My son and I stopped in Louisville on our way to Indiana. We wanted to get something to eat before entering Indiana so we pulled off near the bridge to a McDonalds. Interesting to say the least. There was this guy with a weapon and a corrections uniform hanging around inside talking to the ladies. After awhile, service was slow but courteous, I realized the guy was pulling a security detail. The crown was colorful with both ghetto and trailer types coming and going and the homeless, drug dealers, scammer types coming and going. I live just north of New Orleans so I’m used to colorful crowds but this crowd was different but the same. Just Midwestern instead of Southern. Also it was cold and in NOLA the folks would be freezing but it did not bother these folks.
You were in an urban, distinctive area.. but relatively safe. 10 blocks west of you was a “war zone” where, no one is safe during the day and you dare not enter at night (if you’re of the wrong socio-economic class)
We’ve had several ‘minor brush ups” in the past couple of years, but have avoided major strife. It’s been building... If stoked from the outside, I could see Louisville becoming a place where the left makes a stand.