This is the first in a series of neighborhood portraits that will appear in Healthy New Albany Magazine. The aim of this new series is to show what makes each neighborhood unique while exploring how its residents pursue Healthy New Albany’s ideals for physical and mental health by creating a sense of community and belonging.
When you meet a fellow New Albany resident for the first time, one of the initial topics of discussion is almost always, “What neighborhood do you live in?”
The inside joke is that, in New Albany, everyone thinks his or her neighborhood is the best New Albany has to offer. And nobody’s wrong.
The Lansdowne neighborhood, located just south of the New Albany Country Club and just west of Thompson Park, contains 95 home sites on streets such as Southfield, Holkham, Westbury, Chelsea Green, Sedgwick and Bulrush, nearly all of which have been completed over the past 10 years. In line with New Albany’s master plan, Lansdowne feels close to everything.
“Just from a general location standpoint, it’s so easily accessible to anywhere you need to go,” says Julie Kriss, Lansdowne resident and one of the neighborhood’s main organizers and coordinators.
Lansdowne residents can easily access New Albany’s leisure trails to walk to New Albany Country Club and Thompson Park; the Market and Main intersection is a mere mile-and-a-half walk away on the paths, and the school campus is two miles away. The proximity to Thompson Park is especially nice for the young families in Lansdowne, since it is one of the few neighborhoods in New Albany without a nearby playground.
Fostering Community by Design
Many Lansdowne residents were attracted to the neighborhood in part because it is a zero lot line community. This means the yards are intentionally smaller, and the HOA fees cover front and side yard lawn maintenance and snow removal on sidewalks, front walks, front steps and porches, and on the carriage ways in the rear of the homes. These carriage ways – nearly as busy as the sidewalks out front – allow for additional socialization that even most abutting back yards don’t offer.
Each home’s backyard area is the homeowner’s blank canvas, since it’s not covered by the HOA plan. Residents have created herb gardens, fire pits, outdoor kitchens, small grass areas and stone or brick patios.
A Tight-knit Group
With fewer than 100 homes, Lansdowne is one of the smaller neighborhoods in New Albany, but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in spirit.
“The other thing that is really nice about the community is the main green space that we use for our social gatherings. At least twice a year, we do an entire neighborhood social function,” says Kriss.
This semicircle-shaped expanse in the heart of the neighborhood, which seems as if it were designed for neighbors to meet and share experiences, is ideal for both planned and spontaneous socializing. In the spring, the neighborhood organizes an adults-only event that is BYOB with shared appetizers. Residents are given name tags on which they also write their addresses. In the fall, the event includes children and is scheduled around Halloween so kids, and some brave adults, can wear their costumes.
The social events come together by way of a neighborhood directory and email list. The directory was a labor of love, compiled by Kriss and her neighbors over time through flyers in doors and mailboxes, and each home receives a printed copy. This year they plan to convert it to an electronic document that can be more easily edited and shared. The directory helps add to the sense of connectedness that Lansdowne residents feel.
The connectedness extends to physical fitness, too, and can be witnessed in the form of a “boot camp” exercise class organized by a resident on the central green space when the weather is nice, taking the ideas of community and Healthy New Albany to new heights. Many Lansdowne residents also take advantage of the easy access to the mile-marked Yantis and Lambton Park Loops for walking, running and biking. For those residents who are members of the New Albany Country Club, all the amenities are at their doorstep.
These types of neighborhood events, from social gatherings to workouts, foster a sense of belonging, which is a well-documented necessity for leading a happy and healthy life. When someone asks a Lansdowne resident what neighborhood he or she lives in, the common, proud answer will be a resounding “Lansdowne!”
Bob Valasek is a contributing writer and New Albany resident. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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