At the dais were three men who aren't from Lexington, have lived in some of the largest cities in the country and want nothing more than to see Lexington change, for the better.
"When I moved to Lexington 14 years ago, I was 24 years old, single, had a little extra disposable income in my pocket. I found myself going to Chicago, to Detroit, to DC, to Atlanta, to other areas to enjoy myself and quite frankly, to spend that extra money I had," LFUCG Economic Development Director Anthony Wright told the February meeting of the Lexington Forum. "From the standpoint of being a young professional, the ability to have the options that you want in entertainment are extremely, extremely important."
When Wright, an import from Detroit, began to meet other young professionals in Lexington, he said they too were, "quite frankly, troubled with the same concerns." Those concerns drove them to find jobs in other, more exciting cities, but he - like his fellow speakers at the Forum, Western Kentucky native and Manhattan apartment owner Vice Mayor Jim Gray and Business Lexington Editor-in-Chief Tom Martin, a Morehead native who spent decades in New York and DC - decided they would make Lexington their home, and help mold it into the type of city they and others seeking creative outlets would find suitable.
"The bottom line is, if everybody leaves, who will stay to make it better?" Wright asked.
As he has worked his way up from Columbia Gas, the Kentucky League of Cities and now in the mayor's office, there has been more and more of a push to cater to the type of professionals desired in the new economy and to generate more of a local economy by encouraging entertainment dollars to stay in town.
Now Wright is a member of the Downtown Entertainment Development Task Force, chaired by Martin and founded by Gray in his capacity as Lexington's vice mayor.
"The awareness of the economic imperativeÖ this is a big deal to get to here in order to keep the economy stimulated," Gray said. "It's still a very abstract motion to most people; it appears frivolous and extravagant. So we're heading to change that awareness. What you're seeing here is a group of people coming together to try to do problem solving. Conditions are emerging that we weren't even aware existed, and that's a big deal."
One such condition became apparent recently as a band Martin plays keyboard in was ready to play a concert in Al's Bar at 6th and Limestone, but had to wait until after 9:30 p.m. to crank up their gear.
"It wasn't Al's Bar who said you couldn't play before 9:30 Ö yeah, we wanted to start it at 5," one of the bar's proprietors, Griffin VanMeter, interjected from the crowd at the breakfast meeting. "When we applied for a dance permit and a live music permit, it was granted, but it was on a conditional use that we could only have music Thursday through Saturday starting at 9:30 (p.m.) and going until 1 (a.m.). The whole point is that young entrepreneurs are trying to do something and address these quality of life issues that we know lead to economic development and neighborhood revitalization, but we're being constricted from the top down. That barrier of entry to a young entrepreneur is too much of a block, so that's why people are going elsewhere to do things and start things."
Martin and other baby-boomer bandmates would like to be able to play or watch live music and be home by the time most bars are just bringing on the opening act. Beyond people of his generation, Martin knows the aging Gen-X crowd and the up-and-coming millennials would appreciate a diverse assortment of entertainment.
"Here we are, a medium market city in the United States with two universities nudging our downtown. We're blessed; there are many other communities out there that don't have that kind of amenity, that kind of economic engine right in the center of the town. Yet we really don't have the great variety of entertainment options," he said.
That is why Wright saw some of his contemporaries flee more than a decade ago, and now the affect could be amplified as a CEO for Cities study shows that two thirds of this generation, unlike previous, is more likely to pick a city over a job.
Carlson's Lexington Forum report replaces 'As I heard it,' a monthly column covering the topics and discussions of the monthly Forum breakfast meetings.