Louisville is booming... What do we need next? (St. Matthews, Bardstown: neighborhoods, buying)

[Visvaldis]

What I'd like to see in Louisville:
Like the OP states, I think it would be great for a theater to show foreign and independent films more often than the Baxter.
Also, what is sorely missing is an alternative radio station. Some believe that WFPK fills that niche. But WFPK (squeaky clean) wouldn't play anything that couldn't be played at a Baptist church picnic. Colleges from coast to coast have radio stations which broadcast the unusual in music, such as indie and underground. I wonder why the U of L doesn't. UK has a good radio station.

[louroclou]

When I moved back to Louisville two years ago, I was impressed that we had three public radio stations and that one was devoted to alternative musics: indie, jazz, reggae, etc. But you're right: there's not much backbone. I can't imagine hearing, say, Xiu Xiu or some stretched out weird stuff like Sunn O))). In the morning and early afternoon, Laura Shine and what's his name seem to play nothing but music that sounds like Nick Drake and/or Lucinda Williams or some kind of Shins.

Louisville has a rich indie scene and history: Slint, Will Oldham, Rodan, Shipping News, King Kong, Freakwater, My Morning Jacket, VHS or Beta, Rachel's, The Photographic, Cabin, One Small Step, etc. etc. They should be at the center of an alternative station. And someone from it, like Jason Noble of Shipping News and Rachel's (he's bright, articulate, informed) should be hosting programs of weird music.

[louroclou]

The question on this forum from krander about homelessness raises the issue of what we are doing and will do about homelessness and the poor as the city grows. I am glad to hear about Liberty Green (broken link) - mixed income living downtown, but as a city grows, it has to develop an enlightened attitude towards poverty and such inevitable things as homelessness and street life. I wonder about the recent ruling about panhandling...

[Visvaldis]

The cost of the new sports arena downtown was estimated at 250 million. Recently, the figure went up to 366 million.

[louroclou]

Whoa. What's behind the increase? Is it threatening to the project?

I really wish someone would step in with a better design. There's no class to it, and with our ugly Galt House relic, we're not presenting the truly high sense of aesthetics Louisville has in so many areas. I hate to dump on Al Shneider's Galt House. Al believed in downtown when no one did.

But, damn, that's an homely piece of architecture.

[Off Topic]

Originally Posted by louroclou

Whoa. What's behind the increase?

They added cup-holders?

[louroclou]

The questions on this forum about homeless safety and panhandling bring this up: I would like to see real tolerance - yes, encouragement - of buskers. I love random acts of music in unexpected places, and the variety of music here could give us even more local color.

[louroclou]

I want to go back to my original suggestions... Are there true film buffs out there who would support a theatre - one modeled after the Alamo in Austin - that shows nothing but foreign, true indie, experimental, and cult films and serves food and drink in the theatre?

[Visvaldis]

Originally Posted by louroclou

I want to go back to my original suggestions... Are there true film buffs out there who would support a theatre - one modeled after the Alamo in Austin - that shows nothing but foreign, true indie, experimental, and cult films and serves food and drink in the theatre?

Sounds like an interesting place. But I doubt if Louisville has enough people that would attend such such a theater to keep it afloat. Otherwise the Baxter would show such films much more often.

[louroclou]

I'm not so sure. I can't believe that a town that has three gallery hops a month, that has a world-class rep theatre and numerous other drama companies, that has bands with strong visual and weirdness senses like My Morning Jacket, Wax Fang, Will Oldham, the Photographic, that was the home of Gus Van Zant and Hunter S. Thompson, that has an active film-making community and organizations like the Louisville Film Society, Kentuckiana Cinematography Club, Kino, and the 48-hour Project ... I can't believe such a town couldn't support two screens showing art and independent cinema... especially if they serve beer! Rochester, a city nowhere near as hip and active as Louisville, has an indie theatre that has five screens - nothing but foreign and independent...

The Baxter Ave guys are basically wusses. They gave up on the original vision of the place. But just because a couple of guys choose to turn their business into a McDonald's doesn't mean there can't be a Seviche or a Proof...