Good City, Good for County
The edges of almost every metropolitan area expand into the surrounding rural areas. In some cases it is a gradual creep and in others rapid development as new houses and businesses spring up in farm fields almost overnight.
The residents of Floyd county are certainly not immune to this trend. People who moved to the country to get away from the city and enjoy a rural lifestyle find that other people and businesses are following so quickly that the country is quickly turning into more of what they thought they left behind.
W magazine is not my usual fare and not the kind of publication where I would expect to run across a concept for rural preservation but the magazine was in our breakroom at work and a blurb on the cover caught my eye.
Turns out that the Derby Days blurb on the cover was for a story about Laura Brown and Steve Wilson. If you read the newspapers and the blogs I don't need to tell you that they are the couple who are using their fortune to open 21c and Proof on Main and are spending $380 million to build Museum Plaza in downtown Louisville.
I have been reading about their efforts but either I missed something or none of the stories I read mentioned their motivation. They love living in the country outside Louisville but they see development encroaching. Their goal is to slow down the suburbanization of Louisville's rural outskirts. Their idea is that by making the city center a more attractive place to live it will be less attractive for people to move out to the rural areas.
Such a simple idea and one that any rural resident can implement without spending millions.
If you don't want more people following you to the country support every effort that is being made to make the urban areas of our community a better place to live. It can be as simple as supporting activities and events that take place in the city. It could be volunteering for organizations that support historic preservation or affordable housing. It could be making an effort to patronize businesses located in the urban core so they don't have to take their business to you and build a new shopping center in your backyard.
The residents of Floyd county are certainly not immune to this trend. People who moved to the country to get away from the city and enjoy a rural lifestyle find that other people and businesses are following so quickly that the country is quickly turning into more of what they thought they left behind.
W magazine is not my usual fare and not the kind of publication where I would expect to run across a concept for rural preservation but the magazine was in our breakroom at work and a blurb on the cover caught my eye.
Turns out that the Derby Days blurb on the cover was for a story about Laura Brown and Steve Wilson. If you read the newspapers and the blogs I don't need to tell you that they are the couple who are using their fortune to open 21c and Proof on Main and are spending $380 million to build Museum Plaza in downtown Louisville.
I have been reading about their efforts but either I missed something or none of the stories I read mentioned their motivation. They love living in the country outside Louisville but they see development encroaching. Their goal is to slow down the suburbanization of Louisville's rural outskirts. Their idea is that by making the city center a more attractive place to live it will be less attractive for people to move out to the rural areas.
Such a simple idea and one that any rural resident can implement without spending millions.
If you don't want more people following you to the country support every effort that is being made to make the urban areas of our community a better place to live. It can be as simple as supporting activities and events that take place in the city. It could be volunteering for organizations that support historic preservation or affordable housing. It could be making an effort to patronize businesses located in the urban core so they don't have to take their business to you and build a new shopping center in your backyard.
posted by na girl | 1:59 PM
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