This article appeared in the October 2010 issue of Louisville Magazine. To subscribe, please visit loumag.com.
The word “neighborhood” has always been an elastic term, and
especially so in a city that until seven years ago was a whole county.
It can mean, to some, a single street, or a group of streets whose homes
were built about the same time, or a section of the city drawn around a
central focal point, or a suburban subdivision, or section of a
subdivision, or even a fifth- or sixth-class city inside the big city.
Throughout October we will feature 16 of Louisville’s neighborhoods —
not necessary the “goes without saying” selections that come up time and
again, but pieces of real estate and social fabric inclusively chosen
for their beauty, value, character, amenities and, well, neighborliness. To follow along with this series, please visit the Neighborly 'Hoods section.
Any list of preferred local neighborhoods is going to have its “duh” candidates — the ones familiar to anybody who has ever asked advice about house hunting. The Highlands is full of them — Bonnycastle, Highlands Douglass and Cherokee Triangle, besides the two we’ve included in our chosen 16. Another extolled ’hood is Anchorage, with its forest setting and much-praised school system, and still another is the exclusive enclave of Glenview, along with topographically thrilling Indian Hills, Mockingbird Valley and Maryhill Estates and village-like Crescent Hill.
Surrounded by the city of St. Matthews, the 175-home community of Norbourne Estates is a stroller-pushing and jogging paradise where prospective buyers wait in line. And no scene is more august and breathtaking than shady St. James and Belgravia courts in Old Louisville.
Three perfectly groomed developments lauded in recent years are Sutherland in Prospect, Owl Creek near Middletown and the Villages of Springhurst off Hurstbourne Parkway between Westport Road and KY22, and two additional recommended golf communities are Persimmon Ridge in Shelby County, with its Arthur Hills-designed course, and Glenmary off Bardstown Road beyond Fern Creek.
Photo: John Nation
