Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Infrastructure

Government

Louisville Metro is governed by an executive dubbed the Metro Mayor as well as a city legislature dubbed the Metro Council. The first and current Metro Mayor is Jerry E. Abramson, who also served three terms (13 years due to a state-mandated extension of the third term) as the Mayor of the old City of Louisville. Abramson is often referred to as "Mayor for life", since there is perceived to be little chance he will be unseated in the foreseeable future. The Metro Council consists of 26 seats corresponding to 26 districts apportioned by population throughout the city. Half (13) of the seats come up for re-election every two years.

Related Topics:
Legislature - Jerry E. Abramson - Mayor of the old City of Louisville

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The Official Seal of the City of Louisville, no longer used following the formation of a consolidated city-county government in 2003, reflected its history and heritage in the fleur-de-lis representing French aid given during the Revolutionary War, and the thirteen stars signify the original colonies. It was designed by legendary Austrian typographer Victor Hammer. The new seal of the consolidated government retains the fleur-de-lis, but has only two stars, one representing the city and the other the county.

Related Topics:
Consolidated city-county - Fleur-de-lis - French - Revolutionary War - Austria - Typographer - Victor Hammer

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The third U.S. Congressional district is roughly contiguous with Louisville Metro, and is currently represented by Rep. Anne Northup, though some of the southern areas of the city are in Kentucky's second U.S. Congressional district.

Related Topics:
Congressional district - Rep. - Anne Northup

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Education

See also: List of schools in Louisville

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According to the U.S. Census, of Louisville's population over twenty-five, 21.3% (vs. a national average of 24%) hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and 76.1% (vs. 80% nationally) have a high school diploma or equivalent.

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The public school system, Jefferson County Public Schools, consists of more than 98,000 students in Kindergarten through 12th Grade. The system consists of 87 elementary schools, 23 middle schools, 20 high schools and 23 other learning centers. Some of the more distinguished schools in the system include Ballard High School, duPont Manual Magnet High School, Eastern High School, and Louisville Male High School. There are also a variety of special schools in the system, including The Brown School (a small, centrally located, highly regarded K-12 school), as well as the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS).

Related Topics:
Jefferson County Public Schools - Kindergarten - Elementary school - Middle school - High school - Ballard High School - DuPont Manual Magnet High School - Eastern High School - Louisville Male High School - The Brown School - Youth Performing Arts School

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Louisville has a large number of private schools, particularly unusual for a city of this size. Due to its large Catholic population, there are 27 Catholic schools in the city, as well as several Protestant schools. Some of the notable private schools in Louisville include Assumption High School (all girls), Sacred Heart Academy (all girls), St. Xavier High School (all boys), and Trinity High School (all boys). Louisville is also home to the Portland Christian School and the Christian Academy of Louisville (CAL), the largest Protestant school system in the country in terms of student population.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Protestant - Assumption High School - Sacred Heart Academy - Christian Academy of Louisville

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Louisville is home to the University of Louisville, Spalding University, Sullivan University, Bellarmine University and Jefferson Community College (part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System), as well as the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Indiana University Southeast is also located across the Ohio River in nearby New Albany, Indiana.

Related Topics:
University of Louisville - Spalding University - Sullivan University - Bellarmine University - Jefferson Community College - Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary - Indiana University Southeast - Ohio River - New Albany, Indiana

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Transportation

Louisville's main airport is the centrally located Louisville International Airport, which is also home to the UPS Worldport. Well over 3.5 million passengers and over 3 billion pounds (1,400,000 t) of cargo pass through the airport each year. The airport, having recently completed major terminal renovations, has three operational runways. The two parallel main runways run north/south and allow for simultaneous takeoffs and landings. The east/west runway is shorter and generally only used in adverse weather conditions.

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The much smaller Bowman Field is used mainly for general aviation. Some business aviation, as well as flight instruction and other private flying primarily operate out of this field.

Related Topics:
Bowman Field - General aviation

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The McAlpine Locks and Dam is located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, near the downtown area. The locks were constructed to allow shipping past the Falls of the Ohio. In 2001 over 55 million tons of commodities passed through the locks. A new lock is currently being constructed to replace two of the auxiliary locks, with a projected completion date of 2008.

Related Topics:
McAlpine Locks and Dam - Falls of the Ohio

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Public transportation includes buses and chartered vans run by the Transit Authority of River City (TARC). The city buses serve all parts of downtown Louisville and Jefferson County, as well as Kentucky suburbs in Oldham County, Bullitt County, and the Indiana suburbs of Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and New Albany. In addition to regular city buses, transit throughout the downtown hotel and shopping districts as well as to the Bardstown Road entertainment and shopping district is served by a series of motorized trolleys (see right) known as the Toonerville II Trolley.

