Today’s walk was through an interesting neighborhood near the ballpark on Broadway. This was one of those walking experiences that I really enjoy just because of the variation of stimuli. Sure, this is a visual experience, with some amazing trees, like the ones at Twelfth and Broadway, plenty of colorful or otherwise visually interesting structures, but there also lots of sounds and smells. Some of these are some standards–the yapping dog, but also the crowing rooster. A fragrant tree but also flavored tobacco. I’ve heard people conflate “interesting” or even “vibrant” with “dangerous” when speaking about neighborhoods. The reaction has been to build safe, bland places. It’s hard to put a price on safety or vibrancy, but it’s also hard to imagine that at this moment, the tradeoffs involved in building safe places have been worth it.
Today’s walk took me east of Castlewood and into what is officially called the “Downtown” neighborhood, into an area bounded by Loudon, Seventh and Limestone. This is an area that would be easy to label as distressed. Indeed, there are quite a few boarded-up houses and at least one which had been condemned outright. But there are interesting things going on as well; one house I passed had chickens in the yard, in another, a whole row of shotgun houses were having work done.
A small grocery store
There is a very local feel; local grocers, neighbors out on porches and chatting with passers-by. This was a much more interactive experience than my usual walks…simply being here makes you part of the story.
It’s easy to romanticize things like a healthy mid-day population out on the stoop, but there are other indications of trouble, like the numerous signs on doors advising people that the house is private property, as if the purpose of the door in unusually unclear. Many residents noted they had cameras as well; spray painted on one structure was this warning for trespassers caught on camera: “You will be shot”.
A tangle of wires feeding shotgun houses
Police presence was high, here too. At one point, just after I started down the long length of True Alley, a police car pulled into the alley and stopped at the entrance, blocking it. It stayed there as I walked to the end of the alley and headed back. I really expected that I was going to be asked at the least to explain my presence if not actually detained. But not so; as I neared the entrance again, the car pulled forward, the officers smiled and waved and passed by, then a LFUCG truck entered the alley behind them.
The good: This area appears to have a strong sense of community
The bad: That’s not enough to make everyone feel safe.
Here we go! Today’s walk starts at Castlewood Park, familiar ground for me and, fittingly, the place where I developed the idea of walking all of Lexington. Crossing the street to walk down Bryan was exhilarating. It did not disappoint. There was a lot to observe on this walk, which consisted of segments of Bryan along the Castlewood Park perimeter and North Limestone as well as Loudon and three neighborhood street (Wittland, Glenn and Burnett) that (for the most part) run between Bryan and Limestone. Castlewood Park has the Lexington Art League and North Limestone consists of a commercial district with a funky mix (including BroCoLoco and a used restaurant equipment store) that appears to be doing fine. I would have expected the artsiness to bleed into the neighborhood but it did not seem to have an overwhelming impact on these blocks, which generally felt accessible. A father and son painting the exterior of their house only added to the homeyness. The neighborhood did feature a community garden. And a classic car logo encased in the sidewalk!
