Incentive Idea

Maybe it’s presumptuous of me to write about certain topics or ideas. I’ve actually gone back and forth several times about what I would or wouldn’t like to post on here. I also don’t want to be one more hack using his little space on the Internet to rant. So, I will say that I post this with humility. I’m certain there are things I don’t know, things I don’t understand and barriers that I would have never thought of. However, it is my little piece of the Internet and as the boyfriend is fond of saying “I do what I want.”

Ok, so let’s start with the premise that we’d like to not only attract young people to Lexington, but we’d also like to retain the people that we have. I think we realize that the acquisition and retention of young, talented, industrious and creative folks are the foundation we must build to improve our city. I might go even further to say that we’d like to concentrate those people into our Downtown/Campus area. I think creating an environment where these like-minded young professionals (I’m going WAY out of my way to not say Creative Class *gag*) can live, work, play, spend and feed off of each other is not only a catalyst for growth, but also a magnet for getting them here.

I think it’s also safe to say that we are pretty well failing at appealing to those people now. Additionally, as I’ve mentioned here before, our Downtown is overpriced. And contrary to what might have been said at our debate this past week, there really isn’t much going on Downtown to entice someone to head down there, let alone form a community.

Here’s the thing though, we have some of the foundation. New housing that appeals to young people, check, thriving arts community, check, ability to get in on the ground floor of something special, check. So, then how can we maximize what we already have to catapult us into something better?

My thought: let’s invest in the young professionals we already have scattered throughout the city. Let’s say that we take $1 million. (Admittedly, that’s a lot of money, but it’s a small investment into really making our city better and making it the “World-Class City” that we all pay a lot of lip service to). But, let’s take that $1 million and provide an incentive to any first time homebuyer who buys a home within a certain area. For hypothesis sake, let’s say Euclid to Newtown to Third to Midland. Maybe we provide those first time homebuyers with $10,000 towards the purchase of a new place. (I’d also say with a contingency that you remain in the property for 3 years to encourage people to really put down roots). That’s 100 new young professionals (at least most likely) that you get into Downtown.

Now, what’s the benefit of that? You start building the community that will attract other young professionals. From there, you start attracting retail to service this new neighborhood, which then springs restaurants, nightlife and of course more business and with those businesses come jobs. It also starts the process of making living Downtown more attractive. It would also be an incentive to make someone think twice before leaving Lexington for greener pastures or even just the suburbs.

I know this isn’t a solve everything solution. However, I think we have to start building a foundation for economic growth and find ways to make our city appealing. We’ve seen that we can’t rely on businesses to do it. We’re left with a gaping hole in Downtown and shops that no one goes into when we do that. At the same time, can you blame businesses for not investing in Downtown? There’s no customer base. So, let’s establish a customer base for them and then reap the rewards. Those being, revitalized Downtown, a draw to the kinds of people we want in our city, jobs and I’d imagine increased tax revenue on both the housing that we’ve sold and the eventual businesses that open to serve these new Downtown residents.

I know there are plenty of fine-point details to this little idea that I’ve glossed over. I didn’t want to write a 10 page report to post on a blog. However, I do think that floating an idea out there can at least generate some discussion. I’ll also restate that I don’t pretend to know or understand everything. But, what harm can it do? I’m just blogging and besides, I do what I want.

Reduced Today

One thing I’ve learned while on my blogging adventure is that if the words aren’t coming out easily, then I probably don’t need to try to force it.

When I sit down with an idea of a post, it usually gets typed, posted and tweeted within about 30 minutes. It’s those posts that take more effort that end up not being so good. There are few of those on here and those are usually the ones that are more rambling than informative or entertaining. So, I’ve learned that if I have to work too hard at it, it probably isn’t going to end up well.

I sat down yesterday to try to write a post about my thoughts after our Mayoral Debate. I had a whole page typed up. I hadn’t even gotten down a fraction of what I’d like to say, questions I’d like to ask or mentioned the things that I just didn’t understand. It then occurred to me that I was working pretty hard to get all of that out and it didn’t make for all that interesting reading. (reference post on brevity as well)

So, instead, I sat down today with another thought. How about I just say that I’m a complete newcomer to Lexington politics and so I’m still trying to figure people out? I’ve learned that this is a town where your history matters and so it’s taking me some time to figure out everyone’s backstory. I’ve now met just about each of the candidates, but I still don’t think I’m even close to as informed as I should be.

