Indy's Unique Plan to Leverage the Super Bowl

As Super Bowl week comes to a close, Emily Badger reports on the host city's efforts to use the event as a catalyst for substantive change throughout the city.

1 minute read

February 2, 2012, 1:00 PM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


As Badger reports, despite the recession, Indianapolis has taken a much more expansive approach to leveraging its role as host of the Super Bowl than most former host cities.

"Thanks at least in part to the Super Bowl, people in Indianapolis will wake up to the football off-season next week with a newly expanded convention center, a new central civic space, a newly revitalized low-income neighborhood, even a new downtown skyline."

And not all of the development associate with the Super Bowl is located in close proximity to the event. "Indianapolis took that million-dollar Youth Education Town investment from the NFL and used it to help leverage the revitalization of the entire Near Eastside neighborhood. In all, nearly $150 million is being invested into the area, a high-crime, high-foreclosure community marked by cottage-style worker homes for residents who would have in the past gone to factory jobs that no longer exist."

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 in The Atlantic Cities

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

A pencil rendering of Foundry Park, which shows skyscrapers and public green spaces.

Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment

The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.

October 23, 2026 - Chicago Sun Times

A rendering of a high speed rain station in California, with wide platforms and a sleep train with yellow highlights.

California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal

Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.

October 30 - Cal Matters

 A bridge stretches across the Missouri River at Chamberlain, South Dakota.

Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states

Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.

October 30 - South Dakota Searchlight

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30 - Yale Environment 360