Tag Archives: travel

Hardin County’s New Housing Boom: Are We Seeing Our Own Version of Levittown? 

7 Jul

By TW Shortt

CRB, Real Estate Broker

Never in my four decades in the real estate business have I seen the kind of large-scale homebuilding now taking place in Hardin County. We have had plenty of local and regional builders over the years, but this latest version is different. What was once difficult for local and regional builders to produce at this speed is now being done by national builders such as D.R. Horton, Fischer Homes, and Century Complete. 

At least nine new home subdivisions are now under construction locally, bringing hundreds of new housing units to the market. These include Ashton Park, Cowley Farms, Meadows at Cowley Crossing, and Miles Pointe by D.R. Horton in Elizabethtown; Hearthstone by Fischer Homes in Elizabethtown; Summit Creek by Century Complete in Elizabethtown; Hidden Ridge by Century Complete in Radcliff; and The Landings and Falcon Heights by Century Complete in Vine Grove. 

This raises two important questions for our region: Where are all these buyers coming from, and how are building products being allocated and delivered into the marketplace on this scale? 

An effective way to understand the process is to drive by the railhead near the corner of Lincoln Trail and Highway 313 and notice the yard packed with building packages. Every square foot of the lumber yard is filled with pre-wrapped materials, and trucks move in and out regularly. This is not a small-scale building but a coordinated system. 

While this level of mass production feels new to Hardin County, the idea itself is not new. After World War II, Levittown, New York, became the national model for mass-produced housing when Levitt & Sons built more than 17,000 homes between 1947 and 1951 to help house returning veterans and their families. The concept was simple: keep the building process standardized, repeatable, and fast. Instead of custom-building every house, the builder used a limited number of floor plans, standardized materials, and an assembly-line approach to construction. 

Levittown went a long way toward addressing the housing shortage of its day. The VA home loan program, created under the GI Bill in 1944, also played a significant role in helping many returning servicemembers purchase homes on favorable terms and, in many cases, with little or no down payment. That same VA loan program remains an important force in the housing market today, especially in military communities like ours. 

But the Levittown story also had a dark side that must be acknowledged. Black families were excluded through discriminatory housing practices that denied them the same opportunity to buy homes, build equity, and take part in the postwar suburban boom. That part of history should not be ignored, because it reminds us that housing growth must also be fair, open, and available to all qualified buyers. 

What we are seeing in Hardin County today is not Levittown, but it follows the same basic production principle: build many homes quickly and at scale to meet growing demand. By limiting customization and repeating a smaller number of proven designs, national builders can move faster, control costs, and bring large numbers of homes to market. 

This approach works for many buyers. Many people prefer a brand-new home, especially when it offers modern layouts, new systems, warranties, and predictable pricing. National builders also bring financing power that many local builders cannot match on the same scale. They often offer attractive interest-rate programs, closing-cost assistance, upgrades, and other incentives that buyers find hard to ignore. In a market where affordability matters, those incentives can pull buyers toward new construction instead of existing homes. 

Lastly, where does the confidence to build this aggressively in Hardin County come from? Except for Fischer Homes, the major builders involved here are connected to publicly traded companies. D.R. Horton is publicly traded, and Century Complete is part of Century Communities, which is also publicly traded. At this level, decisions to enter or expand in a market are not made casually. These companies study population trends, employment, household income, land availability, interest rates, military movement, transportation, schools, and future growth before committing this kind of capital. 

That should tell us something. These builders clearly see economic strength and future demand in Hardin County. 

The bigger issue is not simply whether new homes are being built. The real issue is how this wave of construction will reshape our local housing market, our older neighborhoods, our infrastructure, and our expectations about homeownership in the years ahead. Hardin County is not just adding houses; it may be witnessing the arrival of a new housing model that will define our market for years to come. 

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Is the lack of public transport in Hardin County a legitimate issue?

4 Jul

Many people received the recent online transportation survey published by The Lincoln Trail Area District; LTADD is ideally suited to conduct the research and, if appropriate, eventually propose a solution. But is public transit an issue? Do community members need transportation to join the workforce? Are there elderly people who lack transportation to medical appointments? Are there residents struggling to get to a grocery store due to transportation issues? Let’s look closer.  

Hardin County is a community of kind people. We would not stand for conditions where the elderly, handicapped individuals, and people who wanted to work could not do so. While there is no government solution for everything that ails us, many communities have found that implementing a public transit system works for them. Some implemented systems were at a net monetary loss.  

The study is designed to gather the facts. Most people I spoke to about this issue agree that a community of our size needs a public transit system. They usually quote an anecdotal story about someone they know who needs transportation and is detrimentally affected by the lack thereof. To get the facts, we do not have to look far.  

