Thursday, July 11, 2013

shhhh...Here are my TOP SECRET transit/walking directions to The Growing Places Indy Farm Stand at The Chase Legacy Center

NOTE: DO NOT FOLLOW MY SHORTCUT DIRECTIONS. There is a new gate at the entrance to the real estate where the Farm Stand is located and it is locked! You have to walk the ridiculously long distance to the Oriental Street entrance and all the way back to the Chase Legacy Center building. Transit riders can get off and board at the 10th & Oriental Street stop and walk south to enter the real estate. It is a longer walk this way, too. Driving to the location is the best option. Apparently, the best solution for dealing with the food desert situation in the 46201 is to drive. But. Wait. Isn't one of the situations that define a food desert in the first place connected to lack of access to a car? And, another one has to do with the distance to the food, right? See. This is why persons with low incomes opt to spend their resources on junk food at convenience and dollar stores in this neighborhood. 

OK. This BathroomFarmer is all about playing by the rules most of the time but going blocks and blocks out of her way to follow driving instructions is out of the question. One of the best things I've learned by walking my green talk is the art of the shortcut and here's how to get to the Growing Places Indy Farm Stand at The Chase Legacy Center on the Arsenal Technical High School campus in Indianapolis.

The biggest challenge about finding out there is a Farm Stand just one block from my house as the bird flies is the fact that The Chase Legacy Center entrance according to the driving directions is more than 1/2 mile away because of the multiple school compound next to my neighborhood. I was playing by the rules and walking down Michigan Street toward Oriental Street but was led into temptation at Arsenal Avenue and decided to enter, OK maybe trespass is more accurate, at the drop dead gorgeous Arsenal Technical High School guard shack entrance.

[I want to add right now, that in the event this wonderful tiny house ever goes missing in the middle of the night, I know absolutely nothing about it.]

I was being conscientious and actually did knock on the door like the sign said. But no one was there. No one meaning the armed school police. So I decided to trust my luck and hope no one would actually shoot the old lady with her shopping cart and started to stroll across campus when I encountered a nice lady driving an Indianapolis Public School truck who rescued me and drove a-l-l the way around to the other side of the campus to where I needed to be.

DO NOT TRY TO ENTER FROM MICHIGAN STREET. IT'S A REALLY LONG WALK. TAKE MY SHORTCUT FROM TENTH STREET INSTEAD!

If you are walking your green talk and taking public transportation to the Farm Stand, both Routes 10 and 11 pass the corner of  10th Street and Newman. Buses run 4 times per hour at this stop so it's one of the quickest and easiest trips to and from downtown Indy in our whole transit system. The automated recording will announce the stop as 10th and Newman and you want to get off there. So, if you have a transit pass and ride the bus to your job, this is a quick and easy after work side trip adventure in the big city! I actually lived in that house in the background for three years and it was like having an actual, real urban lifestyle in Indianapolis!

OK. You want to be on the south side of the street. If you are coming from downtown, you are already there. If you are coming from further east, and got off at the stop in the picture, cross the street. You want to be on the side of the street with the schools and start walking east toward Woodruff Place, just a little bit east of the bus stops. Right on the edge of the Potter School, there is a gate. My inside sources in that area told me that they've never seen that gate locked and judging from the weeds growing over the post, I have a tendency to believe it. OK. Be bold walk right on through that gate, don't look right or look left, just keep on going straight ahead!

You're walking down a paved road, past some parking lots and toward a modern looking new construction building on your right which is The Chase Legacy Center. Resist the temptation to head over toward the football field and track. Just keep walking toward the new building. You are in back of where you want to be, but there is an easy way around it. Observe the north side of the building. There is a path with a ramp that goes around to the front!

Be bold again! Cut across the grass toward the walkway/ramp and follow it around the the front of the building! You are now "legit" in your journey and can relax! You should see the little yellow canopy with a treasure trove of beautiful veggies underneath near the entrance in the middle of the building. In case the weather is crummy on Thursday 4pm - 6 pm, the Farm Stand will be inside.