On Saturday, September 26, 2020, as I was getting my Starbucks fix, I happened to encounter a scene that I have not seen in Bon Air in my nearly 20 years here. A homeless individual sleeping out in the open outside one of the businesses at Bardstown and Heather.
My first thought was that it was a whole new game when it came to the homeless and the Bon Air Neighborhood. Panhandlers have been staying out later in the evening at the Bardstown Rd intersections. I noticed that a few of them were disregarding the curfew at the Bardstown/Goldsmith intersection Thursday night when I was coming home from work. We have been aware of somewhat secluded homeless campsites at certain points whether on one of the islands at Bardstown and the Watterson and behind the Thorntons.
It appears that the factors are the effects of COVID19 upon the central business district and possibly the barricading of the downtown streets in response to the protests. There are fewer commuters going downtown and less "opportunity for panhandling."
It is hard to say whether they appreciate how low the crime rate is in this area. Some of my homeless clients have talked about how the homeless steal from each other and attack each other.
Time will tell what kind of effects they have upon this neighborhood.
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