I am again surprised that some residents of Lexington will go to great effort to complain about what they see as a waste of the taxpayers money - their money.
Often times it will be those who live is the higher income areas who rail the loudest about this injustice and usually the funds are being expended on works which will benefit a less well of majority. I mean, how often do we hear about the half full buses (carrying those people) running all over town? Or the supplemental lunches for at risk children? I certainly don't hear the low income parent or autoless employee raising a stink.
What caught my attention this time was the recent addition of a low, decorative retaining wall and planter bed immediately adjacent to the curb of Tates Creek Road just before you get to Albany. I think that it was the "For Sale" signs, with their bright colors, that made me look, but it was the location of the wall that made me come up short. They are placed right in the path of the soon to be started Tates Creek Sidewalk project.
The Urban County Council has been discussing this project for over 2 years now. Federal funds have been secured. A design has been approved. A contract has been let. And now someone has spent money to place an additional obstacle for the contractors. Unbelievable.
This is not a simple case of not knowing where the property line is or what they may do within the Highway Right of Way. This is purely a spite installation. It may appear to be landscaping but the grade change indicates where they should and shouldn't have done any work.
The present owner clearly wishes to prevent anyone from walking in front of his property, be they neighbors or attendees of any of the churches in the area. Best of all there is a posted bus stop at the far end of the frontage, as seen below.
It is actions like this which reinforce the un-walkable nature of the suburbs. This block face is certainly not that much different in length than the section of Ashland Ave between High and Main. The uses in the area are transitioning away from strictly residential.
Change does come hard to many folks, be it the gentrifying of a downtown neighborhood or the evolution of a high volume roadway like Tates Creek Rd., but fighting the change is generally a costly, losing battle. I would rather the City not be made to incur the sizable majority of that cost.
What caught my attention this time was the recent addition of a low, decorative retaining wall and planter bed immediately adjacent to the curb of Tates Creek Road just before you get to Albany. I think that it was the "For Sale" signs, with their bright colors, that made me look, but it was the location of the wall that made me come up short. They are placed right in the path of the soon to be started Tates Creek Sidewalk project.
The Urban County Council has been discussing this project for over 2 years now. Federal funds have been secured. A design has been approved. A contract has been let. And now someone has spent money to place an additional obstacle for the contractors. Unbelievable.
This is not a simple case of not knowing where the property line is or what they may do within the Highway Right of Way. This is purely a spite installation. It may appear to be landscaping but the grade change indicates where they should and shouldn't have done any work.
The present owner clearly wishes to prevent anyone from walking in front of his property, be they neighbors or attendees of any of the churches in the area. Best of all there is a posted bus stop at the far end of the frontage, as seen below.
It is actions like this which reinforce the un-walkable nature of the suburbs. This block face is certainly not that much different in length than the section of Ashland Ave between High and Main. The uses in the area are transitioning away from strictly residential.
Change does come hard to many folks, be it the gentrifying of a downtown neighborhood or the evolution of a high volume roadway like Tates Creek Rd., but fighting the change is generally a costly, losing battle. I would rather the City not be made to incur the sizable majority of that cost.