Louisville - The "Possibility City" Ad Campaign

Don't know how many of you have seen these "Louisville - The Possibility City" commercials on TV (or visited the associated website) but I thought I'd mention them. I've been noticing them being aired during a few recent football games and thought they were very creative. I'm not sure if they are being shown just locally or if this is a national effort...The website even has a link to Hotbytes. Kudos if any of our membership is involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8e1wCm6K5g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3UPj0OIgmQ

http://www.possibilitycity.com/index.ph ... ille/play/

I listened to a speech by some of the people involved with these about a year ago. They're not being played nationally, but are being played in our "competitor" cities like Nasvhille, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, etc., if I remember correctly.

Seems like the Ohio one shows evidence of the trickle-down effect of how our election system works. Instead of touting your strengths, just take pot shots at your opponent. I know it's supposed to be humorous, but it's really not. Just cheap.

I like the other one. It's a clever parody.

by annemarie m » Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:43 am

i see they forgot to mention the 57 homicides we had as of nov 30th 2010...

From Wiki:
Louisville is has been ranked among the top 10 safest large cities by Morgan Quitno in the past four years.[when?] In the 2005 Morgan Quitno survey, the city was ranked as the seventh safest large city in the United States.[47] The 2006 edition of the survey ranked Louisville eighth.[48]
In 2004, Louisville recorded 70 murders. The numbers for 2005 ranged from 55 to 59 (FBI says 55, LMPD says 59), which was down 16 percent from 2004.[49] In 2006, Louisville-Jefferson County recorded 50 murders, which was significantly lower than previous years. Louisville's total crime rate was less than half that of most surrounding cities.[citation needed] In 2008, Louisville recorded 79 murders.[50]
The Louisville Metro Area's overall violent crime rate was 412.6 per 100,000 residents in 2005.[51] The Elizabethtown, Kentucky Metro Area, which is part of Louisville's Combined Statistical Area, was the 17th safest Metro in the U.S.[52] Kentucky has the 5th lowest violent crime rate out of the 50 states.[53]

By comparison ,other similar surrounding cities usually have much worse violent crime statistics (Cincy, Indy, Nashville, Memphis)

It has murders through 2008 at 79 so this year is on pace to be lower, that's not hard to figure out. I don't know what they were in 09 and didn't want to spend much time researching. But even the recent years statistics are favorable compared to the comparable cities. I've seen the numbers.

The point is, that statistically Louisville is a very safe city compared to cities of similar size. There's all kinds of studies, research to show that so if you don't know it then do the research yourself.

but i have done research myself and beg to differ with you.
from:.idcide.com/citydata/
Louisville, KY Profile
Louisville, KY, population 256,231, is located in Kentucky's Jefferson county, about 72.2 miles from Lexington and 94.3 miles from Cincinnati.
Through the 90's Louisville's population has declined by about 5%.

Louisville's property crime levels tend to be much higher than Kentucky's average level. The same data shows violent crime levels in Louisville tend to be much higher than Kentucky's average level.
and here:
http://www.wlky.com/news/25285533/detail.html
not disagreeing that lou is safer than other cities. sure bigger cities have higher crime rates.

A few things:

1. The idcide page has no crime information more recent than 2002. Also, since the Louisville/Jefferson Couty merger, Louisville's population is much larger than 256K. http://www.idcide.com/citydata/ky/louisville.htm

2. Of course Louisville's crime rate is higher than the Kentucky average. I would venture that in any state, the crime rate in cities is higher than average for the state, which would comprise many rural areas, which tend to have much lower crime rates.

3. Louisville's crime rate is lower than Indy, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Nashville, all of which are not really much bigger. Louisville is a relatively safe city for one of its size.

Anne Marie, we are not talking about comparing apples to oranges but apples to apples.

sure bigger cities have higher crime rates.

Bigger cities do not necessarily have higher crime rates. NYC crime rates are lower than Louisville's. Crime rates are based on percentages.

Why on earth would an ad campaign touting Louisville to other cities in the region mention our homicide total? The intent of this thread may have gotten a little off track.

Because AnneMarie doesn't want people to move here.

Food is delicious and I like it.

If you are not 1)in very specific areas of the city or 2) involved in some form of shady dealings (love triangles, debt to the wrong person, drugs, etc.) it's downright hard to get murdered in this city. Yes, 57 homicides is too many. Yes, I feel for the victims and their families. Yes, something needs to be done about those issues that lead to homicide. But, given who these ads are targeting, I'm pretty sure the audience won't say, "No, I can't move to Louisville. The chance I will be murdered is just too high."

[Robin Garr]

Food is delicious and I like it.

Delicious food is good!

[Robin Garr]

Louisville is a very safe city compared to cities of similar size.

I'm not sure this is really something to be proud of in a Possibility City sense, but don't overlook the elephant in the living room: If we eliminate from the statistics all violent crimes in which both perp and victim are poor and minorities committing crimes in their own segregated neighborhoods, Louisville's rate is very close to zero.

The social implications of this are difficult to fathom, but for those of us who live on the "nice" sides of town, homicide numbers don't reflect reality.

Food is delicious and I like it.

Delicious food is good!

http://www.threadless.com/product/490/Meat_is_Murder_Tasty_Tasty_Murder

I sense I'm not helping...