Old Louisville 5 yrs ago vs. now (Lexington, Williamsburg: 2015, apartment complexes, lofts)

[Dantive]

Hello all, I am a proud graduate from UL in 2009. I moved back home to Chicago but now an opportunity has arisen for me back in Louisville. I lived in Old Louisville, just north of the Magnolia Bar on 2nd St. I loved the area and would like to move back; I am currently looking at condos. I am (or atleast, was) familiar with the area and all it holds good and bad, but has anything changed drastically in the past five years? More gentrified? Safer? Going downhill or crime worse? Looking forward to opinions or relevant info and hope to be back soon! Thanks in advance

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Dantive

Hello all, I am a proud graduate from UL in 2009. I moved back home to Chicago but now an opportunity has arisen for me back in Louisville. I lived in Old Louisville, just north of the Magnolia Bar on 2nd St. I loved the area and would like to move back; I am currently looking at condos. I am (or atleast, was) familiar with the area and all it holds good and bad, but has anything changed drastically in the past five years? More gentrified? Safer? Going downhill or crime worse? Looking forward to opinions or relevant info and hope to be back soon! Thanks in advance

More gentrified, safer, still improving. As is the entire downtown area. You still got to have street smarts. Like Chicago.

Confirmed: State and city officials, Cordish announce downtown Omni Hotel with 200 apartments, grocery, retail | Insider Louisville

And if you move, you will have an upscale Whole Foods type of market a mile away in downtown.

Lots of big time urban apartment projects going in all around that area. Exciting times in Louisville as several other luxury apartment complexes are under construction

[censusdata]

I lived in Old Louisville from 2005 to 2008. Main difference is the large number of restaurants now available in mixed use developments along Cardinal Blvd. Stuff that use to require a drive to the Highlands or malls are now just a couple minutes walk away. I thought U of L did a lot of campus development when I was there in the mid 2000s but I barely recognized certain areas when I came back in 2012. They've developed or are developing almost every brownfield area near campus and even razed a large area along east Brandeis at I-65 for new campus housing.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by censusdata

I lived in Old Louisville from 2005 to 2008. Main difference is the large number of restaurants now available in mixed use developments along Cardinal Blvd. Stuff that use to require a drive to the Highlands or malls are now just a couple minutes walk away. I thought U of L did a lot of campus development when I was there in the mid 2000s but I barely recognized certain areas when I came back in 2012. They've developed or are developing almost every brownfield area near campus and even razed a large area along east Brandeis at I-65 for new campus housing.

Its gotten even more so lately! Every edge around campus is being torn down and new complexes are going up:

Demolition begins on Crittenden Drive | recycle this page

Complexes like the above are going in all around the edge of campus. There is this one and I think 2 more under construction now, and I hear of plans for another big announcement soon.

There are so many luxury apartment complexes announced or under construction in the urban areas that I literally cannot keep track of them all.

Just yesterday a new 25 story tower with 200 apartments, an urban grocer, and an Omni hotel was announced to break ground in 2015. While it will not open until 2017, this new downtown upscale grocer is a game changer for downtown and Old Louisville residents.

Then you have the new apartments Weyland is building in Nulu, i think around 300 units. There are around 300 more units going in at Waterside at Riverpark Place. Then you have the mega projects announced in Clifton near Lexington road like the Woods at Lexington Rd and that new multistory structure from the big Indianapolis based developer
New Axis apartments near NuLu could mark Indy-like surge in Louisville's urban multi-family sector | Insider Louisville

Then there is this 7 story mid rise planned next to campus:
Seven-story student apartment building planned near UofL - WDRB 41 Louisville News

There have been many more announcements and ground breakings.

Germantown Mills Lofts:
Antique Mall to become apartments - WDRB 41 Louisville News

These developments are literally all over. There is even stuff going on in Portland. Exciting times in Louisville as it is getting discovered...and discovering itself!

