U of L Prof. Gilderbloom on Mayor Fischer's minions: "They will never use this research; they will instead belittle our efforts."

This is a fascinating juxtaposition. Insider Louisville's piece on the beneficial effects of two-way streets, as documented by Dr. Gilderbloom's team in an exhaustive two-year study, was so encouraging that I read excerpts of it to the seven of nine city council members present during last week's meeting. Now Gilderbloom suggests that New Albany's experience with dumbed-down politicos and self-interested planners isn't at all unique.

U of L Prof. Gilderbloom slams Mayor Fischer for ignoring his research, by David Serchuk (Insider Louisville)

Earlier this week we posted a story about how Louisville converted a pair of one-way streets into two-way streets, which had mostly beneficial effects: fewer accidents, increased property values, and reduced crime.

These results were measured by a team led by Dr. John Gilderbloom, who directs the University of Louisville’s Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods. In 2013 he also won the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Faculty Award for Research.

We asked Gilderbloom a few logical follow-ups via email, including: What does the city make of his research? Is the city planning on using his research? And does he know of any additional two-way street conversions to come?

To our surprise, Gilderbloom fired back what sounds like a salvo in an ongoing (but until now hidden) feud between the city and the main urban planning research body at U of L. Or at least it’s a feud from Gilderbloom’s point of view.

This is noteworthy in a city that often seems to bend over backwards to cater to U of L’s needs, especially when those needs pertain to its basketball team. But, according to Gilderbloom, his team has not benefited; in fact, he claims the city is thumbing its nose at it.

Why is it that any time someone speaks of anti-intellectualism in the context of Louisville municipal government, Mayor Fischer's name invariably appears in the headline?

However, in fairness, note that the charges being made by Gilderbloom ("They will never use this research; they will instead belittle our efforts") make reference to the mayor's office and team in relentlessly plural ways. Only the title points directly to the top dog. Perhaps Fischer is like the Tsars of old, detached from reality, and sheltered from the hard truths by conniving, Machiavellian underlings.

You know, just like Kerry Stemler.

Are there any additional plans to make more two way streets in Louisville based on your research?

Who knows? I know that the Mayor’s staff at a public meeting told me that the speedy multi-lane one-ways moving through struggling neighborhoods in west Louisville, Portland, Old Louisville and Smoketown will not be changed. The traffic engineer for the City said: “This is not part of the discussion.” I am glad to hear that NuLu will get improved, calm streets. I think there might be a few more streets downtown but it’s got to extend into nearby neighborhoods. Louisville has the potential to be one of the greatest comeback cities in the nation; yet the Mayor’s staff is driving away from this opportunity and acting like it’s the 1950s.