This year, Broken Sidewalk asked each Metro Council candidate to respond to a survey of questions related to the topics we cover here on the site: urbanism, transportation, health, and the environment. Broken Sidewalk will make no endorsements this year for Metro Council candidates, but we hope these survey responses—published verbatim—are helpful to voters in making up their minds.
We will be publishing the results by district. Below is District 8. Our survey included two types of questions: 1. multiple choice answers about personal behaviors and views, and 2. longer responses on a range of topics. Each candidate was also given an optional open field to expand upon a topic of their choosing, if they so desired.
Louisville Metro Council District Eight comprises the Highlands and beyond, including the Original Highlands, Cherokee Triangle, Tyler Park, Bonnycastle, Highlands-Douglass, Belknap, Deer Park, Cherokee-Seneca, Hayfield Dundee, and Hawthorne. This is Louisville’s most walkable district.
Current District 8 incumbent, Tom Owen, has decided not to run after more than 20 years as the district’s councilman, so change is coming to how the Highlands is represented in Metro Council. The candidates for District 8 include, in alphabetical order, attorney and former Mayor Fischer aide S. Brandon Coan (D), Spalding associate anthropology professor Chris Kolb (D), former LMPD officer and Tom Owen aide Terra Long (D), Kosair Children’s Hospital executive Lynnie Meyer (D), entrepreneur and chair of SEED Capital KY Stephen Reily (D), Neuronetrix production manager and Graffiti Abatement Coalition of Louisville founder Josh White (D), and realtor and GE employee Charles Terry Wooden (D)
S. Brandon Coan
Tyler Park
Have often do you walk to work or for basic errands?
Every day
Have often do you take transit to commute to work or for basic errands?
A couple times a year
How often do you ride a bike to get to work or for errands?
A few times a month
How often do you drive in a personal motor vehicle?
Every day
How safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking on Louisville’s streets?
Not very safe
Louisville’s transit system should expand service, infrastructure, and offerings.
Strongly Agree
The city should invest in complete street design that promotes safety for all road users.
Strongly Agree
Walkable and transit-oriented development should be promoted over auto-oriented development.
Strongly Agree
Louisville should repair and maintain its existing transportation network before widening or building new roads.
Agree
Historic architecture promotes the economic vitality of the Louisville region.
Strongly Agree
Describe your favorite walk OR your favorite place to hang out in your neighborhood.
My favorite walk in my neighborhood is the usual route I take with my dogs Olive and Miles: a mile and a quarter zigzag loop along Rosewood and Castlewood Avenues and Valley and Cross Roads.
What’s the biggest issue facing your district and how would you address it?
The biggest issue facing District 8 is growth: the complicated stew of land use, preservation, development, housing and transit issues (including parking), and how to plan for it. My Plan for District 8 at CoanforMetroCouncil.com speaks to all these topics more specifically, but generally my approach is to favor the protection of residential neighborhood cores, mixed-use, transit-oriented development along commercial corridors and investment in streets for people and public transportation. Moreover, affordable living for working people must be central to these discussions in order to maintain and foster the creativity and diversity that makes District 8 unique.
In three sentences, what does Metro Council do?
Metro Council is the legislative branch of our local government and, so, is supposed to make the laws for our city, including passing the budget. A lot of what individual councilpersons appear to do is share information with constituents, respond to complaints and appear at meetings and events. I hope to expand the role of councilperson in District 8 to include lead organizer and team builder so as to draw on the wealth of knowledge and experience in my district to govern this city together with my neighbors.
Louisville is among the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian collisions and fatalities. What would you do to improve street safety for all road users in Louisville? Please cite specific examples.
My Plan for District 8 includes a number of bike/ped safety initiatives: replacing the most dangerous roadside TARC stops with more appropriately-sited bus shelters; exploring to new trail connectivity between Belknap/Deer Park and Germantown/Audubon Park, and Cherokee Park/Waterfront Park; pursuing 20’s Plenty Slow Zones and repairing broken sidewalks for ADA compliance. I also intend to get serious about litter and clean streets – broken glass in bike lanes is a big safety problem.
