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Day 116-Gratz Park

This circuit took me to The Gratz Park neighborhood. This area is heavy on history, with such sites as the Hunt-Morgan house, Gratz Park Inn, and Henry Clay law office. Buildings in these older parts of town engage the street on a different level than their suburban analogs. In particular, the buildings themselves feel less private. The buildings are there to be seen by people passing by. Newer houses, businesses, churches are much more utilitarian. Sure, they want to look good but there is more focus on blending in. In suburban neighborhoods, yards seem to be there for the inhabitants of their respective houses, and this makes walking in newer neighborhoods feel somewhat empty. Businesses approach the street differently, too. In the suburbs, streets are functional–their job is to help people get to the door. But here, outdoor seating on the sidewalk, in some cases even extending to “parklets” created from parking spaces along streets, is part of the attraction. This is far more engaging; you buy a drink or  a meal and you can become part of the show you are watching. Dining in most contemporary American restaurants is much more private.

WalkLex sign
WalkLex sign at Second and Jefferson

Since I’m coming back from a bit of a layoff, this is also my first chance to address the Walk Lex signs that were installed earlier this year. These are a nice wayfinding mechanism, and they absolutely highlight the connection between the neighborhoods and landmarks in and around downtown.

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Day 115-Price-y

Relatively narrow streets in the older neighborhood, especially along Chiles and Breathitt, provide a contrast with streets within the nearby mobile home park. Both are generally focused toward the street, that is, they seem to indicate a strong connection between the individual homes and the common areas.  This path passes behind Cove Haven Cemetery. There aren’t sidewalks on this portion of Price, but traffic was light enough and there was plenty of space, so walking here doesn’t seem overwhelmingly dangerous. Price creates an odd, tenuous connection between Georgetown Road and Main Street. I think that there are more than a few people who are mystified that the Lorillard Lofts (located on Price not far from here) were not more highly desired. When leftover units went to auction in May, the Herald-Leader referred to an earlier quote by the developer who indicated that a similar property would be very desirable in a larger city, but I think this neglects the point of “urban living,” which isn’t just nominal proximity to downtown. It has to have access as well. Lofts in bigger cities, besides having a more substantial downtown core to access, almost certainly have better transportation alternatives.  Price just doesn’t provide that.

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Day 114-Sights, smells, sounds

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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.

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Day 113-Almost all of the pieces

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Today’s route brings me back to Joyland. Similar to some of the neighboring areas I’ve visited, this neighborhood was quiet, almost subdued. There are positives here: access to a park, an elementary school, even (in a limited sense) shopping. The housing stock appears to be in good condition, too. Someone has to do something about the struggling retail, though!

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Day 112-Scale, mystery and creating comfortable places

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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.