[load]
Today’s walk was through a picturesque Shadeland neighborhood near Ecton Park. One notable feature: this neighborhood has the market on tree swings cornered! A section of Turkey Foot also features a little segment, a parkway including a bench which looks like a nice place for a respite.
[load]
Today’s route was an ill-advised route along Richmond Rd and Man O’War. This area is dominated by restaurants along Richmond and offices along Man O’ War and the side streets. Richmond is the most visually interesting but least walkable. The remaining streets are walkable but plain.
[load]
Today was a return to the “Dixie” section of Eastland. This area is pretty typical of its neighborhood cohorts. It’s well kept but shows its age. It seems to have a little more economic diversity than the average Lexington neighborhood but (as I’m finding) it’s sometimes difficult to perceive some of these subtleties through a surface-level view of the neighborhood.
The mail pouch work shed is worth a moment. It seems odd, at first, but I suppose its consistent with our image of suburbia as keeping us close to both our agrarian past and our urban present.
[load]
I took another journey to Joyland today. This stretch was along the back of the neighborhood where it abuts I-75. I enjoyed walking through this part of the neighborhood. Areas like this that are along the edge, out of the way, often feel comparatively run down. And maybe there was a little of that. But it generally just felt unselfconscious in a refreshing way. There was a lot of olfactory experience: cinnamon oil wafting from a car, a strong scent of orange juice, tree blossoms, play-doh.
The streets here are narrow for their era; this may help cultivate a sense of neighborliness.
One curiosity is a “No Trespassing” sign in the middle of a very enticing clearing at the end of the street. It’s not doing a very good job!
[load]
Do bad neighbors drive down housing values? This question is bound to come up sometimes. Even in the poorest neighborhoods, there are well-maintained houses and yards. But between overgrown yards and packed driveways, this neighborhood feels sad without being exceptionally poor.
