1 Out Of 4 ?

By some counts the Mayor is now 1 out of 4 for big downtown projects. He has not stopped or greatly altered he CentrePointe block. South Limestone, for all its expense ($7000 a foot?), is working out well. Rupp Arena's redesign has fallen to University's re-emphasis on education if not lack of statewide public interest. The 21c hotel may be his one bright spot.

The Mayor and Council have now declared the Rupp remodel to be in a state of suspended development. That does not mean the the rest of the Arts and Entertainment district, of which Rupp Arena's re-do was initially a minor part, cannot proceed. The 20 acre High St parking lot should be developed and with an emphasis on residential spaces for families.

The property taken for the High St lot was once home to many families. The fact that they were of a lower economic status made it easy to target them for removal or relocation. That much land being used so infrequently is a greater waste than bailing out certain developers. If we desire to expand our downtown's central core, that would be an excellent direction and place to start.

Being that the property is owned by the government, or at least a quasi-government agency, and the desire is to encourage private development whenever possible, the City should “jump-start” the process by lowering the acquisition costs in the downtown area. Developing smaller, individual buildings rather than massive, CentrePointe sized projects and including welcoming street facades to enhance the walkability of the area will work here – as it has in other locations. (Can you say JDI?)

What happens to the seldom mentioned Town Branch Trail and the amphitheater/park to replace the Cox Street lot should take a back seat to reviving our downtown residential scene so that someone is downtown to enjoy those amenities. Driving downtown to walk along a reconstructed stream bed or rebuilt rolling hills just does not do it for me.

So, where are the other glimmers of hope for downtown?

The Main & Vine project may be getting its parking garage (yea?) but it is very quiet down there.

The competing IMAX style theaters show little signs of progress as we near the end of June.

The Kickstarter campaign for a restaurant in the Distillery District grabbed some press.

I am keeping my eye on West Short St. The parking lot beside and between the Village Idiot and Church Street. Some recent property transactions over the last three years which coincide with the creation of LLC's of the new owners lends credence to the rumors of major players inquiring about the space. I need to look more closely for recent survey markings and I will look.

I also hope that the Food Truck days at the newspaper, Cup of Commonwealth and Dad's Favorites will continue the offerings that a goodly number of our young professionals appear to partake.

What Will Our Future Neighborhoods Look Like?

Like all cities, the suburbs are where most of us live and as a general rule we do not spend all of our time there. I can almost equate that with remaining inside your bedroom or man-cave when there are other parts of the house to explore and use. We entertain in the formal living room or dine in the the kitchen if it is informal and the dining room if it is not. Today's housing is a much more mixed blend of uses but our neighborhoods and suburbs are not. I, and others, believe that that may soon change.

I have lived outside of Man o' War for only two years. Those 2 years were over two decades ago and are still the dullest times of my life. Getting to work and anyplace remotely interesting to me was more effort than I usually want to put into something. Therefore, the idea of making Lexington's suburban neighborhoods more like their “first ring” older brothers and sisters is something on which I fixate. I am always looking for ways to help make that change happen.

Suburbs, or at least those which follow the American-style model, have been called obesogenic , that is inducing its inhabitants to become fat. Along the way, they have been called sterile, homogeneous, anti-social simply because they are auto-centric and, for the most part, very inefficient. Is there any hope for an urban form so maligned to transition into someplace more desirable? Some experts think so and I believe that they may be right.

Many places in the U.S. the suburbs are beginning to emulate the patterns of cosmopolitan city centers, becoming more dense, taking on new forms and practices and responding to economic and cultural changes in our world. I am looking for ways to get Lexington moving in such a direction. Maybe we can grow the city and protect the rural area in doing so.

Without a doubt, the ideas which develop in American suburbs end up influencing at least the affluent suburbs around the world. In a recent article in Planning Theory & Practice, Arthur C. Nelson and others discuss the demographic changes and shifting consumer preferences that are likely to have dramatic implications on suburban design in the next few decades.

Government subsidies, economic prosperity and demographic shifts since the end of World War II have led to generations of low density suburban growth which continue in Lexington to this day. Could it be that current economic conditions will begin to alter our development practices toward denser and better connected neighborhoods/communities. Will we see a re-commitment to urban and urbane living?

One place where w could begin that re-commitment is in our public investment and financing strategies to keep up with expectations for services such as public transit. Our regulations and development financing need to shift away from contemporary practices to support re-urbanization policies.

The process of “fracking” has led to the recent growth in petro-carbon production and the proposals to build pipelines from Canadian tar-sands to southern refineries may signal that “peak oil” has not yet arrived. But to assume that the return to the era of cheap energy may be sheer folly. We still need to shift away from the reliance on the private automobile. Despite consumer preference surveys which indicate that people say they would choose cosmopolitan options, those options need to in place before the choice can be made.

