LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — People who live in a Lexington neighborhood are voicing their concerns about a proposed student housing complex that they say would negatively impact their neighborhood. Pralltown is a historically black neighborhood off South Limestone, just across from the UK campus.
"This is my neighborhood and has been my neighborhood for 70 something years," says Betty Boyd, President of the Pralltown Neighborhood Association
"This is where I raised my kids, all three of them, then my grand-kids who went to UK because they can walk to UK, played football for UK."
Boyd is one of several residents who are pushing back against the proposed 7-story, 800-bed, private student apartment complex that would sit across the street from UK's campus.
"Subtext, who is the company that is an outsider coming in and want to take our neighborhood and fix it up to accommodate the students, they are not worried about the community and we are the community," says resident Teresa Forbes. "The students are here but you are saying that we are not important."
LEX 18 reached out to the city of Lexington for a statement.
Communication Director Susan Straub responded, saying quote:
"Given the strong property rights in our state, the city is limited in its ability to prevent many neighborhood developments that otherwise meet legal requirements. African American neighborhoods are an important part of our past, our present, and our future. They have been unfairly targeted in the past, and we are living with a history of discriminatory practices. We are interested in finding new solutions that offer new protections to the extent allowed by law."
"If there is a possibility for us to work together, fine, but don't do it at the part of dismantling us. We're here to stay. This is our sanctuary," says Forbes.
