City of Louisville

With effortless grace, Louisville combines the charm and beauty of the South with its more fast paced northern neighbors, creating a sophisticated city life. Located on the south bank of the Ohio River, this multi-cultural city comfortably blends business with pleasure.

Quick Facts
Louisville—ranked as the nation's 16th largest city—offers a cornucopia of educational, cultural, sporting, and historical experiences for the one million singles and families who live in the metropolitan area.

The city takes full advantage of its moderate and seasonal climate of warm summers, temperate winters and colorful springs and falls with its 123 public parks, 21 public golf courses, 31 private golf courses, 228 public tennis courts, 11 outdoor public swimming pools, as well as biking and jogging paths in and around the city.

Louisville also offers up a wealth of shopping from the standard fair to designer boutiques, numerous antique stores, and unique arts and crafts shops. Diners can choose from more than 2,500 restaurants.

The cost of living in Louisville is moderate. The median price for an existing home is about $137,000. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is approximately $750-$800. Sales tax is 6 percent.

Louisville's central location has drawn significant businesses. The city is the hub of the United Parcel Service, and Louisville International Airport is one of the world's busiest cargo airports. Many technology companies and clothing manufacturers such as Ann Taylor have chosen to base a significant part of their business in Louisville for this reason.

Culture & Entertainment
The diversity of Louisville's arts and entertainment scene rivals that of much larger cities. Louisville's Fund for the Arts—the oldest united arts fund in the country—supports 29 member groups and programs and has raised over $148 million since its establishment in 1949. It also publishes a calendar of events.

Tony Award-winning Actor's Theater—one of the nation's most vibrant regional theaters—shares the spotlight with the Kentucky Opera, the Louisville Ballet, the Louisville Orchestra, and the PNC Bank Broadway Series Across America-Louisville.

Music lovers can also enjoy great jazz, blues and, of course, country-western music at Louisville's many bars and clubs. Fourth Street Live!—billed as Louisville's premier retail and entertainment district—offers a variety of nightclubs, shops, and restaurants in the heart of downtown Louisville.

A wide range of museums, musical societies and art fairs add more spice to the cultural menu. The Speed Art Museum, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, the Louisville Slugger Museum, and the Kentucky Derby Museum are popular attractions. The Kentucky Center for the Arts, the renovated Brown Theater, the historic Macauley Theater, and the art deco Palace Theater offer a variety of entertainment.

A Sports Fan's Smorgasbord
Sports fans have plenty to choose from. Papa John's Cardinal Stadium is the home of University of Louisville's football team. You may have heard that Kentuckians are fanatical about basketball. Well, Coach Rick Pitino's Cardinal Basketball team is here to prove it. And you can enjoy America’s “National Pastime” and catch a game at Louisville Slugger Field—home to the Louisville Bats—the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

Run for the Roses
Thoroughbred horse racing at the world-famous Churchill Downs is not only a major industry in Louisville but also a source of tremendous pride. The greatest two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby, takes place on the first Saturday each May.

It is preceded by a two-week long Kentucky Derby Festival that includes a spectacular fireworks display, a mini-marathon, a hot air balloon race, a steamboat race, the Pegasus Parade down Broadway, and much more. It is Louisville's own version of Mardi Gras.

Family Fun
If you feel like a safari, take a trip to The Louisville Zoo. Open year-round, the zoo is home to more than 1,300 animals in natural environmental exhibits and features interpretative programs in addition to its regular exhibits.

Parents and children will discover the wonders of science at The Louisville Science Center and IMAX Theater, which features hands-on science exhibits and daily showings of the latest IMAX films. Nationally traveling exhibits are featured in the 40,000+ square feet of exhibit halls. Permanent exhibits include the Space Science Gallery with the Apollo XIII capsule, and the lobby atrium contains a Foucult pendulum. The newest permanent exhibit is "The World Around Us," a $4.3 million exhibit that offers an action-packed, hands-on encounter with the natural and earth sciences.

