Unlike conventional food hubs, Louisville's planned $50 million FoodPort will gather and 'incubate' regional food businesses. The hope is to breathe life into the area's struggling small farms.
Conceived by the nonprofit Seed Capital Kentucky, West Louisville's FoodPort promises a new and improved food hub. And food hubs can accomplish a great deal: "The one thing they all have in common is creating economies of scale for small and mid-sized farmers. Individually, these farmers wouldn't produce enough to reach large regional markets; together, linked by a food hub, they can."
West Louisville is beset by economic challenges, including unemployment and depressed earnings. As a light industrial development, the FoodPort may spur revitalization. "In some ways the FoodPort is more like a mixed-use development than a conventional food hub. Most hubs are single-entity businesses or organizations, while the FoodPort focuses on co-locating existing businesses that are, as [project director Caroline Heine] puts it, 'symbiotically related.'"
And away from the city, small farmers face a decline in demand for their traditional cash crop, tobacco. Rather than let those farms die, backers of the FoodPort want a local food renaissance. "Heine hopes that the FoodPort will do that for Kentucky—and help dispel the notion that local food is just for upper middle class yuppies. Seed Capital Kentucky believes it has identified significant unmet demand for local food in Louisville."
Read the full story: Why Louisville Is Betting Big on a Massive Food Wonderland
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Brightline Florida files for bankruptcy
The transit company is over $5 billion in debt.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello