A Brief and Rather Incomplete History of the Bon Air Neighborhood Association.

The current Bon Air Neighborhood Association is actually the second BANA.  There was a previous Bon Air Neighborhood Association that was in existence from 1980 through 1986 and it fizzled out. 

Its last address was on Kings Highway, which is by Furman.   My understanding from some long-time residents was that its focus was fighting against the public housing units that were eventually built by Farnsley Park.  In talking with one of those neighbors someone collected money to pay for a lawyer to fight the fight.  My source further said that she thought that there was collusion because she was not happy with how things turned out (the public housing got built).

The current Bon Air Neighborhood Association was actually organized on 8/28/2008.  Patrick Carrico, Michelle Browning, Cynthia Cooke and Carla Brockman were the original officers of the organization.  The now-defunct Louisville Metro Department of Neighborhoods went around and organized neighborhood organizations including BANA.  

The boundaries of the organization are significant.  The Department of Neighborhoods appeared to organize by Census Tract and the original, intended area for the neighborhood association was going to be from the Watterson Expressway wall to Hikes Lane and from Bardstown Road to Rio Rita. However, there were some disagreements that included who would be allowed membership.  The effort had a fissure in which BANA was formed in July, 2018 the Bon Air Estates Association was formed later in December 2008. 

BANA’s first chapter was focused on the dream of Cynthia Cooke (owner of the the Bashford Manor Bed and Breakfast) to renovate the streetscape of the Bardstown Road Corridor between the Watterson and Hikes Lane and make it a beautiful, walkable destination.  

Cynthia has to be given credit for all of the tireless work she put into the planning process.  She went to many meetings and campaigned for the streetscape. 

Cynthia also deserves credit for the facilitation of neighborhood street signs which were part of the streetscape.  It added a touch of neighborhood pride. 

Some concrete accomplishments were made by the planting of shrubbery and trees in the median between Bashford Manor Lane and Hikes Lane.  ,

A technical plan of the streetscape had been created by the University of Louisville Urban Design Studio after a Charette that included a lane diet for Bardstown Road.   The dream was deferred overall by the economic downturn of 2008 and different investors coming in and engaging in land use that was not consonant with the streetscape plan. There were other struggles but they are too involved to discuss.

BANA made an attempt to facilitate the development of an economic development corporation to further business development and to carry on the streetscape dream as the going was slow.  The chapter ended with the building of the Costco on the old Showcase Cinemas property. 

The one obvious accomplishment of the streetscape plan was the magnificent mural under the Watterson Expressway by Sabra Lynne.  Evelyn DeCuir was the president and prime facilitator of the fund-raising and coordinator of the job.

A side note is that previous presidents of BANA have included Patrick Carrico, Charlaine Reynolds and Kenny Colston.

Well, looking ahead, it is hoped that BANA can create meaningful development in the core of the neighborhood and engage in other relevant endeavors.  The organization does not just have to be about developing a stage, an art hall and statuary.  It can be about improving public safety and maybe looking to help increase public services (maybe there is a solution to those of you in the “General Services District” who have to pay for private trash collection to get into the Urban Services District?)   If you have ideas for BANA, come and make them known. 

Next week, my plan is to talk about the other neighborhood organizations in the Bon Air vicinity.

The next BANA meeting is scheduled for February 11, 2019 at 6:30 pm, we would love to put out a chair for you and hope you consider becoming a member if you are not already one. 

The Bon Air Core Vision, The Strategy and Our Journey So Far

The suggested overall vision for the Bon Air Core is New Urbanism. This was suggested in the Bon Air Neighborhood Plan of 2012 that was created by University of Louisville Urban Planning Students. This includes

•      A  mix of residential types (to include low income) 
•        A mix of businesses (professional services, financial services and retail)
•      An Improved Aesthetic

The footprint for this already exists in the layout of the Bon Air Core area and public housing units at the corner of Rio Rita Avenue and Commander Drive.  An example of New Urbanism locally is “Norton Commons.”

The logic of how we get to the New Urbanism design is as follows.

• Through arts development we will improve the aesthetic and draw attraction to the neighborhood.
• The economic demand created by the attraction will motivate infrastructure redevelopment.
• The economic demand is also expected to facilitate rezoning of areas of the Bon Air Core that will engender business development.

The reason we are going with the arts development strategy is because we can.  We tried to talk to the three, main real estate holders/rentiers in 2017 to explore what kind of future we wanted to work towards in the neighborhood, and determine whether there was a possible partnership. They ignored us.    

We got tentative verbal/written agreement from two of them to show up at a meeting with us and Louisville Forward in 2017 and they stood us up and never returned any further messages.   The smaller of the three landlords, who built their apartments on the former swim club property was impossible to get ahold of and never returned any messages.   The Louisville Forward rep said that behavior was not uncommon of real estate holders to act in the way that these acted.    

So, I was thinking for some time about what we could do to move development forward despite the apathy of the landlords.  I also took to heart what one landlord told me on the phone in 2017 said-- apartment rents were flat--which suggested that the area was not exactly worth further investment on his part.  I could see economic legitimacy in the one, polite landlord’s apathy beyond the fact that the behavior was passive-aggressive.

At this point it became clear that if we were going to develop the area, we would need to improve the public areas in ways that draw economic activity to the area that would improve the value of the land but not spoil it, and we could not count on the major landlords to be involved at the start.

Theoretically, a parcel or area of land has value because people want to come there to live, work, use the land to produce goods and services, buy goods and services, be educated there, or be entertained there.  Furthermore, for a parcel of land to be economically productive, it must have economic linkage with the surrounding parcels or areas.  (see the diagram) 

We would need to develop more than just an object, we needed to connect with something in the local economy that would help the local economy grow as it would help us grow.   In sociological terms we would need to create a "growth pole" that others could use to latch onto to create economic opportunities and maybe diversify the local economy. 

