Tagged: West Louisville

Stop ignoring the West End!

At least that’s the message from a recent Louisville Magazine cover story about the nine neighborhoods encompassing west Louisville.

The 38-page exposé tells the community's history, and also outlined the current disparities in income, property values and education levels. Many know anecdotally about the so-called Ninth Street Divide, but the stark realities when compared to the East End is eye-opening.

Statistics show residents in east Louisville make three times more and seven times as many have a bachelor's degree or higher than their West End counterparts.

It's a bleak picture of the predominately African-American part of the city, which is increasingly isolated.

After concluding that a deadly 2011 explosion at the Carbide Industries plant in Rubbertown could have been prevented, the Federal Chemical Safety Board has approved recommendations aimed at making sure industries won't have a chance to replicate the unsafe conditions—a move Rubbertown residents welcomed.

The childhood home of boxing legend Muhammad Ali has been purchased by a Las Vegas real estate investor.

Last month, the single-story home in west Louisville’s Parkland neighborhood where Ali grew up was put up for sale. State lawmakers and Metro Council members had recently held a ceremony placing a historical marker in front of the house.

Jared Weiss is president and CEO of Motion Properties, and bought the home earlier this week for $70,000.

In a telephone interview with WFPL News, Weiss says he is a lifelong fan of Ali and wants to restore the home to honor the former heavyweight-boxing champion.

"Right now my options are open. I’d probably speak with the city and see what they think I could do with the property possibly. I’d like to refurbish it maybe back to the original look it had in the 1950s when he was growing up in it," he says. "Possibly a museum, but right now the options are open. But it’s definitely going to be part of the legacy for Muhammad Ali."

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has appointed the members of what's now called the Violence Prevention Workgroup. The panel was announced last month after back-to-back shootings in the West End.