Last evening, the Society of Urban Perambulators (SoUP) held its first nighttime walk, through downtown Louisville. Nearly 50 participants joined us for a guided loop through the heart of the city, exploring public spaces, learning about ongoing urban improvements, and experiencing downtown after dark through fresh eyes.
Why a Night Walk?
This event was about more than just an evening stroll. We partnered with the Mayor’s Office for Women and the Louisville Downtown Partnership to launch a series of intentional Night Walks along downtown’s Open Space Network, a connected system of public spaces, corridors, and streets identified in a recent study and ongoing initiative by the UofL Urban Design Studio and Masters of Urban Planning students as having strong potential for walkability improvements and revitalization.
A key recommendation from the study was to conduct a series of Night Walks specifically designed to assess how downtown streets and public spaces feel after dark, particularly for women and others who may feel less comfortable in urban environments at night. As the report puts it, these walks give participants a first-hand opportunity to evaluate how conditions affect different people’s comfort and mobility, with findings that can directly shape design changes, operational improvements, and programming to create safer, more welcoming public spaces for everyone.
Gretchen Hunt, Director of the Mayor’s Office for Women, kicked off the evening by sharing her office’s work in this space and helping participants think critically about what they were about to experience. This builds on the work begun with the City Hub and Network for Gender Equity (Member Cities - CHANGE) and Publica (Publica — Campaign for Inclusive Cities) and the report Designing Safety, Building Belonging in Louisville.
The Route
We began at the UofL Urban Design Studio at 5th and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, headed north to the Belvedere overlooking the Ohio River, then returned south along 4th Street, stopping at key public spaces along the way.
Stops Along the Way
Trager MicroForest: Our first stop introduced participants to the work we are doing with the Trager MicroForest to revitalize downtown through nature-based solutions. The urban greening project is focused on making downtown a vibrant, green, and healthy place that attracts people and develops a meaningful attachment to place. The work at Trager MicroForest includes research into how intense urban greening can lower the urban heat island effect on a block level, reduce visitors stress levels, and develop a healthy and resilient ecosystem in the heart of our city.
Jefferson Square: One of the few true public parks/plazas in downtown Louisville, Jefferson Square serves as a prominent cultural space in Louisville, both for its historical significance as a community gathering space, and memorial site. The square sits at the crossroads of many of Louisville's civic institutions.
Metro Hall CitySpot: Jenny Cutshaw from the Louisville Downtown Partnership highlighted the first CitySpot location which is at Metro Hall. The CitySpot program was developed out of a recent Leadership Louisville Bingham Fellowsprogram cohort to activate underutilized spaces in Downtown. This first CitySpot includes colorful pavement and a series of high-top tables and picnic tables for people to enjoy the outdoor space of Metro Hall while having lunch from nearby restaurants or simply relaxing.
PNC Plaza CitySpot (5th & Main): This spot features custom-designed swings created by global urban design firm Gehl. Interestingly, research from a similar installation by the University City District (UCD) in Philadelphia found that adding swings to a large public space (The Porch at 30th Street Station) significantly increased the number of women using the space, a relevant and thought-provoking finding on a night focused on inclusion and belonging.
The Belvedere: Currently slated for a complete redesign, the Belvedere offers some of the best views of the Ohio River in the city. Kathryn Sanders of K. Norman Berry Associates, the local architecture firm leading the redesign, walked us through some of the challenges and opportunities of the current site, including improving the stairway and elevator connections down to the Riverwalk and riverfront below.
One unplanned observation: the lights at the Belvedere and along the waterfront were entirely off, seemingly due to a power issue rather than an intentional decision, but a vivid, real-time reminder of how lighting profoundly affects the experience of public spaces at night.
4th & Main: Jeff O’Brien, Executive Director of Louisville Metro’s Cabinet of Economic Development, shared plans for a major redesign of 4th Street from Liberty Street north to the river, with the goal of creating a world-class pedestrian experience. The City expects to issue a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) for this project very soon.
Aegon Plaza: A large, open plaza and park hybrid across from the Kentucky International Convention Center, Aegon Plaza to nearby offices and hotels, with weekly activations of food trucks and other amenities and offers strong potential as part of the broader 4th Street redesign effort.
As we headed south, we passed the JPMorganChase CitySpot next to the Louisville Visitor Center at 4th and Jefferson that adds a pop of color and interest to a very concrete landscape along that block.
Wrapping Up
As with all SoUP events, the walk concluded at a local spot, this time Parlay Sports Bar, where participants continued conversations about what they’d seen, what’s working, and what could be better among other topics.
The Urban Design Studio’s Society of Urban Perambulator events are designed to offer community members a chance to explore and learn about different parts of our city from those actively working to improve their neighborhoods. Along the way, participants not only gain new insights but also build networks and spark ideas for making our city better.
This Night Walk added a particularly meaningful dimension by fostering a deeper exploration of how the places we visit impact people’s sense of connection, safety, and feelings of belong, and how we can make these spaces, places for everyone.
A special thank you to Gretchen Hunt and the Mayor’s Office for Women for helping bring that lens to the evening event.
Want to join a future walk? Email us to be added to the list. Interested specifically in Night Walk opportunities? Reach out directly to Gretchen Hunt at the Mayor’s Office for Women.
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