To the OP, this is the above referenced apartment building on campus that has already brought a bunch of much needed retail and fast casual eateries:

http://cardinaltowneshoppes.com

All the great corner bars, restaurants, and cafes that made Old Louisville so quirky when you lived there are there, but there a few new additions. This is a great spot:
https://www.facebook.com/PizzaDonisi

Old Louisville is sort of like the "pilsen" or University Village" of Louisville. All the North suburbanites (or in Louisville's case east enders) think it is the ghetto, but really it is fabulous urban fabric with a few hard up people walking around. If you can deal with a higher risk of car break ins and you are not into drugs or prostitutes yourself, Old Louisville is a fabulous place where you will be fine, like any mixed income, racially diverse urban area.

All this said....Old Louisville is still a 5th place type of urban neighborhood. We are not talking Lincoln Park or Lakeview here. Certainly Highlands, Crescent Hill, Clifton, St Matthews, Butchertown, Nulu, even downtown all rank above it. However, Old Louisville, along with downtown New Albany and Jeffersonville across the bridge are developing completely walkable, self sufficient, relaxed urban neighborhoods with some of the best arts and architecture in the entire region.

[Dantive]

Thanks so much for the responses so far. I haven't been back on campus since I left, but projects such as the Cardinal Shoppes and other stretches I would imagine have improved. I know that campus beautification is one of Ramsey's main MO's. I'm starting to branch out and get the lay of the land again, the 3rd Ave Cafe has closed?!?

I'm well familiar with UV and Pilsen along with Tri-Taylor. Although the area around the United Center north of the Ike can get sketchy, I agree with the comparison to Pilsen. Just wanted to make sure that nothing major has happened and the area is not any worse for the wear. Chicago will always be home but I love Louisville, UL and this neighborhood. Getting excited about the prospect of coming back.

[Orgetorix]

One change that has had a positive impact on Old Louisville, especially the northern/northwestern end of the neighborhood, is the demolition of the old Sheppard Square housing projects in Smoketown. Obviously that's had a bigger impact on Smoketown and Shelby Park, but I think overall it's been positive for everything between Broadway and Oak Street, even as far west as Old Louisville. When the city gets done redeveloping Sheppard Square with the Hope IV grant money, it should be even better.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Orgetorix

One change that has had a positive impact on Old Louisville, especially the northern/northwestern end of the neighborhood, is the demolition of the old Sheppard Square housing projects in Smoketown. Obviously that's had a bigger impact on Smoketown and Shelby Park, but I think overall it's been positive for everything between Broadway and Oak Street, even as far west as Old Louisville. When the city gets done redeveloping Sheppard Square with the Hope IV grant money, it should be even better.

Absoultely. This is actually a silent game changer.

What few people know is the inside drug and prostitution rings like I do( I happened to be good friends with a local narcotics detective). What would traditionally happen is drugs and prostitutes would move from the Shepherd Square projects, west, using corridors like Oak St as a corridor between these projects and other west end projects, specifically, Park Hill, nestled just 1/2 mile or so west of Old Lou, past the railroad tracks. For that reason, areas that should be nicer, like around 4th and Oak, became areas known for vagrants, panhandlers, and petty crimes.

In the last year, with Shepherd Square gone, Louisville has some of the lowest violent crime rates in its region and you really do not notice as many of these types of "characters" passing through Old Louisville, as it was once "sandwiched" between two not so good areas (incidentally this is how most gentrified urban hoods in major cities are or began, i.e. the prototype of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.)

So, long story short, is Old Louisville Mayberry? No way. Is Old Louisville the type of place where a suburban minded couple would let their 5 year old play in the street at dusk? Probably not. But what Old Louisville is is a very racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse area that is attracting students, gays, blacks, whites, asians, hispanics, and everyone in between, both young and old. I think that area's best years are ahead

[MissingIndiana]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

Absoultely. This is actually a silent game changer.

What few people know is the inside drug and prostitution rings like I do(.....

Haha, this is a great way to basically start a post.

I lived a street south of 4th and Oak for a while and there were definitely some interesting/shady characters, but I never once felt in danger from anything walking around there. My dad was approached by a really nasty prostitute once and I saw her walking around 4th a few times, but that's about the extent of my trouble. I found it a little funny that every time I was in the Rite Aid there (and I mean every single time, even on occasions I worked in there) I ended up in line behind someone buying a 40 of some nasty a** beer.