North Heights- One of Youngstown’s most stable pre-WW II neighborhoods

North Heights is a comprised of mostly modest and large single family, wood frame homes built up in the 1920s & 1930s. The neighborhood was built up in response to middle-class housing demand fueled by Youngstown’s growing industrial base. Ethnic make up of the residents include African Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and Jewish Americans .

Mansions with large set backs line 5th Avenue. East of here is a more blighted lower income neighborhood. West of 5th Avenue is a solid middle class district. Commercial corridors are either auto centric or blighted but some auto centric retail. Other than having sidewalks and good street grid, North Heights functions more effectively like a moderately dense post WWII suburb. But that could change if the commercial districts are ever urbanized and more residential in-fill occurs. Unfortunately given Youngstown’s economy, I don’t anticipate that happening in my life time.

Click here to view my North Heights Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great tree canopy.
* Very convenient access to Dwtn with just an 8 minute drive.
* Great racial and economic diversity in North Heights
* Park amenities consist of Crandall Park and several cemeteries. Crandall Park is a good one, centrally located, diverse amenities and runs several blocks along a stream.
* Consistent sidewalk infrastructure but very few ADA compliant curb cuts.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very low density. More like a suburb.
* Poor Public transit and no bike infrastructure.
* Housing is still very cheap but some diversity. East of Ohio is mostly under 50K. West of Ohio street between 50K-100K. Larger mansions along 5th Ave generally selling in the 100Ks. Top of the market in in the low 200Ks.
* As this is a SF dominant neighborhood, rentals are very limited.
* Cultural amenities limited to a handful of restaurants and bars.
* Commercial corridors generally both blighted and auto centric. Not much positive to say here.
* Some retail amenities but all auto centric including a supermarket, drug store, a couple dollar stores, a post office and other low income stores.
* Schools include a public elementary and a catholic school just west of the neighborhood boundaries.

Youngtown’s Wick Park- Historic Home to Youngstown’s Elite

Wick Park is bordered by Belmont Ave to the west, Andrews to the east, Fairgreen to the north, and route 422 to the south.

Wick Park during the first half of the 20th century included some of the city’s most affluent residents. Youngstown’s wealthiest business leaders and professionals migrated here away from downtown and the noisy activity of the City’s steel mills to this wooded neighborhood areas near the city’s northern border. The largest homes historically lined Wick Park, Elm & Wick Avenues. Many of these homes have been torn down or are occupied by YSU and other institutional. But some remain as single family residential, especially surrounding Wick Park.

The neighborhood’s other great assets include its convenient access to YSU/Downtown and Wick Park itself, an expansive and multi-functional park. Still lots of blight remain in the neighborhood including several blocks of urban prairie east of Wick Ave. My hope is that given its location and historic architecture, civic leaders will focus on revitalizing the neighborhood. There is a nice but modest commercial node at Elm Street and Baldin where this could start along with stabilizing streets surrounding the park.

Click here to view my Wick Park Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Generally good sidewalk and ADA infrastructure. Not as good on streets with few houses.
* Very convenient access to Dwtn. Only a 6 minute drive and 1.5 miles away. YSU is a good job hub as well and only 5 minutes away.
* Good connectivity and street ride in Wick Park.
* Decent racial diversity. Family households is also high, generally around 50%.
* Wick park is an expansive central located park in the neighborhood provide lost of green space, playgrounds, tennis court, golf disco course, tennis courts, a modest recreational center, and woods.
* Great tree canopy.
* Decent school access with the neighborhood hosting a Catholic High School. College Prep HS located nearby at YSU’s campus and an elementary school about a mile north.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Transit Service isn’t great. No Bike Infrastructure either.
* High poverty here but some income diversity.
* Housing market is very depressed. Rentals of all sized seem to rent around $600. Most in shape homes sell for 50K. Not sure what top of the market might be for one of the large mansions in the neighborhood. Guessing its just sky of 100K.
* Nice cluster of retail amenities at Elm and Baldwin (i.e. coffeehouse, food-coop, florist, a Kitchen incubator, and a diner. Large hospital along Belmont.
* Cultural amenities are also limited but residents have convenient access to YSU performing arts and performances at the Stambaugh Auditorium.
* Neighborhood doesn’t feel unsafe but plenty of blight. Urban prairie in the eastern portion of the neighborhood east of Wick Ave.

