Portland is one of those neighborhoods you just know will be the next bastion of hipsters and career professionals looking for a bedrock community. It’s so close to downtown Louisville you could throw a rock at it. Its proximity to other key neighborhoods like The Highlands and NuLu are a matter of record. That said the community has largely gotten the cold shoulder from the Louisville Metro vision. Its streets are falling apart and empty storefronts are hard to keep count of. The community itself boasts of beautiful, historic homes that should the area ever get gentrified would command top rents and sell for huge numbers. As I often say in my videos I don’t lump gentrification in with progress. There’s nothing innovative, much less altruistic, about displacing existing communities, throwing on a couple coats of paint and giving the area some TLC, only to raise the rents so high that it pushes out the locals for a new crowd. That’s not progress but in many instances that’s what it takes. I hate to say it, but money talks. This is after all America the bastion of capitalism. If you want something different you won’t find it here. Every single downtrodden area that I’m familiar with that has transformed itself through gentrification has remained transformed. Moreover I recall what an old property law professor used to say all the time, “the one thing they’re not making any more of, is land.”
Portland may not look it now but it’s very much prime real estate. The historically Irish working class neighborhood has real promise but needs much more interest from Jefferson County. During the time I drove and walked around I didn’t see very much of a police presence which I found odd for a community so proximate to the interstate and to downtown. I’m not sure if LMPD patrols the area as much as they should, but it’s also possible during the hour or so I was there they had already come before or were coming afterwards.. I will say I kind of felt on my own there. It wasn’t a good or bad feeling, just a sense that I was off the grid.
With regards to my interactions with the locals I had no issues. I was on a side street and stopped to let a family cross while the man of the house looked on from a walk-up. Many travel bloggers would not have done that, not because they’re rude necessarily but more so out of safety. I will never do as so many others have before and do drive by filming. If you’re too scared to go somewhere to walk around or drive around (like a normal person), then don’t go. The family that crossed couldn’t have been nicer. The gentleman wasn’t all smiles but he was also looking over his loved ones and not only that but not everyone is laughing and jovial 24/7. That doesn’t mean they’re a thug or that they’re cranky.
Another interaction had me walking by the liquor store and Save-A-Lot. A lady said hello from across the street and gave me the thumbs up for filming. When you’re out and about doing this kind of work it’s little shows of support like that that really make the work fun. After all, no one’s doing this to get rich and famous. Most of us just want to explore new places, get great content, and hopefully turn more people onto the places we visit. I also think when it comes to exploring the area(s) you live in that’s all the more true. I want more people to know about Portland but for all the right reasons. I want to see this community progress and do well! After all, I live less than half an hour away.
I think only time will tell what happens to Portland. Many say it’s been in its current state for the last 20 years. It’s as if someone hit the pause button and nothing has changed. Something tells me that it won’t be another 20 years before something dramatically changes there. I don’t even think it’ll take more than the 2-3 years to be honest. Only time will tell, however. In the meantime, if you want to check out this community, I will advise you to be careful, but there’s no need to be afraid. Get out of your East Louisville mindset and explore Jefferson County!
If you’re from out of town or from out of state I’d be careful anywhere in Louisville Metro. Again, we have a very safe city that at many times feels like a small town, but we’re every bit a big city as well. I don’t want anyone to have to learn that the hard way. Happy travels!
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