Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky 

Louisville is the most populous city in the United States and the biggest city in the state of Kentucky. Louisville is the nominal seat of Jefferson County, which is on the border with Indiana, and has been since 2003. 

One of the first towns west of the Appalachians, Louisville was established in 1778 and named after King Louis XVI of France. The community initially developed as a portage station because the adjacent Falls of the Ohio was the only significant impediment to river travel between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico. It was the birthplace of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which expanded into a network spanning 13 states and 6,000 miles (9,700 km). 

Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its Cardinals, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and three of Kentucky's six Fortune 500 companies—Humana, Kindred Healthcare, and Yum! Brands—are just a few of the household names that the city is known for today. UPS's global hub is located at Muhammad Ali International Airport, Louisville's primary commercial airport. 

Following a city-county merger in 2003, Louisville's boundaries have coincided with those of Jefferson County ever since. The Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, also known as Louisville Metro, is the full name of this combined city-county administration. Despite the merger and renaming, Louisville Metro is still sometimes referred to as Jefferson County, especially when discussing the incorporated cities outside of the "balance" that make up Louisville proper. 782 969 people called the city their home as of the 2020 Census. The population that appears in the majority of publications and national rankings, however, is the remaining figure of 633,045 which leaves out further incorporated locations and semiautonomous municipalities within the county. 

The Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Jefferson County and 12 neighboring counties, five of which are in southern Indiana and seven of which are in Kentucky. The MSA had 1,395,634 residents as of 2019, which placed it 43rd nationwide. 

Georgia 

A combined 397.68 square miles (1,030.0 km2) is occupied by Louisville and Jefferson County, of which 380.46 square miles (985.4 km2) are land and 17.23 square miles (44.6 km2) (4.33%) are water. 

Louisville is located in north-central Kentucky at the Falls of the Ohio, southeast of where the Ohio River divides Kentucky from Indiana. Louisville is an Upper South metropolis that is influenced by both Southern and Midwestern culture and is situated in a Southern state. It has been referred to be one of the southernmost Northern or northernmost southern cities in the United States, depending on where you are in the country. 

Louisville is situated in the outer Bluegrass region of Kentucky. 

Its Ohio River location, which prompted Louisville's rise from a remote camp site into a significant shipping port, has had an impact on its development. A large portion of the city is situated on a flat, extremely wide floodplain that is flanked by hill terrain on all sides. As the city expanded, it became necessary to drain much of the surrounding swampland. To avoid flooding and disease outbreaks, most creeks were redirected or enclosed in canals in the 1840s. 

Areas usually east of I-65 are made up of gently sloping hills and are located above the flood plain. Jefferson Memorial Forest is located in the picturesque and relatively uninhabited Knobs region, which is where Jefferson County's southernmost points lie. 

The Kentucky county of Jefferson, which is contiguous with Louisville Metro, is part of the 43rd-largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), together with twelve outlying counties: seven in Kentucky and five in Southern Indiana. The Louisville-Elizabethtown-Madison, KY-IN Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which also includes the Elizabethtown, KY MSA and the Madison, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area, includes the Louisville, KY MSA. 

The Frankfort, Kentucky (the state capital), Cincinnati, Ohio (the two cities' metropolitan statistical areas virtually border each other), Lexington, Kentucky, Bowling Green, Nashville, Tennessee, and the Indianapolis, Indiana region are all close by to the Louisville area (especially Columbus, Indiana, to the north of Southern Indiana). 

Climate 

Louisville is situated in USDA hardiness zones 6b and 7a and has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), typical of the Upper South. Typically, springlike weather starts in mid- to late-March, summer in mid- to late-May to late September, and fall in the months of October and November. Early spring and late fall often experience seasonal extremes in temperature and precipitation, and the area occasionally experiences tornado outbreaks. Winter weather often consists of snow, sleet, and rain, with the possibility of significant precipitation and ice. Louisville has lows of 10 °F (12 °C) on 4.5 days on average; the first and latest freezes of the season typically occur on November 2 and April 5, respectively. Typically, summer is foggy, hot, and humid with extended stretches of 90–100 °F (32–38 °C) temperatures and intermittent drought conditions. An average of 38 days per year in Louisville have highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher. With an average annual snowfall of 12.7 inches (32 cm) and an average annual rainfall of 44.9 inches, the mean annual temperature is 58.2 °F (14.6 °C) (1,140 mm). 

