The Neighborhood

One of the things I like about Louisville, and I suppose cities in general, is how you describe attributes by neighborhood. I grew up in a small town and you can’t really describe anything about Murray, KY without assigning it to the whole city. But living/working/playing in the Highlands of Louisville can be very different from attempting the same in Old Louisville.

Every neighborhood has its value. But here’s what I’ve come to value of the Smoketown/Shelby Park neighborhood where we live:

• Cheap housing
• Walking distance to the Highlands (hip nightlife/boutiques/restaurants)
• Bike lanes to access Old Louisville and Downtown
• Good snow maintenance on the roads during winter
• Less than 2 miles to a grocery store, our workplaces, public library, multiple breweries and coffee shops

And all these boil down to being close to the things I most want – but far enough away the rent is reasonable. There’s still a lot of work to be done to make Shelby Park & Smoketown (you’ll see ‘Shelby Park’ more but the communities share the same resources for the most part) a neighborhood unto itself, much less a destination for people that live and work elsewhere to come.

The cool thing is that I see that work being done. Projects like the Three Points Beautification and Vision Smoketown are making strides in the perception of our neighborhood. Businesses like BAREfit, Falls City Community Bikeworks, ooHology, and Access Ventures all make positive investments in our area.

It seems like everyone has an easier time making their neighborhood better. Improving a whole city is tough – but helping the folks right here, we can do that.