Youngstown State University, OH- Youngstown’s economic enginee

For this evaluation I also include the historic Smoky Hollow neighborhood to the east of Youngstown State (YSU) between Wick Ave and Crab Creek. The neighborhood’s name derives from smoke saturated air commonplace in the neighborhood due to the Mahoning Valley Iron Company. Immigrants arrived starting in the late 1800s and until the 1960s it was a thriving working class neighborhood. Sadly white flight, suburban sprawl, and the City’s industrial collapse were not kind to the neighborhood. Most of the neighborhood is now vacated other than a few houses, Cassese’s MVR restaurant (been around since the 1920s!) and some expansion from YSU. I hope that one day the University and City leaders commit themselves to rebuilding this neighborhood given its proximity to Downtown.

YSU was founded in 1908 but mostly developed since the 60s when it became a state university. While this is mostly a commuter college, it provided a much needed economic lifeline to Downtown Youngstown and surrounding neighborhoods. YSU also helps provide a decent streetscape along Wick Ave, good greenspace with several quads, cultural activities, and some restaurants and bars. City planning efforts are in the works to better connect YSU to Downtown, and already several apartment buildings have sprung up serving its students.

Click here to view my Youngstown State Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good ADA and sidewalk infrastructure at YSU but not so great in the depopulation parts of Smokey Hollow.
* Decent pubic transit access, or at least good for Youngstown standards.
* Great access to jobs with around 10K at YSU and over 30K Dwtn.
* Good racial diversity in YSU.
* Decent park amenities with the expansive Wick Park just north of the neighborhood, green space in the YSU quads and Harrison Field.
* Some good cultural amenities including several restaurants and bars, both a modern and contemporary art museum, a live music venue, the cultural amenities of YSU and walkable access to Dwtn’s amenities.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very low density
* Limited bike infrastructure but YSU’s campus is at least bike friendly.
* Income diversity is low here as there are mostly students living here.
* For sale product is very limited here. Some rental product.
* Retail amenities are limited to the University bookstore and walkable amenities Dwtn.
* Schools are limited although the neighborhood hosts a small college prep school and an ok elementary school is located about a mile north.

Downtown Youngstown, OH- a struggling downtown that has made great strides towards remaking itself

Downtown Youngstown is a historically well built center for a once thriving mid-sized American City. The skyline is filled with wonderful mid-sized early 20th century towers cladded in gorgeous detailing. But one will notice that no modern high-rises grace their presence here. This is due to the economic collapse that afflicted Youngstown in the 1970s and 1980s. Dwtn Youngstown like many other American cities also experienced competition from suburban malls. City leaders tried to combat this through creating a pedestrian mall along Federal Street, its largest retail center. Unfortunately this backfired and helped fueled high vacancies.

The early 2000s brought renewed efforts from civic leaders to revitalized Dwtn. They first re-opened Federal Street, built a new sport’s arena, and began investing in the renovation of their vast supply of underutilized historic towners into new office space and apartments.

I wouldn’t call Dwtn Youngstown vibrant, but the revitalization efforts of the past two decades have certainly removed the worse blight and decline and stabilized Dwtn. Current efforts are to improve the streetscaping, make Dwtn more multi-model, and better connect it to Youngstown State. The new Riverfront Park and Amphitheater was also a great addition to Dwtn as there were almost no park/plaza spaces Dwtn previously.

