re: Louisville, KY apparently had the third highest murder rate last year

Louisville is an interesting and unique case on this. The demographics of the city are much different than all the others at or near the top of the list: the city proper is less than a quarter African-American and almost 2/3rds white.

It was on the safer end of the scale for large cities for most of the 2000's and 2010's - it was averaging 50 - 70 homicides most years through the 2000's and 2010's, as an example, in municipality of more than 700,000 people.

Now it has rocketed up over the last 6 - 8 years, starting in about 2017 or so, to the point where they are regularly eclipsing 120, 130, and 140 homicides per year.

The short answer is heroin and fentanyl. It is ground zero for the heroin epidemic and is probably pound for pound the most lucrative opiate market in the country. The Breonna Taylor case compounded the problem with the feds putting the handcuffs on LMPD, but it was going through the roof even before that; part and parcel why LMPD was getting so aggressive in that time period was largely as a response to the homicide rate rocketing up because of the influx of opiates. Irony of irony was that the actual incident took place in a decent area of town.

Similarly, the Afrokanza thing linked above is in a very good area of town. Houses right down the street from where that bar and lounge were regularly go for $700K - $1M.

That kind of market has drawn in the gangs, the distributors, the street dealers, etc.

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I found this that maybe has something to do with it..

"Louisville, Kentucky is very welcoming to migrants and refugees, and has been for many years. The city has seen significant growth in its immigrant population in recent years"

"17% of Louisville population is expected be foreign born by the year 2035."

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Living here, it's not the immigrant population that's the issue. We have a reasonably large Vietnamese population that has been here for years and haven't been an issue. Most of the immigrants placed here are through Catholic Charities. I think overall immigrants are about roughly 6%-ish of the population in Louisville Metro (it's Louisville and the Jefferson County surrounding area and not just downtown proper).

The gang issue is legitimate issue. LMPD got rid of their gang task force (who used to coordinate with local schools, at least they did at the middle school I worked at) a few years ago and the last couple of Mayors have enabled that incompetence by shoving it under the rug.

Also the Afrokanza bar mentioned was run by some Black folks (not immigrant) that ran a previous club that had issues closer to downtown and had to be shut down. There's been some local laws passed in the last 5 years that really go after businesses that have crime that occurs in their vicinity through Code and Enforcement.

As far as the polifical makeup here in Jefferson, it's started trending more purple the last couple of elections. And Metro Council at this point has started shifting more conservative, gaining 5-6 seats overall in the past couple of elections.

You'll find the murder rate here is by and large in the West End. Which is by majority Black (not immigrant). Louisville as a city is pretty segregated.

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Which is by majority Black (not immigrant). Louisville as a city is pretty segregated.

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Remember, that's racist. But creating black only spaces, events, graduations, dorms, etc is to be celebrated.

ETA: Just don't try and move in there and gentrify it, because that's racist.

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Louisville, KY apparently had the third highest murder rate last year

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Would have been #1 if not for the heroic cops that kept this thug off the streets.

This is a dumb question but does the New Years terrorist attack victims count towards the murder rate?

Is there a single city on the list that isn’t run by a Dem or a Dem woman? I’d be surprised if there was more than 1, if any.

Louisville has been run by a Dem mayor for decades.

That area of town used to be a "counter culture" hub of Louisville. Kind of like Little five points of Louisville. Not anymore, apparently. However, my frame of reference goes back to my college days in the mid 1990's.

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As far as the polifical makeup here in Jefferson, it's started trending more purple the last couple of elections. And Metro Council at this point has started shifting more conservative, gaining 5-6 seats overall in the past couple of elections.

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The NYT has a detailed look at the 2024 Presidential election, basically breaks the votes down by county, then into precinct. Outside of the old city/county line the vote really swung Republican. The inner city areas and the liberal bastions of the Highlands, Old Louisville, et are still blue as could be. Maybe that will eventually change.