The suburban landscape needs to be able to transition in form, function, and pattern as quickly as community needs change. Financing practices, community attitudes and, above all, our zoning regulations currently restrict that transition flexibility. Zoning codes and covenants enforced by developers, neighborhood and homeowners’ associations have increasingly limited the potential for ready physical adaptation. 

How will we find ways to address the needs of the less affluent when the market producing our housing has other priorities? Jill L. Grant, Professor of Planning at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), said it best “In trying to address the problems of homogeneity and inefficiency which we regret in our old suburbs, how can we avoid stimulating gentrification processes that suburbanize poverty and disadvantage?”

Nelson is Director of the Metropolitan Research Center, City & Metropolitan Planning at University of Utah so he probably understands the subject of urban sprawl as well as anyone. Having grown up in a suburb of Portland, Ore. and having to drive everywhere, I believe that he seen the beast that sprawl has become firsthand. He has also recognized the American suburbs are a unique development form that may be replicated in some fashion around the world although not to the extent that they are here at home.

American planners have built our suburbs as mostly low density, with uniformly developed landscapes of few land-use interactions and an intentional dependency on the automobile. At about 14,500 individuals per square mile, the suburbs of London, England are more densely settled than such central cities as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The actual City of London has under 10,000 residents of its own. It really becomes easy to see that we have planned the very urban vibrancy we seek out of our neighborhoods.

“Unlike suburbs in much of the rest of the world... ... American suburbs do not have mixed land uses or a range of housing options, and lack densities to support public transit.”

Nelson has identified three reasons as to why suburbs in America are different. 

First, Americans have an entrenched anti-urban sentiment with strong libertarian undercurrents to the point that an individuals property rights are above the community's interests. Outside of Lexington and a few other communities, few impediments exist to developing open land and that facilitates the low density environment which encourages sprawl.

Second, government (and financial institutional policies) since the Depression favor new construction over rehabilitation, new highways over public transit, construction of owner-occupied and detached homes over rented and attached homes and converting farmland/open space into low-density suburban development over sustaining working or passive landscapes.

Prior to World War II, the worries in housing were from urban pollution brought about by over-crowding and lack of sufficient daylight. After the war, the plans actively sought to reduce the residential densities for public health reasons. Section 701 of the 1954 Federal Housing Act provided grants for land-use planning templates which separated residential subdivisions from retail uses, employment centers and civic institutions. All of the things which make a neighborhood and community a vibrant and desirable place to live.

The third reason is a direct result of the preceding two. Subsidized road projects and subsidized energy costs helped to inflate the value of land for suburban development. More efficient development was economically punished while less efficient development was rewarded. More suburban uses imposed negative externalities on adjacent farmland which depressed the farm land's value and virtually assuring far more land was converted than would otherwise occur.

There is little doubt that suburban America will continue to dominate growth and settlement, but one should expect it to become more urban along the way. Recent preference surveys and projections of demographic trends hint that America’s suburban future may be quite different. Lexington has embarked on a path of infill and redevelopment which may need to achieve a certain level of neighborhood urbanity to work.

So, what are these emerging trends that Nelson has identified?

1 Rising energy costs

From World War II until the early '70s there was a vast supply of cheap gasoline and being able to drive out to the inexpensive land available for home building took home ownership rates from 55% in 1950 to 69% in 2004. Rising fuel prices may dampen the appeal of the suburban fringe for home buying, with or without self driving cars.

2 Lagging employment

The structure of the American labor force has made it prone to high unemployment as may be evidenced by the dismal recovery from the Great Recession. A key component of employment and income recovery is educational preparedness and in many cases America trails in many categories. A rapid population growth among those who are less prepared to succeed, could lead to lower wages and higher unemployment rates. Without falling home prices and and a return to the previous mortgage underwriting policies there may be lower home ownership rates in 2035 than in 2010.

3 Falling incomes

Median household incomes for ALL age groups in EACH income category ended the decade lower than in 2000. Suburbs have accounted for nearly half the increase in the population in poverty. Add this with trends 1 & 2 and the effects may further lower demand for owner-occupied homes over the next decades.

4 Shifting wealth

Nearly 99% of America’s wealth was held by the highest fifth of households. Well higher than most of the last century. The shifting of wealth in the US means that America has become a nation where wealth inequality is greater than in many emerging countries. It is now more difficult to rise above poverty than in nearly any developed country.

5 Tighter home financing

In the wake of our recent financial disaster, lending institutions have increased their underwriting requirements, thereby reducing the number of people who can buy a home. Conventional mortgages now need higher credit scores, longer and more stable work histories, and 20% down payments. Those changes alone may disqualify about five million potential home buyers, resulting in 250,000 fewer home sales and 50,000 fewer new homes built per year. 