Related Topics:
Public transportation - Transit Authority of River City - Jefferson County - Kentucky - Oldham County - Bullitt County - Indiana - Jeffersonville - Clarksville - New Albany

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The city's road system is arranged in a fairly typical system common to many cities in the United States. Streets in the downtown business district are arranged as a grid, with several alternating one-way streets. Many major roads begin at or near the downtown area and travel outwards from the city like the spokes of a wheel. There are also several roads, such as Bardstown Road and Shelbyville Road, which lead outwards from Louisville to the outlying towns of Bardstown, Kentucky, and Shelbyville, Kentucky, respectively. Please see the External links section for links to several online maps.

Related Topics:
United States - Bardstown, Kentucky - Shelbyville, Kentucky - External links

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Louisville is intersected by the Interstates I-64, I-65 and I-71. Since all three of these highways intersect at virtually the same location in the city, this spot has become known as Spaghetti Junction, as the large mass of highways and exits resembles a bowl of spaghetti when viewed from the air. I-264 (Watterson Expressway or Shawnee Expressway) and I-265 (Gene Snyder Freeway) form loops around the city on the Kentucky side. Plans for two more bridges to connect Louisville to Indiana are nearing completion. One bridge will be located downtown for relief of I-65 traffic. The other will connect the Indiana and Kentucky I-265's (via KY-841). Interestingly enough, Louisville is the only city in the nation to contain two consecutively-numbered, three-digit Interstate highways.

Related Topics:
Interstate - I-64 - I-65 - I-71 - Spaghetti Junction - I-264 - I-265 - Kentucky - Interstate highways

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Louisville also has an extensive system of bicycle trails, which connect with many of the city's parks. Many of these bicycle trails lie parallel to major roads, further enhancing one's ability to get around the city by bicycle.

Related Topics:
Bicycle - Parks

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Louisville has historically been a major center for railway traffic. Today the city is served by two major freight railroads, CSX (with a major classification yard in the southern part of the metro area) and Norfolk Southern. Five major main lines connect Louisville to the rest of the region. Two regional railroads, the Paducah and Louisville Railway and the Louisville and Indiana Railroad, http://www.anacostia.com/lir/lir.html also serve the city. With the discontinuance of the short-lived Kentucky Cardinal in 2004, Amtrak passenger trains no longer serve Louisville.

Related Topics:
Railway - CSX - Norfolk Southern - Paducah and Louisville Railway - Louisville and Indiana Railroad - Amtrak

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Utilities

Electricity is provided to the Louisville Metro area by LG&E Energy, which traces its roots back to 1838 as Louisville Gas. LG&E Energy was formed in 1913 by the merger of Louisville Gas, Louisville Lighting (founded in 1903) and Kentucky Heating. Today, LG&E Energy serves over 350,000 electric and over 300,000 natural gas customers, covers an area of 700 square miles (1800 km²), and has a total regulated electric generation capacity of 3,514 megawatts.{{mn|LGE|4}}

Related Topics:
Electricity - Megawatts

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The current electric generating stations serving the city include three coal-fired plants (Trimble County, Mill Creek, and Cane Run Stations), one natural gas/fuel oil combustion turbine, one hydroelectric plant (Ohio Falls Station), and two natural gas facilities (Muldraugh and Magnolia Compressor Stations).

Related Topics:
Coal - Natural gas - Fuel oil - Hydroelectric - Ohio Falls Station

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Water is provided by the Louisville Water Company, which provides water to the more than 800,000 people in Greater Louisville as well as parts of Oldham and Bullitt counties. Additionally, they provide wholesale water to the outlying counties of Shelby, Spencer and Nelson.{{mn|LouWater|5}}

Related Topics:
Water - Louisville Water Company - Oldham - Bullitt - Shelby - Spencer - Nelson

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The Ohio River provides for most of the city's source of drinking water. Water is drawn from the river at two points: the raw water pump station at Zorn and River Road, and the B.E. Payne Pump Station northeast of Harrods Creek. Water is also obtained from a riverbank infiltration well at the Payne Plant. There are also two water treatment plants serving the Louisville Metro area: The Crescent Hill Treatment Plant and the B.E. Payne Treatment Plant.

Related Topics:
Ohio River - Drinking water - Water treatment plants

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Water is provided in the southern Indiana counties of Clark and Floyd by Aqua Source.

Related Topics:
Indiana - Clark - Floyd - Aqua Source

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