Between the bumbling pro-business mayor and the cottage industries built on the town's lone point of interest, I was going to say the comparisons to Jacksonville are staggering and then you had to go and dump on Jacksonville (rightfully so).
"not wanting to give directions that don’t hinge on turning at where a long-closed store “used to be”"
This is a very Jacksonville thing too lol.
Me, any time I asked for directions my first two years here: "Where's X?
Literally everyone: "You know where the Bealls used to be in 1995? Turn left past that and go down to where the statue of Andrew Jackson used to be in 1968. Then make a right where [insert local sandwich institution] used to be before they moved to Riverside."
There was a lot of that when I lived in Providence. I knew it was time to leave when I gave directions including "you drive up Main like you're going to Pawtucket but you take a left 2 blocks past where that piano store was before the insurance fire."
This was a lovely piece. I'd also like to mention, regarding your line about not "wanting to be a modern city", that being a "modern city" is no guarantee they won't still keep making the same mistakes, just on a larger scale.
I could be reading too much into your line, and there are plenty of arguments to be made about how a bigger city like Chicago or LA or Austin doesn't necessarily mean modern, but I think hoping that growing bigger and getting more resources means "getting your act together" is a false hope. In many ways, I think smaller cities have the best chance to try out new ideas in policy and practice that might never get a voice in larger metropolises.
A local example of that near where I live is that Durham, NC's Chief of Police was just poached by the city of Memphis after her success rebuilding a relationship between local police and the African American community that had been largely destroyed after decades of biased law enforcement. Hopefully she'll be just as successful in her new, bigger town, and hopefully her replacement here doesn't undo her successes, but I have to think a big reason she was given the chance in the first place was because Durham isn't huge yet. They've just been chosen for a future Google campus, and the "new" money from the north has been pouring into this area for years, but there's still time to try and get things ready before it's too late. But you have to have the right leaders in place to do that and unfortunately that isn't always the case.
Yes, I should be clear-- "modern", at least in the sense I intended it here, is a label that cities should aspire to, but very few (if any) live up to, and that's not really related to size. New York City is a big city, but in many, many ways it is stuck deeply in the past, too.
Great piece. Absolutely captured the essence of the Derby and the city. As a resident of the city myself I think everything you’ve written here rings true.
I went to the first home game for Racing FC a few weeks back and even though the stadium was at about 1/3 capacity the environment was amazing. I decided to buy season tickets a couple days later. Very excited for the season ahead!
I'm really looking forward to taking the kids to a Racing game at some point this year. We haven't been to a live sporting event since the last Bats game of 2019.
big shout out Scott, this rules. I did find it funny, as a Lexington native and current resident of a MUCH smaller town in northeast Tennessee, that you describe Lou as a "small town", although I completely understand why. also shout out to the twice-league-champions Louisville City FC, playing second division soccer.
Came here just to acknowledge the fantastic reference to The Good Place. Thank you for giving Stupid Nick’s Wing Dump the recognition it deserves.
Is your son gonna end up sounding like Bobby Hill in 5 years? Cuz that would be hilarious.
"soundtracked by the most beautiful song you can possibly hear on a May afternoon as long as you don’t listen to the actual lyrics"
Sir, 'Back Home Again in Indiana' will FIGHT you.
(But really, this was a fantastic piece. Loved this).
Between the bumbling pro-business mayor and the cottage industries built on the town's lone point of interest, I was going to say the comparisons to Jacksonville are staggering and then you had to go and dump on Jacksonville (rightfully so).
To be honest, it felt a bit unnecessary, but I looked at a list of comparably-sized metro areas and the shot was there for the taking.
"not wanting to give directions that don’t hinge on turning at where a long-closed store “used to be”"
This is a very Jacksonville thing too lol.
Me, any time I asked for directions my first two years here: "Where's X?
Literally everyone: "You know where the Bealls used to be in 1995? Turn left past that and go down to where the statue of Andrew Jackson used to be in 1968. Then make a right where [insert local sandwich institution] used to be before they moved to Riverside."
Me, cross-eyed: "Ok cool."
There was a lot of that when I lived in Providence. I knew it was time to leave when I gave directions including "you drive up Main like you're going to Pawtucket but you take a left 2 blocks past where that piano store was before the insurance fire."
*furiously photoshopping queen of england into a blake bortles jersey*
This was a lovely piece. I'd also like to mention, regarding your line about not "wanting to be a modern city", that being a "modern city" is no guarantee they won't still keep making the same mistakes, just on a larger scale.
I could be reading too much into your line, and there are plenty of arguments to be made about how a bigger city like Chicago or LA or Austin doesn't necessarily mean modern, but I think hoping that growing bigger and getting more resources means "getting your act together" is a false hope. In many ways, I think smaller cities have the best chance to try out new ideas in policy and practice that might never get a voice in larger metropolises.
A local example of that near where I live is that Durham, NC's Chief of Police was just poached by the city of Memphis after her success rebuilding a relationship between local police and the African American community that had been largely destroyed after decades of biased law enforcement. Hopefully she'll be just as successful in her new, bigger town, and hopefully her replacement here doesn't undo her successes, but I have to think a big reason she was given the chance in the first place was because Durham isn't huge yet. They've just been chosen for a future Google campus, and the "new" money from the north has been pouring into this area for years, but there's still time to try and get things ready before it's too late. But you have to have the right leaders in place to do that and unfortunately that isn't always the case.
Yes, I should be clear-- "modern", at least in the sense I intended it here, is a label that cities should aspire to, but very few (if any) live up to, and that's not really related to size. New York City is a big city, but in many, many ways it is stuck deeply in the past, too.
Great piece. Absolutely captured the essence of the Derby and the city. As a resident of the city myself I think everything you’ve written here rings true.
I went to the first home game for Racing FC a few weeks back and even though the stadium was at about 1/3 capacity the environment was amazing. I decided to buy season tickets a couple days later. Very excited for the season ahead!
I'm really looking forward to taking the kids to a Racing game at some point this year. We haven't been to a live sporting event since the last Bats game of 2019.
We had a pleasant time even though we got soaked in the rain. I’m sure you and your family will have a great experience!
This is first-rate writing, Scott. I just loved it.
Thank you!
big shout out Scott, this rules. I did find it funny, as a Lexington native and current resident of a MUCH smaller town in northeast Tennessee, that you describe Lou as a "small town", although I completely understand why. also shout out to the twice-league-champions Louisville City FC, playing second division soccer.