by John Oystein

Created on: April 19, 2009   Last Updated: June 02, 2009

Louisville's East End boasts many fine neighborhoods. Of course, not all fine neighborhoods are in the East End, and not all East End neighborhoods are as pleasant as others. Even really nice neighborhoods have their own particular issues.

If you define a "nice" area strictly by affluence, you can't beat Prospect for "niceness." Many wealthy Louisvillians dwell within Prospect's city limits, in the northeastern section of Jefferson County and southwest Oldham County. Luxurious houses and estates line the highways and byways, and the shorelines of Harrods Creek and the Ohio River. Hunting Creek is one of several prominent neighborhoods in the small city. If you like hilly terrain, you'll find it in Prospect. Unfortunately, you'll also find some traffic issues, as US 42 and River Road, and the small one-lane back roads, hasn't always managed to keep up with development.

Moving further south along the I-265/ 841 corridor lies Springhurst, a fairly new development. Once this vicinity was unoccupied farmhand, now has given way to major commercial developments within the past 15 years. The massive Springhurst shopping center boasts the Tinseltown multiplex, a Books-A-Million, Kohl's, and Meijer, among many other smaller shops. The nearby Summit outdoor shopping center is home to a Barnes and Noble, Ann Taylor, Old Navy, and others. Between these two are the residential Springhurst neighborhoods, with large houses and well-manicured lawns.

If trees are your sole idea of a "nice" neighborhood, visit Anchorage. It boasts itself a tree capital, and it's easy to see why. An older, affluent neighborhood, its homes remained peacefully hidden under the leafy blankets surrounding the city that's kept out the encroaching industrial and heavy commercial developments. Just down the roads you will pass through Berrytown, a historically African-American neighborhood in the East End. Although it's not affluent as Anchorage, it retains the same love of trees, and peace and quiet.

Middletown is a vibrant, commercial neighborhood, in the middle of Louisville and Shelbyville. Commercial development has really taken off in the past decade, and has expanded to the outlying area of Eastgate. Eastgate has seen considerable development, including the campus of the Christian Academy school.

Although located within the metro Louisville city limits, Jeffersontown is an independent city, and is now the 10th largest city in Kentucky, according to the US Census of 2000. It's probably larger now.

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