The next land-use model to appear in Indianapolis is the Sector Model. This is an adjustment to the Concentric Ring Model’s premise that social groupings of incomes were based on distance from the CBD. Instead, the Sector Model accounts for land-use patterns based on proximity or distance to different transportation networks. In other words, the Sector Model highlights patterns of social groups in different directions, not distance, from the CBD. That said, the Sector Model is similar to the Concentric Ring Model in some aspects, including both being based on one, core area that dominates in terms of the number of jobs available.

The Sector Model was the idea of an economist named Homer Hoyt in 1939. Hoyt based his land-use model on his research on the price of homes in several different areas of over 100 different cities across the United States. That’s a lot of data. Below is an illustration of the Sector Model. Once again, you are encouraged to return to this illustration as you read the description for each zone.

Zone 1
In Hoyt’s Sector Model, he enhances or builds-on the Concentric Ring Model as the patterns of urban settlement started to change over time. For the Sector Model, Zones 1A (CBD Proper) and 1B (CBD Fringe) are combined to form one single district or area of the city simply called the CBD. The same types of businesses and services are still found in this area today, so very little has changed for Zone 1 throughout all of the land-use models.

Zone 2
Similar to the Concentric Ring Model, Zone 2 of the Sector Model groups the locations of industry and manufacturing. There are two key differences, however, between Zone 2 in these two models. First, in the Sector Model, there are fewer residents but more wholesaler and warehouses as they re-located out of Zone 1B and into Zone 2. Second, in the Sector Model illustration above, you will note Zone 2 is not in the shape of a ring but instead stretching across several rings on the southern side of the CBD. What accounts for the migration of warehouses and changing the shape of Zone 2? Railroads. Imagine several railroad lines coming horizontally across the middle of Zone 2 in the illustration above. This makes sense as railroads don’t go in circles, but instead, often have a direct route through an urban area. The presence these railroads was attractive to certain types of businesses, like wholesalers, warehouses, and manufacturers, as they want to minimize costs by locating as close as possible to the trains bringing and sending their products and goods.

The “StreetView” image below is the General Motors "stamping plant" located just to the southwest of the CBD. Just to the right of center, you can see downtown Indianapolis. This plant employed 5,000 workers in its heyday back in the 1930s but recently closed, largely due to outsourcing and the decline of the US auto industry (a story you should know well now after the economic geography chapters).

Where are railroad lines most likely to be found in Indianapolis? On the west, south, or east sides, evident in this map below of the railroads in Indianapolis from the City of Indianapolis’ MapIndy. The red circle indicates the location of the CBD.

If you live on Indy’s south side, you especially notice going over the railroads if/when you commute to IUPUI’s downtown campus. In the ”StreetView” image below, a shot is taken on South Harding Street showing just a few of the many railroad lines that come across the Central Business District’s near south and west side. In the center of the image, you can see the CBD off in the distance and to the left and right you see industry and warehouses clustered along both sides. With the recent relocation of many manufacturing and warehouses from this area to the suburbs, these areas are starting to change, evident in the removal of some buildings that used to be on both sides of the railroad in this image.

That damn train is super inconvenient for eastsiders and they want the problem fixed.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Damn-Train/917613791717783

Zone 3
Zone 3 is also less in the shape of a ring and more clustered along Zone 2. Similar to the Concentric Ring Model, Zone 3 is the location of low-income residents and housing. Key to the location of Zone 3 is that it is often, but not always, far from high-income residents but closer to industry, railroads, and manufacturing. In other words, along or near Zone 2 you would find a less-desirable place to live as you would have to routinely deal with increased traffic and congestion, along with higher levels of noise and air pollution. This is also where the phrase “the other side of the tracks” originates as these low-income areas had a perception of higher crime rates and violence, along with being a less desirable place to live in terms of the available amenities and its location.

Zone 4
In Zone 4 of the Sector Model, most, if not all, features of middle-income housing and streetcar suburbs continues on and still resonate in this model. Of course, one key characteristic is an increasing usage of automobiles amongst the population, especially in groups just below the high-income groupings. Therefore, you see more and more homes built with garages attached in the 1930s and 1940s in these areas. That said, there was not a lot of new housing construction between the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II and the 1940s for obvious reasons (i.e. no money and/or at war).

Zone 5
Another key difference between the Concentric Ring Model and the Sector Model is the location of Zone 5, which includes once again the high-income, affluent residents. In the Sector Model, Zone 5 stretches outward from the CBD in one direction (ahem, not the music group), as you note in the Sector Model illustration above. Typically, this cluster of high-income residents is along an environmentally-desirable path or corridor emanating or coming from the CBD. In some cities, the environmentally-desirable corridor could be located in higher, more elevated areas (e.g., Beverly Hills in Los Angeles), along with ocean or waterfronts (e.g., Chicago’s Gold Coast, Streeterville, and Hyde Park), or fashionable, aesthetically-pleasing boulevards. Of particular note, Zone 5 rarely contains railroads nor near low-income residents in Zone 2 or 3.

North Meridian Street is one of the most aesthetic, visually-pleasing boulevards in the entire Midwest. Who lives here? Some rather wealthy individuals, which has always been the case for this strip running north from Indianapolis’ CBD. Notice what you see when you zoom in the “StreetView” image below, and more importantly, what you do not see.

There are plenty of trees and well-landscaped streets, massive homes, and very large lots. However, you don't see railroad crossings, industry, or low-income housing here. Hmm… I wonder why? (Answer: money = power to make more decisions).

In the video below, I quickly summarize the Sector Model and begin to set-up the third and final land-use model.