What does responsible development look like in Louisville and in your district? What would you do to promote responsible development in Louisville?
Responsible development in Louisville means stopping sprawl, promoting infill, redevelopment and brownfield remediation, as well as conserving natural and agricultural land and protecting wildlife. In District 8, it means: neighborhood planning; preserving smaller (affordable), single-family housing; promoting height and density where it makes sense – but not at the expense of our neighborhoods’ character or architectural heritage – and investing in public and alternative transportation. I am open to considering new land use conditions and restrictions – specifically including a no net loss tree policy – as well as new smart growth incentives.
Louisville is among the fastest warming cities in the country. Please describe your stance on fixing Louisville’s Urban Heat Island Effect. What specific steps need to be taken to solve this problem?
We absolutely must confront the Urban Heat Island Effect and related air pollution issues for public health and economic development reasons. Reforesting urban core neighborhoods to replenish tree cover is important – and I will support such efforts – but stopping even further tree loss from sprawl is vital. Additionally, reducing auto-dependency through investment in streets for people, bike facilities and clean energy public transportation (like expanded ZeroBus service in the Highlands and elsewhere), as well as greater green building efforts (like preservation!) are all important parts of the solution.
How would you strike a balance between preservation, development, and economic development in Louisville?
Again, my Plan for District 8 addresses this question and begins with fixing historic building demolition policy to condition such occasions (which should be rare and avoided whenever possible) on securing redevelopment plan and building permit approvals first before any historic structures are deconstructed (ideally, rather than “demolished”). Preservation is good for economic development. So, too, is new well-designed, transit-oriented, mixed-use green building. Projects hitting all these marks are not always feasible, however, and can still be good without being perfect. That’s why we need strong neighborhood planning, a balanced land use and development system (including appointed decision-makers) and knowledgeable, reasonable Metro Council representatives to oversee, protect and guide our built environment.
Optional open response. Discuss any issue in Louisville relating to land use, development, transportation, preservation, or health.
I strongly encourage BS readers to review my Plan for District 8 and contact me with any questions or suggestions. Additionally, I have many years of experience working in this community with urbanists and environmentalists (who I intend to bring closer together!) from Floyds Fork to Tyler Park and Butchertown to Russell and Shawnee. Talk to your peers and those who know me in deciding the right choice in the District 8 race. Thank you very much!
Chris Kolb
Upper Highlands/Kingsley
Have often do you walk to work or for basic errands?
A few times a month
Have often do you take transit to commute to work or for basic errands?
A few times a month
How often do you ride a bike to get to work or for errands?
A couple times a year
How often do you drive in a personal motor vehicle?
Every day
How safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking on Louisville’s streets?
In danger
Louisville’s transit system should expand service, infrastructure, and offerings.
Strongly Agree
The city should invest in complete street design that promotes safety for all road users.
Strongly Agree
Walkable and transit-oriented development should be promoted over auto-oriented development.
Strongly Agree
Louisville should repair and maintain its existing transportation network before widening or building new roads.
Strongly Agree
Historic architecture promotes the economic vitality of the Louisville region.
Strongly Agree
Describe your favorite walk OR your favorite place to hang out in your neighborhood.
Along Valletta Rd to Seneca Park Rd along Beargrass Creek and into Seneca Park.
What’s the biggest issue facing your district and how would you address it?
Achieving a more appropriate balance between the interests of residents, area businesses, and Bellarmine University. While residents welcome the presence of businesses and Bellarmine, the balance has become skewed against residents. I believe businesses and Bellarmine want to be good neighbors, but we need a process for regular communication where residents have a meaningful space to express their concerns. I will create that process.
In three sentences, what does Metro Council do?
Council members are primary points of contact for residents to communicate with Metro Government, and must be highly responsive to residents’ concerns. Metro Council shows leadership to enact policy in the best interest of residents even when political risk-taking is required to do so. Metro Council should empower residents to be engaged and informed citizens who participate in the democratic process.