6 Changing housing and community preferences

Americans are looking for something different in their homes, neighborhoods and communities than they have had in the past.

The latest period of suburbanization, what we generally call the “era of sprawl” began in 1948 and is basically a “parasitic” version of suburbanization since it fed of off resources not generated by the growth itself. Fiscal policies, both State and Federal, transferred wealth from cities to suburbs though subsidization of roads and energy. Taxes on existing infrastructure and property allowed for reduced levies on developing land. Land-use and zoning codes socially engineered many a community composition. 

The bursting of the “housing bubble” and, for Lexington, the EPA consent decree are some evidence of the price which has now come due.

Robert Fishman, as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association, has suggested a fifth migration emerged during the 2000s. Since 2005, we have seen a re-urbanization of the inner city and our older suburban areas. It has been led by the young professionals, many an empty-nester senior, and and even immigrants. 

It is exactly the disadvantages of our inner-city districts, the “obsolete” retail and manufacturing facilities (Bread Box, Distillery District, et. al.), the pedestrian scale, an ability to rely on mass transit and even the aging housing stock which are being turned into advantages in this fifth migration. I think that we may need to extend or replicate some, if not all, of these new “advantages”into the suburbs once held by the “fourth migration”. That area we now call sprawl.

The challenge in making this transition is to change attitudes of suburbanites. This is a tall order. Nelson suggests that “local governments will need to become proactive in applying affordable housing tools such as density bonuses, subsidized low and moderate income housing, and inclusionary zoning.”

Older and closer-in suburbs, those built at low densities, may find retrofitting them a bit difficult but higher density redevelopment can be accomplished by using parking lots and low rise, low intensity nonresidential property along commercial corridors. Neighborhood opposition and disagreements along these commercial corridors pass may undermine any opportunity of transition.

As Nelson ends his piece “Successful American suburbs of the future will be resettled by very different kinds of households.” I ask, when will we see it here?

Why Do We Let This Go On?

I read recently where Council member Doug Martin was extolling the good times that he had on the latest CommerceLex trip to San Antonio, Texas. Many good ideas are attributed to these “investigative”trips. Some of which we have actually implemented and some are still on the sidelines.

That a number of those ideas remain just that, ideas, is somewhat explained by a Business Lexington article  which questioned our local taxing abilities and even our local commitment to pursuing an idea imported from other cities.

Both of these articles do well to help understand the confusion and frustration of all our residents who complain that we don't have a good array of urban amenities. I still read about those who ask “Where are the free museums?” or “Where can we go to do something fun with a family?” and “Why are the amusement parks so far away?” , but I don't have an answer. The thing is, the ideas which come back from these trips don't have the answer either.

I seem to be looking at finding the answers to, what I consider, a much better set of questions. Of all the ideas that our leadership has attempted to implement, all the civic improvements which were started (and “finished”), there is a mostly unperceived gap in our vision and our sense of finality. We get things kicked off and basically hope that folks will consider them complete.

My first case in point is the Fifth Third Cheapside Pavilion. The following thoughts come to mind: 

1) I keep hearing that there is more to do in terms of booth space along the old court house side of the space. Be it temporary or permanent stall space, it should complete the current space correctly. 

2) I remember the old arrangement, which had shade trees and plenty of well used public seating. Any seating now is reserved and controlled by the adjacent retail establishments and without any shade at all during noontime usage. 

3) The tree wells, ostensibly for the proper watering and feeding of the small trees, have become packed earth and a materials storage site during Thursday Night Live performances and smoking litter receptacles the rest of the time. One would have thought that they would compliment the rain garden planters of the new Main Street streetscape.

Speaking of the streetscape project, case in point number two. Since this was a project which included Federal funds, there had to be a definite end and we have seen it. But, to me, it looks like some unnecessary short cuts were taken. All of the decorative street lamps were taken down and reinstalled, some with extensive damage to the green enamel paint job. Simply reinstalling these 'less than beautiful” lampposts tends to detract from the finished look of the job.

There is also a portion of the decorative stone wall separating the sidewalk from a rain garden on West Vine which has been struck and damaged. Since it is outside of a building full of attorneys and generally they tend to care about appearances, should this not have been attended to before now? The law does say that the adjacent property owner is responsible for the sidewalk maintenance, even in the downtown area, does it not?

The way-finding signs, which I have complained of before, should have been installed during the streetscape project but followed by a good deal and there are places where it shows. There should have been a coordination of the contractors on locations of the bases which hold these signs but many time it just looks like the posts were jammed in helter-skelter. Even some other post completion construction work looks to mar the fine job done by the original contractors.

Case in point number three, an ongoing commitment to the status quo when there are massive changes in the surrounding area. For the most part, our downtown situation has changed for the better and that change has been well accepted. But some of the older, less noticed traditions apparently need to be retained. One of those recent traditions is that of delivery vehicles and where they may park.

