DIRECTOR’S TAKE blog

Dear Friend of Downtown,

The turn in temperatures has me ready for some fall fun, and that includes two of our annual events, Steins on Main and Silent Disco… as well as the MLB postseason (I’ll save that for another post) and the most beautiful run of weather we’ve had for months!
 
Join us for our 4th annual Steins on Main on Saturday, October 17, 2–7 p.m. Admission is free, and you can enjoy German-inspired games and contests as well as purchase beers from more than a dozen local craft breweries.
 
We also are hosting our 3rd annual Halloween-themed Silent Disco on Friday, October 30, 7–9 p.m. Wear your favorite costumes and dance to the channel of your choosing as your eyes get to feast on visual delights at the Big Four Bridge.
 
And, of course, Food Truck Wednesdays continue through the month, with a special showing by the Health Department, which is offering free flu shots on October 21 and our last Work Perk of the year on October 28 featuring 21c Museum & Hotel.
 
Let’s wring out all the fun that is in Downtown and that brings us together in community… October is ours for the taking!

See you on the streets soon!

Dear Friend of Downtown,

The state has completed the conversion of E. Main Street from a one-way to two-way traffic pattern. The process, and change itself, usually is difficult, but now that it’s done, it’s so cool to see Main Street and the streetscapes and buildings from a different perspective.

This two-way conversion follows the conversion of E. Jefferson and Main Street, west of 10th Street, to two-way traffic flow… and the great news? More is on the way.

How you get around your downtown and the experience you have while doing it has everything to do with your feelings of usefulness, comfort, safety, and level of interest. These are necessary changes to make pedestrians feel better on our downtown streets – they slow down traffic, they provide more visibility for street level businesses from both directions, and we no longer feel like we are on a highway in or out of downtown.

Funding the traffic plan that Jeff Speck and Stantec presented two years ago will take awhile to achieve, but Mayor Greenberg included $2 million in the current city budget for two-way conversions. That’s more good news. And in the meanwhile, River Road between 3rd and 7th streets was improved with a reduced lane to make the River Walk bigger and more bike and walker friendly along the Ohio River.

Details matter, and these are big ones. These changes will make it so much nicer to walk around, see your friends, and visit our street-level retailers and restaurateurs. Win win win!

See you on the streets soon!

Dear Friend of Downtown,

Why are downtown residents so important?
 
Downtowns started out as city hubs that included residents alongside businesses, cultural gathering centers, and entertainment venues. But as cities started to grow, residents wanted to gain more space around them, and maybe have bigger homes, less noise, or fewer people in such close proximity.
 
As cities are now mostly built out and rural areas are so distinctly different, there is a new push to build residential units to get more people in downtown. Not only because they are cool places to live. Not only because you may want to live closer to your place of work or cool things to do. But mainly because it’s people, you and me, who make a neighborhood vibrant and safe and fun.
 
LDP is working alongside Metro and One Louisville on creating more financing tools, incentives, and policies that will help these residential units get built, and the good news is we have interested developers and we have interested residents! LDP also continues to work on amenities that make downtown a more residential neighborhood where people want to live.
 
Stay tuned for announcements and possibly your or a friend’s next new home!

Dear Friend of Downtown,

We’ve become numb to gun violence. Mass shootings at schools full of children didn’t change anything. We track homicides and watch the numbers go up and down. For the last handful of years, we hear about a shooting every week, and rather than question the availability and saturation of guns in our communities, we focus on the neighborhood in which it occurred.
 
I don’t understand why guns have become political fare; the increasing rate of gun violence is utterly astonishing, and the state legislature just made it easier for 18-20 year olds to conceal carry in this year’s legislative session.
 
It is NOT anti-American to pass red flag laws, require background checks, or implement waiting periods. All of those still provide the opportunity for someone to eventually own a gun, and guess what, nobody’s rights would be infringed upon.
 
I still question the need for assault rifles and high powered magazines, and wonder why state-acquired guns aren’t destroyed… but those are the touchier subjects that people think we can’t talk about. We need to start talking.

Dear Friend of Downtown,

I wrote about social responsibility almost exactly a year ago, and it could not have been more prescient for what is taking place right now, as we are seeing events on public streets and sidewalks that is antithetical to what I believe most of us were taught as kids.
 
Did you ever read Robert Fulghum’s 1986 collection of essays, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?” In the case of what has been transpiring on Bardstown Rd./Baxter Ave., and last year along E. Market, it is true. We sat in circles, we helped each other and played games on the playground together, we learned how to talk to each other, and we cleaned up after ourselves. Instead, now, people are congregating on sidewalks and in the street, blocking traffic, ready to fight (some with guns), not even enjoying the awesome collection of bars and restaurants in the area… just there to create mayhem.
 
No. We know better than this. Public spaces are for EVERYONE, which means that your behavior should reflect respect for other people and for the spaces that we share with each other.
 
Wanting to hang out with friends is something that doesn’t change as we age, however, to do so in a manner that is disruptive to others’ use of that space, is illegal, or incites violence has no place in public. As Judge Garvey and LMPD Chief Humphrey have both said, ridiculous and stupid behavior have consequences; if you can’t get right, stay home.
 
I love the entertainment districts in our city, which are usually in culturally rich neighborhoods with many fun things to do. I want to protect and promote those areas, so let’s all find a way back to better public decorum and shared respect for each other and the community in which we live.
 
Hope to see you on the streets soon!