01.26.2024

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Making Lexington more desirable

Imagine Lexington 2045: Improving a desirable community

Fallen leaves on the street in front of the Big Blue Building, aka the Fifth-Third building.

Improving a desirable community means making Lexington more connected, creating a sense of place, and supporting all Lexingtonians. | Photo by @femibranded

Last year, we began a series breaking down the city’s newly adopted comprehensive plan, Imagine Lexington 2045.

The 349-page plan focuses on long-term planning + urban growth to address the needs of all Lexingtonians. Before reading on, catch up on the first three iterations:

Now, we’re onto the next theme: Improving a desirable community. Particularly, how the city can enhance our quality of life, connectivity, and attract new residents.

A person rides a bike across a street in downtown Lexington. — The plan outlines policies that would help create more equitable access to our streets for all commuters. | Photo by @femibranded

🛣️ Connectivity

The first pillar in making Lexington more desirable is ensuring our street systems connect Lexingtonians to all corners of the city. This means upgrading the current transportation infrastructure through:

Designing complete, multi-modal streets + policies to support all types of commuters
Creating safer walkways and bike paths
Rethinking parking policies to improve pricing + management
Implementing alternative routes to reduce traffic

🐎 Placemaking

Having pride in our city means creating quality spaces that are accessible, walkable, and actually desirable. The plan outlines these strategies to do so:

Creative placemaking — Short-term, lower-cost plans that improve public spaces
Tactical placemaking — A diverse group of community members come together to spark dialogue about space usage
Strategic placemaking — Long-term (5-15 years) specialized projects (think: Town Branch Commons)

Two people hold hands while ice skating in downtown Lexington. — Beyond the obvious, the city aims to support Lexington in less visible ways. | Photo by @femibranded

🤝 Support

What’s a community without support? But the plan outlines that this needs to go beyond the obvious — it means making improvements to the less visible aspects like education, healthcare, public safety, and social services. The plan specifically highlights these policies to help achieve this:

Ensuring elementary + middle schools are located in residential areas and high schools primarily along collector streets
Including more biophilic design to support students’ mental health
Expanding wireless connection throughout the city
Launching initiatives to provide more equitable healthcare access
Promoting social services that support mental health and address those experiencing homelessness

Events

Friday, Jan. 26

Studio Artists Exhibit | Friday, Jan. 26 | 12-4 p.m. | Artists’ Attic, 401 W. Main St., 4th Floor, Lexington | Free | Explore, purchase, and meet the creators behind unique art pieces at this local nonprofit gallery.
Sicard Hollow | Friday, Jan. 26 | 8 p.m. | The Burl, 375 Thompson Rd., Lexington | $15-$18 | Stomp, jam, and groove to the sounds of this four-piece bluegrass band that goes beyond the bounds of the genre.

Saturday, Jan. 27

Mythos: Tuska’s Art of Self Reflection | Saturday, Jan. 27-Thursday, Feb. 29 | Times vary | Central Library, 140 E. Main St., Lexington | Free | Reflect upon your mind, body, and spirit at this interactive exhibit from artist John Tuska
Mid-Winter Masquerade | Saturday, Jan. 27 | 7-11 p.m. | Chaotic Good: Coffee, Comics and Games, 545 S. Broadway, Ste. 160, Lexington | $81.88 | Don your best masquerade garb for a night of live music, ballroom dancing, and a silent auction to benefit Benchmark Family Services.

Sunday, Jan. 28

Drag Brunch | Sunday, Jan. 28 | 11:30 a.m. | Old North Bar, 101 W. Loudon Ave., Ste. 116, Lexington | $10 | Make brunch a little more fabulous with live, all-ages drag performances.
Candle Pour Bar + Cocktail Lounge | Sunday, Jan. 28 | 12:30-4 p.m. | Wick + Mortar Studio / Poppy & Pomelo, 526 E. High St., Lexington | $38 | Get crafty with this hands-on experience where you’ll learn how to make candles from start to finish — cocktails are available for purchase.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

Drink

🥃 Weekend plans: Spend the day at one of the largest distilleries in the US

A GIF featuring images of the interior and exterior of the Heaven Hill Distillery, an interactive exhibit, and bottles of bourbon.

