Smarter Sprawl in Louisville

This is my take on Norton Commons, the New Urbanist development 15+ miles from the center of Louisville. It appears in the current issue of LEO Weekly, one of the alternative weeklies in Louisville, Kentucky. The other week, the paper featured articles on housing, which I mentioned in the blog.

Smarter Sprawl

Last year, I had the opportunity to be charmed by Louisville while attending the annual conference of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Attending the AIA Home tour before the conference started, and getting a tour of some of the projects involving the University of Louisville’s Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods was an added plus (thank you, Professor Gilderbloom). And by the way, Marc Issacs’ houses are some of the most beautiful new construction I’ve seen.

Nonetheless, I took two important and rueful lessons home with me. First, I learned that the combination of a city and county government might balance tax revenues and services between traditional urban areas and suburbs, but it doesn’t necessarily reduce sprawl. That requires additional policies and practices that re-balance development between the region’s core and the outlying areas.

Second, I was appalled by the prospect of Norton Commons. While articles in The Courier-Journal discussed how the New Urbanist design of the houses will reflect the great historic architecture of neighborhoods like Old Louisville and Cherokee Triangle, the articles avoided mentioning that Norton Commons is out in the middle of cornfields 21 miles from Louisville’s downtown, straddling the border of Oldham and Jefferson counties, and appears to be miles from anything else. If this doesn’t contribute to sprawl, I don’t know what does.Meanwhile, the center of Louisville has many empty blocks. “Smarter Sprawl” or Smart Growth, you have to make a choice.

Richard Layman
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From Mapquest

From: 335 W Broadway Louisville, KY 40202-2105 US (The Brown Hotel)
To: Prospect, KY 40059 US

Driving Directions
1. Start out going EAST on W BROADWAY/US-150 toward S 3RD ST/KY-1020 S. (0.30 miles)
2. Turn LEFT onto S BROOK ST. (0.48 miles)
3. Turn RIGHT onto E LIBERTY ST/US-60 TRUCK E/US-31E E. (0.19 miles)
4. Merge onto I-65 N toward I-64/JEFFERSONVILLE/INDIANAPOLIS/I-71. (0.64 miles)
5. Merge onto I-71 N via EXIT 137 toward CINCINNATI/I-64/LEXINGTON. (6.03 miles)
6. Merge onto I-264 W via EXIT 5. (0.69 miles)
7. Take the US-42 E exit- EXIT 22- toward KY-22. (0.28 miles)
8. Turn LEFT onto BROWNSBORO RD/US-42 N. Continue to follow US-42 N. (5.49 miles)
9. Turn RIGHT onto COVERED BRIDGE RD/KY-329. (0.83 miles)
10. Turn RIGHT onto WESTOVER DR. (0.44 miles)
11. Turn RIGHT onto CHESTNUT HILL DR. (0.13 miles)
12. End at Prospect, KY 40059 US

Total Estimated Time: 24 minutes
Total Distance: 15.50 miles

Population Change In Kentucky's 120 Counties 1960-2000 -- In 2003, the City of Louisville merged with Jefferson County and created one city-county municipality.