Delivery vehicles used to have designated curbside locations for certain times of the day and, in general, many of the vehicles were small to moderate in size. They delivered to a handful of places and a somewhat limited quantity of products. There was a flow of vehicles moving down the primary streets, from block to block and taking up just so much space as necessary, then moving on.

Not so today. They use much larger vehicles and at times they tend to take much more room, whether there is available space or not. The vehicles are allowed to block crosswalks and pedestrian curb cuts or even entire lanes of the street during some peak travel times. Now that we have so many more bars and restaurants in the downtown area than in recent memory, can they be of greater number than during downtown's heyday? In my opinion, delivery vehicles are service vehicles and in performing their duties, should NOT be doing a dis-service to all else. I cannot understand why we continue to allow it.

One more case of “finish it and forget it” could be the Court House Plaza. Ten years or so after completion and multiple festivals where we have been tramping allover the grass, the smooth transition from grass to pavement appears to be fraying. Good sized metal or concrete junction boxes rise above the ground level and the irrigation heads stand quite proud of the grass in some spots. Here too, the tree wells are quite bare and are quick to accumulate trash and cigarette butts. A regular morning cleaning currently does some good, but is that the most efficient use of personnel?

Finally, the case of overall pedestrian movement in a downtown that is given high marks for walkability. Just having sidewalks, and especially new sidewalks, should not equate into high mobility scores. There are two other important factors to consider. One is to look at the ease of movement past the sidewalk landscape and furniture as well as the other pedestrians out there with you. The other is to look at the ease of locating your destination if you are a relatively new resident or a first time visitor.

Now that we have all of these new sidewalk amenities, we should be able to use them without impedance. There are three, possibly four, new segments of sidewalk and two of them intersect. Four if you count the renewed sidewalk of Triangle Park between Main and Vine. Any other pedestrian connections to these new segments are definitely showing their age with cracks and wrinkles.

I fully understand about the CentrePointe block and can overlook that since I expect something to change there soon, but all the other streets tend to need some sort of work. I also have pointed out that with the growth of Short St, that main and Vine are not the only, or major, walking areas of town. The Cheapside Park and Court House pavement seem to be the only well maintained walkways on the north side of Main. 

 

When we add in the sidewalk dining spaces, which can become a sprawling intrusion at times, and the attendant umbrellas dipping to just over six feet high, making your way through the required 4 foot pathway can become difficult for taller folks.

Not all restaurants will place their tables either next to the building or next to the street in order to leave this 4 foot space, some will occupy the full center of the walkway. I would like to see a consistent pattern here and some way of enforcing it. I believe that we used to somewhere in our 200 year past, why not now?

Other street furniture and its proximity to the tables is a consideration to reduce certain “pinch points”. Perhaps some of the parking kiosks could be rotated 90 degrees so as to have the customer standing closer to the curb rather that blocking the walkway when crouching to read instructions or complete his transaction. This is further complicated when it takes a committee to make it work.

Finding ones way as a pedestrian is sometimes a different matter. I think that it is a good thing that downtown Lexington is as small as it is. Most of the downtown attractions are not so far from each other as to make it impossible to get there, therefore we have no posted maps of the area and a “you are here” arrow. Still, there seems to be a need for better signage at the pedestrian level, particularly some signage which is not dependent on facing in the direction of the flow of traffic.

It is interesting, if not ironic, that two short years after the current automobile oriented signage was decided and installed, that the Legends ballpark took a new moniker and the Lexington Visitors & Convention Bureau - a place tourists want to go - moved to the opposite end of downtown. Each of these means that a change in signage has to occur and while the ballpark change has been made, the other has not. I'm betting that another change will occur next year come spring. Will the Distillery District or some other growing attraction make it to the importance of being included on more signs and is there enough room?

So, where is all of this going? Instead of looking for the next big idea that we can import on a shoestring or without bringing all of the supporting public interest and funding, why not find a way to enhance the last few big ideas with proper finishing touches and real support of the downtown property owners and tenants? Why is sidewalk maintenance the sole purview of the city when, I believe, the law says otherwise? When did the delivery of goods to our “service industry”supersede the accommodation of those being served? When did the appearance of our downtown start to take a backseat to expediency and the dwindling fiscal year coffers?

Maybe we can do it all. Lets find some new ideas – AND – build us a good financial foundation with which to accomplish them – AND – make sue that we follow through with the real finishing touches, gild the lily, and live with some design excellence.


Update:  As of earlier this week there looks to be improvements to the tree wells in Cheapside Park.  Sometimes progress can take so long to occur.

