Mr. Goldsmith is one of the pioneers of privatization. If your city's trash is collected by private industry you probably have Goldsmith to thank for it. He is also the man responsible for almost single handedly lifting downtown Indianapolis up from the squalor it was in and bringing it up to a level where respectable people like myself feel welcome. He did this by building a very attractive mall and selling space to several upscale retailers. Then he cleaned up the streets, put more cops on patrol, and generally beautified the entire area. Now instead of homeless people sleeping over heating grates we have nice brick sidewalks that run alongside department store window displays that rival those of New York or Chicago. The revitalization of the area also attracted many fine eateries, we have a Ruth's Chris, two decent brewpubs, a top notch Japanese restaurant called Mikado...the list goes on.

Mayor Goldsmith is no longer in office but it appears that the momentum he got started is still steamrolling ahead on a slightly smaller scale. I went back to the old neighborhood, Fountain Square, today to visit some friends. Upon finding their new pad (two guys I went to school with are renting half a double) I found them both, recently awakened although it was past 10am, playing games on their X-Box. We talked about old times and caught up on each other's lives. Seems that they have both been bouncing from job to job as of late, they currently share a vehicle (which was OK because my Denali could carry all three of us), and neither one of them had much 'traveling money' to spend today. I had originally planned for the three of us to have lunch at the Palomino (a semi-pricey place downtown) then maybe walk around Circle Center mall and look for women but these plans were destroyed by the fact that both of my friends were broke.

Undaunted, I decided that I would treat them to lunch if they were willing to take a walk around Fountain Square with me so I could see how the place had developed. It was quite different from what I remember as a youth. There is a very good bookstore, a nice looking theatre, and many new restaurants. Strangely, neither of my high school buddies had any interest in visiting these places and despite living smack in the middle of the little neighborhood had never been inside any of them.

It came time to have lunch and I noticed a trendy looking place on the square named Shelbi Street Cafe. We all went in, sat down, and surveyed the menu. They were both aghast at the prices ("8 bucks for a tiny little pizza? I can get a large at Papa Johns for that!" and "Wheres the burgers?"). Since I was buying they had no choice but to order. They both had club sandwiches that looked very good, I had a cold Thai Noodle salad and a cup of very good Kenyan AA, the total bill ran about $35. Very impressive.

Once we had concluded our trip down memory lane I said my goodbyes. Most likely we will not see each other again. I came to the realization that Mr. Goldsmith was so successful in improving Indianapolis because he understood the very essence of what separates good neighborhoods from bad ones. Its all about the locals. In order to have a clean, attractive neighborhood the people who frequent it must help out. You basically have to move in a few establishments that cater to the type of people you want to attract and ensure that they set their prices high enough to keep the locals stuck in their hovels. Johnny Lunchpail doesn't want to spend $10 on a lunch that doesn't include a piece of red meat the size of a hubcap, so serve a handful of pasta with maybe 5 peanuts instead. Adopt some laws that prevent loitering, put a few extra cops on the street, then bring in the stores that sell wicker baskets for $100 a pop. No run of the mill layabout will be able to spend any time in a place like that. Don't renew the lease for the 'Cigarettes for Less' on the corner, instead give a tax break to the guy who wants to open a cigar shop that sells Fuentes for $10. Its easy when you think about it.

I must apologize for being so long winded but this is a very important subject. If you currently live in one of the big cities (Chicago, LA, New York, Boston, etc) and you want to be sure that your kids have a place to take a stroll without being bothered by panhandlers, give Stephen Goldsmith a call. I am amazed at the effectiveness of his tactics. It is entirely possible that all the poor people that have been squeezed out of Indy have all gone to your city, I don't know. Come to think of it, I really don't care where they have gone as long as it isn't in my backyard. Luckily my neighborhood association has rendered that pretty much impossible because they don't allow NASCAR paraphenalia to be displayed, nor can you leave your car outside your garage overnight. That pretty much solves Indianapolis' problem with the poor as far as I'm concerned.