Louisville is among the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian collisions and fatalities. What would you do to improve street safety for all road users in Louisville? Please cite specific examples.
We must require measurable goals to increase public transportation options and ridership—as well as improve walkability and bike-ability—in any strategic and economic development plans. This includes lowering speed limits in certain areas, creating more and safer pedestrian crossings, reconfiguring roads to accommodate bike traffic, and building the T2 light rail system to decrease the amount of car traffic, which will also decrease cut-through traffic on residential roads.
What does responsible development look like in Louisville and in your district? What would you do to promote responsible development in Louisville?
Metro government should follow guidelines laid out by the Environmental Protection Agency in the document, “Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes.” We must address suburban sprawl, which increases pollution, shifts financial resources away from urban communities, makes us more reliant on the automobile, decreases walkability, worsens public health, needlessly consumes land, and creates inefficiencies and higher costs in the provision of utilities. We must change the zoning code to allow for higher density housing throughout the city. Right now, over 60 percent of land in Louisville is zoned for single-family dwellings on lots of 6,000 (R-5) or 9,000 (R–4) square feet. This prevents infill in most areas of the city. Metro Council took the first steps to address this last year but much more needs to be done. Second, we must fund the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund with a dedicated stream of ongoing public revenue totaling at least $10 million per year and then prioritize the rehabilitation of vacant and abandoned housing to increase housing stock available inside the Watterson.
Louisville is among the fastest warming cities in the country. Please describe your stance on fixing Louisville’s Urban Heat Island Effect. What specific steps need to be taken to solve this problem?
Louisville has the most pronounced heat island effect in the country. Metro Council must strengthen requirements for development projects to retain trees on site, plant new trees, pay into a tree mitigation fund, or face significant fines. It is unacceptable that the administration has sat on a tree-protection ordinance for nine months. To mitigate the heat island effect, we must adopt a legally-binding “no-net-loss” tree policy and invest in a green roof infrastructure.
How would you strike a balance between preservation, development, and economic development in Louisville?
Like many residents, I was deeply disappointed by the decision to tear down the old water company building at the site of the Omni Hotel. The old water company building was unique to Louisville, whereas the Omni Hotel is not. Decisions regarding historic structures must be made with an extremely long-view in mind, not the immediate desires of politicians or developers. I agree with Gil Holland, who called the water company building decision, “a serious disappointment in democracy.”
Optional open response. Discuss any issue in Louisville relating to land use, development, transportation, preservation, or health.
We must reduce the use of fossil fuels in Louisville and I will aggressively push to set a goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. Fossil fuels are only affordable because government heavily subsidizes fossil fuels and the true costs of fossil fuels are externalized to taxpayers. Local government must offer significant incentives to renewables to level the playing field.
Terra Long
Highland-Douglass
Have often do you walk to work or for basic errands?
Every day
Have often do you take transit to commute to work or for basic errands?
A couple times a year
How often do you ride a bike to get to work or for errands?
A couple times a year
How often do you drive in a personal motor vehicle?
Every day
How safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking on Louisville’s streets?
Very safe
Louisville’s transit system should expand service, infrastructure, and offerings.
Strongly Agree
The city should invest in complete street design that promotes safety for all road users.
Strongly Agree
Walkable and transit-oriented development should be promoted over auto-oriented development.
Agree
Louisville should repair and maintain its existing transportation network before widening or building new roads.
Strongly Agree
Historic architecture promotes the economic vitality of the Louisville region.
Strongly Agree
Describe your favorite walk OR your favorite place to hang out in your neighborhood.
I love to walk Bardstown Road in the morning from my home to Cave Hill Cemetery. On the way back, I often stop at the Heine Brothers Coffee Shop it the Douglass Loop for a cup of “pick me up”. The Farmer’s Market at the Douglass Loop is a summer Saturday special to have a bite for lunch and talk to neighbors from all over.
What’s the biggest issue facing your district and how would you address it?