Chevy Chase's resurgent intersection

Last Friday, as Mrs. Sweeper and I were coming home from the Gallery Hop, I saw a quite beautiful sight.  The evening was just perfect for getting out either to stroll through downtown looking at art or taking the kids to the ice cream shop for a cone or two.  Many a family was out doing just that.  Downtown, couples meandered through stop after stop of art and in Chevy Chase, hoards of families with kids were descending on Graeter's and the treats within.

 I tell you, the sidewalk in front of the Ashland Plaza was crawling with activity and both McAlister's and Graeter's were full.  The scene reminded me of the days when Romany Road was hopping.  I hope that it still is on Tuesday nights after Jazz or baseball in the park.  But this scene in Chevy Chase is today a rarer sight than some 30 years past.  The one thing that would make it better still would be the presence of some seating, you know, some tables and chairs or benches kind of like the sidewalk dining that we see downtown.

There is some sidewalk dining space already in Chevy Chase.  At Starbucks, at The Beer Trappe and Bourbon n' Toulouse, even Charley Brown's has some outdoor seating but I think that that has more to do with the smoking ban than anything else.  The area around the newly opened shops is in need of real seating.

The former Buddy's location had a so called patio for outside seating although it is right on the parking area, but it is there.

Speaking of Buddy's, it has not surprised me that it did not sit vacant for very long.  While @GossipGirl40502 will most likely tell you that the trendy things always begin early in her favorite zip code, the Chevy Chase area is just now getting in on the band wagon of brewpubs.  The South Broadway area, downtown and even W Sixth St., saw the micro or nano brewing sites before the 40502 but soon the Corner Brewpub will be taking over the old Buddy's spot and the intersection will become even more active.

I would not doubt that sometime, maybe near the end of Summer, somebody will organize a Colt trolley tour of all the local brewhouses or brewpubs in town, perhaps beginning and ending in the Distillery District.  I think that it would be great if it could benefit some local charity while exposing Lexington to the growing number of local brewers.

Update, May 3, 2012
Today, they put out at least two picnic tables in front of Graeter's and Business Lexington posted details about the brewpub.  When I mentioned the brewpub to the Lextran management and suggested a Brewhouse Hop, they seemed receptive.  What do you say, can we make it happen?

Pedicabs Are Coming To Downtown

I spent this evening with an interesting group of young people. I was allowed to attend the orientation meeting of potential pedicab drivers for Sprocket Jockeys. I want to thank Lauren and James for allowing me to see their enthusiasm for what I think is a wonderful new service for downtown Lexington. It makes me wish that I was 30 years younger so that I could drive one of those things.

First off Lauren Pfannerstill, a promotions person for a local liquor outlet, and James Gonyer, who if I heard correctly, works in a local bike shop have come together to bring Lexington its first pedicab service. Both are avid cyclists and but even so they could not drive all the time, so they let it be known, they need for drivers. My oldest son expressed interest in doing so and I was just interested in seeing what it took.

They seem to be modeling this as a cross between a taxi and the horse drawn carriage rides through downtown. Each of the drivers will be an independent contractor, leasing out the pedicabs to cover shifts and are able to pick their clientele/service area. Some may serve the downtown area alone or they may wish to go between the various concentrations of activity(downtown/Distillery District, downtown/campus, campus/Chevy Chase, ...). They have even lined up some specialized promotions at set locations and will be a visible feature at UK football games.

The drivers will be fully licensed and well versed on the Lexington bicycle ordinances. Charges for the service are not set and each driver may charge as they see fit. There will be NO dispatching center, so each driver will have to coordinate with the others to get things to go smoothly. So far, Lauren and James have found that most people do tip well for this novelty.

Their projected initial hours will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, starting at 6 and continuing until 4:00 am. This should take care of the early "dinner/date" crowd and the later "bar-hopping" crowd. The pedicabs do come with lights (front and back), turn signals and electric assist for that extra "umph" to get up those longer hills. My one caution on this is for the safety of the drivers in carrying substantial amounts of cash at that time in the morning. These independent contractors should not put themselves unduly at risk.

From the number of potential drivers at tonight's gathering and the interest displayed, these folks will have to add more pedicabs to the two currently in the stable. Most of them appeared to be post college age although some may be in their last years at school.

I am optimistic that this will work and can't wait to see the downtown public's reaction. Lauren, James, Here is wishing you well.

What I Missed At The Art Fair

I was wandering through the LexRides website today as I try to do on occasion and tripped across an interesting tidbit. They had a pedicab at the Woodland Art Fair. And I missed it.

I was all enthused about the availability of a bike corral that I missed any discussion of a pedicab service. It seems that I am not the only one, I think that a lot of others missed it too. So for all of you out there who may be interested, here is what I know.

