The West End Opportunity Partnership is a significant economic investment initiative launching in the
West End to overcome challenges stemming from the intergenerational effects of racial prejudice and
segregation, which have hindered progress for African Americans in Louisville.
Chickasaw is one of Louisville’s furthest-west neighborhoods, bordering the Ohio River on one side. On its other sides, it borders the neighborhoods of Shawnee, Russell, Parkland, Park Duvalle, and Rubbertown. After integration, many families crossed the neighborhood lines and moved to the Shawnee neighborhood, but before that, Chickasaw was historically a segregated neighborhood reserved for blacks while the white population settled in the Shawnee neighborhood.
Chickasaw has remained predominantly composed of black, middle-class residents, and is still fighting the environmental racism that has resulted from the city’s history of segregation. The neighborhood borders Rubbertown, an industrial complex. People living in areas with higher rates of air pollution are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty and nearly three times as likely to be a person of color. The impacted pollution areas are not a coincidence, knowing how Chickasaw started out as a segregated area, but an example of the structural inequalities that have prevented the area from experiencing a higher quality of life and rate of economic growth.
Now, there are several organizations, studies, and programs at work that specialize in tackling this issue. REACT (Rubbertown Emergency Action), West Jefferson County Community Task Force (WJCCTF), the West Louisville Air Toxics Study (WLATS), the Strategic Toxic Air Reduction (STAR) Program, the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board (APCD), and the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness have all taken steps to reduce the pollution and take some of the strain off of residents, but we still have a long way to go.
However, despite the environmental setbacks, Chickasaw is known for so much more than their industrial neighbors. Their history runs deep, and that drew the attention of the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities Grant program, which provides funding for the Louisville Metro Government to survey the historic buildings and sites in the Chickasaw Neighborhood and list them in the National Register of Historic Places. If the proposed area is listed on the National Register, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the National Park Service both have a Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit program that can assist property owners in renovations to a property. This creates a lot of opportunity for affordable renovation projects.
The proposed Historic District includes all of Chickasaw Park, which is a well-known installment of the Olmsted Park System. It was originally the estate of John Henry Whallen, a Democratic Party political boss in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the land was obtained for park purposes in 1921 and encompasses 61.21 acres of land, which offers:
With the sprawling park available, as well as the Shawnee Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library that lives just inside its borders, Chickasaw is a great neighborhood for families, pet-owners, and nature-enthusiasts. However, despite being on the far West side of Louisville, it is still very close to downtown Louisville, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, the AMPED Community Center for creative talents at Flaget Field, the University of Louisville, Muhammad Ali’s Childhood Home, and the Sherman Minton Bridge that leads to New Albany and Southern Indiana. Its ease of transit options is beneficial for workers who work in Indiana, but still live in Kentucky. For those with school-aged children, there are 11 Louisville public schools available for those in the neighborhood, including:
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Creating opportunities for Louisville communities, by Louisville communities, in Louisville communities.
1608 W. Broadway
Suite 200
Louisville, KY 40203
(502) 303-5251
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