I know several people who do know the history and know candidates and they have a clear choice. I’d also say that even independent of them, I’m leaning the same way. However, I just feel like I’m never going to know enough. I’m never going to get all of the questions that I’d like to have answered and I’m probably never going to have the subtext filled in.

And so expect a couple of other posts here from time to time about the local election. I’ve been a political junkie for years, but I’m really just turning my attention to local politics. The bottom line is that I really care about Lexington. For whatever reason, I’ve developed an attachment to this place and really give a damn about where it’s headed and how it gets there. So bear with me while I figure it out and hopefully I won’t get too rambling.

A Voice in the Downtown Wilderness

Yep, you’re right. Nobody asked me. I’ll also agree that it’s way too easy for anyone to just jump into the discourse, but oh well, here’s my swan dive.

I love Lexington, KY. I want to just get that out of the way. I really flippin’ love this place. Yes, there are bigger cities that are tempting. Atlanta struck a chord with me and let’s not even get into what my semester in London did for me. However, I’ve made a home and a little bit of a niche for myself here. It’s both close and far enough from family, plus nobody is gonna look at me funny if a little Harlan County accent slips out every now and then.

I also feel like we are on the verge of doing some really great things here. We just got some funding (though not without controversy) for the Distillery District. I couldn’t possibly be more excited about this project. It reminds me of other reclaimed areas like The Flats in Cleveland, Atlantic Station in Atlanta, or even the Riverwalk in San Antonio It’s exciting to see something unique and exciting on its way to the city I love.

However, here’s my concern. We are spending quite a lot of borrowed money without laying the groundwork to make this and other developments (like the Angliana project or whatever becomes of CentrePointe) successful.

First, we have to have a population that will patronize the restaurants and bars, live in the new housing and shop in the retail establishments that will be built. And let’s just be honest, downtown and its immediate surroundings haven’t been a hub of economic activity for a long time. Right now, the population that will patronize these places is fairly finite in Lexington. Yes, Buster’s is drawing a crowd, but how many of those are people who wouldn’t be downtown already? I’d venture to guess a precious few.

I’ll concede that the Distillery District and other projects could certainly be a draw to get people to come to Lexington, however I’d argue that we have to get our existing citizenry engaged in order to get these projects off the ground and successful before we can count on their bringing in enough money to sustain them. There are just too many Lexingtonians who don’t care about what’s going on downtown. They are perfectly content to live in their neighborhoods outside the Circle and venture into downtown as infrequently as possible. How many times have we all heard someone mention “the mess downtown”?

And how do you get your average Andoverian, Palomarian or Masterson Stationite to care about downtown? You make sure you include them in the process. You build things that are going to bring them out of their neighborhood and into downtown. You stop thinking only about people that can or will spend $200,000 or more on a 1000 square feet condo and start thinking more about those that maybe want a decent, affordable meal and good way to kill a Tuesday night.

Speaking of that condo, let’s also be sure that we are building residences that are actually affordable. I’ve seen precious little of that in our downtown development. Instead, we want to build second homes for UK basketball fans, luxury penthouses and student apartments. This will not revitalize downtown, nor will it attract anyone new to consider living there.

I called in to a local radio show once to ask a developer why downtown housing is touted as catering to my demographic (young, probably single, professional who wants to be near what’s happening in the city), but is priced such that we are kept out of the market. His answer: “Just like any advertising, you market to the young to make it look attractive”. We have to avoid this kind of thinking in order to be successful. We can’t say one thing, but want something else. If we truly want to revitalize downtown and use it as a magnet for the Creative Class, then we are going to have to give them/us a place to live that we can actually afford. And I’m not talking about what we could “afford” in 2004 with an adjustable rate mortgage and no down payment.

The average income of a household in Lexington is around $50000 a year. Now imagine that a 20 or 30 something wants to live downtown. There is a fairly good chance that they are making either right around or even less that that. How are they going to afford a condo at Main + Rose or in the 500s on Main? Yes, those buildings look really cool (I’d live there in a second!), but it isn’t in my budget. And I’d imagine it isn’t for most of us with a car payment and student loans. So let’s engage some of us as well. Let’s find a way to create housing that works on all income levels and that will let some of us pioneer the effort of a young, middle class, professional downtown resident.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like the direction we are headed. I really feel like Lexington is on its way to something great. I just worry that we aren’t paying attention to the details that are going to make all of these great ideas and projects successful. We can’t keep paying lip service to what we want to create, but then getting bogged down with the same old voices and ideas that have kept us in a rut. Maybe there are too many outlets for people to air their opinions and concerns, but at the end of the day, even if it’s not my voice, there are probably a few worth listening to.