One of those facts is that we already have a public transit system in Hardin County called the Transit Authority of Central Kentucky (TACK). These folks offer three categories of service: Fort Knox, Medicaid Services, and Public Services. I see TACK’s brightly lettered vans all over the community, yet I still run into people who have never heard of them or the service.  If this was not enough, at the risk of getting on a soapbox, what about the two hundred churches in Hardin County with a 12-passenger van parked behind them six days a week? Could an interdenominational leader come to the table with a solution?  

In conclusion, our tendency to turn to the government to solve every challenge is coming to an end. Every aspect of American worker production is now taxed, so it is time to find different solutions.  

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Ridding Small Cities of Trailer Parks Deteriorated Beyond Livability: Turning Yesterday’s Trailer Parks into Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods 

4 Jul

by: TW Shortt 

Small cities across America face a recurring problem in their housing landscape: aging mobile home parks that have deteriorated beyond reasonable repair. Many of these parks were built decades ago during periods of rapid housing demand, often with minimal infrastructure standards. Over time, the homes wear out, utilities fail, roads deteriorate, and the property slowly declines. 

The question for communities is simple but important: What should be done when a trailer park has reached the end of its useful life? 

The Fort Knox area has already seen a successful answer to that question. 

In Radcliff, the Magnolia Point Neighborhood stands today as a clear example of how distressed land can be transformed into a stable residential neighborhood. The site was once occupied by a mobile home park that had deteriorated to the point of being beyond practical use. Instead of allowing the property to continue to decline, the land was redeveloped into a small residential neighborhood containing 39 permanent homes. 

The project was developed in 1988 by TW Shortt Realty, a local brokerage firm.  At the time, the redevelopment demonstrated that aging trailer parks need not remain permanent fixtures in a community’s landscape. With thoughtful planning and cooperation with local planning authorities, a distressed property could be transformed into a neighborhood of traditional homes. 

What was once a trailer park is becoming a residential subdivision with permanent foundations, paved streets, and individually owned lots. The development integrated naturally with surrounding neighborhoods and replaced temporary housing with permanent homes. 

Projects like Magnolia Point illustrate an important planning tool known as Planned Unit Development (PUD). 

A Planned Unit Development allows a city to approve a comprehensive development plan rather than forcing every lot to meet rigid zoning rules. Instead of focusing solely on minimum lot sizes or strict dimensional standards, the planning authority evaluates the neighborhood’s overall design and determines whether the development improves the community. 

This flexibility often makes redevelopment possible, where conventional zoning would make it difficult. 

Former mobile home parks are particularly well-suited for this approach. These properties already have defined boundaries and internal roads, but the original layouts were rarely designed for long-term residential use. Through Planned Unit Development, the property can be redesigned to include modern infrastructure and permanent homes. 

Streets can be rebuilt, drainage systems engineered properly, utilities modernized, and the land subdivided into individually owned lots. In many cases, the density remains similar to that of the original park, while the quality of housing improves dramatically. 

This transformation accomplishes several important objectives. 

First, it replaces deteriorating housing with homes built to modern construction standards. Permanent homes constructed on foundations become real estate rather than personal property, allowing buyers to obtain standard mortgage financing such as FHA, VA, or conventional loans. 

Second, redevelopment allows the property’s infrastructure to be rebuilt correctly. Older trailer parks often contain undersized utility lines, improvised drainage, and narrow internal streets. A redevelopment project offers the opportunity to rebuild those systems to meet modern engineering standards. 

Third, surrounding property values often stabilize or improve when a distressed property is replaced by an attractive residential neighborhood. What was once a declining parcel is becoming a productive part of the community. 

Importantly, redevelopment of aging trailer parks does not necessarily mean eliminating affordable housing. Instead, it can improve the quality of that housing while maintaining reasonable density. Small homes, modular cottages, or compact residential lots can still provide attainable housing options while functioning as traditional real estate. 

Cities across the country are increasingly reconsidering the redevelopment of aging mobile home parks through this strategy. The key conditions are usually straightforward: the property must be under unified ownership, the site must be vacant or ready for redevelopment, and local planning authorities must be willing to use flexible zoning tools such as Planned Unit Development approval. 

When those conditions come together, a property that once supported deteriorating temporary housing can be transformed into a stable residential neighborhood. 

Every community eventually faces decisions about how to handle land that has reached the end of its original life cycle. The choice is whether those properties remain trapped in decline or whether they are reimagined for the future. 

The Magnolia Point development in Radcliff shows that the path forward can be both practical and beneficial. With thoughtful planning and a willingness to rethink outdated housing patterns, trailer parks that have deteriorated beyond livability can give way to neighborhoods that serve the community for generations to come. 

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