A young couple, Lauren Pfannerstill and James Gonyer, have formed a company called Sprocket Jockeys, LLC to provide a pedicab service in downtown Lexington. Wow, what a rush, a pedicab service in Lexington? And they tried it out at the Art Fair to, from what I understand, was a good business.

Their website says that they will begin with weekend night in downtown and see how it progresses. I can see this as being a contender, of sorts, to the Lextran trolley system which has yet to be rolled out. One could go out for a night on the town, dining at Baker's 360 and then dancing at the Penguin on the other end of town, or a short ride downtown from campus (once South Lime gets finished) and back. It is not inconceivable to consider some of the other near campus destinations like Chevy Chase/Euclid or the new South Broadway developments. The possibilities are almost endless. Distillery District may be a ways off but who knows what will happen with the completion of the Newtown Pike Extension. These thing would also be great for the Gallery Hop evenings.

I wish these guys a lot of luck and hope to take advantage of their service real soon. And I hope that you do too.

More Thoughts on Lexington's Rail Situation

As buoyed as I am about the possibility of R. J. Corman bringing his dinner train(or a second one, it is unclear which) to Lexington, I am a little unsure just why he is asking for the boarding area to be in the Lexington Center parking lot. I do understand that they would be using the parking for the dinner train patrons and that it is an existing paved area, but it is a bit of a way from any other existing or proposed uses and at the east end of the working rail yard.

I would think that it would make more sense being on the west end of the yard and across from the developing Distillery District. There is a triangle of property at the intersection of Thompson Rd and Old Frankfort Pike, just west of the yard throat, that could hold the station and a boarding platform. The property itself does not have room for parking, but the area directly across Old Frankfort is slated for a parking lot.

The property to the north is currently occupied by the LFUCG recycling center whose relocation is being considered. Its redevelopment could include another platform for boarding or servicing the dinner train. If Rick Corman and Barry McNeese could come to terms on this, I think that it could kick start that end of the Distillery District. I can also see this as a boarding point for the regional rail to Frankfort and Louisville.

While on the topic of regional passenger rail, I see where the CEO of Norfolk Southern Corp. Wick Moorman is looking to the future of railroading, including passenger rail.

The railroad is also looking at passenger rail. In an interview last week with The Norfolk- Virginian Pilot, CEO Wick Moorman was open about NS’ new receptivity to passenger rail projects:

“Moorman didn’t just offer his opinion on the matter.” wrote the Pilot, “He signaled in an interview that his company is open to becoming an active partner. Said Moorman: “If we think that it makes sense for us financially to take some role in the ongoing operation, we’d be willing to at least consider that; we certainly are more than willing to be engaged in the dialogue.”
Destination:Freedom

If Norfolk Southern is really ready to embrace passenger rail, then we may have our direct route to Cincinnati and the Mid-West HSR network.

Finally, after this and all the other talk nationally about passenger rail and High Speed Rail and the like, I don't see how Kentucky's usually fiscally conservative congressmen are still funneling Federal dollars into the regional airports of Somerset and Owensboro for flights to destinations the present administration says are ideal for the HSR network that they envision. I myself can see that fuel prices will continue to rise and there is no alternative aviation fuel on the horizon, so why are they spending so much money of a possibly "dead end" transportation mode. At the very least it will be priced out of the means of the common family.

If anybody has other thoughts on this, drop me a line and we'll talk.

Why is TIF Hard to Understand

Why is the concept of TIF so hard to understand?

Take this comment from Lexdan.

Yes I realize that the Web(b)'s would pay up front for the various infrastructure improvements and that they would recoup that money by paying much lower property taxes for many years to come.

The problem I have with TIF is that this is the kind of thing that politicians can pitch as not costing the taxpayer anything since we aren't paying out any money. Yet for the next thirty years we will be raising that much less in taxes which means we will either need to raise taxes or cut other programs. By financing the improvement through the TIF they avoid the normal budget process where the merits of the improvements are weighed against all the other functions of government. This is not the best way to allocate resources.

Downtown is fine. The property values will rise downtown with or without CentrePointe. TIF is not appropriate here

TIF is not a deferring of taxes to the developer. On the contrary, bonds are to be sold on the promise of being repaid by the diverted tax revenue that would normally go to the State. The taxes will still be generated and the project itself will cause adjacent properties to rise in value, thereby causing the revenue stream outside the TIF district to rise. The monies raised from the bonds are them used for public infrastructure enhancements such as sewers, streets and even public art, but only within the district.

In the case of CentrePointe, the City made the district boundary very tight and included mostly public property, while the Distillery District defined a much broader area. This is a key distinction in that, as the Distillery District improves and the adjacent property is redeveloped( by DD or others) the TIF funds will increase to repay the bonds sooner.

Under a deferred taxation plan the properties in a district that did not improve, yet their valuation rose, could defer their taxes till later which is very unfair. These properties would have contributed nothing, gained from new infrastructure and paid lesser taxes.