Education
Children and spouses will find excellent educational opportunities in Louisville. There are 18 colleges and universities, including the University of Louisville.

With more than 98,000 students, the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) offer a variety of elementary, middle and high school programs ranging from traditional and technical programs to a Youth Performing Arts School. In fact, four area high schools made "U.S. News and World Report" magazine's 2008 list of America's Best High Schools. In recent years, JCPS had a $25,000 winner in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, as well as two finalists and a semifinalist in the Siemens Westinghouse Science Competition.

In addition, many parochial and private schools flourish in Louisville.

Getting Around Town
You will find it easy to get to Louisville. Its airport is located just 15 minutes from downtown, at the junction of I-65 and I-264. The major interstates serving Louisville are I-65, I-64, I-264 and I-265. Commuting is generally simple and quick.

Kentucky Trivia
To really know Louisville—the sublime and the ridiculous—you will want to bone up on the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery's own "Louisville's Top Ten Claims to Fame" and our "Most Famous Kentucky Citizens Quiz." When you visit us, we'll be sure to test you on your command of Louisville trivia!

Louisville's Top Ten Claims to Fame

1. The greatest two minutes in sports: The Kentucky Derby!
2. Thunder Over Louisville, the nation's largest annual fireworks extravaganza.
3. Home of the Louisville Slugger!
4. University of Louisville Cardinals vs. University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball.
5. The first cheeseburger, the original rolled oyster, and Derby Pie®.
6. The busiest canal in the world: more tonnage passes through the McAlpine Locks and Dam System on the Ohio River than the Panama Canal and Suez Canal combined!
7. The world's Braille printing center.
8. The Colgate Clock: the second largest clock in the world is Southern Indiana's claim to fame, but it faces Louisville!
9. More parklands per capita than any other U.S. city—three of which were designed by Frederick Olmstead, the father of American landscape architecture.
10. Burgoo, a thick stew made with beef, chicken, venison, and plenty of vegetables, especially popular during Derby.

Most Famous Kentucky Citizens Quiz

1. A is for author of bestselling mysteries
2. Actor of "Samson & Delilah" fame
3. Tony-Award winning playwright
4. First Jewish U.S. Supreme Court Justice
5. Heavywieght boxing champion who said, "Liston in eight to prove I'm great."
6. Taffy Tolu (original name for chewing gum) inventor
7. First woman to row solo across the Atlantic
8. Jazz legend
9. Famous 19th century Black American jockey
10. Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame Shortstop
11. Fast food that's "finger lickin' good"
12. MVP Quarterback, Super Bowl XXI
13. Civil Rights Leader
14. From "21 Jump Street" to "Pirates of the Caribbean"
15. 12th President of the United States

1. Sue Grafton, 2. Victor Mature, 3. Marsha Norman, 4. Louis D. Brandeis, 5. Muhammad Ali, 6. John Colgan, 7. Tori Murden-McClure, 8. Lionel Hampton, 9. Issac Burns Murphy, 10. Pee Wee Reese, 11. Colonel Harland Sanders, 12. Phil Simms, 13. Whitney M. Young, Jr., 14. Johnny Depp, 15. Zachary Taylor

Photo Credits
Night Skyline: "Louisville, Gateway to the South," courtesy of Greater Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau
Cherokee Park: Big Rock on Beargrass Creek in Cherokee Park, courtesy of Ted Wathen/Quadrant
4th Street: "4th Street Live!" courtesy of Greater Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau
Sculpture: Turned Wood, by Mary McKinney, courtesy of Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
Churchill Downs, courtesy of Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography
Siberian Tiger, courtesy of the Louisville Zoo, Sam Gray photographer
Muhammad Ali greets school children, courtesy of Muhammad Ali Center
Top Photo in Left-Hand Column: Skyline from Waterfront Park courtesy of Greater Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau