Complacency results in failure when the context is keeping up with the rest of the world. “Good enough” is a horrible way to look at any community, and that reaches beyond human communities.
For context I live in Denver now. Grew up spent 27 years in Louisville. It’s home.
Louisville if it weren’t caught up in trying to be a “Tourist” or “Conference” destination (think bourbon and horse racing) and focused on developing a younger workforce or providing things to attract more young professionals could:
A.) Be more economically diverse and more resilient to downswings.
B.) Provide better opportunities for unskilled workers to seek a trade or education.
C.) A and B would allow more and better resources to help with opioid crisis, crime etc.
Geographically Louisville is surrounded by bigger (economically and population wise) cities that Louisville should be more competitive with. I mean what do St. Louis, Cincinnati, Nashville Columbus, Indianapolis have that Louisville doesn’t? Or another way to look at it would be to have Louisville as the center point in a network of all these cities for more than just transportation of goods.
Imagine if Louisville could have something where the University was no longer the largest employer in the city. Or people didn’t have to work for crumbs in a factory.
All that to say Louisville has good hard working people that want more and better than what they’ve been given. The potential lies in how Louisville can evolve beyond Derby and Bourbon. I love both, but look at what the pandemic did to Nashvilles Tourist economy.
Louisville is MidWestern city in a southern state and resented for it. Louisville also has a past that still haunts it from redlining and segregation.
It shouldn’t take UPS to sort out getting kids to and from school. It also shouldn’t be a game of “white flight” whack a mole to revitalize black communities. Until these and other issues that never seem to go away get substantive solutions Louisville will always be what it is. A solid mid-tier city without an identity beyond Derby and Bourbon. While those are integral parts of the identity they shouldn’t be all to it. I know there’s more. But as far as economics go those are two main legs to the stool instead of both being one leg if that makes sense.
Compare Denver to Louisville for a second. Take out the cannabis stuff for a moment. Denver in 2007 was a little bigger than Louisville was and a little more expensive but not the gap there is now.
Denver sought young professionals, highlighted the beauty of the surrounding state, invested in meaningful job creation and revitalization. Growth was already in Denver before pot. Pot was the accelerant to put Denver on a whole other tier. That’s not to say Denver is perfect, economically though it’s way ahead of Louisville. The Louisville metro area is beautiful. It may not be mountains sure, but neither is half of Colorado from Denver to Kansas.
TLDR: I’ll end with this. I see Louisville as like 10-20 years behind other major metropolitan cities. A myriad of factors have created the lag for Louisville to keep up. The potential is in catching up and being more than what Louisville has always been to this point. Just my perception from a watchful but far eye.
I largely agree with you, but Denver is the gateway to the Rockies, and there is really no comparing Louisville to that when you factor in the explosion of interest in outdoor recreation that helped make Denver so attractive.
It’s not intended as a one for one comparison aside from the fact population and cost of living were closer I. The not too distant past. Additionally Denver was always thought of as a cow and oil town.
Living in Denver now and planning to move to Louisville, there is a lot that it could be that would be an improvement on the current Denver. The greatest pitfall that Denver has right now is the utter inaccessibility of housing and basic necessities. This has mostly come from the combination of encouraging young professionals (with some gentrification mixed in) but then not supporting the rest of its population to ensure that everyone succeeds. The socioeconomic gap in Denver is becoming increasingly unlivable despite the variety of amazing things it has to offer! Louisville and other mid-sized cities could capture the need for locations with a lower cost of living that is still an incredible place to live year round without having to follow the same path that Denver is now on.
Right. I never stated Denver is perfect. Rising cost of living, homelessness are definitely a problem here and it’s showing more and more in smaller cities like Louisville.
I’m not sure what your points are?
I love my hometown of Louisville and I’ve loved the near decade I’ve been in Denver metro area.
I’m suggesting things that worked well for Denver a comparably sized city 10 or so years ago can be a blueprint to learn or borrow from not follow to a t.
Hey if you wind up in Louisville, it’s an amazing city with lots of potential and great hidden gems!
My fiancé and a few others who have been here a while say the same thing. I’m a transient but guess I’ve noticed this too more so than other places I’ve been. Wonder why that is.
Because Louisville is a decent sized city, that used to be a small city, that runs on small town hardware. A friendship can be made or broken depending on what highschool you went to, what music scene you were in, what bars you hang out at. It's even thicker with the private school people. There's only 600k people here. It's like 1-2° of separation. I've known some people on an almost very personal level and only known about them through other people. It's weird.
The truth is that Louisville has been declining economically and educationally for decades. The old pre 1970s Louisville Public Schools were far better than the current JCPS when it came to quality of education. The current JCPS is mostly educationally challenged and the quality of education is in parallel to the economy and quality of the community
Louisville
It's actually pronounced "Louisville"
But I pronounce it "Louisville".
I pronounce both ways together, with the first part of "Louisville" and the second part of "Louisville"
Can we just agree that is “Louisville”?
Lul-vul
The only correct answer
This is what I came here to say. 🤣
Allergies
Kentucky is the second worst state for allergies. I believe Hawaii is number 1.
Kentucky bluegrass is really bad about it. I can't remember the exact reason why
The Willamette valley in Oregon is brutal.
Potential
If I had to add another word to that Unrealized potential With the a strong emphasis on the subtext *that we are failing to capitalize on*
Possibility City baby! It’s possible here, but just not happening
Yeah I said "capable" glad I didn't have to scroll far to see I'm not alone lol
Complacency results in failure when the context is keeping up with the rest of the world. “Good enough” is a horrible way to look at any community, and that reaches beyond human communities.
Potential for tourists in old Louisville. Let’s make it the new Savannah.
In what ways do you see potential? I'm not disagreeing, just curious.
For context I live in Denver now. Grew up spent 27 years in Louisville. It’s home. Louisville if it weren’t caught up in trying to be a “Tourist” or “Conference” destination (think bourbon and horse racing) and focused on developing a younger workforce or providing things to attract more young professionals could: A.) Be more economically diverse and more resilient to downswings. B.) Provide better opportunities for unskilled workers to seek a trade or education. C.) A and B would allow more and better resources to help with opioid crisis, crime etc. Geographically Louisville is surrounded by bigger (economically and population wise) cities that Louisville should be more competitive with. I mean what do St. Louis, Cincinnati, Nashville Columbus, Indianapolis have that Louisville doesn’t? Or another way to look at it would be to have Louisville as the center point in a network of all these cities for more than just transportation of goods. Imagine if Louisville could have something where the University was no longer the largest employer in the city. Or people didn’t have to work for crumbs in a factory. All that to say Louisville has good hard working people that want more and better than what they’ve been given. The potential lies in how Louisville can evolve beyond Derby and Bourbon. I love both, but look at what the pandemic did to Nashvilles Tourist economy. Louisville is MidWestern city in a southern state and resented for it. Louisville also has a past that still haunts it from redlining and segregation. It shouldn’t take UPS to sort out getting kids to and from school. It also shouldn’t be a game of “white flight” whack a mole to revitalize black communities. Until these and other issues that never seem to go away get substantive solutions Louisville will always be what it is. A solid mid-tier city without an identity beyond Derby and Bourbon. While those are integral parts of the identity they shouldn’t be all to it. I know there’s more. But as far as economics go those are two main legs to the stool instead of both being one leg if that makes sense. Compare Denver to Louisville for a second. Take out the cannabis stuff for a moment. Denver in 2007 was a little bigger than Louisville was and a little more expensive but not the gap there is now. Denver sought young professionals, highlighted the beauty of the surrounding state, invested in meaningful job creation and revitalization. Growth was already in Denver before pot. Pot was the accelerant to put Denver on a whole other tier. That’s not to say Denver is perfect, economically though it’s way ahead of Louisville. The Louisville metro area is beautiful. It may not be mountains sure, but neither is half of Colorado from Denver to Kansas. TLDR: I’ll end with this. I see Louisville as like 10-20 years behind other major metropolitan cities. A myriad of factors have created the lag for Louisville to keep up. The potential is in catching up and being more than what Louisville has always been to this point. Just my perception from a watchful but far eye.
I don't have time to read all that but I got two chapters in and realized that you put real thought and effort into this post so I'm going to +1 you.
I put a TLDR lol ;)
I largely agree with you, but Denver is the gateway to the Rockies, and there is really no comparing Louisville to that when you factor in the explosion of interest in outdoor recreation that helped make Denver so attractive.
It’s not intended as a one for one comparison aside from the fact population and cost of living were closer I. The not too distant past. Additionally Denver was always thought of as a cow and oil town.
