Should Louisville Grow Up?

 Should Louisville grow up? I have been reading about vertical farming and I think this is something that Louisville could implement, on a small scale. For those who don't know, vertical farming is basically farming in a skyscraper. There are many reasons to consider vertical farming. One of those is that by some estimates crop yields will be down 20% because of global warming. By the year 2050 the world will have at least another 3 billion people to feed. We just don't have enough land to do it. 

Those are fine stats, but is this something Louisville should even consider? Afterall we aren't exactly a huge city with millions of people we have to feed. Most vertical farming buildings I've seen are 30 story skyscrapers with all sorts of super cool ego tech built in. Solar panels, rain water catch basins, wind turbines, and the best of hydroponics. I'm not sure Louisville is ready for that. A 30 story building would be one of the tallest buildings in the city. 

If Louisville was to take on a project of this nature I would suggest we go in one of 2 directions. The first is ti build a 15 story tower like the one pictured above. This building will not only have the hydroponic farms, but it would included housing as well as retail. It would have to be a true multi-purpose building. I'm sure there would be no shortage of places to sell the food that was grown. I just wonder if we could make it economically feasible. I think we could make it feasible if we had a physical location to hold a year round farmers market. I think there is also a market for some of our local restaurants and home grown organic food stores. 

The second possibility would be to offer tax breaks for people to install rooftop gardens, and to coordinate a series of urban gardens . The food raised here would follow the same economic model of the vertical farm. 

If these models could produce cheaper produce prices I would like the city to set up a fund to entice our local organic grocery stores to open up stores in Western and Southwestern Louisville. These wouldn't have to be full fledge grocery stores, they could be small neighborhood stores or bodegas. They would use/buy the produce produced from the vertical farms. This should prove cheaper especially in the winter months. 

For more info on vertical farms you can read here and here. 

JCPS students exposed to dangerous chemicals daily

I ran into this study while I was reading news on the net. JCPS ranked last out of 736 counties in the southeast for health risk from air pollution. The study was conducted using the latest available data possible which is 2005. The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District refutes the study finding because the data used was a year before the S.T.A.R. program started. S.T.A.R. program is designed to tackle Louisville's historically bad air quality. 

I can see the Metro Air Pollution districts point, but lets be honest. How much ground can you make up in 4 years? Louisville could have gone from last to what middle of the pact at best.  That's good movement, but is it really enough? Here is a link to the article. Enjoy.

What's that smell in the air?

Derby Cruising Pt 2

Another Derby has come and gone. I must admit that this was one of the best derby's yet. Well, at least for me. As far as Derby Cruising was concerned it was pretty much a non-event. It turned out pretty much like I had predicted except they didn't close Broadway. I would say that would made it a pretty good derby.