Click here to view my Downtown Youngstown Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great historic architecture.
* Generally good ADA and sidewalk infrastructure but some crumbling sidewalks on the edges of Dwtn and curb cuts not up to date with ADA.
* No great public transit. Ok within Dwtn and YSU but mediocre ant best even in Youngstown’s inner city neighborhoods.
* Great racial diversity.
* Large student population attending within or close to Dwtn. 12K students attend YSU just north of Dwtn and a couple thousand more at Eastern Gateway Comm. College.
* While no modern towers are here, Dwtn Youngstown has a decent skyline composed to consisted mid-sized 1900-1930s towers.
* While there are a fair about of parking lots dwtn, especially along the edges, solid urban from along Federal and Wick/ Market.
* Very challenging to understanding the # of jobs in Dwtn Youngstown. My sense is that its a decent # (say 25-40K) but still riddled with high vacancy and low lease rates. Positive momentum seems to be bldg. though.
* Good amenities Dwtn including a sports arena, good amount of restaurants, bars, & cafes, the DeYor Performing Arts Center, the outdoor amphitheater at the Riverfront Park, several nice museums, a Dwtn post office and library.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Bike infrastructure is very limited within the City and most of the Metro. Best bike trail in the City is in Mill’s Creek. Some larger trails in the metro.
* Very high poverty rate but some diversity with new market rate propping up.
* Really not family households in Dwtn but some adult age diversity.
* Some decent rentals but housing product is very limited especially for sale (condos).
* The large sidewalks and blvd square at Market and Federal is the only park or plaza space in Dwtn Youngstown. Very surprising.
* Dwtn is a bit rough on the edges with a fair amount of homeless but its generally safe.
* Youngstown Early College School is a solid college prep option just north of Dwtn. Some elementary schools abouts 1 mile south of Dwtn. Not much else.
* Some decent new apartments on the north edge of Dwtn next to YSU, but not modern high-rises.
* Pretty dead during off work hours, especially outside of Federal Street.
* Park space had been limited to just the small plaza at Federal & Wick for a long time. Fortunately the expansive Riverfront and amphitheater were recently constructed. This also functions as Youngtown’s civic heart even though its not a plaza space.
* No Convention Center Downtown and limited sport facilities.
* Some dwtn retail including the 20 Federal Place mall, several boutiques, and some locally owned creative retail. No supermarket nor pharmacy however.

Downtown Portland, ME- great urban core for an underrated city

Downtown boundaries are a bit convoluted and debatable. I simply followed what Google Maps provided.

Downtown Portland is typical in many ways for a New England Dwtn. Great historic architecture dense, vibrant, and lots of retail remains. Streets are also a bit windy and confusing but much more legible here than Dwtn Boston. Dwtn Portland certainly experienced its own period of blight akin to most American Dwtns with the construction of the suburban Maine Mall in the 1970s. Yet this didn’t last too long and Dwtn Portland was largely sparred from major urban renewal efforts. Revitalization really started in the adjacent Old Port district with tourist and lots of local businesses blossoming. Since Dwtn and Old Port are so intertwined, Dwtn quickly began to see spill over revitalization as well. The industrial bayside district to the north of Dwtn has also seen lots of new development including a Trader Joe’s Wholefoods, and lots of higher end housing.

While statistically a very safe place, Dwtn still feels a bit rough around the edges partially due to its large homeless population, but also because there are some dead spots and underutilized buildings, especially in the eastern half of Dwtn. Dwtn could also use a better college age presence along with more affordable housing. Its also not a huge employment hub, but this may be a difficult deficiency to overcome given the fact that the City of Portland only has 66,000 residents even if the region is over 600K. But I like Dwtn Portland, ME overall and feel its a very comfortable and walkable place tying in nicely to several great adjacent urban districts. This is a very underrated urban place, that only New Englanders seems to know.

