Fishers City Growth

People in the neighborhood

Locals give opinions on expansion, modernization, life for families, more

Emerson Elledge elledeme000@hsestudents.org

From the settling of William Connor, to the growth and development of the eventual city, it seems as if no one truly knows when Fishers became the city it is known as today. However, one thing that helped create the domino e ect that developed Fishers was the opening of Fishers Switch 150 years ago. According to the City of Fishers, in June 1872, town lots were formed when Salathiel Fisher divided his land. Fishers Switch was the original name for the town. e main inspiration behind the name was the railroad, as that was the main focus of the town. “[Fishers] gets rid of a lot of historical things, like taking down the train, which I really [used to] like,” HSE sophomore Caitlin McCoy said. Fishers has faced the Gilded age-old dilemma time and time again of questioning at what point is too much sacri ced for progress. “[ e city is] really modernizing everything which removes a lot of the forest and natural landscape,” HSE sophomore Saanvi Sampada said. As more popular shops like IKEA and Cabela’s come to Fishers, the price of opening and running businesses goes up. “When an area becomes a retail focus for a group and becomes popular, the property of the land surrounding it becomes higher value because of a store on a similar property,” Emagine eaters employee Alden Quintlen said. “ e only way that I would think to solve it would be [to] make more nearby areas that are for people to live that are not the most bougie” Not only can these issues negatively a ect the residents, but they can potentially have a negative a ect on business owners as well. “I think Fishers has a stone policy where you can't do siding and things like that, which is just like weeding out people who can't a ord those things for the businesses,” HSE School District counselor Mary Fiedler said, “[Fishers] has a vibe that is very upper-class and very ritzy. It is really great for image, and it is gorgeous. But at the same time, I wonder, ‘Are there homeless people in Fishers?’ I feel like there has to be these people here.” Many places in Fishers require you to pay to frequent them, isolating poor and homeless people. Public buildings tend to be the only places that are free to

spend time in Fishers. “Places where there is no cost to enter, like a library or parks are things that a community can enjoy rather than it being for the upper-class,” Quintlen said. “Some places do have that kind of vibe around here, but not all.” As more and more people move to Fishers, businesses of all sizes boom with success. “I think we are going in the right direction,” Marian University student Sarah Adriz said. “ e di erent types of income that we have [are] really diversi ed, and there are a lot of locally owned cafes and businesses.” One of the biggest allures to potential residents are the schools and parks. According to Play Fishers, there are 591 acres of recreational areas for the public, resulting in 24 public parks. “ ey might have to build more [schools],” St. Vincent’s nurse Fatim Dang said. “My only concern is that we lose the green spaces. I don't want to lose that. We do have a lot of FISHERS

Cabela's

space. People can come in and everything. I came in less than two years ago, but let us just keep some greenery, so kids can have places to go.” Families and other residents, with or without children, can all bene t from the communal space that has been created downtown. “ e way that the city organized this area in the downtown gives us a space for everyone,” Fishers resident of 20 years, Leigh Christiansen said. Over the years, Fishers has become a very diverse place. According to Adriz, both the Muslim and African communities in Fishers made her and her family feel welcome. Physician Sibal Ghuzal, an immigrant from Turkey, believed that the international grocery stores help her feel a sense of community, as do the people around her. “Most people are welcoming,” Ghuzal said. “Especially for myself in Fishers, I can say that people are very nice.”

Information from City of Fishers. Graphics made by Emerson Elledge.

Graphics made by Emerson Elledge.