As an urban district, the Eighth District has many issues it faces. Currently, the most prevalent issue I hear about is the increase in development and the sub-issues that accompany that. As Metro Councilwoman, I would work together with each neighborhood to create/update a Neighborhood Plan that would establish, through collaborative and open meetings, what each neighborhood’s priorities are for a five-year planning period. I would also work to put in place the process to revisit these Neighborhood Plans every five years. In addition, I would also expand the Bardstown Road/Baxter Avenue overlay district to encompass more of the corridor, thereby creating a more cohesive environment.
In three sentences, what does Metro Council do?
As the only candidate who has served in the Metro Council, I’ll say it in one sentence— as the legislative body of Jefferson County the Louisville Metro Council enacts laws, including the annual Metro Government budget, serves as a mechanism for oversight and works to solve community issues by bringing people together.
Louisville is among the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian collisions and fatalities. What would you do to improve street safety for all road users in Louisville? Please cite specific examples.
In my policy platform, I have committed to creating a pedestrian walkability study for District 8. Similar studies in Louisville have led to substantial changes that upgraded the walkability of neighborhoods. I will work with the Center for Neighborhoods to determine what changes are needed and then work with Mayor Fischer and the Metro Council to enact those changes.
What does responsible development look like in Louisville and in your district? What would you do to promote responsible development in Louisville?
Responsible development in Louisville and in District 8 is one where the business takes into account the surrounding neighborhood they are entering. In the case of District 8, this includes working with neighbors and government on parking, infrastructure, historical preservation and other elements that matter to the community. As Metro Councilwoman, I would work with each neighborhood to create/update a Neighborhood Plan that would establish, through collaborative and open meetings, what each neighborhood’s priorities are for a five-year planning period. I would also work to put in place the process to revisit these Neighborhood Plans every five years.
Louisville is among the fastest warming cities in the country. Please describe your stance on fixing Louisville’s Urban Heat Island Effect. What specific steps need to be taken to solve this problem?
One of the easiest ways to repair the urban heat island effect is to expand our tree canopy. As Metro Councilwoman, I would do this by working through community-led programs such as Re-Tree Dundee— a program I championed— where Upper Highlands neighbors have come together to plant hundreds of new trees.
How would you strike a balance between preservation, development, and economic development in Louisville?
In District 8, we are fortunately to have the Bardstown Road/Baxter Avenue overlay district, which is designed to strike the balance between preservation, development, and economic development while also giving citizens a level of approval over development along the corridor. I would expand that district to include more of the Bardstown Road/Baxter Avenue corridor.
As Metro Councilwoman, I would work with each neighborhood to create/update a Neighborhood Plan that that would guide business developers towards what their residents want and need.
Lynnie Meyer
Bonnycastle
Have often do you walk to work or for basic errands?
A few times a month
Have often do you take transit to commute to work or for basic errands?
A few times a month
How often do you ride a bike to get to work or for errands?
A couple times a year
How often do you drive in a personal motor vehicle?
Every day
How safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking on Louisville’s streets?
Very safe
Louisville’s transit system should expand service, infrastructure, and offerings.
Strongly Agree
The city should invest in complete street design that promotes safety for all road users.
Strongly Agree
Walkable and transit-oriented development should be promoted over auto-oriented development.
Strongly Agree
Louisville should repair and maintain its existing transportation network before widening or building new roads.
Strongly Agree
Historic architecture promotes the economic vitality of the Louisville region.
Strongly Agree
Describe your favorite walk OR your favorite place to hang out in your neighborhood.
My favorite walk in my neighborhood is out my front door on Speed Avenue into Cherokee Park and the surrounding residential streets. I walk this neighborhood and park on a regular basis in all four seasons.
What’s the biggest issue facing your district and how would you address it?
Bardstown Road is a great asset to Metro 8 and provides an opportunity to address many of our districts challenges with infrastructure, smart growth and transportation.
As your elected official i would work to attract anchor businesses back to Bardstown Road. I would work to promote smart Infill re-development of vacant properties prevent the never-ending sprawl outside of the urban core. Instead of continuing unfettered growth into new areas which require new streets, utilities, water plans and zoning we should be incentivizing the reuse and redevelopment of existing properties in urban areas. Sites on the Bardstown Road corridor are prime examples of infill opportunities for dense housing and mixed use development. I support the current planned development of Mercy Academy and Phoenix Hill for residential housing and retail. Similar sites exist in the surrounding area and I would work to extend the Bardstown Overlay District down Baxter Ave, and work on neighborhood connections to Nulu, Crescent Hill and Broadway. These transportation corridors would create connections across the neighborhoods, improve access to public transportation, and improve walkability in our city. These planning developments combined with two way street redesign, road planning, and the development of more complete streets would improve the quality of life for residents across our city.
On the Metro Council, I would also work to tighten land use codes and enforce stricter adherence to zoning codes. I would also make sure that site selection of facilities commonly used by area and city residents take into greater account accessibility and availability of public transportation. I have opposed the recent placement of the VA Hospital in Louisville’s East End. This location creates additional urban sprawl, is not easily accessible to all the city’s population particularly the disabled, elderly and those who do not rely on cars as their primary means of transport. Forcing more fragile populations to travel greater distances makes no sense economically, environmentally nor in the interest of public health.
In three sentences, what does Metro Council do?
Metro Council represents the residents of Metro Louisville by implementation of short term plans and the development of long term strategies that promote, protect and preserve our community and make it a more vibrant part of the region. The Council provides leadership and direction to manage Metro Louisville operations, and brings neighborhood voice to current and future decisions regarding our city.
Louisville is among the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian collisions and fatalities. What would you do to improve street safety for all road users in Louisville? Please cite specific examples.
– Reduce speed limits to 20 mph on some residential streets.
– open up one way streets for two way traffic
– Improve and expand bus route selection city wide, work to establish express bus lanes, and double route selection inside the Patterson.
– add an EBus shuttle on the Bardstown Road Corridor from Baxter to Gardiner Lane in the evening and weekend hours to promote walkability out of the neighborhoods.
– work on road re-design, pause islands, and more complete street design; capitalize on the current Mercy Academy and Phoenix Hill re-development.
What does responsible development look like in Louisville and in your district? What would you do to promote responsible development in Louisville?
Responsible development creates housing opportunities and business attraction in keeping with the historic overlay and current planning and zoning ordinances. I would work to attract local anchor businesses and establish housing near the Bardstown Road corridor while protecting green space, and promoting the development of complete streets and improved access for walkability, cycling, and public transportation. My plan also includes the development and promotion of Energy Project Assessment Districts (EPAD). These districts offer commercial property owners voluntary access to capital for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements.
Louisville is among the fastest warming cities in the country. Please describe your stance on fixing Louisville’s Urban Heat Island Effect. What specific steps need to be taken to solve this problem?
– Day one implementation of legislation to establish Energy Project Assessment Districts.
– Incentives for the use of solar in commercial developments.
– Coordination and promotion of tree replacement city wide and in coordination with all the neighborhood associations and small cities combined with a canopy lost = canopy replaced policy.
– Improved street design to promote walkability and connections between our neighborhoods.
– Improved access to public transportation, route selection, express lanes combined with improved bus stops and enhanced technologies for public transportation.
How would you strike a balance between preservation, development, and economic development in Louisville?
i would strike a balance between preservation, development and economic development by being committed to re-development inside the Patterson Expressway. I would work to attract local anchor businesses back to the city, and I would promote and protect development in the city with adherence to Landmarks, historic preservation and planning and zoning as part of that decision making. The Cherokee Triangle neighborhood was recently ranked one of the top ten neighborhoods in America due to its historic significance and unique proximity to the park. The protection of historic buildings and promotion of green space will not only improve our quality of life it will spur economic development.
Optional open response. Discuss any issue in Louisville relating to land use, development, transportation, preservation, or health.
Land use, transportation, protection of the environment and the health and safety of our community is all interconnected. All of these issues drive the quality of life in our neighborhoods and of our residents. I understand the interconnectedness of these issues, and as your elected official I will work to promote and protect these core issues at the neighborhood and city level.