And downtown is not fine. There have been many studies done which all point to the need for some sort of revitalization. The Mayor, in his budget address, displayed a map with proposed work to be done in the downtown area totaling somewhere near a billion dollars of development. This will be funded mostly by private monies. Only with the completion of these, including CentrePointe and Distillery District, will the values of downtown rise. People will need to gauge the health of downtown from more than the first floor street face and use the upper floors of the older buildings. Something not done on the CentrePointe block before and on few other blocks now.

There should be transparency in all downtown dealings when public funds are involved but where it is strictly private projects and private money, then any and all secrecy is allowed. When we start requiring transparency of all private funds coming into Lexington and a referendum of approval for projects, those projects will STOP.

Distinction Setting

The latest Business Lexington is out and has a wonderful piece about the "art style" bus stops. They write:

Our first public art bus shelter radiates with a sort of mesmerizing green glow, but if you have not seen it, it might be because the new shelter is inconspicuously situated along Versailles Road just outside of town.

As you can see, it is a beautiful resting place, out of the elements to wait for the bus. This is a program that I can get behind. The article had a rendering of the, apparently next, art bus stop to be built somewhere along Newtown Pike and the plans filed for the Distillery District show a bus shelter at each of their current project phases. I can't imagine Barry McNeese not desiring to have them in the "art type" for this very creative district.

I have mentioned before the idea of "branding" and bus stops for the Colt circulator. Possibly a design contest among the horse owners and breeders, but why stop there, others of our signature industries/business could sponsor a shelter. Lexington is fortunate to have some unique business entities located here. Those that come to mind are:

Smuckers (The only location to produce Jif peanut butter)
Big Ass Fan Co (A major producer of industrial fans)
Wabasto Sunroof Systems

There are probably more but this is all I could come up with on short notice.

I have heard that a prominent developer is considering designing art stops for their extensive retail and shopping/office park endeavors and having met them before, I believe that it will be done with real class.

And talk about being "shovel ready" projects, some of these will take a little design work but will employ artists and craftsmen for at least a few years.

I wish to thank everyone involved in this distinction setter for Lexington, just let me know how I can help.

Mayor's Stimulus Package

Today, I want to take a break from the Destination 2040 visioning comments and think about the Mayor’s $556 million stimulus package wish list.

This list contains some interesting and somewhat confusing items, but I think that all of them are needed at some level.

All of the Airport projects are well documented but yet may be less needed if the airline industry declines further or the tourism industry continues to falter.

• Carrier Ramp Rehabilitation 2,618,000
• Terminal Drive and Airfield Lighting Electrical Vault 5,930,000
• TW D Relocation and Corp. Ramp Addition ? Phase II 7,033,000
• Construct RW 9-27 Phases II and III 18,000,000

There are a number of projects that puzzle me concerning the Government Center Buildings. Primarily the main Government Center, the Switow building , the Phoenix building and the Old Court House(now the History Museum). The Mayor and the Council have made a big deal about the need for a new City Hall Complex and have had a consultant study the same. The recommendation has been given that, yes, we do need a new building but a location has not been identified. The Mayor an Council have proposed replacing the Stewart’s garage and Police headquarters with a new City Hall and removing the Phoenix building and parking garage. With that as background, we find on the wish list these items:

• Switow Building; Painting/Flooring and HVAC Improvements 170,000
• Phoenix Building; Windows/Flooring/Painting and HVAC Improvements 2,020,000
• Government Center; Total Building Renovations 8,000,000
• Coroner's Office; Total Building Renovations including HVAC 1,500,000
• Government Center Parking Garage Restoration. Safety, ADA, and structural improvements to important downtown public parking garage. 2,181,000
• Annex Parking Garage; Concrete Repairs 100,000
• Courthouse Parking Garage; Upgrade Revenue Producing Equipment 100,000

Each of these would be vacated and/or demolished in the near future if a new city hall is built, so is the administration covering its bases or wasting money?

A great deal of discussion has been held in many forums, about the CentrePointe TIF. Several public projects have been identified for the use of the TIF funds in the area surrounding the new hotel/condo tower, not the least of which is the old Court House renovation. So, where did this come from?

• Fayette County Courthouse; Major Renovation/HVAC 23,000,000

If the old Court House is done with stimulus money for what do we use the TIF money? Does this put the TIF status in jeopardy? Can we be double dipping?

The Distillery District is also in the pipeline for TIF status and it too has a stimulus entry.

• Distillery District public improvements to include new sidewalks, Town Branch Trail, placement of utility lines underground, storm drainage improvements, and new sanitary lines 15,000,000

And how about the following, can they not be combined into one project?

