Is Shelby Park the next Germantown?

It takes a certain type of person to see the future of Shelby Park.

Often overshadowed by revitalization efforts in nearby Germantown and Schnitzelburg, the neighborhood has increasingly fought a decades-old reputation for being a rough area that's not worth a second look.

But in recent years, business owners and residents who recognize the compassion and energy in Shelby Park have started a grassroots movement to bring more positive attention to the diverse community.

The efforts, so far, have worked: Crime is on the decline, vacant buildings are being filled and the entire neighborhood is experiencing a new sense of pride.

However, people behind the movement understand there's still a long way to go before Shelby Park becomes a safe, independent neighborhood.

"I don't want to paint some naive picture of the neighborhood because there are still some challenges here," said Josh Thomas, a pastor of mercy at Sojourn Community Church. "To gloss over that is to dishonor it because you're not recognizing that it can still be beautiful while there are challenges."

CURBING CRIME

From his house on Camp Street, Tyler Deeb has witnessed drug deals and street fights. He's seen prostitutes walking his block and was robbed at gunpoint in his own backyard. Last July he was the key witness in a murder case.

"(My wife) Noel and I have wanted to move out on more than one occasion," said Deeb, the owner of Misc. Goods Co. "We probably will move in the next few years."

Deeb and his wife bought their house in Shelby Park eight years ago when the pair's income was $12,000 annually and they couldn't afford a home anywhere else. Since then, Deeb said he's seen crime go down and community action go up, though violence and abandoned homes are still large issues for the community.

Shelby Park murals create community gallery

According to Courier-Journal archives, between 2002 and 2015, at least 21 people were murdered within the neighborhood - which is bounded by Interstate 65, Kentucky Street and the railroad track that separates it from Germantown and Merriwether.

According to a 2014 census estimate, about 15 percent - or 206 - of the neighborhood's 1,363 homes were vacant.

The issues go hand-in-hand because abandoned homes can attract crime, said Chris Kitchen, Louisville Metro Police's direct resource officer for Shelby Park's division.

"It's the broken window theory," Kitchen said. "We need to get them boarded up so that they don't have a place to hang out. It helps move crime along."

In the past few years, data show improvement has been made on both issues.

Census estimates showed about 27 percent of homes were vacant in 2010, and while the neighborhood still witnessed five murders between 2011 and 2015, that's less than half of the 13 murders reported between 2002 and 2007, according to C-J archives.

Kitchen partially attributes the decline in crime to a changing relationship between residents and police.

Before, residents often refused to call 911 when they witnessed a crime - either out of fear for their safety or being a snitch, Kitchen said. But police have made an attempt to speak to residents on a regular basis and more people are reporting what they see.

"If we want to remove the crime from that neighborhood, then the residents of that neighborhood have to take ownership," Kitchen said.

COMPASSIONATE NEIGHBORHOOD

Standing in the 16-acre park from which the neighborhood gets its name, Shelby Park Neighborhood Association president Chip Rogalinski said his community is on the cusp of something great.

A bakery has returned to the area after 35 years. Two bicycle education nonprofits have moved in on Logan Street. And several murals have sprung up.

"The neighborhood has always been kind of a center of compassionate living," Rogalinski said. "When bragging about the neighborhood, I call it the capital of nonprofits."

Players behind Shelby Park revitalization

Shelby Park residents and business owners say the neighborhood has always been friendly but its inviting character has been overlooked because of its reputation.

"If you're driving through and you've heard all these comments about the negativity in the neighborhood and you see a handful of guys who look a little rough standing on the corner, then all that feeds on each other," said Casey Hamm, a member of the neighborhood association and Sojourn. "... Even if there's a hint of a neighborhood not being safe, for a lot of people that's it."

In an effort to revise the image, the neighborhood association, local churches and nonprofits have started projects that are meant to bring energy to Shelby Park.

Currently, the neighborhood association is working to put in a colorful bus stop at the corner of Logan and Oak streets and will organize a tree planting later this spring.

The organization is also behind two of the neighborhood's murals, which are meant to offset blight and encourage people to move in.

"They're indicators that there is a community of amazing people here, and it's not just this ran-down neighborhood," said Bryan Burns, a member of the neighborhood association who is running for Metro Council.

MAINTAINING DIVERSITY

First developed in the late 1840s by German working class families, Shelby Park has since become a melting pot of people with diverse racial, economic and religious backgrounds.

The neighborhood - which circles an Olmsted Firm park named for Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby - is about 40 percent white and 54 percent black, with residents' incomes ranging from less than $10,000 per household to between $100,000 and $149,000 per household, according to a 2014 census estimate.

Rubber softens school fields, but are kids safe?

People living and working in the community say its diversity attracted them to the neighborhood but that they have started to notice a change that's caused some tension. Specifically - in what seems like an extension of Germantown's revitalization - many of the new people opening businesses and renovating homes in Shelby Park are white.

Census data supports that fact, with estimates showing that the number of African-American residents in Shelby Park has decreased 2 percent over the past five years, while the number of white residents has increased 32 percent.

"It's easy to talk about Germantown, in some respects, as being an unmitigated success story," said Robert Bell, a member of the neighborhood association. "... But there's a lot more talk about not wanting to see this neighborhood become a majority white, middle-class neighborhood and weeding out the people who've lived here forever."

To help keep the diversity, several organizations have revised their community development plans to better conform with the neighborhood.

At Sojourn, a Baptist church, Thomas said members have tailored assistance programs to fit the neighborhood's needs and highlight its assets. The church moved to Shelby Park from Germantown in 2012, filling the former St. Vincent de Paul building at the corner of Shelby and Oak streets that had been empty since 1996.

"For something to be community development, the community has to be involved," Thomas said. "... We want to listen to what the neighborhood says. If the neighborhood's not asking for it and it's not applicable to the neighborhood, you're just spinning your wheels."

At Access Ventures, an investment group, managing director Bryce Butler said employees have intentionally slowed down property renovation projects as they evaluate how their work has affected the area.

Over the past three years, the nonprofit has restored 15 to 20 residential and commercial properties in Shelby Park, including three Shelby Street buildings that now house Scarlet's Bakery, Good Folks Coffee Company and The Park, a co-working space.

"We could dump more money, so to speak, into real estate," Butler said. "But that's not the end goal. What I would love to see is a preservation of the diversity that already exists and a better recognition that Shelby Park is here."

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at 502-582-4646 or bloosemore@courier-journal.com.