However, rainfall is generally consistent throughout the year, with spring and summer being the wettest seasons. Several days of snow are possible during the winter, especially in January and February. The coldest month is January, which has a mean temperature of 34.9 °F (1.6 °C). The hottest month on average is July, with a mean temperature of 79.3 °F (26.3 °C). The lowest recorded temperature was 22 °F (30 °C) on January 19, 1994, while the highest recorded temperature was 107 °F (42 °C), which last happened on July 14, 1936. Louisville experienced the fourth-hottest summer on record in 2012, with a July high of 106 °F (41 °C) and two days in which the June all-time monthly high temperature was surpassed. The city is a prime example of the urban heat island effect, with temperatures frequently up to 5 °F (2.8 °C) higher in commercial and industrial regions along interstates than in the suburbs. 

Economy 

Today, Louisville is home to dozens of businesses and organizations from many industries. However, the shipping and cargo sectors have supported the city's economy from its inception. It is ideally situated for the transfer of freight on its path to other destinations due to its strategic location at the Ohio Falls and its exceptional location in the center of the United States (within one day's drive of 60% of the cities in the continental U.S.). Important rail and water transit connections included the Louisville and Portland Canal and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 

Today, Louisville still plays a significant role in the shipping sector thanks to the location of UPS's Worldport international air-freight facility at Louisville International Airport. The fact that Louisville is situated at the intersection of three important interstates (I-64, I-65, and I-71) adds to its current strategic significance to the transportation and freight sector. Additionally, the Port of Louisville maintains its presence at Jefferson Riverport International for river shipping. The seventh-largest inland port in the United States as of 2003 is Louisville. 

With two important Ford Motor Company facilities, the headquarters and a sizable factory for GE Appliances, Louisville is a prominent center of manufacturing (a subsidiary of Haier). A third of all bourbon whiskey comes from Louisville, which is a significant hub for the American whiskey industry. One of the largest producers of American whiskey, Brown-Forman, has its headquarters in Louisville and runs a distillery in the Shively neighborhood of that city. In close proximity to Brown-distillery Forman's in Louisville lies Heaven Hill's current major distillery location, known as the Bernheim distillery. There are further distilleries and related enterprises in nearby Kentucky cities such Bardstown, Clermont, Lawrenceburg, and Loretto. Louisville offers travelers its own "Urban Bourbon Trail," which connects these central Kentucky destinations and includes over 20 "area bars and eateries, all serving at least 50 labels of America's only native spirit." 

Code Louisville, the city's public-private collaboration for educating people entry level software development skills, gained attention from then-President Barack Obama in 2015 despite not normally being associated with high tech outside of the previously mentioned industries. 

Louisville takes pride in the wide variety of small, independent companies and eateries it has, some of which have become well-known for their innovation and originality. A number of high-profile movies, including The Insider, Goldfinger, Stripes, Lawn Dogs, Elizabethtown, and Secretariat, have also been filmed in or close to Louisville. 

Sports 

In the Louisville area, college sports are widely watched. Since entering the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in July 2014, the Louisville Cardinals have participated in league competitions as ACC participants. 

Basketball in colleges is extremely well-liked. For ten years running, Freedom Hall, home of the Louisville Cardinals, has averaged sold-out crowds, with the Downtown KFC Yum! Center following suit with frequent sellouts. In 2012–13, the most recent of the program's three* national championship seasons (1980, 1986, 2013*), the Cardinals were third in attendance nationally. In addition, the Cardinals set the paid attendance mark for women's basketball in the Big East conference in 2008 when over 17,000 fans showed up to watch them play the Kentucky Wildcats. Every year since 1999, the NCAA men's basketball tournament ratings have been led by the Louisville market. In the past, Freedom Hall hosted a yearly contest between the Kentucky Wildcats. 

NFL players Lamar Jackson, Johnny Unitas, Deion Branch, Sam Madison, David Akers, Joe Jacoby, DeVante Parker, and Ray Buchanan were all successful products of the Louisville Cardinals football team. The Fiesta Bowl in 1991, the Orange Bowl in 2007, and the Sugar Bowl in 2013 were all won by the Cardinals. Lamar Jackson, a sophomore quarterback, led the football team to unprecedented heights in 2016. Lamar was the school's first recipient of the Heisman Trophy, which is given to the national college football player of the year. Additionally, he was among the youngest players to ever be given the honor. The team also equaled their No. 3 rating from school history. In 2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2019, the University of Louisville baseball team progressed to the College World Series in Omaha as one of the last eight teams to contend for the national title. 

Another main draw is horse racing. The Kentucky Derby, the biggest sporting event in the state, and the Kentucky Oaks, which together wrap up the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival, are held at Churchill Downs. The most recent time Churchill Downs staged the prestigious Breeders' Cup was in 2011. 

The 1996, 2000, and 2014 PGA Championships, the 2004 Senior PGA Championship, and the 2008 Ryder Cup were all held at Louisville's Valhalla Golf Club. Additionally, it is where David Armstrong Extreme Park, formerly known as Louisville Extreme Park, is located. Tony Hawk, a skateboarder, ranked it among his top five skate parks. 

