Is okolona going downhill? (Louisville, Newburg: houses, rental, work)

[kat750]

I have been in okolona since i was about 13, im now 30. Id been noticing more robberies thugs/wannabees walking the street and just a general overall worsening of attitudes.

Im in the south park road area at the moment and had been wanting to go back to whispering hills to buy a house, i had lived there from 13-16 and really thought it was a nice area. But for the past few years ive not been digging this area at all.

Is there anyone that is in the know on the future of okolona? Has it gotten better, worse, stayed the same? Now i know its not bad but i want to buy a house and be done with it, i dont want to move in 15 years when the crime rate goes up.

[censusdata]

I have done class projects about White Flight in Louisville, and NO, it doesn't look good for Okolona.

Just from 1990 to 2000 Okolona lost 17% of it's White population. It's overall population has declined from 18,902 in 1990 to 17,807 in 2000.

[kat750]

Bummer, i love okolona old shep area and have lots of good memories. But what can you do? Same thing happened to my mother and her family 30 years ago in newburg, was nice then my mom and her sisters started getting beat up after school.

I grew up in mostly black areas most of my life and its no big deal, but i have to admit i dont like all the negativity that goes along with it. Its just not a happy place to be in general

White flight it is. Thanks for the info census.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by kat750

Bummer, i love okolona old shep area and have lots of good memories. But what can you do? Same thing happened to my mother and her family 30 years ago in newburg, was nice then my mom and her sisters started getting beat up after school.

I grew up in mostly black areas most of my life and its no big deal, but i have to admit i dont like all the negativity that goes along with it. Its just not a happy place to be in general

White flight it is. Thanks for the info census.

I wrote on another thread about exactly what you bring to the table. In that thread, I wrote about the plight of outstanding black people being stereotyped in part due to lack of leadership from black leaders. I think it is absurd that when a community morphs into a non-white community the typical result is lower home values, but the numbers don't lie. We can stop this sad result, but it will take lots of people, of all races working together. I am a Realtor and when property values go down, Realtors make less. We have a financial reason to keep values up, but as an American and as a Christian, I think everyone has an obligation to stop the blight.

[censusdata]

A lot of the problem with the entire South End suburbs is they were built in the 1950s-70, the period when super sprawl was the norm. To be frank, all of the subdivisions and shopping centers there are very plain and boring and certainly aren't aesthetically pleasing or transit friendly.

By comparison, neighborhoods and shopping centers in the areas closer to Downtown have a lot more character and architectural diversity. These areas, Audubon Park, Germantown, The Highlands, Old Louisville, etc are thriving and experiencing a renaissance.

It's unfair to blame everything on race. Old Louisville is 1/3 Black, and it is one of the city's most dynamic and thriving neighborhoods.

Here are some more numbers for all the areas I studied:

Loss in White pop. 1990-2000
Newburg -23.2
Shively -22.5
St Dennis -20.9
Okolona -13.3 (<--I said 17% and was wrong)
Buechel -8.9

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by censusdata

A lot of the problem with the entire South End suburbs is they were built in the 1950s-70, the period when super sprawl was the norm. To be frank, all of the subdivisions and shopping centers there are very plain and boring and certainly aren't aesthetically pleasing or transit friendly.

By comparison, neighborhoods and shopping centers in the areas closer to Downtown have a lot more character and architectural diversity. These areas, Audubon Park, Germantown, The Highlands, Old Louisville, etc are thriving and experiencing a renaissance.

It's unfair to blame everything on race. Old Louisville is 1/3 Black, and it is one of the city's most dynamic and thriving neighborhoods.

Here are some more numbers for all the areas I studied:

Loss in White pop. 1990-2000
Newburg -23.2
Shively -22.5
St Dennis -20.9
Okolona -13.3 (<--I said 17% and was wrong)
Buechel -8.9

No one is blaming "everything" on race, often it is "the chicken or the egg," but no one can deny that nearly everywhere the population is majority non-white property, values are much lower. Just to blame color of skin as the cause is foolish. Unfortunately, crime follows too and that is what beats a property's value as badly as disrepair. Home ownership vs rental is big too. Getting people into their own homes is a big part of making a neighborhood's value better. But if we don't start making a heroic effort to turn the page, we will just continue to passively endorse the pains of living in lower valued districts and all the "negativity" as a previous reply noted.

[kat750]

I dont like it either but it is what it is. And i do feel for the hard working regular people that get lumped in with the bad.

It really has just as much to do with classism anyway, okolona houses are cheaper (which is fine with me) but it allows rentals and section 8 to move in once the economy moves up and the bottom is raised. Shallow creek in the back side of whispering hills is a nice little area that has to be 95% black. But, little to no rentals.

This has some to do with race with what i mentioned with the attitudes (maybe just towards whites in the area) Ive lived in areas were i was the minority, why would i pay money to do that to myself when i can just move somewhere more friendly , but yeah mostly its the crime rate, okolona will probably be the semi ghetto in 15-20 years, its pretty much plain to see.White/black whatever...to some it already is. The crime rate HAS gone up.

I really want no part of any of it, where i am now is mostly white, i cant stand it over here, everyone is pissed off and mad, blaa, im done with that stuff. Time to move to a nicer area.

[censusdata]

Here's another problem for Okolona: it sits at a lower elevation than Downtown does.
If the canals ever busted during a 100 year flood, it would become Louisville's 9th Ward, with all the water draining there, it could take weeks to pump it all out.

[FutureMover08]

Originally Posted by censusdata

I have done class projects about White Flight in Louisville, and NO, it doesn't look good for Okolona.

Just from 1990 to 2000 Okolona lost 17% of it's White population. It's overall population has declined from 18,902 in 1990 to 17,807 in 2000.

The projects you are doing seem interesting. Roughly what have you came up with for percentage of white population lost for the city of Louisville as a whole?

[censusdata]

Here are some county numbers for change in White population in surrounding cities, based on their central county

Charlotte/Mecklinberg in 2000 453,113-364,651= gain 88,462
Columbus/Franklin in 2000 824,151-783,714= gain of 40,437
Nashville/Davidson in 2000 390,656-381,740= gain of 8,916
Indy/Marion in 2000: 618,167-615,039= gain of 3,128
Louisville/Jefferson in 2000: 544,927-544,365= gain of 562

Shelby TN in 2000: 431,807; in 1990 455,063= loss of 23,256
Jefferson AL in 2000: 388,697; in 1990 418,317= loss of 29,620
Cincinnati/Hamilton in 2000: 625,289-672,972= loss of 47,683