(Joshua Hedges) Pro:

As the center of Crown Point, the Square is often a traffic heavy area that fails to even be a destination on its own. With cars coming to and from I-65, Main St. and 109th Ave., it is hard to even cross the street. It becomes even more trivial when considering that cars can turn right on red leading to situations where pedestrians are signaled to cross but are still flanked by on-coming traffic.

This is a problem for cars too. Patrons parking by a store or restaurant can find difficulties pulling back into traffic, and their fumbling in doing so further congests it. The route leading to the Square accentuates this problem as cars funnel onto these broader, faster roads that then build up traffic which can spill onto neighboring roads.

With the construction of Bulldog Park, I fear we may lose the unique scenery that once filled Oktoberfest, the farmers’ market and other events that have previously been held in the Square. Just like with Time Square in New York, we can reaffirm the Square as a plaza for the people and not the car.

(Grace Cappas) Con:

Imagine you’re going to the Square, but you have to park outside of it because it is fully a walking space. The same Square that has been part of our town’s community for over one hundred years, and has not changed since. It’s not just a space, it’s a staple where members of a community can feel whole and together– do we really want to change something that everyone already knows and loves?

Making the Square’s parking space fully walkable is a bad idea because it can be extremely dysfunctional to people with walking disabilities, could potentially back up traffic, and is a waste of space. In fact, most of the time, there’s not enough space to park, so what good would it do to get rid of what we have?

If we did make the parking lot walkable, we would have to find a new place to park hundreds of cars, which we don’t have the capacity to do. Having that much space might also bring up alternative problems, like riots, or unpeaceful protests or even fights. 

In its defense, having extra space would be nice for less cramped walking, but then again, when has the Square been so packed that it needs that much extra space, especially at the cost of blocking traffic and extending walks?

In the end, making the Square’s streets a walkable space is a bad idea because it’s incredibly inconvenient and could have multiple problematic outcomes.