Nearly 26 years later, Dennis Erpelding calls moving to downtown Indianapolis in 1998 the best decision he ever made.

“Downtown Indy’s still got its unique, vibrant, local area that’s really different than anywhere else in the world, which is why I just love downtown,” said Erpelding, a global food and trade policy consultant.

[Learn about the public transit history of downtown Indianapolis.]

That’s why he and a few residents got the idea to unite as the Downtown Neighbors’ Alliance. The idea spawned a few years ago, around the time downtown was navigating a series of challenges brought on by the stay-at-home order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and civil unrest and violence following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The resident-led membership group aims to provide a “unified voice” alongside the already well represented business community.

Earlier this year, Erpelding testified at the Statehouse on behalf of the alliance in support of a special funding district in the Mile Square. The law authorizing that district was set to be repealed by the Indiana General Assembly. After weeks of debate, lawmakers preserved the district with some modifications. If it’s established, money from the district will pay for additional cleaning crews, public safety measures and operating costs at a planned low-barrier homeless shelter in Fountain Square.

With the help of Downtown Indy, Inc, Erpelding and a handful of other residents have been working to formalize the group. Mirror Indy caught up with him about the alliance and its aspirations. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

After downtown COVID challenges, ‘we need to act’

Question: The alliance has been in the process of forming for three to four years. Is it safe to say COVID and downtown protests and civil unrest catalyzed the effort?

Answer: I would say, around COVID, we had something I call the downtown disturbances, if we put it in a nice way. 

I think as a whole, we have to recognize downtown’s very safe. People are very good. But unfortunately we had a few instigators, a few problem children, I’m gonna say for lack of better words. And unfortunately those very few can create a perception. And so I think that perception said we need to act. 

We’ve been very fortunate from a Downtown Neighbors’ Alliance standpoint. I look at my area near the upper canal. I’d say IMPD, the City-County Council, the mayor’s office, but I’d say very specifically IMPD and the City-County Council, have been fantastic. They’ve worked with us. They recognize the importance.

More recently, unfortunately, a few unique situations, some of the bars on South Meridian for a while were some of our problem children. So we started engaging, saying, ‘Look, we need a unified voice. We want businesses downtown, we want entertainment, we want restaurants, but we want to be good citizens in the process.’

Q: What would you say to people who say downtown is dangerous or dirty?

A: Let’s be candid. There’s a couple of things that happened downtown that are not acceptable. We need to eliminate those. But I think, over the last 25-plus years I’ve lived there, boy, the safety and amenities and livability of downtown is so much more exciting now. Yes, we still have a few things we need to address. But that’s why we need to be that voice of downtown residents: So we can work with the City-County Council, we can work with the mayor’s office, we could work with the police.

Unfortunately, if something happens downtown, it gets a lot of publicity because we are downtown. We have a lot of visitors and tourists, so a very nominal event can get a lot of publicity. So hopefully we can keep those in context.

Supporting funds for downtown resources

Q: The economic enhancement district was born during the 2023 legislative session. So how involved were you in that process? Or when did you get involved?

A: With the initial part, we weren’t as involved, but more when it was up for review, should it be existing and continue. We kind of looked at it as, let’s be realistic, many say it might be a tax. Well, sometimes taxes are good.

So I think when we saw that was going to potentially go away, we said, look, we need this as an opportunity for having resources available. And it’s designed to really have the community be the input, with some local leaders, about where those dollars go, so we thought the business model was right, from both the residential standpoint as well as the community standpoint. So we appreciate the fact that the state legislature is going to let it continue.

Q: During the legislative session, there were a lot of voices in favor of the district and a few voices that were not. What was it like as someone who is part of an organization speaking on behalf of residents? How did it feel to weigh in on that debate?

A: I kind of talked to my neighbors and other people that I’ve been associated with downtown to try and get a sense of where the community was. And I think people felt that, when we looked at the last few years, what we’ve gone through, we need to make sure we have resources and some flexibility. So for me, it’s actually great because the people I talked to were supportive of it. Yes, we’re always questioning, do you want another tax? Is there value in it? We felt this was one that has value in it. 

Q: Due to changes made during this year’s legislative session, homeowners are exempted from paying the tax, although they can opt in. What do you see yourself doing?

A: I will actually be one who will opt in. Living downtown near the canal, I’ve seen the importance of, say, having IMPD’s presence and profile. I’ve seen the importance of the b-link camera system that’s out there. I’ve also seen Downtown Indy, Inc. They have ambassadors, people who go out and make sure the downtown is clean. 

Those are types of things that these monies can go towards. I think there’s a high value as a resident, if I think about home values, I think about livability, I think about safety, those are contributing factors. So I would be one that would actually opt in proactively and encourage my neighbors and those in downtown to opt in. Because it’s our ability, our way of investing back in our community.

Hope for future growth

Q: Looking forward, what’s the future for your group? Are there goals that you’ve set for yourself?

A: We kind of got more or less formalized about a year or so ago. We’re really built around three core areas in the process. One is improvement and residential community/quality of life issues. So if we think about beautification, about amenities that are available to neighborhoods and things like that. 

The second one is to increase recognition of voice or advocacy, where we actually sit down — whether it’s a state legislature, the City-County Council, the mayor’s office — to make sure we’ve got a unified voice and a seat at the table.

Additionally, the third point then is really to inform and enlighten. So do we have an information sharing mechanism out there? At this stage, we’re actually operating under the umbrella of Downtown Indy, Inc. They’ve been kind enough to provide some staff and resources.

And then once we form, we’re thinking of forming task forces around the different areas. We’re going through that more formal organization, to get members, and we’ll get more working groups going forward.

Downtown residents who are interested in joining or learning more about the Downtown Neighbors’ Alliance can sign up here.

Mirror Indy reporter Emily Hopkins uses data to write stories about people. Contact them at 317-790-5268 or emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis.