Today’s walk was in Pickway, another surprisingly old neighborhood outside of Man O War, this time near Nicholasville.  Houses were overwhelmingly all brick, and very few had garages on the front.  I imagine most of these are from the 60’s or early 70’s.  (Side note: I see that Lexington provides historical information on the urban service boundaries, and I plan on playing with this data soon.  So perhaps surprises like this won’t be as frequent!)  It was a pleasant surprise, however, as the neighborhood seems to have aged fairly well.  My theory of neighborhoods is that they are fast-changing when they are young, often populated overwhelmingly with young families.  As they reach their 20’s, the kids whose families moved in when the neighborhood was young are staring to move out and the neighborhood mellows.  Eventually even the parents start to move on; by this time, the age mix of a formerly homogenous neighborhood starts to equalize and the neighborhood settles in, for better or worse.  This neighborhood feels like it’s settling in, consistent with it’s age, but it is good.  I thought the neighborhood felt comfortable (though this could be in part due the time I’ve spent recently in high-income areas).  It was also quiet compared to other areas I’ve seen recently.

Good: Feels quiet and safe
Bad: isolated pockets of neglect