We are a nonprofit organization called Not In Our Town producing a documentary for PBS that features the efforts of Bloomington United and Indiana University to foster unity following hate attacks. We came across your wonderful photo (1st photo of the Butler building on the Indianapolis page) and would love to talk to you about using it in our film. We’re working under a tight deadline of Friday, November 11. Please feel free to call me this week at 510-268-9675 x 311.

Thank you!
Sara Hossaini

@BNSridhara – It is especially good to hear from you, I obviously have a lot of respect for your invention and hope it is used frequently in the future.

I agree with you that there will be many applications in future of this technology of decoupling bending and compression. The Towers of suspension bridges can be designed based on “Sleeved Column” concept wherein the axial load acts on the core only. The core can be made of steel or concrete blocks. The sleeve will resist the lateral loads caused by the core (when the core tries to buckle) and also the lateral loads caused by wind and earthquake generated forces. The core can even be in parts and one part can be simply placed over the other part to build up the whole height and without welding or grouting.

My old US Patent 5,175,972 dated Jan. 5, 1993 titled “A Sleeved Compression Member” discloses a sleeved column support for an off-shore drilling platform. This patent has expired now but the technology disclosed deserves to be studied further.

Least-weight compression members for use in Rockets and Satellites can be developed adopting this technology.

In a sleeved column, the core can be axially compressed to a great extent resulting in strain hardening of the core. Tests have revealed that the tensile yield strength of a mild steel core rod increased by as much as 80% and in the case of high yield strength core, the increase was about 20%. Accidental overloading of a sleeved column in compression for a short duration may not cause a failure but actually help to improve the yield strength of the sleeved column! This aspect needs further study.

Regards
Sridhara.

B.N.Sridhara BE, MS (USA), FIAStructE
Consulting Engineer
bnsridhara@gmail.com

The Brookside Neighborhood (Just North of the 10th corridor) is diverse and interesting. We have residents who have been here for 40 years right next door to young bright couples moving in. On Parker Ave. for example, we have a pastor, a yoga instructor, an IPS lunch lady, retirees happy to invite you in for cookies, a server at Ruth Chris, a masonry guy, a lawyer, a waitress, an IMA curator, a nurse, house painters, a sign language interpreter, a CPA, a Lowes checker… I could go on. And these men and women are all of different colors shapes and backgrounds. It's not all what the news makes it out to be.

There are investors taking interest in the cheap and beautiful historic homes, the Food Co-Op will be here, Indiana's first green charter school will be opening in this neighborhood in 2010, School 54 is newly renovated and beautiful, and the plans for East 10th are exciting. The Brookside Neighborhood supports East 10th, NESCO, KIB, IMPD, the Legacy Project, and the many many dedicated folks who are working hard to make our community great!
Oh, did I mention the neighbors around here know each other? And that we have fun? Sadly, those things rarely make the news.

Good things are on the horizon. It's great to see others that appreciate the area like we do.

As for being dangerous…it is a matter of opinion I guess. We like to call ourselves "urban pioneers" I don't consider it particularly dangerous.

While I typically discourage comments that are based on personal information, I think you have identified some common misconceptions about this topic that I would like to address:

Engineers and economics
I'll begin with saying that every engineer has a solid background in economics, as it is one of our core subjects. Because of our strong logical reasoning skills, high ethical standards, and our background in statistics, engineers make great economists.

Many of my classmates now work exclusively as environmental economists and public policy analysts. My own qualifications include academic and professional experience in economics, marketing, finance, and accounting. Inherently, I consider economics in every analysis I undertake as it is my one of my basic tools as an engineer.

However, I am not blinded to the fact that economics is only a guide, and not a final answer. Just as with any engineering analysis, there are hidden aspects of the problem that are never known, and this uncertainty requires careful consideration.

Finally, if you were to review the literature on this subject you would find that economists strongly support my arguments. The minimum parking regulations shift demand and subsidize prices in favor of automobiles. Restoring the free-market signals that would naturally regulate parking policy is the proposed solution, and the City of Indianapolis is currently working on this right now because they already understand the issue.

The Effects of Rational Parking Policies
Nobody wants to rid downtown of parking spaces nor automobiles. Market pricing in lieu of minimums is a successful way of matching supply and demand. It also allows much of the parking lots to be restored to their highest and best use classifications.

Purpose of the website
The purpose of this website is not to rigorously defend my opinions. That would be antithetical to the blogging genre. Instead, understand that everything has been well thought out and researched in advance.

The website is named "A Place of Sense" because I look at the evidence before coming to a conclusion, my ideas are never prejudiced by ideology or personal interests (which I always disclose). If you disagree with what is presented, I strongly encourage independent research equivalent to the time I have invested on the topic myself.

Also, I cannot provide supporting evidence to contradict everyone who disagrees with me. There is not enough time in the world for that exercise.

Conclusion
As this debate should not be about you (cdc guy) or I, but about the broader issue of parking policy, please address any future responses on this topic to my personal email. Alternatively, you can post a response to Skyscraper forum and link to it from here. I want the channel to remain open and clear for others to have their say.