Roger and Nick P. discuss the "New Albany Syndrome."

Gravity Head opening night was a record-breaking occasion, artistically as well as financially, and all of us at NABC thank friends and readers in attendance. We'll be carrying on today and into March.

Here is the transcript of a recent thread on the Louisville Restaurants Forum that led us from the glories of La Rosita to a discussion of the New Albany Syndrome.

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Roger said:

It occurs to me that not everyone knows of La Rosita's newest outpost at 1515 E. Market in New Albany. It's a block west of Tommy Lancaster's.D. and I dined there today, and it's everything that the Charlestown Road taqueria does with more options added, and plenty of seats. Israel has limited mainstream beers in bottles at the Market Street location, but today we discussed adding an NABC draft beer when he gets his keg box installed.

It's three blocks from our house -- now THAT'S good news.

More at my blog: The Market Street (New Albany) location of La Rosita's is open, and you need to go there, now.

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Nick P. said:

Thanks Roger, I went there today. What a COOL place -- very urban, old building. Outstanding food. This is an example of the type of stuff NA (and Louisville needs). The owner is so nice and he even has a second floor with more tables and two plush couches that sit by a fireplace. Very cool indeed, and on top of it, no one anywhere can touch his tacos. This includes places I’ve had them in TX and FL.

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Roger said:

I'm just pleased as punch that we have a place like this three blocks from my home, and I hope to put an NABC tap in once Israel gets his keg box.

It balances the bad Bistro New Albany news somewhat.

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Nick P. said:

Roger, why don’t more people live in those beautiful old homes in your neighborhood? Do New Albanians consider that area "dangerous" as suburban Louisvillians see Old Louisville as "dangerous?" Just seems like many of those houses could use some work, but they are so cool. I would like to see a nice coffee shop in that area.

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Roger said:

What a fine question ... but we're making progress.

Actually, the tide is starting to turn, and we're seeing some single families back in houses that were offered as appeasement to slumlords decades ago owing to the dimwittedness of successive generations of local "leadership."

NA's got considerable potential, and there's reason for a degree of cautious optimism. You get more housing bang for the buck here, and the businesses are showing signs of following.

Nick, do you live in Louisville or over here?

Here's an interesting web site for your perusal: Historic New Albany.

The unexpected collapse of the Bistro New Albany project has me somewhat depressed, and so I'm looking again for an opportunity to get our beers somewhere close to downtown.

You mentioned a coffee shop; the space now occupied by La Rosita's II was remodeled a year or so ago to be a coffee shop, but that fell through. We have a couple downtown, but they fail the test of not looking shocked when you ask for a double espresso -- "you mean, just like it comes?"

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Nick P. said:

I live in Old Louisville and am a bit of an historian. Theoretically, downtown NA and environs are just another urban hood in Louisville. Unfortunately, most do not see it that way. Areas on the western side of town especially around Silver Street are as nice as the Highlands architecturally. Then you have the Mansion Row, which while smaller, is more grand than Louisville's Millionaires Row on 3rd St. That said, many of those mansions need work.

There is a multi-room (I think 8k sq foot) mansion around 13th and Market that is yellow that is selling for around 400k. That is incredible for a home of this caliber. I am guessing there are no crime problems in NA even like we have in areas like Germantown ... so I wonder why people stay away from these old houses? Are the cookie cutter vinyls out on Charlestown Rd more attractive to these middle class families?

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Roger said:

Nick, I don't know the answer. I live at 11th and E Spring, and share your assessment. The crime situation's not bad; petty stuff, no different from anywhere else.

The price of these homes is cheap compared with the Highlands, which is why I decided to remain here and see if we might stage a revolution.

Of course, a lot of people here, including too many slumlords and rental property owners, want to see it under-regulated as it has been in the past, but we're making headway.

Granted, we don't have the food and drink and shops infrastructure -- yet. There's much going on underneath the radar, though, and when the Scribner Place project gets under way, I think you'll see some of it come to the surface.

I'm an optimist. Having La Rosita's around the corner helps.

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Gary M said:

Roger, I have always enjoyed bicycling in New Albany. Downtown, it feels like riding around a small town (complete with rolling up the sidewalks at five PM on the weekends!)

I love the old buildings ... the remains of that old Catholic church among others. It would be nice if Tom Owens grabbed his bullhorn and gave NA the same treatment he's given to Portland, West Main Street, Butchertown and other Louisville neighborhoods. There is some guy in New Albany who tries, but when I checked it out a couple of years ago, so many people attended that I got lost in the crowd. Could not hear what he was saying.

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Roger said:

David Barksdale? He's probably the foremost local historian, and a good speaker when you can hear him.

Verily, all the ingredients are here, and the more I get involved, the more evident it seems to me that the missing ingredient is attitude. We're suffering from a complex, and I'm simply not sure how to commence the cure -- although, as I've noted, efforts are underway.

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Nick P. said:

Potentially, NA could be Louisville's 4th good urban hood after Crescent/Hill Clifton, Old Louisville, and Highlands. Demographically, the area doesn’t seem too different than Germantown, but the housing stock is much better architecturally than the shotguns and bungalows that exist in G-town. And the houses in NA are generally much cheaper too, even compared to Germantown. The problem is, I think too many from Louisville and even NA do not consider it a part of Louisville. Realtors would never steer people there. In many ways, downtown NA is more intact than downtown Louisville, only with less business. NA did not get torn down as much with urban renewal and surface parking, although even NA (sadly) has its share of surface lots (blah!). There is still a cross density core there with great nineteenth century commercial buildings--but most sit vacant. Imagine that area lined with boutiques and places like Bistro NA and Heine Bros on ground level and then residential and condo on the second or third floors.

Alas, NA has to do a lot of self-examination for that to happen.

I just thought of something...what I just described for NA is what they are doing with the Jeff Towne center--a cheesy replica of what already could be rehabbed in NA.

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Roger said:

"Alas, NA has to do a lot of self examination for that to happen."

Ain't THAT the truth.

I've dedicated my non-working hours to urging such self-examination, and I'm not alone. You've heard of the ol' "can do" spirit; NA's is a "can't do" inferiority complex, but fortunately, time doesn't stand still, and the window cracks open from time to time.Do you mind if I reprint this thread in my blog?

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Nick P. said:

Sure you may reprint it. But how do I view the blog?

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Roger said:

The link is here: NA Confidential.

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Nick P. said:

And Roger, that "can't do" inferiority complex in NA is only a microcosm of a larger inferiority complex--that of Louisville.Louisville has a major can't do attitude--for example: We don't need a downtown arena. They'll never build that skyscraper. Nashville and Indianapolis have passed us by. We can't support pro sports. We don't need or want new development. Downtown is unimportant and will always be dangerous. The state holds us down, our taxes are too high, and they can't even paint a bridge. We will never get more high-paying jobs. The east end is great. The rest of the city is trash. Southern Indiana is a bunch of hicks along with Dixie Highway, they are not a part of Louisville ... you hear all these things. Well if anything, that mentality is starting to change. I spoke in the CJ about this awhile back regarding the arena. The status quo has been too popular here, and it takes people like you and me to challenge it. People don't think there is an option other than to live in a new, vinyl house, on the outskirts of town, to eat at Applebee's, shop at Wal-Mart, and come home to a mass market Bud Light. These people are not bad or wrong. But they do not challenge the status quo ... because they have not thought about life in a different way.