LOCAL

How design plans could help Louisville neighborhoods avoid gentrification

Bailey Loosemore
Courier Journal

Take a walk down Woodlawn Avenue in southern Louisville and you'll spot sure signs of revitalization.

On a concrete wall near Southern Parkway, a colorful mural welcomes visitors in a range of languages, a nod to the area's large immigrant population.

"Open" signs invite customers to enter local businesses, from a Caribbean cafe to a bombshell barber shop. And on the window of a vacant grocery store, the words "Rent me!" ask passers-by to pause for a second look.

The progress is encouraging to community members who want to see their neighborhood thrive. But residents and business owners alike agree that Woodlawn could still use some help in reaching its full potential.

Enter a group of acclaimed urban designers.

This month, members of a national urban planning organization visited Louisville to create design plans for four transitioning areas: Woodlawn Avenue in Beechmont; 18th Street in Russell; Market and Main streets in Portland; and the south fork of Beargrass Creek.

The designers sought public input to construct each urban development plan. And in June, the companies will turn over final documents to local agencies that can use them to guide future development.

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Sarah Sparks created this mural at the intersection of Woodlawn Avenue and Third Street in Louisville's Beechmont neighborhood in 2016. 3/16/19

The consulting work could have cost the communities upward of $400,000. But the firms have offered their services pro bono as part of an initiative through their organization: Congress for the New Urbanism.

The congress is made up of urban planners who are committed to creating "vibrant and walkable cities, towns and neighborhoods," the organization's website states.

Each year, the group holds a national conference where members participate in workshops and collaborate on projects. And in 2019, the organization will travel to Louisville for four days of events.

For the past five years, the congress has sponsored "legacy projects" in the cities it visits, sending design firms into areas that could benefit from free urban planning assistance.

In Louisville, that help will go to communities in the west, south and central districts.

"We're getting into some of the areas that haven't seen a lot of attention," said Lynn Richards, president and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism. "I have full confidence that we will see activity in all four of those areas. No matter how small; they won't be ignored."

For each project, designers will identify short-, medium- and long-term steps that local agencies can take to improve the quality of life in their areas.

In Beechmont, for example, designers suggested branding Woodlawn Avenue as the "World on Woodlawn," an easy change that could establish the neighborhood as a multicultural hub and potentially attract businesses to vacant spaces.

"It's not a huge change that happens overnight," Richards said of the legacy projects. "But if you're a resident and you participate and you see in the next three months that some small thing has changed because of the process, it's a big deal. That's incredibly empowering."

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Richards said the local design firms are not responsible for implementing their recommendations. Instead, the congress partners with nonprofits, neighborhood associations and city agencies that can carry the plans to fruition.

The Center for Neighborhoods, a Louisville nonprofit that supports community development, has worked extensively in the Beechmont neighborhood for the past two years and sponsored the Woodlawn project as a continuation of its efforts.

"It's important to work intentionally around that area so we can have inclusive growth," said Jess Brown, the agency's planning and design coordinator. "Growth is going to happen regardless. But the neighbors have a lot to say."

Amy Talbott moved to Beechmont in 2013 and said she enjoyed being asked what she wanted to see in her neighborhood.

"A lot of times you're sort of at the mercy of whatever the city wants to do or whatever businesses want to do that own that space," Talbott said. "It's not often you're asked what would you like to see. Selfishly, I want a nice street to walk down and look at. This is probably my favorite neighborhood I've ever lived in."

David Snardon, a pastor at Joshua Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Russell, said he thought the congress' process was thoughtful and that the design firm assigned to the 18th Street Corridor truly listened to the community's ideas.

Snardon is on the board of directors at OneWest, a local community development corporation that sponsored the West End design project.

In recent years, the corridor has seen a boom in investment, from the YMCA under construction on Broadway to the food incubator Chef Space at Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

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In its preliminary plan, Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates recommended improvements that could increase pedestrian traffic and, in turn, create community gathering spaces.

"I was impressed that they were able to show how they listened to those voices and stakeholders, community residents, and showed how our thoughts, feelings and opinions could actually be used in order to create what we wanted to see," Snardon said.

