When will downtown Louisville get a grocery store? Here's what we found
The Courier Journal's continued coverage of food insecurity in Louisville is supported by the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism's 2018 National Fellowship.
Other stories in this series include:
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Sorry, we're closed: How everyone is hurt when grocery stores shut down
In 30 seconds: What you should know about food deserts in Louisville
Tuition or food? How college kids use food pantries to help food insecurity
Louisville has a fresh food problem. Can we fix it?
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How a low-income Louisville neighborhood became a fresh food oasis
How can cities end food deserts? Here are 4 solutions that worked
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How some residents get their food in Louisville's food deserts
Can indoor farming fix food deserts? These Louisville students think so
Kentucky's hunger initiative earns national attention. But thousands still need food
How these Louisville companies are helping employees buy affordable fresh produce
Downtown Louisville is growing rapidly. So why doesn't it have a grocery store?
Louisville kids are still at risk for lead poisoning. Here's how healthy eating can help
Everything you need to know about Kroger's mobile grocery store in Louisville
Kroger's mobile market brings fresh food to Louisville neighborhoods without access
This nonprofit leader is giving west Louisville the black-owned grocery it 'deserves'
Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal
With thousands of new residents moving into downtown Louisville, one question is on many minds.
When will downtown residents get a full-service grocery store?
The Courier Journal tackled that question in an in-depth report, speaking with residents, developers and business owners about the growth they're seeing downtown and what's needed for a grocery store to thrive.
Some of our key findings:
- Louisville's Central Business District and its adjoining neighborhoods — including NuLu, Butchertown and the area south of Broadway — are growing, but not fast enough to support a grocery. Local developers and industry experts say the downtown area must double in population to make that happen.
- While other metro cities have opened grocery stores downtown, central Louisville struggles with high poverty rates, which could further complicate designing a store.
- The Omni Hotel's Falls City Market has not filled the grocery store need as officials had hoped, with the market's own manager saying it is an "upscale urban market" — not a grocery store.
[This story was originally published by Courier Journal.]