William Corey Nett
Withdrawn from race.
Stephen Reily
Cherokee Triangle
Have often do you walk to work or for basic errands?
Every day
Have often do you take transit to commute to work or for basic errands?
A couple times a year
How often do you ride a bike to get to work or for errands?
A few times a month
How often do you drive in a personal motor vehicle?
Every day
How safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking on Louisville’s streets?
Not very safe
Louisville’s transit system should expand service, infrastructure, and offerings.
Strongly Agree
The city should invest in complete street design that promotes safety for all road users.
Strongly Agree
Walkable and transit-oriented development should be promoted over auto-oriented development.
Agree
Louisville should repair and maintain its existing transportation network before widening or building new roads.
Agree
Historic architecture promotes the economic vitality of the Louisville region.
Strongly Agree
Describe your favorite walk OR your favorite place to hang out in your neighborhood.
I love to walk the alley behind my house, either north towards my 24-hour gym and Jack Fry’s or south towards Keith’s Hardware, Heine Bros., Carmichael’s, Lilly’s, and Ramsi’s.
What’s the biggest issue facing your district and how would you address it?
Street design and safety – making our neighborhood streets serve the people who live on them and making our commercial corridors (especially Bardstown Road) reflect the needs and voice of the neighborhoods that surround them and give them life.
In three sentences, what does Metro Council do?
Metro Council members succeed by:
• helping constituents build strong and healthy neighborhoods;
• connecting constituents on shared interests – in District 8 that means working together on Bardstown Road, our backbone; and
• collaborating, with 25 other Council members and with the mayor, to build a fairer, better and bolder city.
Louisville is among the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian collisions and fatalities. What would you do to improve street safety for all road users in Louisville? Please cite specific examples.
I am focused on the issue of pedestrian safety because I hear about it from people all across the Highlands. Recent reports confirm its importance for our entire city. I will address this by:
• Working with police on enforcement (because drivers are breaking the rules of the road with impunity)
• Working with Metro Louisville and Public Works by looking at other cities for strategies (including education) to calm traffic, design crosswalks that work, and make pedestrians feel safe on sidewalks again;
• Building a database that reflects the current state of pedestrian safety in District 8, benchmarks it against similar neighborhoods in Louisville and other cities, and then measures how we are doing in making our streets safer; and
• Sharing our successes as best practices across districts for city-wide improvements in pedestrian safety.
What does responsible development look like in Louisville and in your district? What would you do to promote responsible development in Louisville?
Development never takes place in isolation. Responsible development builds on all of the factors that make it possible (natural resources, infrastructure, and existing neighbors) and sensitive to all of the elements it affects.
In the fully built-out neighborhoods of District 8, development means redevelopment. And responsible redevelopment needs particular sensitivity to its surroundings. A councilman needs to support citizens who have already invested in these neighborhoods and deserve a strong voice in shaping their own future. And a councilman should be creative and expansive in supporting responsible redevelopment with infrastructure and public services that make it successful.
Louisville is among the fastest warming cities in the country. Please describe your stance on fixing Louisville’s Urban Heat Island Effect. What specific steps need to be taken to solve this problem?
Metro Council needs to support a no-net-loss policy on tree loss and a dramatic increase in trees where our heat islands are the hottest.
I am co-founder of the non-profit developer of the West Louisville FoodPort, where we will plant hundreds of trees on what is now a barren brownfield; build a 2-acre demonstration farm for Jefferson County Extension to operate; and are looking for partners to develop a nursery to grow native trees for planting in West Louisville, creating job opportunities and cleaner air at the same time. We need to ask other developers to do the same.
How would you strike a balance between preservation, development, and economic development in Louisville?
Any question about balance is hard to answer simply. Rather than use the sometimes-polarizing words in the question I will emphasize community and authenticity. Moving Louisville forward should be done wherever possible in a way that also strengthens our greatest assets – our sense of community and our distinctive identity.