• Upgrade of Roofing (insulation)and HVAC systems of Bell Place 200,000
• Renovate historic Carriage House Theater at Bell House, a 150 year old historic landmark in Lexington 250,00
• Bell House replacement windows on signature public space in Lexington. Project will reduce fuel costs, water incursion and deterioration to 150 year old National Historic Register property 150,000

The only skatepark in Lexington is in Woodland Park which is also the site of Realtor’s Plaza. There is also a set of tennis courts sandwiched in between.

• Renovate outdated shelter/restroom building that houses Therapeutic Recreation and swim camp programs and skateboard/concession functions with energy and security efficient structure 150,000
• Redevelopment of Realtor's Plaza 130,000

Once again these could be combined in to one project.

There are several signalized intersections listed to be rebuilt.

• Rebuild Signalized Intersection, Cooper Drive at University Drive 200,000
• Rebuild Signalized Intersection, Rosemont Garden at Southland Dr 200,000
• Rebuild Signalized Intersection, Third Street at Race Street 200,000
• Re-build Traffic signals in downtown 1,600,000

The last entry does not identify which signals or how many, but from the cost given, I would guess the number to be eight. That would not jive with the number of jobs created though. The first three add five jobs each, but the last one adds 15. Go figure.

This next ones really throws me. Somewhere there is a disconnect in these two entries.

• develop centralized city-wide 4 field Football Complex with artificial turf to avoid 'home-away' conflicts and provide safer surface 3,000,000
• Lafayette High School Football Stadium 6,500,000

Each of the 4 other public high schools has rebuilt their football stadiums in the past few years and each with artificial turf, I believe. Two of the private high schools have their own sports complexes. So, where can we find a “central location”, presumably, currently owned and construct 4 fields, for half the price of one, at its present location. Does anybody have any idea where this is proposed?

The Board of Education has a few items on the list, and well they should, and only a handful give rise to questioning.

• Arlington Elementary School 13,206,275
• Bryan Station Middle School 16,983,245
• Cassidy Elementary School 13,827,791
• Leestown Middle School 18,227,636
• Russell Cave Elementary School 6,905,067

I know that the plans for Cassidy are ready to go and Bryan Station Middle are close, but I thought that Arlington was already underway. The students who attend there are in the old Johnson School site this year so that work could progress. If this item were to be approved, would they just reimburse the Board for some other project? Are a majority of the others currently bonded/ funded?

I know that to some this may sound nit-picky, but if Cheapside as a street, has been closed permanently, then would this item be a streetscape or a part of the old Court House renovation?

• Streetscape Improvements - Cheapside Park 2,000,000

Transit has been a large part of the Obama campaign during the election, so it has a number of requests. Also, the City has awarded the development rights above the Transit Center to a national design/build firm who, I understand, wishes to acquire the current garage, demo it and build from the bottom up. To that end, how do we explain this:

• Transit Center Parking Garage Restoration. Safety, ADA, and structural improvements to important downtown public parking garage. 1,026,000
• Transit Center Parking Garage; Upgrade Revenue Producing Equipment 300,000
• Transit Center Parking Garage; New Lighting/HVAC Improvements 136,000
• Construction of new transit center in downtown Lexington. 20,000,000

Once again, I don’t want anyone to think that I am against any of these projects. I want to see a stimulus to the local economy, but not in the worst way. I am sure that these projects were listed so as to be able to be done on a “stand alone” basis , if necessary and they were pulled together in a short time span. I just think that we can do better if we give the public some wiser planning.

Its a question of asthetics

Why does this look so good?



And this look so tacky?



Which of these would you like to see circulation through the downtown area? And which would bring more tourists, use less fossil fuels and be more sustainable?

With all the neat open spaces being contemplated downtown by the Downtown Master Plan, the Streetscape Master Plan, the Distillery District, CentrePointe and all the other small area plans, can't you just imagine how the top one would look in Lexington?

Distillery District moves forward

Barry McNeese has filed the first preliminary development plan for the Pepper Distillery property with city planning. It shows no new buildings and no buildings to be removed, but it does show a bus shelter and a revamped parking layout.

One remarkable detail about the development is that almost all of it is within the latest FEMA 100-year floodplain.

The property is everything south of Manchester St, from the Corman Railroad crossing to the Vulcan quarry entrance and a triangle of land on the north side, hemmed in by both the Corman and Norfolk Southern Railroads. Nothing new is currently shown as being built on the north side.

With the City actively looking for a location to move the recycling center on Thompson Rd., that parcel could easily be included in the Distillery District plans. I have been wondering why the parcel was left out of the TIF description as mapped below


Distillery District TIF form LFUCG Website


By rough calculation, this property could replace the area owned by the two railroads and the public rights-of-way, which cannot add to the value of the TIF because they generate no tax revenue, were it to be sold. There may be other information in play but it looks like an oversight on somebody's part.