Since its settlement in the 1840s by German immigrants, Louisville’s California and Victory Park Neighborhood has experienced substantial changes. Industrialization and new rail lines led to fragmentation, but it was The Great Flood of 1937 that changed the community forever. Residents and businesses were evacuated and thanks to redlining and urban renewal the neighborhood was never the same.
Louisville Metro Government called on Gresham Smith to help write the next chapter of the California and Victory Park community’s story, tasking our team with investigating the neighborhood’s current challenges and outlining actionable steps to move the neighborhood forward. After engaging with residents, business owners and stakeholders, we developed a comprehensive neighborhood plan to move the west Louisville neighborhood forward with a focus on using incremental actions to achieve long term visions.
surveys from community members
vision statement
action areas
Forming the Foundation
Before we could begin the planning process, our team had to get to know the neighborhood. We had more than 100 conversations with residents, business owners and city agencies and collected 80 surveys from community members.We uncovered a variety of themes in the survey responses. Residents consistently praised the neighborhood’s people, parks and community programs. However, residents also consistently stated that drugs, violence, vacant property and dangerous traffic were issues in the community.