Land development reform tops GLI takeaways from San Antonio visit

LOUISVILLE  — Greater Louisville Inc. is urging a set of steps metro government and the business community at large should take to boost local economic performance following its annual fact finding and idea development visit to other successful U.S. cities.

Takeaways from a September visit to San Antonio, Texas, focus on better land development, improving ties with Fort Knox, downtown public safety and management of homelessness.

In September, a group of 140 business, education, and elected leaders spent three days in the Alamo City learning about how it became the fastest growing U.S. city in 2023. They traveled as part of the annual Greater Louisville Idea Development Expedition (GLIDE). Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) released a report outlining the business community’s top takeaways and next steps.

The report offers advice in four primary categories, including downtown culture and development, talent and workforce, innovative economic development assets, and housing and unhoused population. Since returning from the trip, GLI compiled the next steps suggested by attendees and met with community partners to decide which actions to move forward and who will lead each.

Major next steps outlined in the report include:

• Advocating for reforms to Louisville’s land development code to make the process faster
• Working with LMPD and the Louisville Downtown Partnership on a downtown security audit
• Increasing connections between the business community and military talent at Fort Knox
• Continuing to support and invest in the Community Care Campus to address homelessness in Greater Louisville

“Every year, GLIDE trips give our business community new ideas for how we can grow, improve, and better compete for jobs and talent. This year’s trip to San Antonio led to many impactful takeaways that we will implement in the months ahead,” said Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, president and CEO of Greater Louisville Inc. “Many of our community’s programs and initiatives started as ideas generated during a previous GLIDE trip, and I have no doubt we will see the ideas from San Antonio create impactful results for our community.”

GLIDE San Antonio presented by Norton Healthcare was the 39^th annual trip orchestrated by GLI for investors and community leaders. Recent GLIDE destinations include Boston, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Nashville, Austin, and Charlotte.

To view the full report that details all GLIDE San Antonio takeaways and next steps, click here.