We revisited the gateway recently and found Carl Leck's murals still powerful, the plant material thriving, and tons of walkers and cyclists moving smoothly from the Monon to the Cultural Trail and to and from the Near Eastdside neighborhoods on a beautiful Sunday. We also experienced a new insight. What had been the deafeningly annoying noise of the interstate bridge traffic as it pounded the expansion joints overhead took on a whole new character in the transformed and dynamic space.....it became, to our ears, a rhythmic 'Bang-on-a-Can" percussion performance! Context as shaper of perception. And as another indicator of how design contributes to place perception and economic development, a recent full page real estate ad featuring Near Eastside properties displayed images of the gateway markers (wayfinding compass pole, and MassAve/East10 marker) as defining identity elements for the Near Eastside. read more