"It's really important that what we are planning to do actually come to pass and that the people we say we're trying to help are actually the people that get the help. We've had many disappointments in this community, and now it's time for us to see something that we can be proud of as we work together."

Congress members will present their final plans publicly at the Louisville conference, taking place June 12-15 the Seelbach Hilton in downtown.

Before then, the organization provided the Courier Journal a preliminary description for each plan:

Restoring and reimagining Woodlawn Avenue

Woodlawn Avenue in Louisville's Beechmont neighborhood was the focus of a Legacy Project through the Congress for the New Urbanism. 3/16/19

The area: Woodlawn Avenue is just south of Interstate 264 and west of the Louisville International Airport. The community is known for its growing immigrant population that has brought a breadth of new businesses. But in recent years, the neighborhood has suffered from building vacancies and decreased investment.

Project players: The Center for Neighborhoods sponsored the project with involvement from the Beechmont Neighborhood Association. National firm PlaceMakers LLC will facilitate the plan, with help from DPZ and WorK Architecture + Design of Louisville.

Preliminary recommendations: 

  • Develop a neighborhood identity for the corridor that would recognize its rich diversity
  • Encourage the reuse of historic buildings through incentives and zoning changes
  • Create pop-up events in unused spaces (like a beer garden in an empty lot)
  • Beautify properties that lack landscaping, like the Iroquois Manor shopping center
  • Redesign a busy five-way intersection to enhance connectivity and pedestrian safety

See a similar plan:Tukwila International Boulevard in Tukwila, Washington

Connecting Beargrass Creek

Beargrass Creek runs through Louisville's Germantown neighborhood near the intersection of Barret Avenue and Oak Street.

The area: The south fork of Beargrass Creek stretches almost 7 miles from the Louisville Zoo to the Ohio River. The creek runs through a number of urban neighborhoods that include Germantown, Phoenix Hill and Butchertown.

Groups involved in the designs hope to increase the health of the creek and the community's connection to it through educational spaces that discuss water quality, flooding and the regional ecosystem.

Project players: The Kentucky Waterways Alliance sponsored the project. Gresham Smith, a national firm with an office in Louisville, will facilitate the plan.

Preliminary recommendations: 

  • Make a podcast tour of the south fork
  • Institute educational partnerships
  • Improve water management at Joe Creason Park and Black Crown Forest
  • Build a permanent kayak launch and park infrastructure along Eastern Parkway
  • Build a parklet along Ruffer Avenue, near St. Louis Cemetery

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18th Street corridor revitalization

The area: Designers studied a stretch of 18th Street that runs from Broadway to Main Street through the Russell neighborhood, where several large developments are underway. Upcoming projects include a West End YMCA, an indoor track and field facility and a mixed-use housing complex that will replace Beecher Terrace.

Project players: OneWest sponsored the project with involvement from Louisville Forward, the city's economic development arm. Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh will facilitate the plan with help from other national firms, including Zimmerman-Volk Associates.

Preliminary recommendations: 

  • Build upon investments at two key intersections, Broadway and Muhammad Ali Boulevard
  • Improve the streetscape with pedestrians in mind
  • Create markets and community gathering spaces

See a similar plan:Hazel Park near Detroit, Michigan

East Portland connectivity project

A sign welcoming people to Louisville's Portland neighborhood hangs on the wall of a building on west Main Street.

The area: The Portland neighborhood is just above Russell, west of downtown. Designers for this project focused on the west Main and Market street corridors that connect the Central Business District to Louisville's West End.

Project players: Louisville Downtown Partnership sponsored the project, with involvement from the University of Louisville Urban Design Studio, Louisville Forward and the Waterfront Development Corporation. Street Plans Collaborative, with offices in Miami and New York, will facilitate the plan.

Preliminary recommendations: 

  • Create an East Portland Loop that connects Main Street to the East Portland neighborhood and Waterfront Park
  • Develop "complete streets" that are designed for all modes of transportation, including cyclists and pedestrians
  • Develop an "art park"
  • Test the conversion of Main Street from one-way to two-ways.

For more information on the congress's Legacy Projects, visit cnu.org.

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Bailey Loosemore: 502-582-4646; bloosemore@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://www.courier-journal.com/baileyl.