You’re invited to discover the brand’s heritage at the distillery nestled in the heart of historic Bardstown. | Photos provided by Heaven Hill Brands; GIF created by LEXtoday

Raise a glass to the fine art of American whiskey.

Since 1935, the Shapira family has been at the helm of Heaven Hill, the largest family-owned + operated distillery in the country — and the fourth largest supplier of distilled spirits in the US. Three generations in, the legacy they built continues strong.

There’s something for every bourbon fan at the all-new Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience®. Come for a tasting, explore an interactive exhibit, have a drink at the Five Brothers Bar — and visit the newly expanded gift shop.

Plan your visit

News Notes

Job

Ever wondered how Lexington puts on memorable events throughout the year? Well now you can play a part, as the city’s Parks & Recreation department is hiring an event coordinator that will support its work in organizing, managing, and executing special events. Apply by Monday, Feb. 12.

Watch

Thank you for coming to our TED Talk, well actually UK’s, which is hosting a TEDx event on Friday, April 12. The theme for the discussion is “Trailblazing,” and community members are invited to apply to share their stories of becoming leaders. The deadline to be considered is Sunday, Feb. 4.

Cause

FoodChain’s sixth annual FEAST event returns to Fasig-Tipton on Wednesday, May 22. The event — which supports the nonprofit’s efforts in connecting the public to food education — will feature live demonstrations, food samplings from nationally-recognized female chefs, and more, all in the name of food equity.

Eat

While Lexington’s food scene didn’t see any James Beard semifinalists make the cut (a mistake in our unbiased opinion), a former chef at Honeywood is still representing us. Lawrence Weeks, who now works at North of Bourbon in Louisville, was one of 20 semifinalists nominated in the Emerging Chef category. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

Community

LEX citizens, you are natural photographers — we’ve chosen the finalists for our LEXtoday Picture of the Year contest, and now we need you to vote for your favorite. See the finalists + vote by Sunday, Jan. 28 to help us crown a winner.

Eat

If you love cheese but have ditched the dairy, we’ve got grate news for you. Starting Thursday, Feb. 1, you can order any Rolling Oven pizza with vegan cheese. Note: this is only available at the Lexington location. Looking for more vegan eats? Check out our vegan + vegetarian eats guide.

Shop

Whether you remember the days clipping coupons meant literally pulling out a pair of scissors — or you jumped on the digital coupon bandwagon a long time ago — see how much you can save this week with Kroger’s hottest digital coupons.*

Active

Got an exercise goal, but not sure which gym is worth it? Get a free month of ClassPass + sample multiple gyms and studios with just one membership.*

Sports

⏰ Goodbye, Counter Clocks

Say goodbye to the Counter Clocks and hello to our new baseball team

A sign that reads "It will be legendary."

Nope, we have no idea what the new team name will be. | Photo by LEXtoday

Yesterday, Lexington’s Professional Baseball team announced it has been purchased by a group of local investors + D.C.-based Temerity Baseball in an effort to restore baseball prominence in the city.

“What we do is baseball and community development,” said Andy Sandler, CEO at Temerity. “We can’t do this unless you’re willing to take a leap of faith and bet on us that we’re going to bring back Lexington baseball to where it was.”

Sandler added that the success of the group’s other teams, North Carolina-based Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and Greensboro Grasshoppers, should “go a long way towards you trusting us.”

Mark your calendars, the new team name will be announced at a community-wide event coming up Thursday, Feb. 15 before the first home game on April 25. But also keep your eyes on the skies, you may see some legendary billboards.

The Buy

The Buy 1.26.23 (Affiliate + Six & Main)

A colorful box of bonbons, a heart-shaped peanut butter bar, or any other small business-made chocolate to indulge and treat yourself this weekend. Don’t forget to add a hot cocoa bomb to cart, too.

Shoutout

Happy birthday, LEXtoday member Davonna Saier. We hope your special day is filled with your favorite things in Lexington! — LEXtoday team

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The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Aayat

From the editor

One of my New Years’ resolutions was to cook something new every month. This month, I’m going to try (and likely fail) at recreating Sav’s peanut chicken bowl that I miss oh so much. Have any pointers? Let me know.

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