Admittedly, my memory isn't the greatest when it comes to my childhood (I'm forgetful that way) but here it goes...
I grew up in Louisville on the East side of town: Jeffersontown (J-Town) in the 1970's then moving to Hurstborne area in 1979-80. I left the city in 1991. I didn't venture much outside the East side all that much.
I attended Catholic grade and high school. When my family moved to Hurstborne, the local grade school was too crowded for new students, so we were bussed to Germantown to go to St. Theresa. There were a lot of older houses there, but from what I remember, it wasn't too rough around the area where I attended school and I had a few friends in the Germantown area that my mom would let me visit. My mom wasn't super-overly protective, but she wouldn't have let me stay overnight in a sketchy neighborhood.
There were parts of St. Matthews had older homes--not the shotgun style that you're referring to--but were considered poorer compared to the more affluent neighbors in Lyndon, Bellemeade, etc.
In the 70's, J-Town was a predominately white neighborhood with lower-middle and middle-middle class people. From what I remember, Germantown was predominately white as well but the parts that I saw weren't exactly rough. Lower-middle class, I'd say, with the shotgun houses you were describing. I don't remember much about Bardstown Road except that was where the Showcase Cinemas were and I remember going there in the mid-80's to see movies in the evenings. Like I said, my mom wasn't super-protective but I doubt she'd let me go somewhere after dark as a teenager that was sketchy.
The parts of town that I remember being talked about as poorer were on the West Side: Shawnee and Shively (which my parents referred to as "Lively Shively").
Basically, anything inside the I-264 loop was considered older Louisville.
I grew up in Louisville on the East side of town: Jeffersontown (J-Town) in the 1970's then moving to Hurstborne area in 1979-80. I left the city in 1991. I didn't venture much outside the East side all that much.
I attended Catholic grade and high school. When my family moved to Hurstborne, the local grade school was too crowded for new students, so we were bussed to Germantown to go to St. Theresa. There were a lot of older houses there, but from what I remember, it wasn't too rough around the area where I attended school and I had a few friends in the Germantown area that my mom would let me visit. My mom wasn't super-overly protective, but she wouldn't have let me stay overnight in a sketchy neighborhood.
There were parts of St. Matthews had older homes--not the shotgun style that you're referring to--but were considered poorer compared to the more affluent neighbors in Lyndon, Bellemeade, etc.
In the 70's, J-Town was a predominately white neighborhood with lower-middle and middle-middle class people. From what I remember, Germantown was predominately white as well but the parts that I saw weren't exactly rough. Lower-middle class, I'd say, with the shotgun houses you were describing. I don't remember much about Bardstown Road except that was where the Showcase Cinemas were and I remember going there in the mid-80's to see movies in the evenings. Like I said, my mom wasn't super-protective but I doubt she'd let me go somewhere after dark as a teenager that was sketchy.
The parts of town that I remember being talked about as poorer were on the West Side: Shawnee and Shively (which my parents referred to as "Lively Shively").
Basically, anything inside the I-264 loop was considered older Louisville.
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My dad actually grew up in Shively, but that was in the fifties, so maybe it hadn't gone downhill yet. I'll ask him about it, though.
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My dad actually grew up in Shively, but that was in the fifties, so maybe it hadn't gone downhill yet. I'll ask him about it, though.
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