Click here to view my Downtown Portland, ME album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great density for an American Dwtn and well integrated into several surrounding urban districts.
* High quality architecture, especially historic. In-fill is good as well generally with good urban form. Some of the 60s-80 buildings are pretty ugly though.
* Good transit service within Dwtn and surrounding neighborhood. Decent service to the rest of the City. Some service to inner ring suburbs.
* Good system of bike lanes Dwtn and out to Portland Neighborhoods. Some connections out to the suburbs and larger Metro. Dockless bike share system is in its pilot year.
* Great economic diversity Dwtn. Okay racial diversity.
* No larger parks or recreational spaces Dwtn but lots of nice small and medium sized plazas.
* Congress Sq Park is I would consider Dwtn’s best civic space. This is the most dynamic space with lots of events and even a “friends of Congress Sq Park”.
* Generally a pretty safe Dwtn but a fair amount of homelessness helping it to feel a bit edgy.
* Generally great urban form but a handful of surface parking lots on the eastern edge. Also good urban street form.
* Great cultural amenities include a nice array of restaurants, bars, & cafes, great array of theaters and music halls including (a cineplex, indie film theater, and several performing arts theaters), lots of art galleries, the Portland Art Museum, and several smaller museums and historic houses.
* Other Dwtn amenities include a dwtn library and post office, the Cross Arena, and plenty of courts and government buildings.
* Downtown has a safety ambassador program
* Great retail amenities Dwtn, especially if you include adjacent neighborhoods that are walkable… Trader Joe’s, Wholefoods & several smaller grocers, a drug store, good array of boutiques and unique stores, several bookstores, plenty of bank branches, and lots of home good stores.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent amount of rental product but generally runs expensive. 1-bedrooms lease anywhere in the $1,000s, 2-bedrooms in the 1K&2Ks, no 3-bedroom product available.
* Similar situation for for-sale product. Most are condos selling anywhere between 350-800K. Some cheaper condos selling in the 200Ks. Decent amount of affordable rentals dwtn.
* No much of a skyline but some nice historic mid-sized towers and chapels.
* Portland’s main high school is located Dwtn and several others walkable to Dwtn like Baxter Academy for Technology & Science. A couple others about a mile out.
* Only a small Art College Dwtn. University of Southern Main is about a mile away with around 5,000 students.
* No convention center and only one sporting center, the Cross Arena.
* Difficult to find any hard numbers but I don’t sense that Downtown Portland is a huge employment hub. Probably 10-20K jobs especially if you include the great Dwtn area.
* No Target or other larger retailers.

Beacon, NY- Hudson Valley’s best Success Story

I only included the pre WW-II portion of Beacon in this evaluation.

Beacon was named to commemorate the historic beacon fires that blazed forth from the summit of the Fishkill Mountains to alert the Continental Army of British troop movements. During the 1800s, the city became a big manufacturing town and was known as “The Hat Making Capital of the US. Its important to note that Danbury, CT makes this claim as well!

But like most Hudson River Valley cities, Beacon experienced economic decline especially by the 60s.and 70s. By 1990 almost 80 percent of the city’s commercial business spaces and factories were vacant. Starting in the late 1990s, Beacon really focused on an art’s based revitalization strategy beginning with the opening of Dia Beacon, one of the world’s largest contemporary art museums Dia. This spilled over into the Main Street and other historic warehouse buildings.

Main Street has become so successful that quality urban in-fill is starting to fill the gaps. Beacon’s revitalization success has also spilled over into a high standard of living for its residents, quality schools, good parks spaces, and a great array of cultural and walkable retail amenities focused on Main Street. To help make Beacon a great urban environment, I’d like to see better bike and ADA infrastructure along with a strong emphasis on providing affordable housing as this is a pretty high cost place to live.

Click here to view my Beacon, NY album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Wonderful historic architecture along the main St. Nothing spectacular
in the residential areas.
* Dwtn Beacon is becoming such a strong market that there is not quality urban in fill being constructed.
* Good public transit in dwtn Beacon, but it drops off in the neighborhoods esp. east of Fishkill Creek. Beacon is connected to the Hudson line providing convenient access to Poughkeepsie. One can even get to Manhattan in 2 hours.
* Over 60% of households are family households.
* Strong middle class community but still with good economic diversity. Great racial diversity as well.
* Excellent main street overall with great vibrancy, streetscaping, and lots of diverse retail and stores.
* Solid park amenities including a great waterfront park, extensive sport fields at Memorial Park, the South Ave Park, and several other smaller community parks.
* Crime is low here and blight is limited.
* Very nice array of public, private, and parochial elementary schools within the City core. Middle and high schools are to the north more on the outskirts of town.
* Good cultural amenities including a great array of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several nice live music spots, a performing arts center, movie theater, and one of the world’s largest art museums. Also a good array of art galleries and a couple local museums.
* Not surprisingly lots of boutiques, local creative retailers, a small nature grocery store and a full service grocery store, a drug store, a couple bookstores, several bakeries, a cheese shop, and many antique stores. There is also a dwtn library and post office.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Good sidewalk infrastructure but up-to-date ADA curb cuts are rare.
* A short bike lane along the Hudson is the only one in town.
* For sale housing skews expensive but still a good diversity of product. Start homes run in the 200K, 300Ks, medium sized in the 400-500Ks. Top of the market is 600Ks-700Ks.
* Rental housing is also pretty expensive but good amount of product. 1-bedrooms lease in the $1,000s, 2 & 3 bedrooms anywhere from the high $1,000s to $3,000.