Authentic engagement (supported by technology) can give people a chance to shape a future that they want to own, one that incorporates boldness and growth. The right strategy for Louisville will be one that is different from other cities, because it uses our existing resources (historic, natural and cultural) and because we execute it in a way that always aims to strengthen (rather than weaken or divide) our sense of community.
At the West Louisville FoodPort we did that when we removed plans to include an anaerobic biodigester in the project; we strengthened the project by listening to our neighbors.
Josh White
Did not respond.
Charles Terry Wooden
Highlands
Have often do you walk to work or for basic errands?
A few times a month
Have often do you take transit to commute to work or for basic errands?
A few times a month
How often do you ride a bike to get to work or for errands?
Never
How often do you drive in a personal motor vehicle?
Every day
How safe do you feel as a pedestrian walking on Louisville’s streets?
Somewhat safe
Louisville’s transit system should expand service, infrastructure, and offerings.
Strongly Agree
The city should invest in complete street design that promotes safety for all road users.
Agree
Walkable and transit-oriented development should be promoted over auto-oriented development.
Strongly Agree
Louisville should repair and maintain its existing transportation network before widening or building new roads.
Agree
Historic architecture promotes the economic vitality of the Louisville region.
Strongly Agree
Describe your favorite walk OR your favorite place to hang out in your neighborhood.
Bardstown Road Business corridor and Cherokee Park are amoung my favorite places. The Highlands has some very unique shops and art galleries including; Edenside, Clay and Cotton, Leather Heads, Doo Wop and Guitar Emporium. In addition we have fine dinning like Bristol, Jack Fry’s, Uptown and more. One of the best locations in Kentucky for food and fun.
What’s the biggest issue facing your district and how would you address it?
Lingering effects of the slow economy mixed with inequality of the one percent wealthy and struggling middle class top the list of biggest issues. This effects our planning for the future in developing reduced energy transportation like electrical mass transit. I will focus on improving the infrastructure of the 8th district by bringing in higher paying jobs to Louisville. Improving opportunities for youth to get quality educations and work on large scale projects that improve transportation within the city and between local larger cities.
In three sentences, what does Metro Council do?
Metro Council works at the most direct level with Neighborhood groups, business associations and individuals to formulate goals for their district. Representatives take that information to the city council working with all communities to develop the best plan for the city. Representatives work with individuals to solve problems for citizens in their district, using Neighborhood Funds in the best possible way for the betterment of all.
Louisville is among the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrian collisions and fatalities. What would you do to improve street safety for all road users in Louisville? Please cite specific examples.
Putting up flashing lights at crosswalks like the one near Highland Cleaners, and Krispy Kreme. These flashing lights would be initiated by the user to cross so cars will know in advance of someone wanting to cross.
What does responsible development look like in Louisville and in your district? What would you do to promote responsible development in Louisville?
Responsible development in the 8th district includes developing transportation systems that take cars off streets and makes getting from locations easy for travelers. Making the infrastructure better for future generations. I would improve public transportation and bring in high paying jobs for our citizens.
Louisville is among the fastest warming cities in the country. Please describe your stance on fixing Louisville’s Urban Heat Island Effect. What specific steps need to be taken to solve this problem?
Reduce reliance on automobiles by improving public transportation and creating more green spaces. Protecting from urban sprawl by making resources available and giving incentives for people to live in exsiting population centers.
How would you strike a balance between preservation, development, and economic development in Louisville?
Decisions on determining our future have to be made on serving the people. We must make decisions that benefit the 8th district and can be sustainable with the effort of protecting and improving the environment.
Optional open response. Discuss any issue in Louisville relating to land use, development, transportation, preservation, or health.
I believe all of these issues come under the heading of improving public transportation by creating a light rail system to transport citizens quickly and effectively through out the city. If Transportation is excellent people will be able to reduce their reliance on automobiles helping the environment and improving their personal health by walking.
Brandon Coan’s plan can be found here:
http://www.coanformetrocouncil.com/#!plan/ydzq6