Where Did Kentucky Go Wrong?
What we need to learn before we can move forward

For years, historians and academics have delved into the mysterious turn that Kentucky took away from its earlier status as the “Gateway to the West” with a university, Transylvania, renowned as the Harvard of its region. Why, we ask, does our Appalachian area lead national lists of poverty and low educational attainment while similarly situated areas in other states move ahead?

I advance a theory that is almost “shocking” for a state such as ours: It is the historical neglect of our cities and lack of any coherent urban agenda that crippled our past and hinders our ability to progress.

From Lexington to Louisville, from Paducah to Ashland, we are perplexed over decisions that have been and are being made. From the historical development of the Kentucky parkway system that showed no inclination to connect the “urban” areas of west Kentucky with other cities such as Louisville and Lexington to the endangered status of Rupp Arena, which serves the entire state, to the constant erosion of local authority in the General Assembly. The beat goes on… or, shall we say, the “beating” goes on.

Take the issue of education. Our budget leaders call for no cuts in K-12 education. But, does it make any sense to provide top-notch education to students when cities are crumbling around them? Or, when their parents cannot find jobs because they don’t exist? When the main streets are not wired for high-speed Internet access? What could their future be? The best, brightest and most educated leave as soon as possible – and who would blame them!

Likewise, the delaying effects of the debate over the issuance of Brownfields regulations. Brownfields are abandoned industrial sites that lie within all our cities and could, if developed, contribute to the well-being of the majority of Kentuckians who live in cities and the many others who depend upon cities as centers for jobs, recreation, culture and education.

Cities are the places of the future, where families will live, where residents will seek economic stability and prosperity, where neighborhoods will thrive and where a stable, safe and warm environment will be sought. Even the rugged individualists who founded this country saw the value of cities as a center for trade and activity or for the simple act of sitting around sharing their stories.

Cities have grown as centers and are essential for the attraction of business and jobs. From the early Greeks who talked of civilization that flourishes in cities to any business development specialist, the attributes of cities come to the fore. Look around – great cultural and educational institutions such as the Louisville Center for the Arts and every one of our state universities and colleges are in cities.

In our zeal as Kentuckians to identify ourselves as good old rural boys and girls, we have abandoned our responsibility to build great cities, as if the idea of loving wide-open spaces necessarily precludes the idea of loving cities.

It is strange that those who love the wide-open spaces often advocate the destruction of those same spaces in an attempt to thwart the growth of cities. For instance, we lament the continued erosion of the countryside for bigger box stores and ugly unplanned development but we reject smart growth as one of those citified ideas deserving of disdain. We pass laws that prohibit cities from regulating subdivisions outside their borders in the name of individual freedom – until it is realized the water lines are too small and the streets too narrow for school buses. That’s when the calls of complaint from the “rugged individuals” come into city hall.

Urban Kentucky is now spilling out over city borders as a result of illogical and overly restrictive annexation laws – out of the reach of planning and zoning. We pander to the desire of ordinary Kentuckians to live without rules and pay no taxes, all in the name of preserving our “rural” heritage.

Cities serve as the unique heart and center of community. In the post 9/11 era, we have seen the return of people to the small towns of the heartland. More say they would return if economic opportunity were available. Though it is a bold request that will no doubt be looked at as “citified,” it is necessary to look at our “rural” heritage and ourselves. The irony is that to save rural Kentucky and build the safe and caring places Kentuckians have indicated they want may indeed take a new emphasis on building cities and our urban agenda.

Sylvia L. Lovely is executive director and CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities.
editorial@lanereport.com

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