                                                                J. Allen Whitt Ph.D. 

In the pondering of options, I had some random memory of an academic journal article written by one of my dissertation professors at the University of Louisville, J. Allen Whitt Ph.D (now Professor Emeritus). (who also did work that was the basis of my own dissertation) that the Kentucky Center was created for economic development.  I had a Jeff Goldblum/Judd Hirsch/Independence Day moment (Genius . . . I gave it a virus—I gave it a cold—there is a clip of it on YouTube). 

1

                                             The Kentucky Center--Louisville, KY

My Goldblum moment was that we could have an art development strategy just like they did downtown and downtown is just beautiful.  My brainstorm included things like                              

  

•       A performance stage in the park,
•       Magnificent and grand statuary with Louisville, Kentucky, and Derby themes,
•       An Art Hall in the Bon Air Library. 

We could attract some of the Derby traffic for people to come and see the spectacular public art when they were not going to Oaks, “Thurby” or whatever becomes of the Wednesdays of Derby week.  This development strategy would also provide opportunity for the creative sector in Louisville to grow where local artists would have opportunity to display and sell and maybe even set up shop.

These would be the beginning of making the Bon Air Neighborhood a place where parents could bring their children for family-oriented entertainment, people could come and experience the fine arts, and maybe move here because it is such a great place that is close to so much.  

I have had the opportunity to pitch this on behalf of the organization to numerous parties with favorable results so far.  The advice from the Center for Neighborhoods was to get a conceptual picture, and we had Sabra Lynn (the artist of the magnificent mural on Bardstown Road under the Watterson Expressway) do it. (I just have to show Sabra's drawing again)

We are now ready next to pitch for funding for the planning and design of the stage. We are looking to get some realistic estimates to pitch in the grants we write.   Even though we would like the stage to look like the grand picture that Sabra drew, we will see what reality brings.  District 26 Metro Rep Brent Ackerson has been very generous with “neighborhood development funds," but this needs to be a public-private partnership.  We would love to have corporate sponsorship from one of the local corporations for design and building the stage.  

In this next phase of this journey, we need you to be part of the Bon Air Neighborhood Association.  Our membership costs only $10.00 per year.   Our next meeting will be February 11, 2019 at 6:30 pm.   

Next week, I will discuss how the Bon Air Organization was started in 2008 and our journey as an organization thus far.

The Return of the Bon Air Observer

Hello, I am Dave and take cover Bon Air and Louisville. The Bon Air Observer is back.

The Bon Air Observer was previously a blog I wrote 2009-2011 that was hosted on Louisville Mojo when it hosted blogs.

On Monday, January 14, 2019 I was elected President of the Bon Air Neighborhood Association (BANA) and it seemed like a good time with a worthy reason to resurrect the blog.

When I originally wrote the Louisvillemojo.com blog, I covered many neighborhood topics in the blog that included history and statistics, and subjects like sex offenders, vigilantes, and  neighborhood ambiance.  I of course infused my opinion and maybe I muckraked (no I did muckrake--as previously influenced by the late Jack Anderson).

This blog will be more positive.  It will primarily keep you up to date and informed of the BANA development efforts on the proposed Farnsley Park stage and our overall development strategy and vision for the neighborhood. The picture below is of our conceptual drawing of the stage.

As the blog goes on my plan is to discuss our strategy and the theories behind it. We will keep the neighborhood and anyone else informed about how we are doing on making the stage a reality.  But it serves to say that there are two levels to the strategy: 1) Art Development and 2) New Urbanism.

The Art Development strategy currently includes 1) creation of a performance stage in Farnsley Park, 2) development of an art hall in the Bon Air Library, and 3) installment of public art to include statuary.  Ideally this is smart growth in which it attracts a moderate amount of increased traffic and will attract people to the neighborhood who have specific interests and it will improve housing values and sufficient traffic to revitalize what I will call the :"Bon Air Core."   The following picture shows the core.

The Bon Air Core is the block of the Bon Air Manor Shopping Center and the Bon Air Library.  It is the block bordered by Del Rio Place, Mina Terrace, Commander Drive, and Flora Avenue.  When I moved to the neighborhood in 2000, there were numerous local businesses that included a PicPac grocery store, a pet store, a musical instrument repair shop, and a swim club.   I have been told by current and former neighbors that previous businesses had included a workout club, and hardware store, and a traditional drug store, and a cafe.  Those businesses are gone from the shopping center. The shopping center overall is languishing from its vibrancy 18 years ago.

Of course times change and the economics of a situation change.  What the Bon Air Manor shopping center was is unlikely to be restored to the way it was.  It will have to be something different, and what that will be is to be discovered.  My thought is that there is the existing footprint where a New Urbanism approach can be implemented with a mix of housing and businesses.

But imagine a Bon Air Core where there is a variety or mix of businesses with products and services that draws people from inside and outside the neighborhood.  Also, imagine a neighborhood with pride and identity where more people know each other and get together to enjoy each others' company and cooperate together to maintain and further improve the neighborhood.  These things are possible and you can be involved . . . better yet we need you to be involved if you are in the Bon Air Neighborhood.

There is strength in numbers and if you have been a member of BANA and let it lapse or you have never been a member, you can be a member if you live in the Bon Air Neighborhood or nearby. The more members an organizations has . . . the more clout it has. More clout means more power and influence to get things done.

BANA membership dues are $10.00 per year, which helps maintain the organization and its efforts, and as will be repeated a few more times in the next few weeks, the next meeting will be February 11, 2019 in the great room of the Bon Air Library.  (Late edit: it will be at 6:30 pm).