Faded decor, empty seats, low quality food – this once-popular Louisville diner has fallen into serious decline. But is it worth saving as a heritage landmark?
At a Louisville intersection, a wiry neon sign subtly flickers ‘Twig & Leaf – Tops in Food’, and has done for 56 years. The Kentucky diner hasn’t changed much in that time: stainless steel bar stools with faded pleather cushions are offset by a light blue clock perpetually stopped at 8.16.
In 2011, it was designated as a local landmark after a CVS pharmacy was rumored to be taking over the entire block. The residents worked to save the diner, but now it just stays empty most nights. It’s a story of placemaking and preservation gone sadly wrong.
The novel geospatial analysis, drawn from the District of Columbia, Seattle and San Francisco, suggests that older, smaller buildings do matter to a city’s economy and a neighborhood’s commercial life beyond the allure of affordable fixer-uppers. In Seattle, the report found one-third more jobs per commercial square foot in parts of town with a variety of older, smaller buildings mixed in. In Seattle, [it also] found more than twice the rate of women and minority-owned businesses. In the District, it found a higher share of non-chain businesses.
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