Newburgh, NY- Historic headquarters of the Continental Army

Downtown is generally bound by Washington to the south, 1st to the north, Robinson to the west, and the Hudson River to the east.

Newburgh area was first settled in the early 18th century. During the American Revolution, Newburgh served as the headquarters of the Continental Army. Newburgh became quite prosperous during the Gilded Age helped by its situation on the Hudson River midway between New York City and Albany.

Things started to unravel in Newburgh starting in the early 20th century with mills and industry shutting down. By the late 1960s the city was in full economic decline and used urban renewal plan to demolish the historic waterfront area. Newburgh has struggled for several decades even as Beacon across the river has stabilized and prospered. Much of this has to due with a lack of civic vision and political continuity. Fortunately things have begun to improve in Newburgh. More and more residential properties are being renovated with many homes selling in the 200K and 300Ks. The smaller Liberty Street biz district has seen many new businesses. Broadway Ave is still pretty rough but have businesses and most of its historic urban form.

Click here to view my Newburgh, NY album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent connectivity Dwtn.
* Hispanic majority population but still good diversity.
* High percentage of family households.
* Good for sale diversity ranging from around 75K-350K depending on size and condition.
* Rentals are a bit more expensive but good amount of product. 1-bedrooms rent in the low $1,000s and 2-bedrooms in the mid $1,000s. This high end price range is pretty surprising given the blight of the neighborhood, but it is New York.
* Good park amenities with Washington Head Quarter’s historic site, a waterfront park, safe harbor’s green (a good civic space), and the expansive Delano-Hitch Park to the west of Dwtn with a swimming pool and many sport facilities.
* Decent cultural amenities including a handful ethnic restaurants, several cafes, and a good number of bars on Liberty, the Ritz Theater, a couple of art galleries.
* While rough the main street urban form is very much in tact. Streetscape still pretty rough. Liberty Ave has the most investment, Broadway has a ways to go still.
* Great density here.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Consistent sidewalks but lots of crumbling infrastructure and ADA
curb cuts are rare.
* Not many jobs Dwtn but Beacon is only a 15 minute drive. Poughkeepsie is 35 minutes away.
* Public transit is very limited.
* No bike infrastructure really in Newburgh.
* Pretty high poverty Dwtn but some income diversity.
* Really no modern in-fill.
* Lots of blight remain in downtown Newburg. Crime is high but getting better.
* Retail amenities are more limited but include several nice boutiques and local stores on Liberty Ave, lots of small ethnic grocery stores, a florist, a bakery, a hardware store, and some other local retail.
* The post office and library are located north of Dwtn. No banks dwtn, nor a pharmacy or full service supermarket.
* Only the Catholic grade school is located within New borough. A couple good school options north of Dwtn.
* Even with recent investment in dwtn Newburgh it still has a pretty bad reputation.

Poughkeepsie, NY- A historic Hudson River town with an incredible Walkway over the Hudson

As Poughkeepsie is a pretty old community with lots of development in the 1800s there are distinct neighborhoods and pockets. Figuring out exactly where the boundaries are is a bit undefined, a common problem with historic towns of this size. This review deals specifically with the Historic West End of Poughkeepsie. Its actually not an official neighborhood name but I use it to include the most historic parts of Poughkeepsie and the area west of Downtown. It includes the Union Street Historic District, which dates back to the late 1700s.