The Louisville Bats are a baseball team competing in the International League as the Triple-A affiliate of the nearby Cincinnati Reds. Louisville is home to seven professional and semi-professional sports teams. At Louisville Slugger Field, which located on the outskirts of the city's downtown, the team plays. The second-division USL Championship team Louisville City FC started playing in 2015 at Slugger Field until moving into their own home, Lynn Family Stadium, in 2020. Prior to the two organizations' separation in 2016, the team served as Orlando City SC's Major League Soccer reserve team. In 2021, Lynn Family Stadium Hosted Racing Louisville FC, an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League. 

The Louisville Breckenridges (sometimes known as Brecks) played professional American football in the National Football League from 1921 to 1924. The Louisville Colonels joined the league in 1926. 

The American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels called Louisville their home from 1967 to 1976. The Colonels, who won four division championships and the ABA Championship in 1975, were one of the ABA's most successful teams during its tenure. However, they were not given an invitation to join the NBA when the two organizations merged in 1976, and the team eventually disbanded. 

In addition, Louisville holds the unique distinction of being the city where four heavyweight boxing champions were born: Marvin Hart, Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Ellis, and Greg Page. 

Population 

Louisville is a city in Kentucky's Jefferson County. It is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 61st-largest city in the United States with a projected population of 323,749 in 2023. Louisville's population has declined by -47.68% from the most recent census, which showed a population of 618,733 in 2020, and is now falling at a pace of -6.10% annually. Louisville has a population density of 1,229 persons per square mile, spanning more than 275 miles. 

With an 18.27% poverty rate, the average household income in Louisville is $74,580. The median monthly cost of rent in recent years has been, and the median value of a home is. In Louisville, the median age is 37.7 years, with 36.1 years for men and 39.2 years for women. 

Since 2003, Louisville's boundaries have coincided with those of Jefferson County, forming a combined city-county. 

Top 2 News Websites 

Courier Journal 

The Courier-Journal provides coverage of Kentucky Derby, Louisville and Southern Indiana news, Louisville and Kentucky sports, politics, and entertainment. 

89.3 WFPL News Louisville 

WFPL News 89.3 Public media in Louisville is backed by its listeners. The way NPR covers the globe, we do the same for Louisville. 

Current City Mayor 

Greg Fischer was chosen as Louisville's 50th mayor in 2010 and on January 5, 2019, he was inaugurated for a third four-year term. 

From operating cranes on the ports in Kodiak, Alaska, to creating the SerVend ice and beverage dispensers, Mayor Fischer is a successful businessman and entrepreneur who has never shied away from hard work. 

Together with his brothers, he oversaw SerVend International's expansion into a multinational corporation with a reputation for leadership and business expertise. Manitowoc, a Fortune 500 firm, purchased SerVend in 1997. 

Fischer started a private investment company called Iceberg Ventures in 1999. Later, he co-founded Louisville's first startup accelerator, bCatalyst. Fischer has served as an advisor and private investor for numerous businesses. 

Fischer joined the mayor's office in 2011 with his business knowledge and passion for creating high-performance companies. 

During his administration, Louisville had an increase in employment of 83,000 and the opening of 3,000 new enterprises, along with historically high investments in low-cost housing. Additionally, the city attracted more than $20 billion in capital construction, including two new bridges, three new regional libraries, a soccer stadium, a new West Louisville track, and more than two dozen new hotels built to support the city's thriving Bourbonism (also known as local food and bourbon tourism) industry. Additionally, 20,000 Louisvillians were able to work their way out of poverty. 

The mayor supported the city's Evolve 502 education program, which includes a promise scholarship that guarantees every graduate of a public high school has access to higher education. Since he took office, Louisville has been recognized four times as an international model city of compassion. He has ordered that all local decisions be made with the perspective of public health. 

In the wake of the city and country's tragedies in 2020, he reaffirmed his administration's commitment to addressing new public safety issues, eradicating institutional racism, including through police reform, and mobilizing all available resources to speed Louisville's COVID-19 recovery. 

Mayor Fischer, who now holds the position of immediate past president, was chosen by American mayors to lead the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2020. 

In 2013, Mayor Fischer was selected Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine. In a 2016 Politico poll, he was ranked as the most creative mayor in the country, and in a 2017 list of the most intriguing mayors in the country, Politico included him. According to Stessa, a website for real estate investors, Louisville has also been rated one of the Top 15 cities for drawing millennials and was among the Top 15 major metro areas with the fastest growth in high-paying, six-figure jobs from 2015 to 2020. 

Dr. Alexandra Gerassimides, a Greek immigrant whose family was uprooted during the Greek Civil War, is the wife of Mayor Fischer. One granddaughter and four grown children belong to the couple.