Tag Archives: Palumbo

Day 112-Scale, mystery and creating comfortable places

[load]

This route took me past some apartment and condo complexes, but also the headquarters of Ashland Oil. As if passing a business part and residential area weren’t enough, I was also treated to the smell of fresh cut grass courtesy of a tractor mowing just south of Yorkshire Boulevard.

Stairs up to a common area shared by several townhomes
Stairs up to a common area shared by several townhomes

The impressive thing about the residential parts of this area is that it hits a golden zone in terms of how building height, street width and landscaping create a sense of human scale. It’s difficult to capture in photos, but the feel, in the residential areas, is that this is just right. I also like the stairs up into a common area shared by several townhomes. This seems like an appropriate way to separate public and semi-private spaces (if done right) and it lends a little intrigue as well. (You may have noticed I like this sort of thing!) I wish that developers would spend more effort on aspects of construction like these, which are easy to overlook but critical to creating a comfortable place.

Day 77-Small homes and a large campus

day 77Today took me through a short stretch of high density residential next to some larger parcels including the Ashland Oil Company headquarters campus. It also featured one of the less exciting stretches of Man O’ War.  There isn’t much to surprise here.  I did spot one of the nicer phone company buildings I’ve ever seen.  Instead of the usual windowless box, this building has a hip roof and faux windows to make it less foreboding.

A disguised phone company building at Palumbo and Darby Creek.
A disguised phone company building at Palumbo and Darby Creek.

The apartments and townhomes are 1980’s vintage and are nondescript. (Did you know there was an apartment complex along this stretch of Man O’ War?  It surprised me!)  Our aesthetics change, and apartments from this era have been impacted particularly negatively by this.  But one complex does a nice job creating a “neighborhood” feel with relatively short setbacks and a consistent presentation toward the street (unlike some of the apartment buildings, which are loosely arranged in space.

Townhomes near Palumbo and Darby Creek
Townhomes near Palumbo and Darby Creek

Day 28

day28Today took me to an area roughly between Palumbo and Woodhill, just outside New Circle Road.  I knew that Palumbo is very industrial in this area (which borders the RJ Corman line) but wasn’t sure what else I’d find.  It turns out that the industrial properties on Palumbo back right up to residences on Mirahill, and this is part of the Woodhill neighborhood.  This area seems quiet and unassuming, with lots of toys in yards, probably quieter than usual on a rainy afternoon like today.

For Lease signage along Codell
For Lease signage along Codell

Similar to Mirahill/Palumbo, Codell is a clear dividing line between uses, with commercial uses on the east side (a fairly successful strip mall facing New Circle Road and very empty office/commercial space facing Codell,) and apartments and condos on the west side.  This area seems pretty well connected; a bus runs down Woodhill and Codell, surely there are plenty of jobs in the area.  Nonetheless, the apparent vacancy rate of the commercial space isn’t really shocking based on age and appearance.  It’s not easy to compete with new.  One has to view this area as an opportunity.

The good: nice mix of uses

The bad: commercial space isn’t creating opportunity