The Historic West End of Poughkeepsie is generally a walkable neighborhood with nice historic architecture, good park amenities and several small commercial nodes. It has great cultural amenities but limited neighborhood retail. Fortunately Downtown provides this and is walkable to most residents in the neighborhood. The district is also the main entrance to the Walkway over the Hudson, a spectacular pedestrian/bike bridge spanning the Hudson River. There are several places the neighborhood could improve including the need for walkable schools, more retail amenities, up to date ADA curb cuts, and better connectivity.

Click here to view my Poughkeepsie, NY album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good density.
* Great public transit access and good access to jobs with the Historic West End being adjacent to Dwtn (where Poughkeepsie County offices are located) and Marist College is located just to the north.
* Good bike lanes in the neighborhood with a waterfront trail and the Walkway over the Hudson trail.
* Incomes are a bit on the low side but plenty of economic diversity here. Also a very racial diverse neighborhood and good generational diversity.
* Good for sale diversity ranging from around 75K-350K depending on size and condition.
* Rentals are a bit more expensive but good amount of product. 1-bedrooms rent in the low $1,000s and 2-bedrooms in the mid $1,000s. Several aff. hsg towers mixed in as well.
* Good park amenities including the Hudson walkway, Pulaski Park, Upper Landing Park and several other smaller parks.
* Cultural amenities include: a good array of restaurants, bars, and cafes clustered at several nodes, a couple community theaters, the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum, and convenient access to Downtown’s cultural amenities
* Solid Tree canopy.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Connectivity is the not the greatest as the street grid is pretty erratic.
* Retail amenities are limited in the Historic West End. One generally needs to good Dwtn for this. The MidHudson Hospital is just north of the neighborhood.
* Some blight and crime is higher than the national average in Poughkeepsie.
* No schools in the Historic West End but a couple dwtn.
* Sidewalk infrastructure is good and consistent but up to date ADA curb cuts is rare.

Downtown New Haven, CT- one of my favorite American Downtowns

Downtown New Haven was originally laid out as nine squares in 1638. This includes modern day New Haven Green, the immediate surrounding central business district, as well as a significant portion of the Yale University campus.

Dwtn New Haven has become one of the most residential mid-size city downtown helping to support downtown businesses and retail extending even to secondary streets. Its vibrancy, mixed-use development, cultural amenities, and strong walkability make it one of the best Dwtns in the United States.

But as always there are still areas that could be improved from an urban perspective including more rental product and affordable housing, a larger office population and several key retail amenities (i.e. supermarket and a department store).

Click here to view my full Downtown New Haven album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent public transit access Dwtn and throughout the full New Haven City. Good transit access to surrounding inner ring suburbs.
* Pretty good bike infrastructure within Dwtn including several dedicated bike lanes and a bike sharing system within Dtwn and inner ring neighborhoods. Limited bike lanes out to the suburbs other than a lengthy lane going to the north.
* Excellent racial and economic diversity helped certainly by Yale.
* Pretty nice mix of for-sale options with condos selling between 100K-500K, and larger townhouse and rowhouses selling between 500K-800K.
* Good vibrancy Dwtn.
* Great historic architecture especially with Yale University buildings. Solid urban infill as well.
* Wonderful urban form and streetscape in Dwtn as well. Some surface parking lots on the eastern edge of Dwtn.
* Nothing spectacular with the skyline but some nine consistently with the midrise building and some very nice Yale University towers.
* Great imageability with numerous historic landmarks, New Haven Green, and well laid out streets.
* New Haven Green is a wonderful civic space located in the middle of Dwtn and Yale. Lots of programming here. Other greenspace include plenty of gorgeous quads in Yale University but this is still public space. Some nice rec spaces just outside dwtn as well.
* Generally very walkable infrastructure but good amount of ADA current curbs missing.
* Good array of public and private schools generally forming a ring about 1/2 mile outside of dwtn. Rankings are ok but very walkable schools.
* Large student population in Dwtn including over 12,000 at Yale, 7,000 at Gateway Community College.
* Lots of cultural amenities including a movie theater, several community theaters and live music venues, tons of restaurants, bars, & cafes, several art galleries, and a great array of museums. Many of these amenities are run by Yale.
* New Haven has a dwtn improvement district and safety ambassador program.
* Good array of retail amenities including several small grocerias, great array of clothing stores, many banks, several books stores, several pharmacies, and a dwtn post office and library

