Briggs' mailbag: Downtown Indianapolis needs a Dunkin'

Welcome to a tasty mailbag!

In this week's edition, I hit two of my favorite topics: downtown Indianapolis and fast-food chains.

If you want to submit a question for a future mailbag, email james.briggs@indystar.com or use the Google form at the bottom of the online article page.

Which fast-food chain do we need downtown, and why is it Popeyes?

I'm not going to pooh-pooh the Popeyes suggestion, but it's not the fast-food joint we need downtown.

That would be Dunkin'.

To be clear, I'm not a huge Dunkin' fan. I prefer several local doughnut shops. Among the chains, I would take Krispy Kreme over Dunkin' any day. But, if you consider what downtown is lacking and which new option would stand the best chance of success, Dunkin' is the populist choice.

There are several fast-food joints serving chicken sandwiches. There are not nearly enough places to find custard doughnuts or 460-calorie blueberry muffins. I'm not going to eat those every day. But I'm going to eat them sometimes. Plus, there's always room for more coffee downtown.

I landed on Dunkin' based on three criteria: a chain that doesn't have another location within plausible walking distance from Monument Circle; a menu that is most likely to appeal to the average resident or worker; and a business that has proven durable in other downtowns.

Dunkin' is a lock. If you've traveled to many other cities, you've almost certainly seen a downtown Dunkin' somewhere else — possibly with a line out the door. It appeals to city dwellers and commuters alike, serving up trusty, albeit regrettable, desserts-as-breakfasts that people can take on the go.

Meanwhile, the nearest Dunkin' is on the east side, about four miles from Monument Circle. Downtown is a Dunkin' desert. Yes, it's true that Dunkin' already existed downtown and closed in 2017. But that out-of-the-way Gainbridge Fieldhouse space was not ideal to most people who'd want to visit.

There are plenty of better locations, especially considering Dunkin' doesn't need much space. It is geared toward people in transit and operates within small real estate footprints. That's ideal for downtowns. Dunkin' is one of the most successful chains in America and it is perfectly aligned with Indianapolis' convention and tourism vibe.

Mark my words: We will get another Dunkin'.

If I'm choosing based on what I want without regard to viability, I'd bring back Penn Station or (even more niche) Pita Pit, both of which closed years ago on Washington Street.

I'm not saying Popeyes is a terrible idea. It's just that Dunkin' is a … (sigh) … slam dunk.

Indiana's best: Does this Indiana bakery chain have the best donuts in America? Voters said 'Yes'.

John Davis: Will we ever see an actual party split again? I mean to the level of Whigs, AIP, etc. What would it realistically take for a schism in today's world?

I'd put this in the category of possible — desirable, even — yet unlikely.

Matthew Yglesias a few years ago laid out a pitch for how congressional moderates could leverage the power they wield in tightly divided chambers to form their own party. He suggested at the time that Sens. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, could join together and start a centrist party.

Yglesias' theory was that if a few high-profile moderates took the plunge, they'd likely recruit many more members spanning crucial geographic swaths of the country, which would make it unlikely that the big two parties could quash them.

Yglesias describes the opportunity as real, yet unappealing to the people best positioned to pull it off.

"The opportunity for a cross-party group of moderates to seize control of the Senate has arisen repeatedly over the past 20 years and it never happens," he writes. "Moderate members just don’t seem to think along these lines. The habits of partisanship are deeply ingrained, there doesn’t appear to be much trust among members of Congress that would let them hatch schemes amongst themselves, and a lot of Americans are firmly convinced (against the international evidence) that multi-party politics is impossible with our electoral institutions."

The most extreme members of Congress often love flexing their power to break systems. It'd be great if moderates felt similarly moved to use their power sometimes.

I wish we would get rid of the straight-party option in the ballot box. Make people at least read the names of who they are voting for. Any chance that will ever go away?

There's a very strong chance. Eliminating straight-party voting is such a mainstream idea that almost every state has already done it.

Niki Kelly wrote a good column on this in 2022 for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, noting Indiana is among only six states that still give voters the chance to enter the booth, pick a party and call it a day. Two others, notably, are Michigan and Kentucky. You know how Indiana doesn't like to get out in front of its neighbors.

The Indiana General Assembly can end the straight-ticket option any time it wants. Republicans (in Marion County) and Democrats (statewide) both have reasons for hating the practice. So far, though, the legislature hasn't been motivated to do anything about it.

Chuck White: I am baffled by the press continuing to ask politicians if they will accept the results of an election. Doesn't this somehow validate their right to challenge an election even if it is only because they lost? Why is the press continuing to feed the idea that politicians can challenge the results?

In defense of "the press," such as it is, I'd say there is value in putting supposedly responsible and upstanding government leaders like Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, on the record making it clear they feel more allegiance to Donald Trump than the U.S. Constitution.

On a personal and more contrarian level, though, I don't like to ask interview questions with predictable answers, especially when a hundred other reporters are likely to ask the same question.

Ambitious Republicans consider it more advantageous to stroke Trump's ego than to behave responsibly within the norms of American history. That would be clear even with fewer reporters asking questions about who's willing to accept the 2024 election results.

Thank you for reading! Send your questions about restaurant chains, politics or anything else to james.briggs@indystar.com and they might show up in a future mailbag.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Does downtown Indianapolis have a Dunkin'? It should.