On this week’s program, your host, Justin Mog, takes a stroll through Louisville’s historic downtown neighborhoods with Steve Wiser of the Louisville Historical League (https://louisvillehistoricalleague.org) & Martina Kunnecke from Neighborhood Planning & Preservation. We discuss the important role of historic preservation and neighborhood planning in shaping a more sustainable future for our city and we take a deep dive into the future of the Urban Government Center in Paristown Pointe between Barret and Vine Streets, north of Breckinridge.

Steve Wiser published and excellent Op-Ed in the Courier-Journal on August 7th, 2024, entitled: "The Urban Government Center project was supposed to be a community asset. What happened? The city is permitting this developer to use taxpayer funds to eliminate blight that the city itself created."

Vacant since 2016, there have been three redevelopment proposals for the Urban Government Center (also known as the old Baptist Hospital site). The first ended in 2019, the second at the end of 2020, and now the third (with Upper Paristown Pointe Trust) has been dragging out for the past two and a half years.

Resident input, which was part of the community review process as required by the Request For Proposals (RFP), has been significantly reduced when many residents did not agree with UPPT’s major changes. Thus, most of the surrounding neighborhood residents are not happy campers. Instead of UPPT starting construction on its 2020 RFP proposal in 2022, the city has allowed UPPT to continue to revise its proposal to where it no longer meets most of the minimum required guidelines of the RFP.

Thus, far, the city refuses to 'listen' to the residents and implement what the residents want. An overwhelming majority of the residents want to save the open green space, part of the original hospital, a library, grocery, play area, etc.

Video of this conversation is available at https://youtu.be/lqh2b0fkABI

As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW!

Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org

The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com