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* 25% of households are family. Pretty decent for a Dwtn, but limited age diversity as most residents are students.
* Rental product is a bit limited and expensive.
* No large convention center dwtn, although there are plenty of small ones. No major sporting arenas.
* Not a ton of office jobs in Dwtn by Yale University itself brings 15,000 jobs. Probably 25,000 total jobs in Dwtn New Haven, an okay number for a metro of 862K.
* Very low vacancy rates though, speaking to the demand of office space dwtn.
* Large supermarket is about 1 mile outside of dwtn.

Downtown Lexington, KY- A charming compact CBD with a bright future

Lexington’s street grid was platted beginning in 1780, and the Downtown Commercial District is contained within the oldest part of the city. Some of the historic brick buildings still stand especially around Church and Short Streets. Unlike Louisville, Lexington was able to avoid the worse of urban renewal and thus retain a lot of its urban fabric. Even with a good amount of urban infill along Market and High, surface parking lots are limited.

The other positive things Dwtn Lexington has going for it include: a clean Dwtn, good vibrancy and activity helped by its compact size, good connectivity to historic early 19th century neighborhoods to the east and west as an inner belt was never built, and good enough cultural and park amenities. There is also a good offering of for sale condos and townhouses, although more rental options would be nice. Downtown could also use more retail amenities (especially a supermarket & pharmacy) along with a dedicated bike sharing system.

Click here to view the Downtown Lexington Album on my Flickr Page

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Pretty good density for a Dwtn.
* Pretty solid architecture all around, both historic and in-fill.
* Most sidewalks have up to date ADA curb ramps.
* Nice array of dedicated bike lanes Dwtn .
* Good racially and economic diversity represented by Dwtn’s population.
* For Sale product seems much more diverse than rentals as price points typically range anywhere from 100K-600K. Nice mix of condos and townhomes. Fair amount of affordable hsg options Dwtn as well.
* Several nice Dwtn green spaces including Thoroughbred Park, Northeastern Park, Triangle Park, and the multi-block Phoenix Park, Dwtn’s civic plaza.
* Dwtn created an ambassador’s program in 2017 including a clean & safe component. Generally this is a very safe and clean dwtn.
* Pretty good mix of public/private elementary schools within Dwtn or nearby.
* No Colleges within Dwtn but UK is only 1-2 miles away with 30K students. Several thousands students also attend Transylvania University and Blue Grass Community College on the other side of Dwtn.
* For the size of the Lexington Metro (just over 500K) Dwtn Lexington’s 27K jobs is pretty good. Vacancy rate is around 12%, also not bad. And price per square foot is generally pretty inexpensive around $17-$18. Dwtn office growth is generally on a positive trend.
* Dwtn cultural amenities include a good array of restaurants, bars, and cafes, lots of clubs & some live music venues, several art galleries, a movie theater, a Lexington Opera House/performing arts center, Children’s Theater, a handful of smaller museums and historic houses, A convention Center/Arena Complex where UK basketball games are held.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Public transit is only good within Dwtn and extending to inner city neighborhood. Decent within the 421 loop.
* No citywide bike sharing system. Some dedicated bike lanes connect to Dwtn from the North and East.
* Few family households Dwtn and cluster of Young Adults and empty nesters. But this is pretty typical of American Dwtns.
* Rental product is a bit limited buy pretty affordable compared to most Dwtns: 1-bedroom lease at or below $1,000, 2-bedrooms in anywhere from $1,000-$2,000, 3-bedrooms in the low $2,000s.
* Skyline is rather bland. Not enough tall buildings to create an impressive skyline.
* No Dwtn supermarket or pharmacy. Overall retail amenities are a bit limited in Dwtn to a several clothing stores/boutiques, a couple bookstores, and several antique stores. There is a dwtn library and post office.