proposals – ReEnergize East Washington Street Planning Assistance

Englewood Community Development Corporation, on behalf of
The East Washington Street Partnership
Request for Proposals – ReEnergize East Washington Street Planning Assistance
Issue Date: April 10, 2013
Due Date: April 24, 2013

Introduction
In 2011, The East Washington Street Vision Plan recommended that the revitalization of the
East Washington Street corridor would be best accomplished through the coordination and partnership
of three local neighborhood based community development corporations, each contributing their
unique assets and experience to promote and manage the corridor’s rebirth. Upon this
recommendation, Englewood Community Development Corporation (ECDC), Indy‐east Asset
Development (I‐AD) and Southeast Neighborhood Development (SEND) have agreed to a collaboration
known as the East Washington Street Partnership. In April 2012, Joe Bowling became the first Director of
the East Washington Street Partnership with current staffing responsibilities residing within Englewood
CDC.
The East Washington Street Partnership is guided and informed by the East Washington Street Vision
Plan (www.EastWashingtonStreet.org). The Vision Plan recommends land uses, density and massing
along the corridor, within five distinct station areas intended to ensure that future mass transit via
IndyConnect assists to drive East Washington Street revitalization.

Scope of Contract
ECDC and The East Washington Street Partnership are seeking to contract with an experienced
commercial planning and/or consulting firm(s) to assist in the creation of near term development
strategies and planning deliverables intended to best position East Washington Street for both
infrastructure reinvestment and catalytic project development over the next 5 to 7 years.
The selected firm will assist the East Washington Street Partnership in the development of a clear
strategy, along with planning and catalyst project deliverables, intended to transform key portions of
the East Washington Street corridor into thriving centers of commerce and community life within an
aggressive 5 to 7 year period.

The selected firm will assess and make specific recommendations and accompanying SMART goals, with
relevant deliverables, regarding the physical infrastructure within the selected focus node(s) utilizing a
“complete streets” approach that embraces both ecological sustainability and economic functionality.
Recommendations for catalytic project development will partner economic revitalization with
neighborhood revitalization in a manner that results in population and job growth, improves property
values and tax base, improves ecological quality, and promotes the transformation of corridor segments
into vibrant, transit‐supportive, mixed‐use urban areas.

A wealth of existing and current resources will assist the selected firm to ensure that this engagement
will be both expeditious and rooted in community values. These existing resources include:

The East Washington Street Vision Plan (www.EastWashingtonStreet.org).
The Near Eastside Quality of Life Plan
The South East Quality of Life Plan
IndyConnect Transit Plan, along with the MPO’s ongoing East‐West Alternatives Analysis.
The East Washington Street Business Inventory Analysis
The Southeast Industrial Parcels Analysis
Expansion of the Near Eastside Redevelopment Area – Conditions analysis conducted by the City
of Indianapolis in 2011 to successfully incorporate the East Washington Street corridor into the
existing redevelopment area.

It is anticipated that the selected firm will work to engage community stakeholders in at least one public
event in order to ensure that the project recommendations are grounded in community values and
consistent with community vision.

Timeframe
The selected firm(s) must have the ability to begin work on this project beginning in late April through
June 30, 2013. Due to funding restrictions, time is of the essence.

Selection Criteria
The selected firm(s) should have the following qualifications articulated in a submission:
Conformance to the specified RFP requirements.

Familiarity with applicable practices, procedures and industry standards for the type of work
involved.
Specialized experience and technical competence of the firm and subconsultants (including
individuals in the firm assigned to the project), considering the types of services required and
the complexity of the project.
Relevant comprehensive planning experience with projects involving both economic and
neighborhood revitalization.
Experience with transportation planning/design.
Experience working within relevant urban environments.
Experience working with the public sector.
Preference for experience working with projects that improve ecological quality and/or have
incorporated renewable energy.
Consultant’s expertise and ability to successfully communicate with clients, businesses and
neighborhood stakeholders.
Commitment to completing the work in a timely and professional manner

Requested information:
In no more than fifteen pages, please outline the qualifications of your firm as they relate to the scope
of services and selection criteria described above. In addition to the firm’s contact information, please
include the following information:

Experience your organization has providing these types of consulting services. (Examples to
include experience in comprehensive neighborhood planning.)
Experience working with community – based or non‐profit development organizations.
Qualifications and expertise of specific staff to provide services under this contract.
An outline of your fee structure. Fee structure should include an itemized list of hourly fees for the services listed above. (Important Note: Please feel free to suggest additional relevant deliverables that your firm would deliver that you feel would benefit this project).
Attachments of past work and references.

To be considered, responses must be received electronically no later than April 24, 2013. Contract
cannot exceed $25,000. Please send all submissions and refer questions to:

Joe Bowling, Director – East Washington Street Partnership
Englewood Community Development Corporation
57 N. Rural Street
Indianapolis, IN 46201
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (317) 496‐2662