Okay, well I wasn't literally ON the Ohio River (it takes a pretty big boat to ensure myself that I'm not too close to this infamously dirty, local joke springboard. As a kid you grow up hearing about deadly rip currents dragging some unlucky schmuck down to a muddy death, 3-eyed mutant fish and other miscellaneous horrors of the deep...), but I was as close as you can get. Yesterday my friend Ellanna and I rode our bicycles along part of what will someday be an epic bike trail that will encircle the city. An ambitious project begun by our esteemed metro city mayor, Jerry Abramson, it's officially dubbed The Louisville Loop--unofficially we call it The Jerry-Go-Round.
I have to say, I was really impressed with this city project. It hasn't gotten a lot of press (which may actually be a good thing--it needs to avoid local recession angst and partisan bitchery until it gets completed), but it'll definitely be one of my favorite things about Louisville. Unfortunately, many parts of the trail are not slated for completion until after 2010...as some of you may recall, Mayor Jer is going to be making a run for Lt. Governor in 2010, so...the question for the Loop is: "Can Louisville elect an idealistic, outdoorsy, park system-loving team player smart enough to finish what Jer started?" I certainly hope so, but there is the potential for an acute Jerry backlash that could put a project like the Loop in jeopardy with a new administration.
The Loop is a trademark Jerry kind of thing: it's big, fun, bicycle-related, and was conceived of and begun with no input whatsoever asked of the general public. Don't get me wrong: not asking public permission/advice around here is a very good thing. We have, afterall, not been able to build a controversial-but-much-needed East end bridge over the Ohio even after over a decade of debate, millions of dollars spent on studies, loud rabble-rousing from East end neighborhood associations (full of wealthy isolationists), and more debate. Lesson learned: talking to the public is really not an option if you'd actually like to see something happen. Jerry understands this, thus he does what he wants, following the best political advice he himself could give about doing business in Louisville, KY: never ask permission and only ask forgiveness when you really, really have to. If you think this is political suicide you should know that, for the majority of his 5 terms as Louisville's mayor, Jerry has enjoyed an 80% approval rating. Yeah.
Riding that small section of the Loop yesterday got me thinking about our "mayor for life." I'm gonna miss that guy when he's gone; how many other city leaders put a priority on wacky pipe dreams like a bike trail along the entire perimeter of their jurisdiction? And do it during the worst recession in decades? That takes major chutzpah, readers, and I'm glad to have lived in a city that had a half-crazy idealist steering us in that direction--if nothing else, it's aggressive city planning with an eye towards terraforming run-down, ghettoized ghost towns into vast, leisure playgrounds.
I think this kind of talk makes me a fan.
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