Louisville Sprawl

I live inside the urban service boundry of Louisville, roughly designated as anywhere inside the Watterson Expressway. Inside the expressway, you'll find old neighborhoods that were designed for people, not cars. There are lots of high density, mixed use neighborhoods that encourage a sense of community. The streets are largely laid out in a grid fashion with most residences just a few minutes walk to retail and entertainment. There are lots of greenspaces in the form of urban parks and front yards that welcome you to the door, not to the garage. Most parking is offstreet and all areas are well served by mass transit. Buses run along Bardstown Road and other major corridors every couple of minutes and with dedicated bike lanes on many streets, owning a car isn't necessary. Outside of the Watterson Expressway, well, that's a whole different ballgame....

Click on any picture for a larger view.


Roads That Don't Go Anywhere


Round And Round


Can't You Just Imagine The Kind Of People Who Live Here?


Exurban development in Oldham County in Suburban Louisville


The Worst Thing About This Whole Scene Is That You Can't Get Anywhere Without Driving To A Main Road


A Nightmare In Every Sense Of The Imagination


Golf Courses Not Community


Not Sprawl- An inner city neighborhood in the Highlands Neighborhood. This kind of development, complete with walkable streets, multiuse zoning, on street parking and a grid layout would be illegal to build with current zoning rules.


A street level view of the picture above. This is Bardstwon Road at Bonnycastle Avenue and the view is looking north. At this street corner, you will find a grocery store, several restaurants (street parking only), a music shop, several clothing stores, an antique store, a bookstore, several coffee shops and even a head shop. What you won't find are parking lots or chain stores. This is a healthy and vibrant neighborhood and unlike many areas of the metro area, home sales are still strong here and prices continue to rise. People want to live in places like this.