Made an overnight stop in Paducah on our way home from Memphis. I love old river towns, and this port city of 25,000 (down from 34,000 in 1960) where the Tennessee River flows into the Ohio (not far from the Mississippi), has historic buildings, a thriving arts culture, and the National Quilt Museum, but is dominated by barges, boats, and shipping.

 

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Next morning -- view from our balcony

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Our balcony, from the outside, below

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Nice shots, I remember when I visited there was a lot of activity downtown near the river, but as you moved inland the number of pedestrians dropped sharply.

Nice shots!

Did you have a sense that it had really "revitalized" itself by attracting artists? For several years you could get a place free or greatly reduced if you promised a commitment of time, built your studio/shop up, etc.

I was there less than 24 hours, but I got the impression it is very much a work in progress. Yes, there is an organized program to attract artists and establish studios. But there also has been significant investment in housing -- revitalizing upstairs apartments/condos downtown, and houses in the Lowertown neighborhood just northwest of downtown. And a mile or so inland, a historic middle-class neighborhood that was in severe decline is seeing a lot of revitalization. But downtown itself, while busy the first couple blocks out from the river on Jefferson, the main drag, is pretty sleepy.

My parents moved to Paducah from Salem Massachusetts when they got married and only stayed a year before returning to Massachusetts and starting a family. I drove through with my dad on the way from Cincinnati to Texas for a co-op and though Downtown had a handful of nice moments and potential, the rest of the area was insanely depressing. The apartment complex they lived in was half abandoned (it had been new in 1980 when they moved there) and the main roads were riddled with shuttered businesses and abandoned buildings. It was extremely depressing because the Downtown had some nice architecture which you showed nicely in this great photo set. Hopefully they can turn things around. We don't have enough quality small towns like this has the potential to be.

How long ago did you pass through? While the town as a whole was not terribly lively, it also did not seem as depressing as what you saw.

This was approaching 6 years ago now. So it was long enough ago that recent efforts definitely would have changed things.

 

I should also point out that they didn't live by Downtown. They lived outside of Downtown and much of what I was describing was the areas on the outskirts. Downtown itself wasn't anywhere near as depressing but still seemed to lack much life.

 

I hope things have changed and that the 6 years since I passed through have brought with them revitalization.

Hm, I've always heard really positive things about Paducah.  I always imagined it to be similar to Madison, IN, but it looks more similar to Maysville, KY.  Some beautiful architecture and a few bright spots in terms of economic activity, but overall fairly depressed compared to what it once was, like so many small towns across the country.

http://s287.photobucket.com/user/urbansurfin/media/Paducah/P1010498%20-%20Copy.jpg

 

Sorry I can't get the link to work for whatever reason but the structure you see floating here is the Ingram training barge, where deckhands eat and sleep when they are in their weeklong training class.  It's also where the company used to store its old medical records, and I spent three weeks re-alphabetizing them during winter break one year.  It was kind of cold being beneath the surface of the Ohio River in December but it wasn't too bad.  I cranked the radio all day long...it right when System of a Down's "Aerials" came out and that "found" Nirvana song "You Know You're Right". 

 

But really no Paducah expose is complete without photos of the Executive Inn.  Sadly it was demolished around 2010.  It was a gigantic 500+ room hotel built on stilts outside the flood wall.  The décor had not been changed since about 1980 and featured big mummy tapestries, peacock statues, and all kinds of campy stuff like that.