Last Tuesday night, a forum was held at the Nia Center’s Economic Opportunity Campus to hash out the current and future state of Metro Louisville’s most polluted neighborhood. Dubbed the “Rubbertown Economic Development Strategy Meeting,” the 90 minute presentation, compiled by Interface Studio, LLC,  brought together some 20 Rubbertown residents whom provided input on a new study that examines their nabe’s socioeconomic, environmental and commercial problems — as well as how those problems might be solved.

That the forum was poorly attended shouldn’t be a surprise. Until only recently (i.e., after the late Rev. Louis Coleman agitated for years on the neighborhood’s behalf and forced the city-at-large to pay attention), Rubbertown and its toxic emanations have historically evaded the radar of city officials, environmental regulators and pretty much anyone whom hasn’t had the pleasure of living next door to a DuPont Chemical plant. I was the only member of the media present that evening, and only one mayoral candidate — the ever-ebullient Tyler Allen — even thought to show up.

Mayoral-horse racing aside, the study is unprecedented in both its scope and the fact that it’s the only of its kind; never before has Rubbertown been put under the microscope by an accomplished urban design and planning firm. So what did they find?

(1) Although a great many chemical plants have begun a slow exodus from Rubbertown over the years, the area still accounts for about 2,500 jobs in the manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and utility industries, which makes for a tricky balance between employment and quality of life when considering any future developments.

(2) The vast majority of land in Rubbertown (43 percent) is classified as vacant/undeveloped, which also includes landfills and chemical/ash ponds. Furthermore, 34 percent is designated as industrial and only 10 percent as residential.

(3) Degradation and overuse of existing transportation infrastructure has put undue burden on Rubbertown’s handful of main traffic arteries. Bells Lane, Campground Road and Algonquin Parkway feed into the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare — Cane Run Road — and the resulting conditions are bad for pedestrians, motorists and businesses alike. The plan recommends a significant overhaul of Cane Run that would expand bike lanes, install sidewalks and streamline existing signage so as to better designate the area’s industrial zones.

(4) A huge chunk of Rubbertown’s chemical-heavy zones don’t have access to MSD pipelines. Meanwhile, the nearby Morris Forman wastewater treatment plant only operates at 50 percent of its total capacity — meaning there’s little reason why the area’s toxic substances should be allowed to sit in chemical ponds/work their way into the Ohio River/spawn eight-legged radioactive fish. Even the construction of open-air culverts would do little to direct the flow of toxic run off as the geography is so flat that the “water” would largely do what it’s doing now: not a goddamn thing. Furthermore, the lack of adequate sewage infrastructure does little to encourage future investment of any kind.

(5) Perhaps most interestingly, the report included socioeconomic data and the resulting effects of living in an industrial wasteland. In 1990, 10,699 people called Rubbertown home, compared to 8,234 just last year. Educational attainment remains startlingly below Jefferson County standards, too — only 5 percent of residents have a Bachelor’s Degree and 68 percent have attained a high school diploma.

While the report won’t be finalized until sometime this spring, there remain a few key areas yet to be fully addressed. One is gauging whether the Metro Louisville’s Air Pollution Control District’s pollution reduction program, STAR, has been as effective as the city has claimed. Another issue (raised by Tyler Allen) is examining where the workers of the Rubbertown plants actually live: If one of the main reasons for keeping these facilities in the is because they employ area residents turns out to be false, then why keep these facilities at all?