I ran into a little bit of fall rain during today’s walk in the Patchen Woods subdivision just southeast of Richmond Road and just outside of New Circle Road.  Overall, it was a nice enough day for walking, with the rain and gray sky bringing out some of the fall color.  I passed through several different areas here, with single family homes, attached homes, apartments and commercial space sharing a relatively short stretch of Patchen Drive.

Perhaps my favorite surprise was finding a real alley in this relatively new (1980’s era) neighborhood, an alley that allows not only trash collection but also car storage to be hidden by the houses on either side.  The entire residential area along Chippendale is pleasant.  The mature trees and tall brick facades of the houses give this block a rich feel, but even the portions alongside apartment buildings feel welcoming in a way that apartment complexes usually don’t.  There are other apartments along this stretch of Patchen that are more forgettable, but the scale never feels overwhelming, possibly because none of these complexes have parking lots along the street.

The commercial areas don’t follow this a strictly (parts of Gribbin are faced with parking lots) but the shopping complexes here are probably somewhat unique in their design.  Parking is located along two sides of the complex and on-street parking is available on a third side.  But many of the businesses don’t face the parking lots and some are located on the inside of the complex.  So on a day like today, customers have to walk in the rain for a short distance.  (And of course, they would anyway!)  It was refreshing to see commercial property that allows people to realize they won’t melt if they don’t go directly from paved parking lot to conditioned space.  A second interesting aspect of this area is that the complex buildings look a lot like apartment buildings.  I wonder if they were planned as apartments originally and converted to  commercial space to meet changing demand, though they’re not the only commercial spaces with a strong residential appearance in Lexington.

What works: Human scale helps create a strong connection through the neighborhood to commercial districts along Patchen and Richmond.

What doesn’t: Richmond is so car-oriented, it doesn’t really matter.