Impression of casual tourists (Louisville, Frankfort: hotels, neighborhood, construction)

[eok]

Some tourists who went to Iroquois Park to see what they could see from the overlook, said everything that could be construed as an overlook was surrounded by trees and there were no views. Where exactly is the real Iroquois Park overlook? Is it hidden such that a tourist might have trouble finding it? There was a sign that said the overlook road was only open to cars on certain days, but when they went there on one of those days, there was no overlook to be found up there. Except some kind of meeting building surrounded by trees. And there was a basketball court somewhere.

They also said the bridge to walk across the Ohio River was very hard to get to, because too many of the roads were closed.

And the malls were not impressive. Nor Bardstown Road in the Highlands. They said lots of cities have roads like that, and there was nothing special about it.

From the point of view of tourists who only want to get a feel for what the city is like, nothing's worth the bother except paid tourist attractions.

They even complained that there is a shortage of signs, making it easier to get lost. They go under interstates and can't tell by looking up what interstate they're going under, nor how to get on it.

Someone responsible for making Louisville attractive to tourists needs to work on some issues.

[JoeCartpath]

Maybe they should have checked the park's website before their visit. It clearly states that the north overlook is under construction until this Summer.

I'll be in Louisville next week for the first time (except for two quick one day business trips)...for the annual car show of the national MG car club. I've been doing some online research for things that would interest me. I've got addresses loaded into the Garmin. I've got favorites saved in the laptop. I've got printed pages in a folder with information I might want.

With the access to information people have these days I don't understand why anyone takes a vacation so ill prepared...

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by eok

Some tourists who went to Iroquois Park to see what they could see from the overlook, said everything that could be construed as an overlook was surrounded by trees and there were no views. Where exactly is the real Iroquois Park overlook? Is it hidden such that a tourist might have trouble finding it? There was a sign that said the overlook road was only open to cars on certain days, but when they went there on one of those days, there was no overlook to be found up there. Except some kind of meeting building surrounded by trees. And there was a basketball court somewhere.

They also said the bridge to walk across the Ohio River was very hard to get to, because too many of the roads were closed.

And the malls were not impressive. Nor Bardstown Road in the Highlands. They said lots of cities have roads like that, and there was nothing special about it.

From the point of view of tourists who only want to get a feel for what the city is like, nothing's worth the bother except paid tourist attractions.

They even complained that there is a shortage of signs, making it easier to get lost. They go under interstates and can't tell by looking up what interstate they're going under, nor how to get on it.

Someone responsible for making Louisville attractive to tourists needs to work on some issues.

These are ridiculous, ill informed complaints. Don't you live in Louisville? And Bardstown Rd is very special, especially in good weather or for festivals. But it cannot be driven...it must be walked, and the side streets and Cherokee park must be too. It is completely false that lots of cities have that. Maybe less than 20 in the USA have such a complete neighborhood, as urban, as UPSCALE, as safe, as the Highlands with every city amenity, late night bars and restaurants, and a Frederick Law Olmstead park. Even supposedly "bigger" cities have nothing to compare, and the list is large from Orlando to Phoenix, St Louis to Detroit. So yeah, if you drive Bardstown Rd on a Monday at 8 PM at 35 mph it probably doesn't look that special. But this person missed corner spots in Old Louisville, the largest Victorian hood in the Midwest, great ethic eats in Beechmont, wonderful museums, hotels, and a top 20 restaurant scene. They completely missed Frankfort Ave an the heart of St Matthews. They missed the boutiques and food of Nulu, and the bourbon museums and tours which are unique to Louisville. There is so much more...

Things were hard to get to? Come on. That's like someone complaining a subway or L is closed in NY or Chicago. really guys? Why should there be big glaring signs for tourists? Maybe Louisville attracts the kind of tourist like the well prepared gentleman above. The rest can head for the usual spots...the Vegas Strip, Disney World, et all.