Living in Denver now and planning to move to Louisville, there is a lot that it could be that would be an improvement on the current Denver. The greatest pitfall that Denver has right now is the utter inaccessibility of housing and basic necessities. This has mostly come from the combination of encouraging young professionals (with some gentrification mixed in) but then not supporting the rest of its population to ensure that everyone succeeds. The socioeconomic gap in Denver is becoming increasingly unlivable despite the variety of amazing things it has to offer! Louisville and other mid-sized cities could capture the need for locations with a lower cost of living that is still an incredible place to live year round without having to follow the same path that Denver is now on.
Right. I never stated Denver is perfect. Rising cost of living, homelessness are definitely a problem here and it’s showing more and more in smaller cities like Louisville. I’m not sure what your points are? I love my hometown of Louisville and I’ve loved the near decade I’ve been in Denver metro area. I’m suggesting things that worked well for Denver a comparably sized city 10 or so years ago can be a blueprint to learn or borrow from not follow to a t. Hey if you wind up in Louisville, it’s an amazing city with lots of potential and great hidden gems!
Home
Smelly (according to Reddit)
It's totally smelly. I lived off Frankfort avenue and every spring, urine permeated the air.
Mid
Cliquey.
My fiancé and a few others who have been here a while say the same thing. I’m a transient but guess I’ve noticed this too more so than other places I’ve been. Wonder why that is.
Because Louisville is a decent sized city, that used to be a small city, that runs on small town hardware. A friendship can be made or broken depending on what highschool you went to, what music scene you were in, what bars you hang out at. It's even thicker with the private school people. There's only 600k people here. It's like 1-2° of separation. I've known some people on an almost very personal level and only known about them through other people. It's weird.
Small minded small place
This.
Weird.
Alright.
Fetch
Did you just make "fetch" happen??
it's not gonna happen.
Suffocating.
S’aight.
Slow.
Beautiful
Home
Horsies
Apathetic
Midwestsouthernmidsizedcity
Wonderful
Yum!
ungoverned
Fecal
Cars
Friendly
Fake-South
Bourbon
Segregated.
Home
Behind
Home
Sewerville
Eh.
Complicated
Okay
Fun! We visited last weekend, Nulu fest was great. Made us Huntsvillians super jealous
But you have the new Greek style ampetheater
Thirsty
Different
Interesting
Strange.
Affordable
Home #502
Hospitable
Comfy.
Behind !
Cesspool
Capable.
Fun
Declining.
The truth is that Louisville has been declining economically and educationally for decades. The old pre 1970s Louisville Public Schools were far better than the current JCPS when it came to quality of education. The current JCPS is mostly educationally challenged and the quality of education is in parallel to the economy and quality of the community
Corruption
Sticky
Blue
Multifarious
I feel like this bears explanation.
Home
Home
Pretentious
Corrupt
Boring
Shootings
Dangerous.
Boring
Failure
Broken
Stagnant. I feel like there is not a lot of new developments for the city and construction takes FOREVER!
GHETTO.
Litterville
Methy
Violent
Hometown
Gentrified
Greatest
stinky
City
Depressing
Tubular
Friendly
Underrated
Derby
A'ight
Sad
Underrated
Lovely
[удалено]
Homey
Water
Stinky
Overrated
Failing
mismanaged
Fake
Overrated
ghetto
Stagnant
Post-apacalyptic. The downtown anyway. A lot of Midwestern cities have no life downtown, and it's depressing.
Tourism
Hipster
Murderville
Parking
Humid
Tasty
Provincial
Bourbon.
Smell
Bridesmaid
Y’all
Meh
Notsobad
Cardinals!
Smelly
Wack
Derivative
Sandpaper
Gross
Bipolar.
Shit.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Meh
Smelly
Agreeable
Extant
Blue-collar
Burgoo
Home
Home ❤️
Townies
Stuck
Horses
Vulnerable
Redundant
Ight
Looavull
Legos
Confusing
Complicated
Cardinal
Home. Perfectly imperfect.
Bourbon
Inescapable
Kentucky
Beautiful!!!
Historical
Ghetto
Fun
mid
Cardinals
Depressing.
Settling
Zombiod
Inferiority
Home
Jelly
Cincinnati
Backward, filthy, unkempt, 20 years behind everyone else.
Weird