Silver in the City owner on what makes downtown Indy shine
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Photos: Courtesy of Kristin Kohn
Even if downtown Indianapolis does look different a decade from now, Silver in the City owner Kristin Kohn wants to preserve the strong sense of community that drew her here nearly three decades ago.
Why it matters: Kohn operates one of downtown's most iconic local businesses and is a passionate protector of Indy's influential Mass Ave.
Driving the news: Kohn was one of four individuals and entities honored last week by Downtown Indy Alliance at last week's State of Downtown event for their contributions to the community.
Flashback: Kohn, an Eastern Pennsylvania native who moved to Indiana to attend Purdue University, moved to Indy from Chicago three years before her shop's 2000 debut.
- "I wanted all the fun and excitement that a city like Chicago has to offer," she said. "But I felt very lonely and disconnected. It was very hard to meet people and find community there."
- She was charmed by downtown Indy and its inhabitants while visiting some of her fellow Boilermakers and decided to change her post-college plans.
- "I found a job working downtown at the Gold Building. I found an incredible studio apartment that was catty-corner from the Murat Theatre, a block off of Mass Ave, and three blocks from work and the Market Square arena," she said. "We got to see the Pacers and the Bulls playoffs at Market Square Arena. That is exactly what I wanted in Chicago, and what had eluded me there."
What she's saying: Kohn said moments like starting her business and forming the Mass Ave Merchants Association made her feel like she was part of something bigger.
- "It was so beautiful … to immediately feel like I was a part of a community. And I think that's why so many of us who aren't from here still find ourselves here 20 years later," she said. "And when we read about the epidemic of loneliness or about aging healthily and the importance community plays in that … I think about how fulfilled I feel by being a part of the community here on Mass Ave."
State of play: As downtown approaches another evolution, Kohn wants to make sure that there is still room for local dreamers to experience the embrace of community.
- "It's getting harder and harder. When the Mass Ave Toys space became available, I was like, I could move and expand. I called them up, and they only wanted a bar or restaurant. Wouldn't even talk to me," she said.
- "You see areas where the small guys get squeezed out by the bigger, national chains. So I think always making sure that small businesses have a little bit of support for negotiating leases and getting into spaces (and) maintaining spaces along the avenue (are important) so that we can retain that local feel, and retain what it is that truly sets us apart."