I think Louisville is doing ok. Almost every weekend major dt hotels are sold out. This weekend rooms go for 300-400

[eok]

I've only lived in Louisville for a relatively short time and don't have much awareness of its attractions. I moved here for other reasons than attractions. The tourists were primarily visiting people here, and only exploring during a small fraction of their visit. I wanted to, quickly, without spending much time on it, find a list of things for them to see. I found things mentioned here, but didn't have time for further research. And they didn't have time for the kind of exploration you're talking about, walking and visiting a lot of bars etc. They didn't visit websites of parks etc. because they didn't expect to do anything in those parks, but just take a quick look at them.

Their number one complaint was how easy it was to get lost. They somehow drove from Iroquois Park to Downtown, lost, without once seeing any signs directing them to any interstates. I doubt I could get that lost, because, at the very least, I could get on 264 on the way to downtown. But they somehow missed it. And then in Downtown, they drove all over looking for on ramps.

They also wanted to see the railroad yard west of the airport, where you can see on a map a large number of railroad tracks in parallel. But they couldn't find a hill to see the trains. The trains they did see blocked their view on the other trains. I know that's not a valid complaint. But since they had an overall negative impression, every little detail seemed to add to that impression.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by eok

I've only lived in Louisville for a relatively short time and don't have much awareness of its attractions. I moved here for other reasons than attractions. The tourists were primarily visiting people here, and only exploring during a small fraction of their visit. I wanted to, quickly, without spending much time on it, find a list of things for them to see. I found things mentioned here, but didn't have time for further research. And they didn't have time for the kind of exploration you're talking about, walking and visiting a lot of bars etc. They didn't visit websites of parks etc. because they didn't expect to do anything in those parks, but just take a quick look at them.

Their number one complaint was how easy it was to get lost. They somehow drove from Iroquois Park to Downtown, lost, without once seeing any signs directing them to any interstates. I doubt I could get that lost, because, at the very least, I could get on 264 on the way to downtown. But they somehow missed it. And then in Downtown, they drove all over looking for on ramps.

They also wanted to see the railroad yard west of the airport, where you can see on a map a large number of railroad tracks in parallel. But they couldn't find a hill to see the trains. The trains they did see blocked their view on the other trains. I know that's not a valid complaint. But since they had an overall negative impression, every little detail seemed to add to that impression.

Someone not city savvy....I can agree...remember the downtown interchanges are undergoing a 2.5 Billion dollar rework. By the end of the year, construction will wrap up and better signage will go up. Signs sometimes are low, temporary, orange signs, cones, etc. There are indeed lots of road closures for this.

But getting lost in a city the size of Louisville? Come on....this is not NYC or Chicago. Louisville is bigger than you think, but nothing like that.

[censusdata]

Iroquois Summit is a legit complaint, I emailed the city about it over a decade ago. It should be a great panoramic view of much of the city but the city is too lazy to get a chain saw out and cut down a bunch of trees that block the view. There's a similar issue at Ashland Park in Clarksville, which is the best view of the skyline. I love trees and forests but they don't belong in a couple places where they block the view. It's really inexcusable.


If they weren't impressed by the Highlands they are from a very large metro. There's nothing like that in Atlanta or Dallas, let alone Cincy, Indy, or Nashville. Churchill Downs and the Highlands are Louisville's Ace cards.


It is hard to get around the Big 4 Bridge on either side of the river unless you know where you're going. It's a huge construction zone, signage could be better but it would still be a mess.


I totally agree that signage to tourist destinations and to interstates could be much better. I've complained to the city about it for years and no one cares, they also tell meet it "meets written requirements". Basically the city is happy to pass with a C-. Great places have great signage to help visitors and C- isn't good enough. Louisville is great city but local govt isn't so great.

[MissingIndiana]

Apparently these random visitors don't own smart phones and never glanced at a map before coming. Also, it's a little weird that anyone would be complaining about not being able to find a hill so they can view a random set of railroad tracks

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by MissingIndiana

Apparently these random visitors don't own smart phones and never glanced at a map before coming. Also, it's a little weird that anyone would be complaining about not being able to find a hill so they can view a random set of railroad tracks

So weird! So So weird!

[eok]

They're doing their part to keep Louisville weird.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by eok

They're doing their part to keep Louisville weird.

hahahahaha