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The State of the City—From the Perspective of Louisville Residents

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer delivers the State of the City address today  in Valley Station at the Southwest Regional Library.

It will be the first time the State of the City has been presented outside the Watterson Expressway, said Chris Poynter, a spokesman for the Mayor's office.

Louisville has more than 700,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census. As the setting for the State of the City address implies, those residents deal with different problems and issues depending, in part, on where they live—and they'll have different perspectives on the state of the city.

We spoke with several residents from neighborhoods across Jefferson County and asked them one question:

"What is the state of the city?"

Here is what they said:

Why does Louisville have so many fish fries?

"I have a very positive outlook on the city and have nothing negative to say about it. I don't think it's without it's problems but I think we are moving in the right direction." - Kristy Elswick, Okolona

"To people that live out here on the streets Louisville is not fair. People who don't have money don't stand a chance, we feel like we are getting pushed out." - Andre Bailey, homeless

"The state of the city is in pretty good shape. I don't think there have been too many major, major issues and the issues that we have had have been dealt with justly." -  Silvia Barlow, East End

"The city is in a lot better shape than when I moved here, there seems to be a lot more jobs and a lot more job opportunities. There is still problems, my biggest complaint with Louisville is it's dirty—people litter. It's terrible." - Barbara Justice, Old Louisville

"I think it's in an OK situation right now, I think they can improve on the violence that's going around, that is the main issue," - George Lewis, Russell

"The inequality is shocking in this city. The inequality, in terms of the divide between east and west and the inequalities in our schools, is something we have to address." - Betsy Huggins, Irish Hill

"The state of the city is trying to make the rich richer and the poor poorer." - Chelsey Riggle, Portland

"The youth need more areas to go, it seems like every time something opens it shuts right back down." - Callie Comer, Iroquois

"It's alright. It could be better, but it's alright—needs more jobs, better paying jobs," - Marko Lewis, Smoketown

"We're making progress on some fronts, but I'm usually too busy to think about it." - John Bartlett, East End

Jacob Ryan is the managing editor of the Kentucky Center for Investigative reporting. He's an award-winning investigative reporter who joined LPM in 2014. Email Jacob at jryan@lpm.org.