I really wasn’t sure what to expect from

today’s route, through the Kenwick neighborhood, but it turned out to have a little bit of everything.  I still compare things to Denver, and this neighborhood went quickly between warehouse district to streetcar suburb.  I started out on Aurora, headed northwest toward Walton and found a neighborhood that felt like home to a significant creative population.  These things are evidenced by things like the landscaped vegetable garden on Aurora, or the book exchange “birdhouse” on Richmond.  This blended naturally into the commercial districts along Walton, National and Ashland, with it’s high concentration of home design shops and local shops—places like Kentucky Mudworks.  As I walked back down National, the mix became more industrial and eventually turned to utter ruins at White Street.  This is a neighborhood that seems comfortable with the industrial presence.

One street that dead-ends into the back of an industrial block has turned that end into an outdoor plaza, making it an idyllic setting despite the industrial whine and occasional sawing noise.  And they also seem at home with their neighbors.  I spotted no fewer than three front yard hammocks, and one yard had an entire backyard’s worth of kid toys, complete with sandpit.  One gentleman I passed was working on his crossword puzzle while sitting on a collapsible lawn chair in the front yard.  All of this was refreshing…this neighborhood very much answers my question about what to do about worthless grass front lawns in suburbia, alas generally in ways that aren’t covenant friendly.

Despite the comfort and overall amiability, there feels like some tension.  Some homes clash, with for example, loud threats of physical violence to trespassers.  These places were amazingly jarring to me, especially among very little other evidence at the time that the neighborhood was dangerous (which is borne out by crime statistics, I might add)

What works:  This is a live/work dream, for those who could pull it off.  Front yards are focal points.
What doesn’t:  There is tension.  Why?