Too often I find myself muttering the phrase, “Oh, Indy.” I find that phrase comparable to something you’d say to that little sibling when they do something perplexingly stupid. While I don’t necessarily adore this city I don’t quite hate it either, in fact it’s slowly growing on me. There are times which I can see hope and revitalization in the city and other times I find myself hanging my head in my hands with embarrassment. The We Are City Summit was not one of those hang your head moment. It was a “wait a minute,” Indy might actually have it going on moment.
We are City is a collective group of people interested in improving the city they call Indianapolis. It’s a group of innovative people from a broad variety of spectrums coming together to talk and exchange ideas about what they want their city to be. While We are City, like any organization, isn’t perfect, they at least are trying to take a stab at making it better.
Each year they hold a summit and bring together a conglomerate of speakers from various parts of the country. Yesterday marked the third We Are City Summit and my first We Are City experience. While my interests obviously lie in sustainable food systems and how to make local produce available for all residents I couldn’t help but find myself taking interest in all the eclectic speakers. I’ve included the speakers from yesterday and encourage you to peruse through the various bios and their respective organizations. Who knows you might become interested in anything from house music in TX to the artist commune in NY to culturally appropriate city planning.
- Michael Seman (Denton Music Scene / Dallas, TX)
- Susannah Drake (dlandstudio / New York, NY)
- Imhotep Adisa (KI EcoCenter / Indianapolis, IN)
- Kunal Gupta (Baby Castles, Loud Objects, Silent Barn / Brooklyn, NY)
- Kt Andresky (The Yes Farm / Detroit, MI)
- Justin Moore (Department of City Planning, Urban Patch, Columbia University / New York, NY)
- Brian Staresnick (RATIO, URBNDSGN / Indianapolis, IN)
- Sara Zewde (Asakura Robinson Company / Houston TX)
- Adam Thies (Department of Metropolitan Development / Indianapolis IN)
P.S. I know this post is not directly correlated with the title of the blog but I think it’s important to keep in mind how all aspect of city development and planning can work together to build up and empower its residents and I think food is a strong contributor.