Lawrence Living

ComandanteCero · Post by **ComandanteCero** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:28 pm

Just a random question, but are there "urban" neighborhoods in Lawrence (i.e pedestrian friendly apartment building neighborhoods with walking distance amenities like grocery stores and laundromats). Are there any developing areas that might fit that bill?

BVC · Post by **BVC** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:36 pm

Pretty much everything in the downtown area is very urban extending up 6th, 9th, and even south on Mass. Old West Lawrence is the neighborhood directly west of downtown hemmed in by Tennessee to the east, 9th to the south, 6th to the north, and roughly Michigan to the west. Louise's West bar is at 7th and Michigan, Duds and Suds (laundry) and the Merc (grocery) is at 9th and Mississippi. Those are just some quick highlights...

Commandante, you really should cruise down there sometime and explore when you have a shot. You'll be very impressed.

ComandanteCero · Post by **ComandanteCero** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:44 pm

i definitely will, thanks a bunch bv.

DanCa · Post by **DanCa** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:07 pm

I had several friends who lived in the "student ghetto" which is the northeast side of camus sort of down the side of the hill to Tenn. St. and on over to downtown. I loved that area because you could walk to so many things downtown including the bars. It also gets a lot of foot traffic with all the students around. You almost don't need a car in this area - except Dillons on Mass. St. would be a long walk.

Dr. Know · Post by **Dr. Know** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:23 pm

don't forget this

http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/kcforum/vi ... .php?t=949

ComandanteCero · Post by **ComandanteCero** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:12 pm

wow, i hadn't seen that project. I wouldn't be surprised to see downtown Lawrence become a little more yuppified, i heard it was in the top ten cities for small businesses in the nation, so i'm sure there are more than enough peopel making some cheese to start fueling a condo market.

KCK · Post by **KCK** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:53 pm

My cousin lives off of Missouri, in an urban neighborhood.

Post by **chrizow** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:59 pm

i want to live in lawrence, dammit.

here's something: in columbia there is rumor that the city (state?) is going to move all the Section 8 housing somewhere further away from downtown (it is on the fringe of downtown) to facilitate the construction of urban yuppie residential. talk about bittersweet. i've long wanted to see new residential construction downtown, but not if it's going to displace a few dozen poor people. i hope they'll at least keep them near the bus line.

QueSi2Opie · Post by **QueSi2Opie** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:26 pm

After stayin' in the Eldridge Hotel, strollin' up and down Mass and Vermont streets, watchin' street entertainers/performers, and enjoying bars, I could definitely see myself living in the pedestrian friendly downtown Lawrence.

ComandanteCero · Post by **ComandanteCero** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:38 pm

it's amazing how many shitty suburban apartment/townhouse complexes there are in Lawrence though. Lawrence could easily support three or four dense urban neighborhoods off the student body alone. Even though i don't know how great it would be to live in that kind of concentration of KU students (just cause of round the clock noise, parties and general hooliganism of the denser elements, hehehe). But still if mixed correctly, there could be multiple urban neighborhoods surrounding KU's campus instead of the miles of apartment complexes that have sprawled out.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:05 am

ComandanteCero wrote:there could be multiple urban neighborhoods surrounding KU's campus instead of the miles of apartment complexes that have sprawled out.

Although L has a neat, little downtown and core...please remember you are in Kansas not Boston.

SamPierron · Post by **SamPierron** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 3:54 pm

BVConJayhawkSlant wrote:Pretty much everything in the downtown area is very urban extending up 6th, 9th, and even south on Mass. Old West Lawrence is the neighborhood directly west of downtown hemmed in by Tennessee to the east, 9th to the south, 6th to the north, and roughly Michigan to the west. Louise's West bar is at 7th and Michigan, Duds and Suds (laundry) and the Merc (grocery) is at 9th and Mississippi. Those are just some quick highlights...

Commandante, you really should cruise down there sometime and explore when you have a shot. You'll be very impressed.

The Merc moved to 9th and Iowa a few years ago, though it's still the closest grocery to Old West Lawrence. The closest grocery to downtown is now the Dillon's at 19th and Mass.

ComandanteCero · Post by **ComandanteCero** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:34 pm

trailerkid wrote:
ComandanteCero wrote:there could be multiple urban neighborhoods surrounding KU's campus instead of the miles of apartment complexes that have sprawled out.
Although L has a neat, little downtown and core...please remember you are in Kansas not Boston.

no doubt, i didn't mean it as a dig as much as an opportunity for improvement, i don't think those complexes will last for very much longer than 30 years so maybe down the line the city can put into place a redevelopment plan that reconfigures things a bit so as to encourage compact neighborhoods near the university (especially with what i hear are smart growth people in charge of development and planning)

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:26 pm

ComandanteCero wrote:
trailerkid wrote:
ComandanteCero wrote:there could be multiple urban neighborhoods surrounding KU's campus instead of the miles of apartment complexes that have sprawled out.
Although L has a neat, little downtown and core...please remember you are in Kansas not Boston.
no doubt, i didn't mean it as a dig as much as an opportunity for improvement, i don't think those complexes will last for very much longer than 30 years so maybe down the line the city can put into place a redevelopment plan that reconfigures things a bit so as to encourage compact neighborhoods near the university (especially with what i hear are smart growth people in charge of development and planning)

The area between campus and downtown which consists of mainly large old houses with a few ghetto apartments is actually pretty dense. Many of the houses are rentals and contain many young people and students. Obviously a lot of it is poor construction. There is a series of watering holes on 14th Street which helps further link campus to downtown.

I do not support an effort to gentrify the areas around campus and downtown in such an effort to force students or those without a lot of imcome out of the area. There are thousands and thousands of apartments that are not near KU at all and it would be a shame to see all the students have to live so far removed from the center of the city. I have some friends who live off of Wakarusa and Clinton and it takes nearly 20 minutes to drive from their townhome to downtown.

I do support an effort to fill in existing gaps and parking lots in the center of the city with responsible, urban, and affordable housing (e.g. Gillham Row-style), but I do not support any effort to gentrify existing neighborhoods which house many young people.

WILDCAT NATION · Post by **WILDCAT NATION** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 4:24 pm

Where exactly would you propose these developments go?

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:34 pm

WILDCAT NATION wrote:Where exactly would you propose these developments go?

There are quite a few surfact lots around downtown in addition to a few underdeveloped sites along Vermont and New Hampshire Streets. Existing buildings would need to be demoed and replaced with new urban housing. There are not large swaths of land available between downtown and KU. I would recommend some of the more insidous apartment developments be replaced with more responsible developments.