It has been a while since the Indianapolis Star had a front-page story about Fishers, but I was a bit surprised at the lead in John Tuohy’s piece in the November 27th edition. The lead to the story wasn’t about city finances or economic development. It was about “fun.” Yes, “fun.” Here are the first four sentences:
First, the Fair Train was grounded. Then, the Freedom Fest was skedaddled. Finally, a plan for a skating rink was put on ice.
Has Fishers become a fun-free zone?
What is interesting about reporter Tuohy’s story is that I asked Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness a question similar to what the Star is addressing nearly two years ago in my first full podcast – many long-time Fishers residents complain about the rapid changes in the community, and I asked the mayor how he answers those people.
His answer was simple – cities are either moving forward or backward. Fadness believes just keeping things the way they are is not an option. Given those two choices, the mayor opts to keep moving the city forward.
You can listen to the entire podcast at this link.
Tuohy’s piece explores the fact that Fishers may have lost some “fun” things we have enjoyed in the past, but the city is replacing most of them with something else. You can argue about whether the new amenities are better than the old, but change is coming – the only question is how things will be changing.
When the Fishers Freedom Festival Board of Directors issued the news release announcing it will no longer host the annual summer event, the mayor took exception to the assertion that the “festival partnership does not fall within their city’s vision.” The mayor was emphatic with me that festivals are within his vision and that the city will continue a summer festival, which Mr. Tuohy’s article does address.
I have never found a measurement of fun for a community that makes any sense. When I moved to Fishers in 1991, the Town of Fishers was one kind of place, a quiet suburb of about 10,000 people. The City of Fishers is a much different place with a population of nearly 90,000. I suppose fun for a small town and a growing city are two different things.
When I began the LarryInFishers.com news blog nearly 6 years ago, I did so because news outlets like the Star were paying only occasional attention to our community. The Star is paying more attention to Fishers now, but if you want more updates on the fun measurement, you will have to go to the Star for that story. I still don’t know how to measure fun.
To read John Touhy’s full story, use this link.